Prompt 54: Jealousy

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Franny can remember the first time she ever felt truly jealous. From the pit of her stomach to the depth of her heart, that unbecoming demon of an emotion emitted itself throughout her everyday. Everyday after that chilly night in April of their sophomore year of high school.

"I… I love you, Cornelius."

It hadn't been completely heartbreaking. He'd held her in his arms and apologized over and over again.

He was in love with someone else, he said. But if she could possibly wait a little while for him? Just a little while, and he had hope that he would be able to tell her the same.

Of course she said she would. There was nobody else for her, she couldn't imagine anybody else. She went home that night quite sullen, but optimistic. Though from then on, Franny couldn't help but notice things concerning her best friend.

The way he almost always came out of his house to meet her on their walk to school, he was smiling the widest of smiles. The way he would stare at the tv screen during a romantic scene of a movie they were watching when he thought she wasn't paying attention. The way his expression would fall so serious when looking up at the night sky.

She knew they were together on nights he turned her down on plans, when she called his phone and he didn't answer. Or even worse, the one time he did answer and his first hello had been so breathy. He'd attempted to say something else, but was stopped short and let out a small gasp, followed by soft laughter in the background.

She'd promptly hung up the phone, and neither brought it up afterward.

Franny also remembers the night Cornelius showed up at her house, three in the morning, a little over two years since that night she'd made her confession. Two years of pain for her, two years of loneliness and wandering if waiting was really the best thing to do.

Two years of jealousy that had nearly eaten through her.

But all of that disappeared from her mind the moment she saw him standing there on her porch. For what had seemed like hours, he just stared at her with the most hopeless expression on his face. She asked him what was wrong, what was wrong, but still he didn't reply. It was only when he finally opening his mouth to speak did she realize what must have happened.

No words came out, only a small choking noise, and he collapsed to his knees before her, his hands covering his face. She was in a near state of shock, but had her arms around him in an instant. Neither of them spoke a word for the rest of the night, and a few months later, Cornelius came to her, at long last, with words of love of his own.

And she was happy. Their relationship from then on was a wonderful one. Her loneliness, pain, and doubt went away.

However, the jealousy never truly vanished. She could never admit to herself why that was. She would never think to hard on it, part of her was almost afraid of what answer she would arrive at. But there was no denying it was still there.

For that person whom she'd never met, never learned their name, or anything about them. That person who her Cornelius had been so in love with, whom upon the end of their relationship, had brought him to a point of despair that she would never see on him again.

And the fact that she herself couldn't forget this person made her realize…

Cornelius probably couldn't either.