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She narrowed her eyes and crunched on a tortilla chip. The wheels in her brain were turning. But I interrupted that before she could spiral.
“Una,” I said calmly, looking at my food instead of her, as to not put her on the spot. “I didn’t say any of that to make you feel pressured. I just wanted to share. You came here for a reason, though. What was that?”
She could have said no to my invitation. She could have not showed up.
But she did. She was here. She even sat and ordered. Shestayed.
Una shrugged, the mask slipping on again as she leaned back in her chair. “I was hungry.”
I snorted out a laugh. It was so blunt and honest. “That’s why I came too.”
She stayed silent for a moment, returning to her over thinking.
“You say you didn’t want anything from all of that… stuff you said. You said no pressure. You said the car wasn’t part of it. But everyone wants something. No one does things just to be nice anymore. If you didn’t do it for a date, then why?”
I hesitated answering that. I believed deep down she knew why. Because I really was that kind of guy. Sure, I liked her. A lot. More so recently, once I was able to talk to her. But it didn’t change why I did things.
And part of me knew she knew that. She just wasn’t used to it.
“I don’t believe in love. Or infatuation. Or crushes,” she continued.
“Why’s that?” I scooped a forkful of rice, answering her like she said the most casual comment ever, and not something that tore my heart in half. I loved love. I loved the happiness, the joy, the entire experience. And though I had yet to really have my heart shattered, it seemed like it would be worth it to me.
Una Nielsen had the power to shatter my heart. But it would still be worth the risk.
She picked up another chip and used it to scoop some beans off her plate like a spoon. After popping it into her mouth, she chewed, swallowed, and came back with her response. “Look at my dad. At my mom, wherever she is. They never loved each other. Dad has been through five wives in twelve years. Love isn’t a real thing. It’s a scam.”
I anticipated her words, but they still hit me like a truck. “Love… is a scam? Do you really believe that?”
Dumb question. She only nodded as an answer.
“What about Fairy Tale High? It’s named that because of how many people met and fell in love there, staying together even after high school. How is love a scam if the school’s literal nickname is in relation to the love matches?”
Una stared at me with a blank face, as if it didn’t matter to her at all. “What about Cindy?” she snapped back.
Ouch. I nodded slowly, allowing her to realize she got her point across.
Everyone used to say Cindy and I were meant to be. That we would be the poster couple for Fairy Tale High one day. We would ride off into the sunset, get married, have kids, the dog, and the picket fence.
“We’re still friends,” I started, making sure that got through. I had absolutely no ill will against Cindy and we stayed on friendly terms. “But we weren’t soul mates. Not everyone finds their one person on the first try, right?”
“Not everyoneneedstheir ‘one person’,” Una countered, scooping more of her food up with chips. It was genius, honestly, using the chips instead of utensils. And tastier, too.
“True. But life is more fun with someone at your side. Someone who makes you laugh. Who makes your heart happy. Who you know will be there, no matter what.”
“Until they dump you, leave you crying into a bowl of ice cream, and never wanting to leave your house. When it’s all done, you rise up, broken-hearted and broken spirited.”
That hit me hard. There was nothing I could say to dissuade her from thinking that. Mainly because it was true. If things ended poorly, the breakup period was hard. There was no denying that.
But just because the ending could be difficult didn’t mean the ride wouldn’t be worth it. But I could say all the words in the world, and it wouldn’t convince her. Una didn’t need tohearabout how amazing falling in love could be.
She needed toexperienceit.
An idea popped into my mind. One I didn’t even take a second to think about before blurting it out.
“What if I taught you not all love has to be a scam?”
“Impossible.”
