Bruised

Jesse

I felt bitterness well up inside of me, but that was stupid. I knew right from the start that this wasn’t a forever sort of thing. Audrey would be going back to her dance academy, and I would be staying here. There were no surprises now. Still, it was eye-opening, being slapped in the face with the real truth of things like this.

Audrey liked me. I had no doubt about that, but I could never have her the way that her dancing had her. There was no competition there.

So there was something sad about watching her dance. It was as though with every motion she made, she was waving goodbye to me—to us. Of course, she wasn’t leaving yet. Her director had told her he wanted her to give it six months before she went back to dancing the way that she had been.

At the same time, the reality of it was suddenly all too there. Audrey and I were already saying goodbye in each moment we spent with one another. It was a fact that she would one day leave again.

She spun quickly in a circle until I