Blink of an Eye

 Is this the end? All I’ve ever known and all I’ve ever loved. All gone in the blink of an eye.

We whispered in assembly when we were meant to be paying attention. I watched people filter in, tentatively waiting to catch a glimpse of whoever I had a crush on in the moment. I would become mesmerized by the speeches that tugged my heartstrings so forcefully that I thought I might begin to cry. I wanted to know how to replicate the speeches that made me swell up with anger so much that I wanted to cry and yell and laugh and smile with glee.

We sang each other happy birthday and created inside jokes that confused and concerned those unwilling ears who heard our laughter. We said we’d fight each other, but we loved each other far too much to lay so much as a finger on one another.

We’d complain about the food, far too lazy to make something ourselves. We’d pile up our plates and somehow finish it all just in the nick of time. I’d watch the boys yell at each other over a little game on their phones, casting a light glow on their faces. My friend tells a joke to me and his best friend, I’ll never know why he includes me but I cherish it so. We talk about all things, our hearts are exposed yet we’ll never admit it. We’ll never admit our sentimentality. Admit the sentimentality and you admit the things in your life you try so hard to keep bottled in. 

Perhaps we should’ve admitted why we were so secretly sentimental. Perhaps we should’ve poured out our hearts. Perhaps we would’ve truly known each other, but now, it’s all gone in the blink of an eye.