Too Late
Story by Daisy

~~*Chapter Six*~~

          “AJ! AJ!” AJ threw the picture that was in his hand facedown on the couch and ran to the front door.

          “AJ!” Autumn ran to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly, almost knocking him over with the impact. He laughed and wrapped an arm around her, using the other to clutch at the wall to regain his balance.

          Autumn pulled away from him. Her smile was so bright and big that it was contagious. AJ caught it. “AJ, I never thought I’d be saying such words but…I…Oh my gosh I can’t believe it!” She threw her arms around his neck once more, giggling excitedly in his ear. She pulled away again, getting serious. “AJ, I have something important to tell you. Something wonderful.”

          AJ’s heart began to race with hope. She feels the same way I do! He thought excitedly, resting his hands on her perfectly sculpted waist. He smiled and leaned into her anxiously.

          “AJ, I…ooh!” she giggled nervously and held out her hand. He took it immediately, but froze when he felt something hard beneath his fingers. He stared down at her hand. He dropped it and backed away from her as if she had just told him that she was contaminated with a contagious and deadly disease. He shook his head and backed slowly away from her, tripping on the stairs that led to the entrance hallway.

          “AJ?” Her face fell and her brows creased with obvious worry. “AJ?”

          He didn’t hear her. He just turned and walked rigidly to the living room. As he approached the couch, he saw the back of the picture frame that held the picture that he had been staring into for the past hour. As he passed it, he picked it up and threw it at the wall next to him, listening to the glass frame shatter into a million pieces. He continued walking to his bedroom and slammed the door, collapsing on the bed.

          He sobbed into the pillow, letting out all of his feelings that had been bottled up inside, ready to explode. He cried for his lost chance at loving Autumn. He cried because he knew that she didn’t love him as he had hoped. He cried because he knew that he had finally lost her. And he cried because she was about to marry one of his best friends.

          AJ didn’t know how long he had cried. After a while, he heard the slight opening of his door. He started to turn over but when he caught sight of Autumn’s shoe in his line of vision, he knew that he couldn’t stand to see her. It just hurt too much.

          “AJ,” Autumn’s whisper resounded in his ears. “I’m sorry that I’ve so obviously hurt you. I…I never knew.” Her whisper was barely audible and held thousands of leagues of sadness. AJ cringed at the pain in her voice.

          “Please go.” His words came out harsher than he had intended them to be and he immediately regretted saying them.

          “Okay.” Autumn whispered. He could see her shadow from beneath his arm where his head rested. She stayed where she was for a few moments, just staring at AJ’s back. AJ watched her shadow move silently through the room towards the door. He watched and listened as she placed an unidentifiable object on his dresser. She shut the door behind her.

          When AJ was sure that she was really gone, he rolled off the bed and made his way to his dresser. On it, carefully placed on the corner with care, was the picture of AJ and Autumn the Christmas before. The best of friends. And now, the worst of…of what?

Chapter Seven
E-mail the author
More stories by Daisy
Back to Hosted Stories