Shivers were raking down my spine. My heart pounded louder than a series of lightning strikes. With no strength left to hold them back any longer, tears came rushing down my cheeks like a waterfall. All of this because of a heart that had been smashed into little pieces. Too little to put together again. Why would he do this me? After everything I had done to be the girl he wanted, he still wanted another. I was just never enough. I felt like a fool. As if someone had slapped me across the face so hard that I fell to the ground.

The tree above me, providing me shelter, whispered words of comfort. The sun lighting up the clear blue sky shone with the brightest smile. But I just couldn’t do the same. As the wind whistled through the busy park of trees and a crowd of people filled with joy, my heart sank deeper than the surface under the oceans.

My heart skipped a beat and a quick gasp left my lips when I saw a familiar figure making his way towards me. What could he want? I felt a blazing fire of anger burning inside of me. If he thought that I would forgive him after he betrayed me, he had another thing coming.

“You okay?” He sat right before me. My eyes locked on his and had no way of escape. Suddenly the anger I felt before had been extinguished by the sincerity glowing in his midnight black eyes. Jason’s hand covered mine while his other hand stayed on my cheek.

“I’m sorry about what you saw. That wasn’t supposed to happen and I…” I jerked my head away from his hand in disgust.

“Lovely! She means nothing to me!” I’d heard those words before, too many times before. My vision went blurry with tears. The truth is, I never got tired of believing his lies because I really wanted them to be true.

Stepping into my brother’s room, I felt irritated to find him buried under his blanket.

“Jack! I thought I told to do your homework!”

My little brother didn’t even move. At that moment, I was ready to slap the daylight out of him. I pulled the blanket off him, letting it fall onto the floor. As soon as my eyes met his, the anger I felt before was replaced by deep concern. His lifeless coconut brown eyes were flooded with tears. Why would he be crying?

I sat beside him on his bed. “Jack-Jack? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t utter a single word. He simply handed me a piece of paper that had been laying on his pillow. After unfolding the piece of paper, my eyes ran through the hand written words. My brother was in trouble. I wasn’t surprised. The school requested a parents meeting. I still wasn’t surprised. But the last statement made me jump up to my feet in shock.

“Jackson! You are only ten years old! What would you be doing with a cigarette? Mom and dad are gonna kill you!”

Just then my brother wept even louder. He really was sorry. There was no way he could’ve done it on his own. Yes, my brother was reckless and disrespectful. But never, would he ever touch a cigarette.

“Jack? Who gave this to you?”

His hands covered his eyes, “M—m, my older friends.”

“Why didn’t you say no?”

“Because! My friends would leave me and I’d be all alone again! I don’t wanna be alone,” he cried.

Watching my brother cry in regret, I remembered how I cried in regret that day. Just like my brother, I was so afraid of loneliness that I spent my time with people who only caused me pain in the end. That was when I realised, “Well, being lonely is better than having bad friends. Because they’re not true friends. They don’t care about you and neither should you! Cause all they wanna do is hurt you!”

A picture of Jason flashed through my mind. This was not just about my brother anymore. This was about me saying no to the guy who didn’t deserve my heart. This was about saying no to the lies, the betrayal and the pain he caused me. I would rather stand alone than let anyone make me fall.

Tell us: Have you ever let go of someone you cared for because it was the best decision for you?