“You know sometimes, walking away does not necessarily mean you are a coward,” that was his favourite line and I never understood that phrase till the day Vince walked away from everything we had. Now every single minute that Vince has lived up to has been nothing but a wasted journey.

A strange elation had turned out to be the worst thing he had ever felt in his haunted life. Vince’s heart got hurt to the extent that he decided to leave everything behind, including his loved ones. One would judge my friend but hey, who knows what one would do after a hurtful disappointment, especially from a person you genuinely love?

It all started when his eyes saw a beautiful flower. Both of them went to the same school and that gave him a great opportunity to make his move. She was totally different from any other girl he had ever known before. Her eyes were so beautiful and small and her smile was something else, at least that’s how Vince described her.

When Vince told me about her I was happy for my friend, but scared at the same time. I knew the guy and he did not take heart-break lightly. I knew that when he got hurt he was capable of doing some crazy stuff. I had witnessed some of his breakups where he turned out to be a total wreck. I hated seeing my friend in that state.

He didn’t know her name then, but one thing Vince knew was that he loved her and he was prepared to do anything to get her. And who was I to stand in his way? So I had to back my friend up whatever the circumstances.

Vince was not a popular guy at school; he was not like one of those cool guys that every girl wished to be with. In fact, I don’t think they knew we existed. There was nothing attractive about the two of us except that we were known for talking to the teachers even during break times. Those we were in the same class with loved us for one or two things: we could give them our assignments to copy and we could save the whole class when no one seemed to know the answers asked by the educator. Vince was the hero in class due to his capability of being a master in most, if not all, our subjects.

This beautiful flower that caught Vince’s eyes was so shy. Oh Lord her appearance was indeed extremely amazing, it was beyond anything a man could ever dream of. When I saw her finally saw why Vince was so in love, to the extent that he forgot about our friendship.

Vince was not the best when it came to ladies, so he would watch from a distance and not take his eyes off her until she was far from the reach of his eyes.

She was with her friends when he saw her. Yah, she was a nice, sweet and quiet girl but there was something I couldn’t get about her. She seemed like one of those girls who’d act very innocent, only to find out later exactly their capability. I had told Vince about this on many occasions but my friend would get very cross with me, so I decided to stay out of this as he had suggested.

“Look at them, they’re such a wonderful group of friends,” those words came from Vince while we were sitting under the branch of a tree enjoying our free time.

“If only you knew,” out of nowhere, said a pupil who was passing by.

“What do you mean?” We asked.

“One day you will understand,”

At that moment I knew that I should warn my friend but he just put me in my place before I could say anything.

“Save it my friend, I love her and that’s final!”

From that moment I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do.

***

Tell us: Do you think Vince has his eyes on the right one?