Tears of a Teenage Girl

Amanda’s boyfriend Trent broke up with her earlier today.

They met at the park and Trent told her, “I can’t be with you anymore. You’re clingy and annoying.”

“What? I mean you have your flaws too, but we can work on them,” Amanda replied.

“That, that right there, is what I’m talking about. You criticize everything I do, say, or wear. Even this hat you bought me,” Trent shouted and threw his hat on the ground.

“I don’t like it, but I thought you might like it. And where is all of this coming from? I thought we were in a good place,” Amanda said.

“There’s another thing, you live in your own upper-class world of happiness and thinking everything is okay. You’re completely oblivious to the world around you. You don’t think of others or their lives, you only think of yourself,” Trent angrily responded.

“I bought you that hat, didn’t I?” Amanda questioned.

“Yeah, but you thought of yourself when you bought it. And you know what I heard?” Trent asked.

“What?”

“I heard you cheated on me with my twin brother Kent,” Trent said as he pointed his finger at her.

“Put that finger away, I did no such thing. And I can’t believe you’d accuse me of something so heinous,” Amanda said shocked.

“Oh, yeah, my friend and I were at the diner and we saw you two making out on the same side of the booth. A kissing booth if you will,” Trent said.

“Really, then why didn’t you stop us?” Amanda asked.

“I didn’t want to interrupt you two and I was afraid,” Trent admitted.

“You were afraid of what?” Amanda asked.

“I was afraid you’d yell at me and the bubble would pop. The ‘we’re in a good place’ bubble. We had our problems, but we could fix them,” Trent said.

“So, you wanted to keep our relationship stable? Wait, that was weeks ago,” Amanda accidentally let out.

“Ha, so you admit it. You and Kent were together, kissing that night,” Trent said.

“Yes, but it was only a kiss. Big deal, why did it take you so long to tell me, anyway? ” Amanda asked.

“I don’t know, I needed time to think as to why you did it? Was I not good enough for you? Was something wrong with me?” Trent asked.

“No, let me explain how it happened — ” Amanda was interrupted by Trent.

“I don’t want to hear it, it’s too painful,” Trent said.

“It wasn’t you, I wanted something different, something passionate. I’m sorry to say, but what we have is boring. Nothing has happened between us, we don’t fight, we just let everything bottle up inside until it explodes, like it is now,” Amanda explained.

“Oh, but you could’ve talked to me about it, if we talked, of course. But that doesn’t mean you get to cheat on me with my brother,” Trent said in anger, he turned around.

Amanda touched the back of Trent’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me! I can’t be around you right now!” Trent shouted.

“Trent, it was wrong, I know that now,” Amanda said in sorrow.

“I think we should break up,” Trent said as quickly as he could.

“What?” Amanda questioned.

“I — think we should break up. See other people, it’s for the best. And you’re right our relationship was stale and we didn’t talk,” Trent said, turning around again.

Amanda ran home, crying.

She ran into her house and her bedroom, holding in her tears. She jumped into bed and cried. She reached for the tissue box on her bedside table and wiped away her tears and mascara. She looked up at a mason jar on her windowsill. She remembered when Trent bought it for her to use a mug. They were in a craft store and she saw it while walking in the aisle.

She told Trent, “You know, I’ve always wanted one of these, they’re so versatile.”

Trent put it in the shopping basket and said, “You can use it as a mug.”

She remembered how demanding and forceful he was. She walked up to the jar and picked it up. Tears fell from her face and into the jar. She had an idea, to capture all her tears in the jar.

So, she cried and cried and cried. She remembered almost every moment she was with her now ex-boyfriend. She closed the jar shut with the lid.

A few weeks later, she put on her best makeup and wore a beautiful red dress. She wore it to school.

She opened the school’s front doors and walked in, everyone stood at their lockers in shock in awe. They acted as if she was new or popular. She trotted by her ex-boyfriend and his locker, trying to get him to notice her. He didn’t see her, since he was on his phone. She continued to walk to class with her head down.

At lunch, she walked into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. She put in eye drops to make her eyes look puffy like she was crying. She put mascara under her eyes to make them look like dark circles from sleeplessness. She walked out of the bathroom and everyone stared. Trent did not since he was too busy talking to his friends. She ran to the bathroom and actually cried.

She thought the only way to get Trent to notice her was to get a new boyfriend.

She tried every dating app and she even went to the local roller rink to get attention. But she didn’t know how to skate. She just kept falling on her face until a nice boy said, “Woah, do you need help?”

She looked up as she sat on the floor and smiled. “Yeah, I’ve never skated before. I don’t know why I came here,” she said.

“I do,” the boy said. He helped her up.

They looked deeply into each other’s eyes.

He let go of her hands, but she fell again.

“Hey, are you okay? Let’s stick together,” the boy said.

“I’m fine,” Amanda said.

“I’m Josh by the way,” he said.

“I’m Amanda,” she said.

They skated together around the rink, carefully for a few hours.

At the end of the night, Amanda asked Josh, “Will I see you again?”

“I’ll be here next week, same time same place,” Josh said.

“Okay, see you then,” Amanda replied.

Amanda saw Josh at school next Tuesday, in the cafeteria. She ate lunch alone and saw Josh. They made eye contact. Josh walked toward Trent’s table and looked back. He looked at Amanda and with his doubt and sat with her.

Josh set his lunch tray on the table and sat own. “Amanda, I didn’t know you go here,” Josh said.

“Yeah, I’m a sophomore. When did you start going here?” Amanda asked.

“Today, this is my first day,” Josh replied.

A boy accidentally dropped his tray of food on the floor and everyone, including Amanda and Josh, stared in shock. A teacher saw and told him to go back in line. She said she’d tell the lunch ladies.

“Anyway, what are you eating? Josh asked Amanda.

“I bought my own lunch, my mom made me a PB&J,” Amanda replied.

“Yeah, my mom gave me money to buy lunch, I got a piece of lasagna,” Josh answered.

Trent looked over at Amanda and Josh. He thought, What are those two doing together? Isn’t that the guy from my math class? What is she doing with him?

Amanda’s plan was working perfectly, Trent was getting jealous. When she saw Trent looking over at her, he looked right back to his friends.

The next night, Wednesday night, Amanda saw Josh skating at the roller rink as he said he would be.

“Josh!” Amanda shouted.

“Amanda, I’m glad you came,” Josh said.

Amanda skated behind Josh.

“Wow, you’ve gotten good,” Josh said.

“Thanks, I’ve been practicing,” Amanda replied.

“But try to keep up,” Josh said jokingly and skating away.

Amanda skated faster, she started skating left to right and slammed into Josh. Before they both fell, her hand, in a fist, hit Josh in the nose. Josh fell to the floor and Amanda wasn’t far behind.

Josh held his hand to his nose and nasally said, “What the heck?”

“I’m so sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention,” Amanda said. “Let me see, it might be broken.”

Josh removed his hand from his nose. His nose was crooked.

“Let me take you to the emergency room, I just got my driver’s license,” Amanda said.

“Okay, but drive slowly,” Josh said.

They arrived at the emergency room and rushed inside. They waited for an hour until they were seen by a doctor. They told the doctor the story and he looked at Josh’s nose.

“Well, I have good news and bad news,” the doctor said.

“Tell us the good news first,” Amanda said.

“The good news is he won’t need surgery,” the doctor said.

“And the bad news?” Josh nasally asked.

“We’ll have to realign the bridge of his nose and put it in bandages. He may not be able to smell for a few weeks. He’ll have to wear the bandages until it fully heals,” the doctor said.

“When can you realign my nose?” Josh asked nasally.

“We can do that right here in the hospital, but we’ll need to do an x-ray first to see if there are any tiny broken bones,” the doctor said.

“How long is the wait for an x-ray?” Amanda asked.

“Well, I have to call and see when the x-ray room will be available,” the doctor replied. The doctor walked out of the curtained room.

He came back twenty minutes later, “Sorry, I needed to help a few other patients before coming

back to you guys. The wait will be an hour,” the doctor said.

Amanda and Josh waited for an hour and they walked to the x-ray room. Josh had to wear a lead apron. After the x-ray, they showed Josh his nose was fractured in two places, the top and the middle of the bridge of the nose. He would have to wear a nasal cast for a month or two, depending on how it healed. This is after they realigned his nose manually.

A month later, they went back to the hospital to see if Josh’s nose had healed. It had healed and they removed the cast. Amanda apologized for this catastrophe.

Josh still went to school in that month and Amanda was by his side the whole time. They grew closer and Trent became more jealous.

Trent needed to find his own new girlfriend to make Amanda jealous. Trent tried the local diner and sat next to a pretty girl. Trent ordered a grape soda and the pretty girl order an orange soda.

“Trent, what’s your name?” he said as he extended his arm and hand for a handshake.

She shook his hand back and asked, “Amaya, have I seen you before?”

“Probably at school,” Trent said.

“Are you in any of my classes?” Amaya asked.

“I think so, in my science class, right?” Trent asked.

“Yeah, I sit in the back,” Amaya replied.

“Oh, I usually sit in the front, to see better, I have bad eyesight,” Trent said.

“Well, I have to get to work,” Amaya said.

“You work here?” Trent asked.

“Yes, I’m a waitress,” Amaya said as she put on her apron.

“When do you get off?” Trent asked.

“Eight,” Amaya said.

Trent looked at the clock, the minute hand was on the two and the hour hand was on the twelve (2:00 pm).

“I’ll come back,” Trent said.

Six hours later, Trent returned.

“Hey, Amaya. Where do ya wanna go?”

“Home,” Amaya stated.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school, then?” Trent said.

“Sure,” Amaya said.

The next morning, Trent sat next to Amaya in science class.

He whispered to Amaya, “Wanna go on a date?”

“No,” she whispered back.

“Just a small one,” Trent whispered.

“Sure,” Amaya whispered back.

“Really?” Trent asked in a whisper.

“No,” Amaya replied in a whisper.

“How about a quick one?” Trent asked in a whisper.

“No!” Amaya accidentally shouted.

“Do I need to split you two up?” Ms. Addams, their science teacher asked.

“No, Ms. Addams,” Trent and Amaya said in unison.

During lunch, Trent sat next to Amaya and continued to ask her out. Amanda sat with Josh, but every once in a while, she looked over at her ex-boyfriend with a new girl. She became a little jealous, but she was happy in her new relationship. Trent saw Amanda still with Josh, they were talking, and became extremely jealous.

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Trent asked one more time.

“Fine, yes,” Amaya finally said.

“Really?” Trent asked in shock.

“Yes, now can you leave me alone?” Amaya asked.

“Yes, Friday at eight at the roller rink?” Trent asked.

“Sure, see you there,” Amaya replied.

That Friday at 8 pm, Trent and Amaya walked into the roller rink. They walked up to the area where you get skates.

“Josh? Fancy seeing you here?” Trent asked.

“Yeah, I work here now. I spent so much time here, I thought I could work here,” Josh said.

“Josh? Now I remember, from middle school. Little Josh, you’re all grown up now,” Amaya said.

“Do I know you?” Josh asked in confusion.

“It’s Amaya from middle school, we used to date,” she said.

“Oh, Amaya, how are you?” Josh asked.

“I’m good, I’m on a date,” Amaya admitted.

“Wait, you know Josh too?” Trent said surprised.

“Yeah, we went to the same middle school and we dated in eighth grade,” Amaya said.

“Why did I break up with you again?” Trent asked Amaya.

“I think you said, ‘There was someone else.’ I never knew who the other girl was,” Amaya remembered.

“Oh, yeah, it was Britney Sperton. I liked her more and wanted to ask her out,” Josh remembered.

“You were quite the little player,” Amaya said.

Josh laughed and said, “I guess I was.”

“Josh stop talking to the customers and get back to spraying the skates!” Josh’s boss shouted from the back.

Amaya and Trent got their skates and put them on outside the rink.

“So, how do you know Josh?” Amaya asked Trent.

“He’s my ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend,” Trent said.

“Oh, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you two break up?” Amaya asked.

“She cheated on me with my twin brother, Kent and she was self-obsessed,” Trent said.

“Oh, you have a twin brother?” Amaya queried.

“Yes, but that’s not the point. She was self-obsessed, only cared about herself and when she got bored with me, she went to another boy,” Trent said.

“I’m sorry that happened, when did you guys break up?” Amaya asked.

“A few months ago,” Trent replied.

“So, what, am I your rebound? Did you ask me out to make your ex jealous?” Amaya asked.

“No,” Trent said in a daze as he stared at Amanda from afar.

“Hello?” She said as she waved her hand in front of his face. “Are you even listening to me?” Amaya asked him.

Trent shook his head to return to reality and said, “Yes, of course.”

“Then let’s skate,” Amaya said.

They skated for hours, but Trent was still distracted, his ex-girlfriend was also skating. He thought about all the things he bought her and he thought about how much of a cheater she was. But she had moved on, or had she?

The next day at school, Trent walked up to Josh and told him and everyone in the cafeteria, “Amanda is a cheater, she cheated on me with my twin brother, Kent! Don’t listen to her lies boys, she gets bored of you and makes out with your brother!”

Everyone, including Amaya, stared at him and returned to their lunches.

“Amanda is true?” Josh asked Amanda.

“No, he’s the liar,” Amanda said.

“I don’t know who to believe anymore,” Josh said as he took his tray and walked away.

“What have you done?!” Amanda asked as she pulled him down to her level by his shirt collar. “I had a good thing going with Josh and you ruined it,” Amanda said.

She ran to her locker, took out her jar, and rushed to the bathroom. She cried into the mason jar for hours. When the last bell rang, she went home and continued to cry into the jar. She almost filled the jar.

Josh didn’t answer any of her texts or calls for days. Until a week later, she asked in a text if she could meet him in the park, he agreed.

“Amanda, I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I know it’s been six months, but with this new information, I’ve realized we’re too different. I mean opposites attract, but people detract,” Josh said.

“Josh, can’t we work this out? We’ve been through so much,” Amanda pleaded.

“I know and I’ve been nothing but nice to you. I’m just afraid you’re one of those girls that jump from guy to guy and cheats and cheats,” Josh admitted.

“Josh, I love you!” Amanda proclaimed.

“I know — I love you too, but I can’t be with you, right now. Maybe in a few years when you’ve changed,” Josh said.

“I admit I wanted to date you to make my ex jealous, but I learned to love you. You’ve changed me into a kinder and gentler person,” Amanda divulged.

“I figured, in the beginning, that’s what it seemed like and learned to love you too. But I’ve moved on,” Josh said.

“Who is she?” Amanda asked jealously.

“No one — -since we’re being honest. I have been seeing someone else. We met just recently and he — ” Josh said before Amanda interrupted him.

“I knew it and she is a he. Are you gay?” Amanda asked.

“We were on a break and I don’t know yet. This is why we can’t be together, you’re jealous and close-minded,” Josh said.

“I can change, you can change me,” Amanda begged.

“I’m sorry, but that’s too much work for me. You need to work on yourself, on your own. But one last time — ” Josh said before kissing Amanda on the mouth.

Josh walked away.

“Josh, wait!” Amanda shouted.

She didn’t follow him since she knew it was over. She ran back home and continued to fill her mason jar with tears, she filled it to the brim.

The next day at school, she brought her mason jar with her.

“This is for hurting me and I give it all back in my tears. I will no longer cry for you,” she said as she splashed half her jar of tears in Trent’s face.

During lunch, Amanda walked up to Josh and said, “I know we had our differences, but we were great together. I’m giving you back all the tears I’ve cried for you to show you I’ve moved on.” She splashed the other half of tears onto his shirt and walked away.

She knew she needed help, so she went to a therapist in the coming weeks.