Caitlyn was an odd girl. If you were to ask her how she was or how life was going, she’d smile at you with a smile that didn’t quite match her eyes and reply sweetly that things were going fine. Of course, any casual observer wouldn’t notice this. However, if you were anything like me, which I’m sure you are seeing how you’re quite the bright type, you would notice. And if you did notice, you would question yourself and ask, “I do wonder what is wrong with Caitlyn.”

Most people would assume Caitlyn wasn’t always this way, and that’s true. From the very beginning, Caitlyn was very happy. During her first hours of life, her mother gazed down at her tenderly while her father watched with a broad grin on his face. As her mother stroked her cheeks, her father spoke.

“I hope she grows up to be happy,” he murmured. “God, don’t let her turn out like anyone we know.”

Time skips to when Caitlyn is an elementary school student. As a kid, she has a natural talent for making friends. Many of them praise her for her art skills after she drew a picture of a cardinal flying through the air. She got along well with her classmates, was creative, enjoyed acting, and was an avid reader. Her teachers would say there would always be a twinkle in her eye, especially when her nose was in a book. Caitlyn particularly loved fairytales. Her parents would read her Mother Goose nursery rhymes, Aesop’s tales, the story of Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and many other stories that spun her imagination. Her brother, Hayden, would talk about swashbuckling pirates, submarine explorers, hideous goblins and trolls, and even duels with dragons to try to scare his younger sister. These stories only added to her creativity and opened her up to more tales down the line.

As time passed, Caitlyn grew older and well loved. Although she wasn’t in the richest of homes or the friendliest of neighborhoods, her family got by and soon Caitlyn was a high school student. The first year was relaxed. Caitlyn’s classes weren’t too challenging. After much decision, she decided to join the clubs TSA, Science Olympiad, and Beta Club. She was relaxing in the TSA club room after a meeting when she looked up from her book and saw a group of boys across the room. They were like any other boys. There wasn’t anything special about any of them, except for one. This particular fellow seemed to be in the middle of the group and doing something funny for all his pals to see. There was something about his smile that immediately attracted Caitlyn. Then she heard his laugh and liked that too. It was an even, nice laugh that wasn’t too high or low and didn’t suck in air. Much to her disappointment, the group of boys began to disperse, and some of them, including him, left the room.

A few weeks passed and she didn’t think of the boy with the nice laugh. Eventually she forgot about him and moved on. In her 10th grade year, Caitlyn was in several AP classes and her work pressure levels amped a bit. Even so, she and her parents decided it would be alright for her to still be in the same extracurricular as before as long as she could keep her grades up and handle the workload. In addition to clubs, she was also a musician. Caitlyn had been a part of the chorus in 9th grade and knew a little piano, but decided to make a switch to orchestra to play viola. With the help of her trombone playing brother and private lessons, she was able to quickly learn alto clef and gain enough skill during the second semester of 9th grade and her entire summer to join the school’s orchestra.

A couple months into the school year, Caitlyn finally set into her schedule. Her favorite academic class was chemistry because she loved learning about how things fit together and what made up things in the world. It reminded her of how all the parts of a play corresponded to one another, and if something went wrong, there were times when the show could not go on. She was also looking forward to physics because Hayden had taught her a little of that as well. Her favorite class, however, was orchestra. She loved all the sounds that came from her viola whether she was plucking the string, playing long, graceful notes, or intensely playing fast and furiously. Plus, she knew the science behind the instrument. Even though her passion was obvious, most people in class ignored her and thought of her as a meager player since she hadn’t been there the first year and they didn’t think she was very good. She did have several friends scattered throughout the orchestra. One such person was Anne. Anne was a quiet, smart, and graceful violinist. She was second stand in the first violin section and was even offered to be first stand of the second violins. She declined, but that didn’t make her playing any less beautiful. Caitlyn joked about the reason Anne didn’t move; Anne wouldn’t have been able to see the funny faces Caitlyn made at her anymore. The two girls had many cases where they could barely contain their laughter because of the hilarity of it. Many times this happened when the first violinist, Chris, would catch Caitlyn in the act and give her a puzzled look. The last time it happened, Caitlyn almost fell out of her seat laughing. Her other friend was Felix. He was Chris’ stand partner and would trade faces with Caitlyn, too. Felix had a tendency to goof off in class and mess up Chris. The two were best friends, but to Caitlyn they seemed to be polar opposites. Felix wasn’t as good at violin as Chris either, and lots of people joked about it. Caitlyn and Felix constantly chatted and Skype called in their private time and pretended they were siblings to trick oblivious classmates. They were very close.

When Caitlyn wasn’t playing music, making faces, or packing up, she found her eyes glancing toward Chris and quickly darting back. It may have been a coincidence, but Chris reminded her of the boy in 9th grade in the TSA room. Nonetheless, he was a brilliant violinist. His notes and playing were so pure and beautiful that even she was put to shame even with all her passion glowing inside her. Caitlyn wasn’t the only one who praised Chris for his skills. The teacher constantly gently chided the violins to practice more and aim for Chris’ skill level. He inspired her to work harder and play better even though she was decent enough. Eventually, she received a stand promotion. This just made her want to do better. Unconsciously, she set goals that she hoped Chris would notice. When she realized what she was doing, her idealist side wanted to go with it. Her realist side knew it wasn’t possible that he would. She didn’t even know him. That just made her idealist side want to prove that fact wrong.

She didn’t know what made her do it. After telling Felix what was happening, he somehow persuaded her to get to know Chris. After numerous attempts of conversation and Chris not giving satisfactory results, Felix tried something new.

“Don’t you have chemistry with him?” Felix asked.

“Yes,” Caitlyn said slowly. “Where are you going with this?”

Felix gave a grin. “Then just ask him to work with you on a project or something! Jeez, how hard was that to figure out?”

Caitlyn’s heart sank. After lots of protest and nonchalant it’ll-be-fines from Felix, Caitlyn reluctantly agreed.

To her amazement, Chris accepted.

Chris was very different from what Caitlyn expected. He was quite awkward at first and shuffled around his living room getting materials for science fair. Caitlyn didn’t know what to do and sat there expectantly. Chris already had an idea for science fair and began attempting to explain it to her. Although it took about an hour, she finally understood.

“That’s amazing!” she said enthusiastically.

Chris nodded and gave a grin. Caitlyn flashed back to the 9th grade boy. It was the same smile. She returned it.

From then on, the pair worked on science fair and created a myriad of fun memories they’d remember later on. They didn’t win the competition, but they ended up becoming wonderful friends. Caitlyn silently thanked Felix as she packed away the logbook and science fair poster.

Time passed and their feelings for each other grew without the other knowing. Caitlyn thought of it as a cliché Korean drama when she realized she was falling for her friend. They were sweet to one another, and all their friends could guess what was happening. After a month or so of teasing, Felix started another round.

“So…” Felix started. “What’s up with Chris?”

“Nothing much,” Caitlyn replied casually, “besides the fact that we’re dating now.”

Felix choked on his steamed bun. “What?”

Caitlyn laughed hysterically as Felix gagged the food up and proceeded to bombard her with questions.

The next couple months were happy, smooth sailing for Caitlyn and Chris. Caitlyn’s parents had never seen her so vibrant. They were happy for their daughter, but they worried a little.

“I hope this ends well for her,” her mother said quietly.

“I’m sure Chris is a fine boy who doesn’t mean to cause her harm,” her dad reassured. “Let’s just keep a close eye on how things go.”

Caitlyn spent nearly every day talking to Chris after school. On the days that he had soccer or violin practice, she’d wait around until he got home to tell him the highlights of the day. Every day was filled with hilarity and thoughts of him filled her mind. Anne was delighted.

“You two are both so cute,” she’d squeal.

It was unusual to see Anne expressing this much emotion over a K-drama-like scenario such as this. Anne and Felix weren’t the only kids who know about Caitlyn and Chris. Lots of the students in orchestra knew, bringing more attention than the two were comfortable with. Students they barely even knew came up to congratulate them. They got by, though. It was an entirely new experience for Caitlyn since this was her first boyfriend. New, but satisfying and happy, too.

It wasn’t until two months later that she noticed the change in Chris. It was after one of her friend’s parties that she noticed him moving away from her, uncomfortable being with her, and leaving her when everyone else went on ahead and did something else. This, of course, struck her as something bad was going on. Hugely alarmed, Caitlyn asked Felix about it.

“It’s just paranoia,” he soothed. “It happens in every relationship. He’s probably not even doing it and you’re just imagining it.”

Still, she couldn’t shake off the feeling, and it scared her. Anne suggested asking Chris about it, but Caitlyn worried it would make things worse. Felix and Anne were worried about this, but couldn’t do anything. Slowly, Caitlyn and Chris drifted. Almost three months after dating, they talked a little. Caitlyn was very lonely. Three and a half months after they began dating, they talked less. Caitlyn began spending her time talking to Felix. He said not to worry, but it was still up to her if she wanted to ask Chris about it. A week after that, Chris wasn’t speaking at all. There was one day where they discussed homework, but that was soon casted aside. There was an obvious change in Caitlyn. She didn’t admire Chris’ talents in orchestra anymore, didn’t talk to him in science, made bitter remarks about him that friends besides Anne and Felix picked up on, and no longer a twinkle in her eye that people said made her so fun.

Anne had forgotten to tell Caitlyn how the dramas end. Sometimes, not all the characters end up happy. And sometimes they don’t tell what happens to those characters.

So now you know the story of Caitlyn and how she became a glassy-eyed, odd girl. Although she has much more of a story to tell, we leave the current events as they are here and perhaps someday, just one day, she’ll tell you herself how it all played out.

Curtains close.