“Happy 17th Birthday Afrim!” yells mom.
I get out of bed and start getting ready for school.
Its going to be a long day today, I cant wait to see
Olivia.
My girlfriend for the past two years.


“Morning babe” says my girlfriend








Olivia.
“Morning” I say back, giving her a kiss
As we walk inside the school building
‘‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
…I hear a whole crowd say
Smile across




Olivia’s



Face.
Its good to see her




Happy









Its good to know I’m




Happy




For now








Of course.






Today, we're getting out early
Maybe school wont be so bad.
Maybe
Olivia
Wont be so angry…
So angry once I
Tell her….
“DING!” the bell rings
Everyone gallops as I stare at thin air
This is it.
“Ready Afrim?” I whisper to myself
I head over to the skate park to meet up with




Olivia
As I olly around the park, I see this very hot girl
Long brown hair
Around 5’4
Beautiful smile
Olivia.
I call her over….
Her smile
Said a thousand words, words worth hearing





Her Love
Immortal.
We sat on a bench together her sweet smell of coconut lightened me up…
We started off with just





Laughing
Then





Eye contact
Which led to





An amazing makeout session
I pulled her closer, her head was now resting
On my shoulder.
I began to talk…..
“you’re moving to Albania!?” she yelled I felt
Her muscles tighten.
And that feeling of relaxation
Thickened.
“yea, I wanted to tell you sooner but…”
“BUT!? But nothing…I just cant believe you’re moving
I thought we were going to graduate this year
And soon get engaged”

Her words, soft and bold
Speaking of marriage, I didn’t want to tell her the rest of
My unfortunate news.


The long silence was disturbing.
She finally spoke up
“we could still make this work right?
We don’t have to be
Over”
“ehh..its not that simple”
Simple
My throat felt tight and I wanted to cry but I wouldn’t…I didn’t
want to ruin my manly image
“We’ll talk later, when we’re ready
to jump to conclusions”
“yea wouldn’t want to ruin your birthday”
As we got up and started to walk out
The park, I bought us some ice cream
Then walked her home.



I got home.
Mom was talking on the phone. Probably to dad.
…He’s never around
Much anymore.

Next day, I get up and decide
To go over to Olivia’s house.
“came to talk about moving?” she asked





“yea..I did”





“ok well start talking”
I start to hesitate.




“well






Olivia



Lets get off topic for a few k? I just want



To let you know what ever happens, I will always



love you. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I



actually mattered”

Her eyes
Watched my lips sound out words
Her eyes
Held back a rain storm
Her eyes
Came back up to meet mine once I stopped talking

But her love
Immortal
I stared her in the eyes and said
“Olivia, I’m moving to Albania in a
Few days. And.. Im going to be
Getting…married.
Its not that I want to, its just
Tradition you know?”

Tears filled her eyes and I thought
Back on what she said yesterday
“I thought we were going to graduate this year
And soon, get engaged”

It hurt how now, her dream was crushed.
I wrapped my arms around her but she slowly
Breaks away
Resting her head on the arm of the coach.
“im sorry..so sorry…you knew
About the arranged marriage, it
isn’t my fault”
She looks up, grabs my hands.
“I know it isn’t your fault, I just wish
Your parents would let you be with me
I want to be the princess with the happy
Ending. I wanted you to lift me off of
My feet. I wanted our love to be





Immortal”
Her words


Stabbed me
Through my chest


Through my insides
My heart


Torn into pieces.
















I got home and heard mom talking on the phone again. This time,
I caught the last sentence
“ok we’ll let the kids bond, and then see what happens”



Click. She hangs up.
“what was that all about?” I ask
“well honey! We’ve already decided who’s
Going to be your wife arent you glad? You’ll
Meet her once we get to Albania”
INCREDIBLE. My mom didn’t care how
I felt about this did she?
“whatever mom, I just wish I could take a
Break.
A break from all this culture crap and
A break from you.
I wish you would just let me be a teen!!”
“its NOT crap Afrim! Its tradition.
And let this be
The first and last time
You talk to me in such manner”
“whatever”
Next morning.
I went upstairs, got my skateboard
And headed to the skate park to
Clear my thoughts
I thought back on what mom asked
“arent you glad?”
I wasn’t glad at all! I loved




Olivia
Not some stranger!
I turn around and notice




Olivia
Sitting by a rock, writing.
I walked over to her, and asked
“what ya writing there?”
Without a word she hands me her notebook
And I read…
“when I think of you, I think of colors
My
yellow
bright sun that
Lightens my day
My
Red
Heart which you’ve blown away
My
Blue
Sea, oh cant you see?
This
Gray
Cloud that’s above me.”






I hand her the notebook back and say
“its really good, pretty deep…”
“yea..”
*Silence*
“Afrim, maybe its best if we DO spilt up
I mean, I will never be good enough
For your family because im not
Albanian.
Your parents seem serious about
this and I feel like im holding you
Back on all of this. Besides, it will be selfish
For me to to want to make you stay”
“NO OLIVIA!, its not being selfish! My
Parents are the ones being selfish! They
don’t even
Care
About how I feel!”




She melancholy sighed and




My heavy heart







Shrunk





“yes they do care” she said





“well yea? If they do care, then how





come they havnt asked me if I was ok





with all of this? Huh? Answer me!





They just assume im OK. I cant even





remember one DAMN day they asked





me how I









Felt”






“babe, calm down k? right now I care





and I love you. I care so much which is





why I have to let you go..but not






forever”








“if this is what you want then fine. Let





it be so”




Not believing what just happened
I walked back home. I actually cried
Not caring


Who saw
Not caring


Who heard
..I cried.






Two days later



And I was moving the next day.



I decided to go visit

Olivia



I havnt seen her at school





Since




The breakup









*knock*
I heard footsteps and Mrs. Anderson opened up
And she looked how I looked two night before
Her eyes swollen



Her face pale





…and suddenly I knew something
Was wrong.





“oh no Mrs. Anderson are you ok?”


She invites me to take a seat on the coach
“its, its Olivia”
She sobs between words
“..I f-found her..last night, something just
Told me to ch-ch-check up on her
And that’s when I f-found her
Empty pill bottle..ohh-h-h my baby
Why ww-would she d-do such a thing”

Once again
Words


Stabbed me
Through my chest


Through my insides
My heart


Torn into pieces.
I cried with her
Not caring


Who saw
Not caring


Who heard
..I cried.





“may I go upstairs to her room?”










*nods*
Up the stairs I went, opened her door
Tense.
I sat on her bed.
The familiar smell of
Coconut soap calmed me down
Her bed sheets
So smooth
Silk.
On a shelf lied a journal.
I opened it, as I flip through pages, I come across a familiar poem



“when I think of you, I think of colors
My
yellow
bright sun that
Lightens my day
My
Red
Heart which you’ve blown away
My
Blue
Sea, oh cant you see?
This
Gray


Cloud that’s above me.”
...She added a few more lines…



“..I said we’d be together
Forever
And you may think I left you
Forever
And you may think I left you
Alone
To sink
But I didn’t
Afrim
I learned
Love doesn’t always fix everything”


I took the journal, said my goodbyes to Mrs. Anderson
And had one quote on my mind
“Love doesn’t always fix everything”


Months past since I have moved to
Albania
I cant stop thinking about my true
Love
Today is my 18th birthday
And I am now engaged to Rose.
She’s

Sweet
Charming


And
Lovely.

…but
She’s not
My
Olivia.