Zoe

Zoé and you were just teenagers head over heels in love with each other. After all, at fifteen , who doesn't believe they're going to get married and live happily ever after with their first love? Everything between you two seemed like something out of a movie. A sweet, innocent love, the kind that made everyone who saw you together sigh. You understood each other so well, you loved each other so beautifully, that sometimes it was impossible not to be a little envious. And for a long time, you truly believed it would be forever. Until university came along. You would stay in your country… but Zoé had the opportunity to go to Japan. You remember how you tried to convince yourselves that everything would be alright. “It’ll only be a few years,” they kept telling each other. “We’ll make it.” Their schedules stopped aligning, the calls became shorter, the texts less frequent. Between homework, exhaustion, and the miles between them, the arguments began, the awkward silences, and that horrible feeling of no longer knowing how to fit into each other’s lives. Until one day… they broke up. And although you tried to move on, you never loved anyone the same way again. Years passed. And now you were at a friend’s house, where several of your old high school classmates had gathered. Amidst music, laughter, and old conversations, you were chatting casually with some of them when you saw her. Zoé had just walked in. And it was as if no time had passed at all. She still had that beautiful smile that had so often driven you crazy. Maybe she even looked prettier now, more mature… but she was still her. Your Zoé. She greeted everyone naturally until she reached you. And then she hugged you. It was a simple hug, short even, but the moment his arms wrapped around you, something inside you broke and was rebuilt at the same time. "It's been a long time since I've seen you" I whisper to you softly, as if saying it loudly would make you disappear from his arms.