Separate Paths

Separate Paths
By Mendingausedheart
Beta’d by Layhe

Another short story with Isabella and her encounter with another guy. If you like to read more about Isabella and her encounters with love, here are the links to my other short stories:
Illusions are Shattered:</b> mendingausedheart.deviantart.c…
You never liked me:</b> mendingausedheart.deviantart.c…

Isabella yawned lazily in front of her computer. There was nothing to do today, but wash her clothes and clean her room. She decided to turn on her computer and listen to some music while she removed the piles of clean and dirty clothes packed in her closet.  Isabella checked her e-mail as the media player loaded up with her playlist. She clicked her inbox and found a new e-mail message.

Isabella’s hand froze on the mouse as she read the subject line. She had a friend request from Logan. “Logan.” His forgotten name spilled from her lips and memories of him rushed through her mind. The last time she ever really spoken to him was eight years ago during a church retreat.

Isabella and her church class were spending a weekend retreat at a local lake. There were only five girls in the group and Isabella usually spoke with them during their classes. She was not really the prettiest or outgoing of the bunch, but she still liked hanging out with them. Isabella was having a great weekend, excluding the cruel jokes whispered behind her back by the other students. Some of the other students thought she was awkward and quiet compared to the other girls.

During the night of the bonfire, Isabella sneaked away to the activities hall to check on her poster. All the students, including the counselors, had to make a poster with their names. They also had to sign everyone else’s with nice comments. Isabella drew yellow daisies and a big peace sign with her name in the middle. She thought it would be unique while everyone else drew pictures of their favorite things and sports.

Isabella glanced over the comments and signatures written on her poster. Then she noticed one lonely comment at the far right corner. She squinted her eyes to clearly see the scribbles. Isabella slowly pronounced the words.

“You…need…to…speak…more.” She couldn’t make out the signature and wondered who wrote it.

Isabella heard the main doors open and she turned to see Logan walk inside. Her face lit right up with joy. Logan was one of the most sweetest and nicest guys in her class. Isabella developed a small crush on him, as she got older.

“Hey, Isabella,” This was the first time Logan had ever spoken to her, all year. “I saw you sneaking away and I followed you here.”

“Oh,” Isabella's mind went blank and her stomach was doing somersaults as Logan approached her.

“What are doing up here, all alone?”

“I-I-I came up here to look at my poster.” She stammered, fearing she might vomit from the butterflies in her stomach. “Now, I'm...um...trying to figure out who wrote this odd comment.”

“Odd? Which one?” Isabella pointed towards the comment in the far right corner. Logan started to laugh. “I wrote that odd comment.”

Isabella felt disappointed as Logan continued to laugh. She thought Logan was different from the other guys in her class. Logan's comment was probably a subtle joke towards her. Isabella covered her face with her long hair in embarrassment.

“May I ask why you write something like that?” Isabella timidly questioned.

“'Cause you are quiet,” Logan quickly caught on to Isabella's solemn reaction. “I am not trying to be mean.”

“I know. Anyone else isn't either,” Isabella mumbled the last part under her breath.

“It just that all the other girls say you are very talkative and a little hyper, but only around them,” Logan slightly turned his head towards the poster. “How come you're not like that around - in class?”

Isabella was still thinking of way to get her friends back, but she pushed that back into her mind for later. She glanced up at Logan in astonishment. She couldn't believe someone like him, a preppy rich boy, would show the slightest care in world towards her, a quiet nobody. Logan looked back at her and smiled. She had never seen him smile like this before, not even when he was talking happily to his current girlfriend on his cell phone. This is the first time she had seen this smile after all these years of knowing him and staring from a far.

“Maybe,” Isabella lowered her head and blushed. “Because I am a little self-conscious about what others might think of the real me.”

“You shouldn't be wasting your time thinking about what others might say.” Logan patted her head and ruffled her hair. “You should always try to act like your true self.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” She half laughed.
Logan's hand slipped slowly down her face, softly stroking her cheek. Isabella sighed deeply and stared into his sparkling hazel eyes, wondering about Logan's intentions. Isabella prayed for a sign that this could be the moment to tell Logan about her true feelings for him.

“Isabella, I-” There was a loud bang coming from the main entrance, starling both of them. Logan slipped his hands quickly into his pockets. Isabella conspicuously smoothed down her hair. The counselors walked in, carrying the stuff from the bonfire. They ordered Logan and Isabella to leave. The counselors needed to have an emergency meeting before retiring to bed.

Isabella and Logan silently walked, side by side, down the path leading to the boys  and girls' cabins. They stopped at the diversion of the path that would separate them. Isabella stared at Logan, who gazed up at the night sky with his hair blowing softly in the cool breeze. A shooting star sprinted across the sky.
“I wish you a good night, Isabella,” He bowed his head and continued to walk down the path.

“Logan,” Isabella called out his name.

Logan swiftly turned to look back at her. She needed to say it or she will never get the chance to say it again.

“I-I-,” she couldn't say the words. “I wish you a good night too.”

Logan smiled the special smile that was only meant for her. Both souls disappeared down their separate paths. The night of the bonfire was the last time Isabella spoke to Logan. After the last year of church classes, all of the students went their separate ways. Some of the students continued to go to the same church while others just completely stopped coming. Logan was one of those that never came back.

Eight years later, his name came haunting back to Isabella. She went to the website and accepted Logan's friends request. She clicked to view his profile. There was a picture of Logan with his arms wrapped around a young blond woman. Isabella skimmed through the rest of his profile and her hand froze, again, on the mouse.

Isabella saw the word 'married' and her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach. Logan had recently wed his college girlfriend. She clicked through Logan's photo gallery of his wedding pictures. She noticed something strange in each picture. His smile. Logan's smile was not the same one that night when they were alone. It was the smile that appeared on his face when he was talking to his old girlfriend, so long ago. Isabella had stopped wondering about the smile and what Logan wanted to tell her that night.

She laughed to herself, “He moved on a long time ago just like me.”

Isabella went to her friends' list and deleted him. She exited out of the website, returning her attention to her media player. The media player began to play the first song, “Happy?” by Mudvayne. Isabella resumed her chore of cleaning up her room, forgetting about the preppy rich boy.

“They never knew that the paths they walked on that night were the very same paths in life that would separate them forever, but if they didn’t had to fight so hard against fate, maybe their paths would have crossed again.”

Fin