“I’m over it,” I wasn’t obviously over it, I was crushed. Out of all people, why did Marion have to choose Jerry? I told her how I felt, and she said she felt the same way, but Jerry had to take her away from me. Gosh, I was so stupid for telling him I actually like her. “She’s made her choice, Geoff there’s nothing you can do now,” My friend, Phil consoled me.  It had felt like a breakup because in a way Marion did, in fact, break my tiny heart, and now, she was all Jerry’s. “Yeah, her choice,” I sighed.  We were out in my backyard drinking my sorrows away with pop; my parents just had left the day before to celebrate their anniversary, they’d be gone for a week. It was just me alone until Phil decided to crash my pity party.

 “Marion’s just not girlfriend material, Geoff. You gotta realize that.” Does he not get it? He’s talking about Marion frickin’ Lancaster here! But who am I kidding? He doesn’t see her the way I see her. Besides, he already has Zelda! 

“Well, maybe not for you but for me, that’s a different story.” Phil rolled his eyes at me and pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. “Don’t dwell on it for too long, before you know it you’ll forget about Mari.” I felt like bursting out crying, how could I possibly forget? The times we had and the times we spent? That wasn’t all for nothing! 

“Look I gotta split, see ya tomorrow okay?” Phil patted me on the back only to leave me sitting alone on the grass, but I didn’t respond. I was too hung up in my thoughts.

I stared up at the sky and slowly began to lie down; the air was filled with silence deep within the night. What would I need to do to make Marion like me again? Would I have to change for the likes of Mari? or better yet do I steal her away from Jerry? I then closed my eyes shut. How desperate have I become that I resort to wishing and dreaming? This whole situation isn’t fair, it just wasn’t. I sighed as a tear fell from my eyes ready to break down and cry. 

I Wish, 

I just wish for a girl,

A girl who gets me, who understands me

A girl for me…

CRASH!

I abruptly got up. Bright beams of light had burned my retinas, something had crashed in my backyard! Great, some moron crashed their car into the backyard. I was ready to mouth off the guy, who would do such a dumb thing from the get-go? “Hey, buddy, why doncha watch where you are going!” I was finally able to see how much of the yard was destroyed. As a matter of fact, a car didn’t crash, apparently, something else had slammed into the ground. It was a glowing metallic unidentifiable object. Metal falling from the sky? Was it from a plane? It was too big for it to come from a plane. What’s going on? 

Suddenly, I felt pressure on my left shoulder as if someone placed their hand on it. “Phil?” I turned around to see a woman with long purple hair and iridescent clothing, both shining bright under the pitch-black night sky. I immediately backed away in fright. For a while I was speechless, I’ve never seen such beauty in my life so much so I think I was having heart palpitations.  From that moment on I was super overwhelmed. I felt my heart pounding out of my chest as this being kept getting closer to me with her arms extended outward like a zombie. Oh no! Was this the end? Was this how I was gonna die? 

“Stay back!” I struggled to hold my empty soda bottle with one hand, “I’m armed!” The humanoid creature just stared at me then finally bursted out laughing.“Tsk, you humans are so dramatic.” Huh? What was that supposed to mean? Did she insult me? Suddenly the bottle forcefully flew out of my hands and into hers.

 “Look lady, I don’t know who you are, or where you came from but I had a rough day, alright? And the last thing that could happen tonight is my unexpected death.” The beautiful being just kept laughing at me, “Me? Kill you? Ha! Don’t flatter yourself, don’t they teach on Earth that the world revolves around the sun and not around you?”

 Ouch, that hurt. Maybe I had been a little selfish the past few hours. To be quite frank I was very frazzled but all I could get from the first few minutes of meeting this otherworldly being was that she was very straightforward. “You see a woman who crashed her flying saucer into your yard and you don’t help?” I shook my head.

 “Well uh, do you need help?” I cleared my throat and put my hands in my pockets to appear cooler than I was. “I need some uranium.” I nearly jumped out of my skin. “What?! Are you out of your mind woman? That stuff is completely radioactive!” 

“Nothing runs on fossil fuel where I’m from, all transportation relies on nuclear energy or some form of electromagnetic radiation.” She jumped into the destroyed UFO and threw me her white vinyl suitcase and I.D. “No offense Miss, but can you speak English? I didn’t catch all that.” I smirked to see if she got my practical joke but she just looked at me unimpressed. I’m such an idiot.

“So, uh, where are you from uh-” I took a peek at her I.D., all the important details on her I.D. were too foreign to read, kind of reminded me of hieroglyphics actually, but what stood out to me was the only word in English, her large green name in cursive. “Varla?” Wow! That name is out of this world! But then again I am talking to an alien who fell from the sky.

 “Don’t touch Geoff! I don’t want your grubby hands ruining my fake I.D.” Apparently, I wasn’t paying attention because the I.D. card flew out of my fingers and into the air. “How do you know my name?” Varla rolled her eyes, “I can read minds, duh.”

 “Anyways, I come from a planet many light-years from the Solar System. I was on a trip to write about my travels and adventures in different planets in civilizations,” Varla then pointed her figure at me, “Don’t even bother asking for its name, you’d never be able to pronounce it.” Wow, okay Miss, no need to be such a smart aleck, sheesh.

“My trip was cut short because my parents found out I ran away from home and upon my travels to Venus, they tampered with my UFO, so now I’m stuck in this cesspool until they come and find me.” She paused for a second then shrugged nonchalantly. “Well if they come and find me.” All of this mumbo jumbo was thrown at me all at once, how am I supposed to keep up? 

“Woah, woah, woah, you’re telling me you ran away far away from home on a UFO?” Varla nodded, and suddenly a lightbulb immediately lit up over my head.  “Hey, listen Varla, My parents are gonna be outta town till Sunday if you want you can stay-- I mean hide here until they come back.” I guess aliens from outer space barely have any emotion because all Varla does is give me a blank stare, either that or she has an unusual sense of humor. 

“Okay.”

I was no longer afraid or confused anymore. I had the biggest grin on my face, tonight started to turn around for the better! And for a moment I completely forgot about Marion! Life is good.

                                                      ***

“I see you’re making yourself comfortable already.” Varla was rummaging through all the cabinets in the kitchen; it was kind of annoying as she was carelessly throwing things around the house because I knew damn well I was going to be the sorry sucker to clean up all this mess. 

“You said to make yourself at home?”  I sighed, not even an hour after her arrival she’s already causing trouble, but I was taught by my parents to always be hospitable whenever people came over so that’s just what needed to be done.

 “Gee woman I didn’t say destroy it!” I barely caught a pot with my flimsy noodle arms as it almost landed on the tile floor. “Look, why don’t you just sit down and relax and watch some TV?” I scooted her over to the couch in the living room which was fairly small and turned on the TV.

 My family and I only had three channels in total, besides they weren’t much into modern technology like I was. Heck, they barely use any products containing plastic in them! None! “Hey! Sit down!” Varla knocked on the TV and kept turning it on and off over and over again. “This box isn’t working.” I felt like I was babysitting those ankle-biters from down the street a while back. “Argh! Why can’t you just sit still for a couple of seconds?!” I tried restraining her but she was physically stronger than me so that ended up not working. 

DING DONG!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Who could possibly be at the front door at this hour? I was about to get to the door until Varla beat me to the punch. “Good evening! How do you do?” I tried pushing her out of the way but it was no use, he was already shocked by her appearance. Ugh! Why can’t she keep under the radar?!

“Uh is this the Geoffrey Preston residence?” I smiled at the mailman skittishly.“Why yes! You’re speaking to him–” Varla snatched the envelope from his hands and shut the door. “Varla! That was rude!” Seriously, how could someone be so insolent? Gosh. 

“What’s this?” She examined the letter then sparks flew from her finger onto the paper tearing the envelope open with a laser. What? What was I witnessing? “Gimme that!”I gasped this cannot be happening! ”They got back to me!” Quickly, I opened the letter:

Dear Geoffrey B. Preston Jr., 

We have received and reviewed your application for our national organization Young Men in Space Science and Beyond. Unfortunately, you don’t fit the qualifications to be a perfect candidate for our association. Enclosed you will find a copy of your puerile application. Thank you for the effort you’ve put into your letter, we’ve had plenty of laughs!

Signed, 

The Young Men in Space and Beyond Council

Ouch. I frowned as I pulled back the letter to see the application. “How ironic is it that you’re interested in space and I ended up in your backyard,” I glared at Varla then looked back at my hand. I couldn’t be bothered by her antics anymore. Being a part of the Young Men in Space Science and Beyond was something I really wanted ever since I heard about it! For goodness sake, I’ve waited six months for them to get back to me! How was I gonna become an engineer now?!

 “Alright, sorry, seems like a dorky institution anyway.” How could this night get worse? Mari breaks my heart, I’m currently bunking a sassy alien in my house, and now this?! “Oh c’mon Geoff, you’re acting like it’s gonna be the end of the world!” Varla slapped my back, scaring the stuffing out of me. “If it were the end of the world  and my parents would invade and kill every life form known to man.” I couldn’t tell if the last part was serious or a joke. “But I’ll ensure it’ll never happen. And hey, it’s not like you’ll never get or even find another opportunity like this one ever again.” Golly, she had a point. Why can’t I see the bigger picture of things?!

 “Hey thanks, you’re right about that.” How she did was beyond me but I was now out of my funk. This is probably the only time I’m ever going to have a sentimental moment with a woman and my luck she’s from outer space! “Well we should start heading for bed, it’s late.” Do extraterrestrials even sleep? Guess we’ll find out. 

I yawned as I walked to my room only to find Varla sleeping on my bed with my blanket! Well not really, she was levitating. I’m having my doubts about Varla being an alien, what happens if she’s a vampire? Regardless I got another blanket from the corner of my bed and threw it over me. 

“OW!”

And like that Varla’s body fell on top of me still fast asleep! I groaned trying to push her off but it was pointless, it was impossible to push her off of me. This was going to be a long, long night.

                                                    ***

“Varla, Varla, Varla!” I searched the whole house, she was nowhere in sight. “But guys you gotta believe me!” I invited Phil and his girlfriend, Zelda, to hang out on a Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, right after I woke up, Varla and her UFO mysteriously disappeared and I’ve been trying to find her for the past few hours.

 The three of us were standing where Varla’s flying saucer was last night. They didn’t believe my supernatural encounter, instead, they just looked at me as if I had two heads while I explained to them in full detail what had happened. 

“A smoking hot alien girl falls from outer space? Sounds too good to be true honestly.” Zelda laughed at Phil’s sarcastic remark. “Who are you trying to pitch this story to? RKO? or to some lame prestigious outdated writing competition for young adults?” Zelda almost spit out her drink, “Well if she’s so real then why don’t you introduce her to us, huh?”

“Right ahead of ya, Buster. Oh, good morning, Geoff.”

Phil and Zelda’s faces went into complete shock as Varla magically appeared right in front of their eyes, nearly knocking Phil and Zelda off their chairs! “Varla! Where have you been? I was worried sick!” I really didn’t want her to make her exceptional presence known to such a small provincial town like ours, I wished she could’ve notified me before so maybe we could’ve gone out together instead of her just doing her own thing.

 “You mean worried that I might’ve been captured by the feds and that’ll you’d get interrogated for keeping me here in this humble home of yours? Yeah, I’m not an idiot.” She needs to stop reading my mind, literally. 

“Well, at least you’re wearing normal clothing now.” It seems like Varla has nitpicked my mother’s closet switching that wack bodysuit for a subtle beige blouse and skirt while I was asleep which completely explains the massive pile of clothes in the closet.

 “Are you kidding? This getup is totally uggo! If I wanted to wear beige I could just roll around in Martian sand!” Phil and Zoe fell off their chairs, not from surprise, but from laughter. I couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

“Oh okay wow, no hello or any sort of greeting to the new girl? Also, by the way, thank you for outting me to your friends, Geoff.” I sank into my seat in embarrassment while the couple continued to laugh at me, by then Varla floated in the air to walk on the roof. 

“You can’t say a thing to anybody, got it?” Luckily, Phil and Zelda were understanding that I was keeping an extraterrestrial here unbeknownst to my parent’s wishes, and to the whole town for that matter. I genuinely didn’t want to get in trouble nor get Varla into trouble, but I can tell she has a mind of her own.

Girlfriend? Is that what they see Varla as? Well, in that case, that’ll be great! I could get Mari jealous so I can get her back by acting like Varla and I are together! Yes! It’ll be the plan of the century! 

“Hey Varla,” I ran down the patio stairs to where she was now laying on the ground, she looked very peaceful as if she was dead, it was kind of scary. “I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and my buds to meet my other friends, Jerry and Marion.” She levitated upwards, scaring the living daylights outta us. 

“What’s the catch?” Oh no! How could I forget? Varla reads minds! I had to think of something quick before she catches onto my plan! C’mon Geoff, you gotta convince her!  “Can’t I be nice and take you out somewhere?” She gave me a blank stare, I was really hoping she wouldn’t figure it all out. 

“I’ve already gone out while you were sleeping and we’re all out right now, so what’s the big deal?” She frowned and turned away from us grumbling inaudible garble.  “No, no, you’re not seeing the big picture! you’ll be out experiencing life on Earth! You’d get to hang out with the five of us and eat food! You’d have a good time! You’ll eat spaghetti!” Varla looked very hesitant but somehow I knew deep down she did in fact want to explore her surroundings with a few other people and great people at that. Or maybe just mooch off of us for free spaghetti. 

“C’mon Varla!” I began to feel very enthusiastic and grabbed her by the arm and skipped around our lawn to the front of my house. Phil and Zelda eventually joined in and we pranced all the way to his hot rod on the opposite side of my street. I think that did the trick because as we laughed all the way to Phil’s ride I could’ve sworn I saw her smiling, Varla smiling? This is madness! but it was all fine because Varla was finally smiling! And oh! how her smile was so kind that I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

                                              ***

To our surprise when we arrived at the diner it wasn’t busy on a Saturday afternoon like we expected it to be. “Over here!” I heard the voice of no other than the heartbreaker herself, Marion. She hurried and ran up to me to give me the most massive hug I’ve probably ever received in my life. 

“Ah! Geoff! How are you? I missed you so much!” Mixed emotions and messages rushed through my head, I didn’t have a clue on what to feel anymore for her or for myself. Varla then stood by my side making Mari’s face drop. 

“Um, who’s this?” Her presence made the whole diner have their full attention on her. “That’s Varla, they’ve just started going out,” Zelda said while she and Phil walked their way to the booth where the fugazi Jerry was loitering. Marion grimaced at me and scoffed while she trudged her way back into Jerry’s arms. What the hell was that about? 

I was left behind standing in the middle of the floor spaced out until I found Varla poking at the jukebox while it played back some novel doo-wop. She was apparently fascinated with the large poster of Elvis Presley that hung above it. “It’s him, His Excellency.” I’ve finally come to the conclusion that Varla’s out of her wits. I couldn’t help but nervously laugh “Haha, yes, the King of Rock and Roll, we all love him.” As she was about to bow down to Elvis I yanked her hand to lead her to sit beside me until I saw her outfit. Somehow she recolored it all to a bright red. 

“Varla! What did you do to your clothes?!” I hissed at her looking at her up and down. “I told you that I don’t do beige.” Of course, Varla just had to be the center of attention, but hey it seems like it working, Marion seems to be a little teed off! I sighed in irritation, “Varla they’re my mother’s…” Sooner than later we sat next to each other while Jerry gave us the ultimate staredown. I pretended to read the menu to avoid any conflict.

“So, Varla, how long have you been here? Considering that you’re new to this town of course.” I heard a hint of jealousy spew from Mari’s mouth. Varla however didn’t respond, instead, she just drank my free water while the polite waitress placed them onto the table ignoring both of them. “Doesn’t look like she’s from here at all,” Jerry responded to Marion in a bias tone. 

“Definitely not American, that’s for sure.” Jerry scoffed while Marion giggled at his snide remarks.  Why were they making fun of her? What they were saying about Varla made me furious, but I knew I couldn’t do nor say a thing about it. Me up against Jerry? he’d kill me with one punch! “I find it hard to believe Geoff that you got a girlfriend who probably speaks broken to none English at all.” 

“And I find it hard to believe you’re poking fun at me when you have more grease on your face than in your hair." Marion gasped, Phil and Zelda's utensils dropped while Jerry kept his composure laughing intimidatingly. I can't believe Varla just went there! And the worst part was that she’s right! 

 "Hold your tongue Jerry, you don't know what Varla's capable of," Zelda warned Jerry, and rightfully so. "Capable of? Pssh how about you remember your place, Zelda." Jerry's threatening aura and tone made us all quiet. There's no use standing up to such a blockhead like him.

 "You women don't have a say in anything I do or wanna do." Phil glared at Jerry as he hugged Zelda who looked mentally beaten up from him.  My blood couldn’t help but boil in fury! This was supposed to be a nice afternoon dammit!

 Varla then stood up and slammed her hands on the table, "How dare you be such a cruel brutish fiend! do you have any human decency to treat your companions with the same respect as they have for you?" Woah! I didn't expect Varla to go off on Jerry like that! 

“Since you’re so bold why doesn’t your little boyfriend settle it with me behind wheels, eh?” I was yanked out of my seat as Jerry grabbed me from the collar of my shirt. Jerry was totally livid, it was like staring right in the eyes of Satan himself!

 Varla ripped the fabric on my shirt letting me go from Jerry's pitbull grip from her supernatural strength. “Lay a finger on him and I’ll obliterate you and your flame out of existence!" Varla commanded at him, "If you're man enough to declare your power, you will go against me one on one! You got that?" No one has ever stuck up for me like that before.

"Oh ho ho ho! You're on! I’d like to see ya try and beat me!" How could I have let this happen? Jerry’s the best driver in town! Also, where the hay was the adults when you needed them the most?! 

***

"Varla you don't even know how to drive!" I attempted to talk Varla out of going against Jerry in this asinine drag race. "Go on and watch me." It was no use, she’s made up her mind. Why Phil trusts Varla with his car is beyond me. 

"God, Geoff! Don't you have any faith in that woman?!” Well, there was that answer I was looking for! “For crying out loud did you forget she's an alien! She could do anything she wants!" Phil exclaimed while he and Zelda were rooting for her on the sidelines.

 "Kick Jerry’s keister Varla!" Phil had a point, but still, going up against Jerry in a drag race on the outskirts of town nevertheless scared the crap outta me.  Ok, Geoff, you got yourself into this mess, the least you could do is enter the passager’s seat and suck it up! With hesitation I entered the car, Varla looked me up and down.

“I know what you’re on about, Geoff.” I could sense she wanted to pick a fight with me.“Do you honestly think I’m a cretin?” Welp, here we go. “Your logic for winning back Marion is so flawed! C’mon, you making her jealous using me as bait?” I simply hate how within a day of meeting her she has access to my mind 24/7. “Just take a hint, she’s just not into you!”

 I didn’t feel like moping like I have been ever since she’s called me out, so instead, I snapped at her.“Varla, do you have any idea what it feels like when you’ve done everything that you possibly could do to win someone over?!” I was mad, yes but not at Varla. I was mad at myself and didn’t want to take no for an answer. 

After all this it still feels like I’m inferior to Jerry and that no matter how hard I try enough to win her over Marion and I cannot be together. She’s always picked him from the start since he has the good looks and charm, but he sure as hell certainly doesn’t have the heart. All I ever wanted was good things for Marion, however, she has always preferred Jerry over me and that I was second best. Then it hit me, what exactly was I trying to prove to Marion? I was about to cry until,

SKRRT!

I was thrown back in my seat screaming bloody murder as Varla drove around. No warning, no nothing, I wasn’t even ready nor saw Zelda cue the both of them to drive! Again, she’s going off-script. Everyone, this is why you should buckle up before you do anything in an automobile. 

I could barely see where we were going or what we were doing, we were driving at light speed. “Slow down! Slow down! I’m sorry please don’t let me die!” I begged for her to stop not crying from heartache but at the thought of getting thrown out of the vehicle against my will. 

Thankfully, the ride eventually got slower but to my surprise, the whole ride was in slow motion!  “I didn’t mean that slow Varla!” I turned around and holy cow! She was ahead of Jerry! And soon enough she continued back in fast motion and hit the finish line with Zelda’s flag accidentally banging the dashboard. She and Phil cheered Varla on as Marion stood there in bewilderment.

“How did you do that? You’re not even licensed to drive!” I asked. “Breaking the law of physics.” I genuinely felt like I was gonna faint on the spot, maybe toss cookies too. Varla glared at me but I was too focused on Marion running to Jerry and oh boy, was he mad. They looked as if they were about to bite each other's heads off.

 “Let’s get out of here.” Okay! Sure! Let’s go into the same car in which you drove where I almost hurled in! Though we didn’t, as a matter of fact, we both magically appeared on top of a hill where you can see the whole town from. It was pretty cool. “Isn’t it all beautiful? Such a shame all you humans do is pollute it with your disgusting trash.” What a way to ruin a perfect moment. 

“But that’s not why I brought you here,” She mysteriously then looked up at me, “I need to tell you something.” Okay? What is it? “Last night, at any moment I’ve could’ve simply gone to another planet within the Solar System.” What? I just stared blankly at her trying to comprehend what she’s saying.

“It’s insane to me but I do believe fate brought us together.” How was I supposed to react to all this?  “Is that why you stayed here?” She nodded. I was astonished, I’ve never seen such strong feelings displayed to a person, nor myself. “Where do you feel it, Varla? In your heart?” She shrugged foolishly. My eyes lit up, “You mean you feel something for me?” It all made sense now, Varla was acting fresh because she didn’t know how to display her feelings towards me! 

“How should I know? I never felt such strong emotion in my life! Until I met you.”  Ugh! How could I’ve been so blind? Why am I finally recognizing this now?! “This feeling– these feelings all run deep.” So hot and cold, and for what? But her words felt right, all of them did. How? I couldn’t tell you for my life. 

“So help me, Geoff, help me figure out my sense of unexplainable admiration for you.”

 In midst of all of this her teleporting us up here, was Varla going to kiss me? Were we going to kiss?! I don’t know what to do! I did what I knew best in alarming situations like these, freeze in place. Also, I didn’t wanna be a buzzkill squirming like the cowardly worm I was so I merely closed my eyes shut prepared for whatever this kiss will entail.

ZAP!

I was shocked, literally shocked by Varla’s lips. She electrified me. More or so, electrocuted me. “Oops.” I spazzed out of the floor for a hot minute twitching like a half-dead fish. It was like I had forgotten about Mari all over again though this time it was different. I had this indescribable feeling lingering through my bones, but what was it? The oddest thing about all of this was that I kind of felt the same.

***

When the sunset, Varla and I returned home. I was still awestruck by the kiss that happened prior to this evening. It was like that flying angel baby in cartoons shot me in the butt or something! Talk about a more modern-day Romeo and Juliet, I sure hope there’s not gonna be a broadway production soon-to-be movie adaptation of something like this in the near future because if engineering for me doesn’t work out, at least I got playwriting! Because how star-crossed could you get from this?

“Geoff.” Varla cued me to stop kissing her on the couch. “What?” She turned her head 360 degrees clockwise. “I have a feeling someone might be watching us,” I laughed, she couldn’t be serious! The blinds and curtains were closed shut! “Or have been listening to us this whole time…” Her eyes were deadlocked on something or someone. I wonder if there is this mysterious person eavesdropping she speaks off I hope they’re smart enough to bail so I can continue to have Varla for myself without any interruptions.

RING! RING!

 Crud, the telephone rings! Well, Varla’s distracted anyway, might as well pick up the phone. “Geoff! Geoff! Thank goodness you’re home! Where did you go?! Did you not see what happened?” Phil’s shrill voice pierced my eardrums,  “Woah, slow down, what happened?” 

“Marion broke up with Jerry!”

Marion broke up with Jerry, Marion broke up with Jerry, Mari broke up with Jerry! I couldn’t help but be reminded of her sweet, soft presence.“No way! for real!? I hung up the phone and kissed Varla on the cheek. 

“Oh come on, you still like her?” Varla frowned at me with dismay.“After all we’ve been through within my 24 hours on Earth you still prefer that hussy over me?” She became very frustrated. “No! That’s not true, Varla! I like you, a lot! I can prove it!” I leaned in for a kiss only to face plummet into the pillow as Varla suddenly appeared at the left side of the couch.

 “Y’know I find it rich coming from the guy who says he’s second best, meanwhile all you’ve done is treat me like a second-hand citizen when all I’ve done was show more respect than your peers or anyone for that matter has given you in your entire life!” Inhuman was what I’d describe her tone, I now know how my dad feels with ma yells at him.

 “Yeah?! Well– you–”    And with that, Varla started bawling though her tears weren’t like any ordinary tears, it was as if she was crying little specks of stardust. Oh no! I didn’t mean for her to cry! “Why can’t you just be honest instead of me making a fool out of myself for actually kissing you!” What? No! What was she saying?! I clung to her like never before, but she shoved me off of her. “I am honest! I’m just confused, that’s all! Please Varla, don’t cry!” I tried to put my arm on her shoulder consoling her but she swatted it away.

 “I had some hope that you’d see what I saw in you but I guess you fail to see it since you’re just too immature.” I didn’t want her to cry! I didn’t mean for her to cry! And my goodness gracious, immature? I can’t be immature! Am I? “I don’t have time for those who play mind games with others, especially those who are in denial and can’t tell the difference between lust and love!” But I did like her! More than I’ve liked anyone or every woman for that matter! 

“Just forget it, Geoff, I should’ve never stayed here.” She headed off to leave to the backyard. “Wait! Varla!” I chased after her outside to the backyard.

“Varla! Varla!”

I shouted her name repeatedly but nothing. And within a blink of an eye, I heard my mother’s nasally voice call for me. “Geoffrey! Honey! What are you doing outside not greeting your parents?!” I cried. What have I done? I have made the worst mistake of my life. I was guilty, guilty for everything that I've done toward her. I should’ve made her feel more at home! I should’ve and could’ve done something to make it alright! 

I took a look around, everything looked perfectly normal. Too perfect. Too bland! Too boring! Varla could’ve made the tree’s leaves pop some sort of zany color or could’ve cruised around my house with her flying saucer! She was everything! She was my everything!

At that moment, I realized she was the one for me, but it was too late, now she was gone. Gone without a trace. All I had left now was my wish for her to come back and I wished like I did that one Friday evening and wished for her to come back.

Please return Varla, I love you.