She Stole Nothing but His Heart

The Daisy Chronicles

Julianne Weinmann

My boyfriend says he loves me, but he doesn’t seem to “like” me. We make out every night in the parking lot of the Burger King, but during the day, he avoids me and even makes fun of me every chance he gets. Is this just immature stuff he does because he can’t handle our relationship? How do I get him to like me more?

Signed,

Loved but not Liked

After reading it aloud quietly, Marie was pondering an answer to this letter from a lovelorn student, when Denis peeked at her between the stacks in the school library. He overheard her oral recitation and had a response to offer:

“That’s not love, this guy is a jerk. He’s getting what he needs and doesn’t care about her at all. You should tell her to dump him, before he dumps her.”

Startled by his intrusion, Marie looked up to see his bright green eyes, anticipating her in every way. “What?” is all she could manage, being distracted by the striking contrast between Denis’ emerald eyes and auburn hair.

“May I?” he asked as he slid into the chair next to her.

“Well, I kinda have to get this done this period; I have no time to do it after school and the newspaper deadline is tomorrow morning.”

“No problem, that’s the answer, you’re done. Am I right, or am I right?”

“Maybe it’s not that simple. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to express himself. Maybe they don’t have enough in common. Maybe she’s dull and plain and bores him to tears!”

“So these are reasons for him to use her?”

“No, you’re right there. I wish he wrote the letter. I think I could handle a response to him more easily. I feel sorry for her.”

“Do you relate?”

“What does THAT mean?”

”I mean, has anything like that ever happened to you?”

“That’s a very personal question from someone I don’t even know. You have a lot of nerve asking me that.”

“Sorry, but for some strange reason, I’m very comfortable with you…..like I’ve known you a long time. I’m in your second period math class and I’m always amazed at the questions you ask. You want to know the real important stuff. You don’t just ask a question to be noticed or to ‘brown nose’ the teacher. I like that.”

“You’re making me blush. But we don’t know each other and that sounds like a ‘pick up line’ anyway. Aren’t you Denis Kirby, the jock, and aren’t you going out with Pamela Kimmel?”

“Sorta.”

“What….are you just using her?”

”Now who’s asking the personal questions?”

"Marie was as convincing as possible, trying to hide her extreme attraction to Denis. "

“Touché. Hey, I gotta get this done. No offense, but could you please get lost?” Marie was as convincing as possible, trying to hide her extreme attraction to Denis.

“Sure thing, Maria. By the way, Pamela and I aren’t serious or anything, if you know what I mean,” he lied.

“I don’t care to know,” she lied. “And my name’s ‘Marie.’”

“So are you going to use my answer, Marie?”

“For what?”

The Dear Izzy letter!”

“Oh,” Marie’s attention was miles away from her assignment at this point, and she was thoroughly lost in the excitement of flirtation. “No way.”

Denis gave her a “whatever” look and swaggered toward the library entrance, making motions like he was going to set off the “stolen book” alarm and trying to look as cool as possible doing it. Marie tried not to stare at him; she didn’t want to encourage him by being a noticeable “audience.”

Marie knew Denis was trouble. Pamela Kimmel was the president of Student Council and she didn’t take prisoners. Marie remembered Pamela’s election campaign was ruthless. She smeared her opponents so badly that they couldn’t even show their faces on election day, never mind compete effectively. Pamela won by a landslide and most kids feared her on some level. Pamela combines beauty and brains in the worst way, and so far, the combo has served her well. If she knew Denis was making a pass at Marie, she’d consider it a contest, and Marie didn’t need that kind of stress. But the attraction was undeniable. Plain Marie, pretty yet unassuming, bright but not brilliant, personable but not stimulating, wore her brown hair short so it would be easy to dry in the morning. Her blue eyes were unusual in their hue, but were noticed by people as an aside rather than straight on. In the food chain of high school piranhas, Marie was their “snack.” She promised herself she’d fight off her emotions and avoid the guy. She wrote:

Dear “Loved,”

This guy doesn’t love you, so don’t waste your time trying to get him to like you. “Like” comes before “Love” and what you have may be shear “lust.” You can only get hurt.

Izzy

Continued......Click HERE for next page.