Magic

The second time Shane drove me to see Allison he got introduced to Sarah. Remember Sarah, she was the other girl with Allison the night I met her. Allison and Sarah were best friends and it was just natural for Allison to arrange for the two of them to meet. Shane and Sarah hit it off. I think it was the bad guy persona he tried to project. Sarah and Shane wasted no time and were soon having sex. Oh well they could do their thing, because Allison and I were happy with the way things were with us.

Spring came around again and I thought things between Allison and I couldn't get any better and Allison told me a lot of times she couldn't be happier. I had given her my school ring so we were now formally going steady. We had to wrap tape around it to make it smaller so it wouldn't keep falling off her finger but she was happy with it and showed it off to her friends all the time.

We still talked over everything, and had both agreed we were looking forward to her eighteenth birthday a year and a half away. Nothing was going to ruin what we planned. That second summer together was the best year of my life.

Our parents also noticed the connection we had with the "magic", and how it had seemed to get even stronger. It got to the point I could be at home and some feeling would tell me when Allison was going to call so I would race to the phone trying to beat her. She could do the same with me so that got to be a game between the two of us. We also got to the point we finished each others sentences, even if it was some obscure idea unknown to the other one.

To us our "magic" was a major thing that linked us together. People couldn't understand the "magic" thing we had, and we had no way of telling them in words so they could understand being able to feel the others emotions all the time, and how it affected us. That "magic" thing became the normal with us. So normal, we got to the point we never thought about our "magic"... It was just there.

3) Year 2

The summer of our second year of knowing each other was spent with me again working at my uncles and spending every moment I could with Allison. When it was time to go back to school, I took on a heavy workload to get the courses I wanted so I would be prepared for the future. The heavy workload is what happens when you change too many classes in mid stream because you want to change the career path you are taking. I wanted to change from a vocational side of things to more academic courses so that meant the two years left in high school I was going to cram three years of studying in. Allison was taking a normal load so she had more time on her hands.

Other than the distance of her living out in the country and me in town we were always together. We connected every chance we could and made the most of our time together. That little Honda of mine sure put on a lot of miles.

By the time our second Christmas came, we had been together a year and a half and I was considered part of the family in Allison's home, and she was also part of the family in my home. When I say that I mean her parents thought of me as their son and my parents considered Allison their daughter. When the realization of that hit home, we sat down and had a serious discussion. That was the night we seriously promised ourselves exclusively to each other, even though we had been since we met. We also gave our word we wouldn't do anything to hurt the other with anyone else. It felt like an engagement for us, and I even told her after her eighteenth birthday, we would have to seriously go looking for a ring.

The winter passed. She was at my place most weekends and holidays so I could study more. As an added bonus, she understood those courses I was taking better than I did, so she was a natural choice to tutor me. Staying at each others house for weekends and such was the expected norm for us by then, because by that time both sets of parents were comfortable with our commitment to wait on being physical until we were finished school.

That commitment to wait on being physically involved with each other was sure hard on the two of us. By that time in our relationship we had done a fair bit more than heavy petting, and knew what each others body looked and felt like. The most difficult part of that was knowing through the "magic", how much each other was enjoying those times and believe me it was tough holding back.

Just before New Years Allison and I overheard our parents talking about us. My mom was talking to Allison's mom and said, "Have you noticed the two of them when they are together? They are always looking into each others eyes and there is always some touching between them. When they are apart, they seem lost."

"Yeah I've noticed. At first I thought it was young puppy love infatuation, but their relationship has blossomed into something a lot more that that. I think what the two of them have is a lot like what you always see in fairy tales. If there was ever such a thing as true love and the emotional commitment that involves, I'm sure those two have it."

For us listening to those comments from our mothers really confirmed what the two of us thought we had, and brought into focus just how much the two of us had going for us.

We still got teased from just about everyone about the puppy love thing, because within seconds of being together, there was always some body contact even if it was just holding hands.

For that year other than working hard at school, socializing with friends, and the part time job I got, things were pretty uneventful.

4) The "Magic" Fades Then Is Gone.

The third summer we were together was a bit more hectic that the other summers we had together. I was working more hours at my part time job and Allison was also working for a neighbour, but we still met up every evening we could.

Then Allison and I started our senior year. School was chaotic for me as the workload increased. I almost regretted changing my classes from the vocational to the academic studies. Allison and I started out the school year like all the other years hoping to make good marks so we could get on with our lives afterwards.

Our parents socialized with each other all the time now and were best friends. I'm sure the Christmas, New Years and Easter holidays were the best ever with both families enjoying the festivities together. It was like having one big happy family around all the time.

Allison and I still enjoyed being with our friends with the only difference being Shane, who had started hanging out with a rougher crowd at school. The rest of us were considering him to be less of a friend and more of an acquaintance. That was mainly because his attitude had really changed and he wanted to fit into the image his new group of friends had. He definitely was becoming more of a rebel and he started to act like he was better than everyone else and could do as he pleased.

I was so busy with my own active life so I never even paid that much attention to what Shane was doing. I never noticed that he and his girlfriend Sarah didn't seem to want to be near each other unless there were other people around. About the only time they got together was when someone else was there to act as a referee. Allison insisted we double date with them as a favour to Sarah. I guess Sarah still liked him, but his new attitude was starting to be unappealing for her. As long as I could be with Allison, I didn't care who else we went out with, so we double dated a lot.

I don't know why, I was stupid I guess, but I never paid much attention to the fact that Shane seemed to spend more time talking to Allison than to Sarah.

Double dating soon wore thin for me, because having another couple there all the time meant I couldn't talk to Allison like I wanted to. Eventually I dropped going out with them all together. Without thinking about it, I just naturally thought with me not there Allison wouldn't go out with them either. Allison, for some reason also never mentioned to me that she was still going out with them during the week to "help them with their relationship".

Looking back at things I should have realized Shane was subtly trying to get closer to Allison and using the excuse of getting help with his relationship with Sarah to accomplish that. The kicker, I was to find out later, was Sarah and Shane broke up, and Shane and Allison were meeting on the sly under the pretence of trying to get Shane and Sarah back together. In reality, Shane was putting the moves on Allison and they were getting to be closer than just friends.

The courses in school I was taking were a lot harder than I thought they would be and I was concentrating so hard on them, I never clued onto the fact our "magic" was slipping away.

Our last summer together came after she had graduated. Unbeknownst to us it was going to be a very fateful summer. Allison found herself a job at a bank. I was working on one advanced summer class still, and only needed two credits to have enough to graduate. Besides school, I also had that part time job. Having that schedule, Allison and I couldn't get together too many times during the week, and had to settle for weekends to be together.

All of my friends had graduated, except Shane, who never even came close. He was back full time for summer school along with his new loser group of friends. He had slipped so much in his attitude about school if he ever wanted to graduate; he was going to have to go back to regular school to redo his last year too.

So, my eighteenth birthday came and went and was celebrated with a nice party with friends and both our families. Having my birthday meant Allison's was coming up three months afterwards. That was the big eighteenth for her as well, and we had been anxiously waiting for it. There were a lot of loving looks back and forth between us knowing our time was coming to consummate our relationship. Our parents knew about our promise to each other and we could see they were of a mixed opinion about that. On the one hand they knew we would get physical even if we weren't married, but on the other they knew that when we did do it we would both be adults and they had no real say in the matter.

Between Allison's work and my hectic schedule, the "magic" had slipped away and seemed to be random at best. We never noticed it had all but disappeared, and we had to think about it before it made an appearance for us. I guess that's what happens when you take something for granted thinking it would always be there.

One night two weeks before her birthday, I called Allison. It was a bit later than we usually talked because I had to run an errand for my dad. I hoped to talk to her a bit anyway. Nancy informed me, Allison had gone out with Shane to pick up Sarah like they had been doing every Wednesday.

That was the first I heard about her going out every Wednesday night without me, so I had to ask some questions about that. How long had this been going on? Why was Shane picking her up first and dropping her off last? Her mother didn't have any answers and told me to ask Allison the next night.

Hoping to catch Allison I phoned Sarah's house. Sarah told me she wasn't there and she hadn't seen her in a while. I told her I thought Allison would be with her because she went out every Wednesday after Shane came and picked her up to go with her and Shane to act as a third wheel to help them. I was shocked when I was informed Sarah and Shane had broken up two months previously. Sarah also informed me she was so pissed off at Shane that there wasn't a hope in hell of her ever talking to him again.

I then told Sarah, "Allison's mom told me Shane had been picking up Allison every Wednesday and they were gone for about three hours every time."

That was when Sarah exclaimed, "So that's who that bastard was fooling around with." She added, "I broke it off with him two months ago because I knew he was screwing around on me with someone, but I didn't know who, but I guess I do now. That bitch was supposed to be my best friend."

That's when my world crumbled. My mind went into overdrive. The question I had was, even if she was trying to help, why was he was picking her up instead of picking up Sarah first like a normal guy would do on a date. Then the obvious question came to me. Just what were they doing to "fix Sarah's relationship with Shane", and why were they going out by themselves to do it?

I was questioning everything. Why was she lying to everyone, especially me about what she was doing? Is this why she had been calling me earlier than we usual connected these last few Wednesdays? My head was spinning and I had to stop because I was questioning every little thing.

I tried to feel her with the "magic", trying to get a feel for what was happening. That's when I realized the "magic" had been getting weaker and weaker and I could hardly sense her. There was only the odd feeling of excitement that came and went. I couldn't make any sense out of that so I gave up trying.

Sitting there and thinking about it, I still believed I could trust her so I wasn't too worried even if I couldn't figure out what was going on.

The next day when I did finally talk with Allison on the phone, she blew it off, telling me she was just trying to get Shane and Sarah back together. I told her what Sarah had said about not getting back with him, but Allison said she was still trying to talk Shane into changing, and was going to continue to try getting them back together.

That weekend when I finally got to talk face to face with her, she reassured me that she was doing exactly what she said she was doing. I loved her, so like a fool, I believed her.

The next week in school was when my life went over the proverbial cliff. I happened to overhear the guys in Shane's group boisterously laughing and carrying on. I stayed around the corner and listened as they were discussing Shane and his latest conquest. It seems he had been bragging to anyone that would listen that he hooked up with a sexy friend of his old girlfriend. He had bragged that he was banging her once a week for the last month and a half now. He really bragged how he managed to manipulate her to get her virginity.

No names were mentioned but I was ready to blow my top when I realized they could be talking about Shane and Allison.

I also realized there was no proof, and it could all be bullshit. Thinking the worst was not productive and the more I thought about it the more I got depressed. Allison even picked up on my feelings at her work with the very few "magic" feelings we were getting about each other. As soon as I walked in the house, she was on the phone to find out what had got me upset.

At least she sounded worried.

By then I had calmed down, so hoping she wouldn't pick up on it with the "magic" I lied. God I felt like shit telling her I didn't get the expected mark on a test and I was disappointed. Somehow she believed that and we talked for our usual hour. Mom was in the room when this happened and picked up that something was wrong. I could see she was going to ask about it, so as to not have to lie again, I told her not to ask. Shit this was not a good day. I was lying to my girlfriend and putting off my mom and that was something I had never done to either of them.

In my mind, I was sure what I heard from that group of Shane's friends was all bullshit, but I just had to check. Come Wednesday night I left work early and was waiting down the road from Allison's to see if he showed up to pick her up. If he did, I wanted to see just where they went afterwards. Just as Shane pulled into her yard, the "magic" gave me a brief feeling of excitement, and then went out as fast as it came. I couldn't feel a thing from her after that.

I followed them. Wouldn't you know it, my worst fears were confirmed. They went and parked behind the old rickety barn at Smith's old place. The place had been abandoned for years and all the kids in the area used it for a parking spot to make out in.

It took me a few minutes to park my Honda behind some bushes and walk to a better vantage point. I just about died right there when I saw them in action together. I froze and fell to the ground. I didn't even realize how long I was there crying. I don't know how Allison never picked up on my grief, because I must have been broadcasting with a megaphone over our "magic".

When I came to my senses they were dressing getting ready to leave. I spent the rest of the night just sitting there in the tall grass, totally lost in all the hurt, pain and wild thoughts as my mind wrestled with the facts.

5) I Run Away.

That all happened on the Wednesday before Allison's Birthday party that Saturday. Before Wednesday's eye opener, I had been looking forward to being there to help her celebrate, but now there was no way in hell I wanted to even look at her. She probably figured it was a given that I would show up at her party, but I just couldn't. All I could think about was the deception, lies, and realizing all our plans we made for the future were worthless.

On Thursday and Friday I didn't go to my classes, or to my part time job. I spent my time in the park, with my mind going a mile a minute trying to think of why she did this to me. I'm sure everyone has had something tragic happen to them and all your mind does afterwards is go off on every weird tangent you could think about, whether those thoughts were rational or not. With me, the "why did she do it," and "she obviously didn't love me" thoughts just kept rolling through my head. All those young puppy love statements that everyone told us just after we met came to me too. It made me wonder if everyone else knew something I didn't.

The one gripping thing I couldn't get out of my mind was what were my family and friends going to think of me. I know it was a self-centred thought, but at that time my thoughts weren't very rational. I just knew I was going to be the centre of a lot of concerned attention with people laughing behind my back. I didn't want any of that, so thinking those thoughts led me to making plans so I wouldn't have to suffer the embarrassment of everyone giving me funny looks or me having to answer questions. So after two days I finished my plan and got ready to activate it.

I had also begged off talking to Allison by being out of the house until late, and leaving early in the morning. That way I also didn't have to see my mom and dad because they would have known something wasn't right. I did call Allison's Mom Friday while Allison was at work, and told her I would be there for the party, although I would be a few hours late. That was another bald faced lie from me. I was getting good at that. I had no intention of ever seeing Allison again, and if I could manage it I wouldn't even talk to her. I was just too embarrassed and out of my mind with heartache thinking about the way she hurt me to even think about seeing her.

My family had all been invited to Allison's birthday party. That was expected as both families were close. Saturday when my parents left for the party, they could see there was something the matter, but I just brushed off their questions and told them I had something to do and was going later... Crap another lie. I did give my brother this special birthday card I had spent a lot of time finding, and told him to secretly put it in with all the other cards and gifts she was sure to get. He looked at me funny, but I just told him it was a surprise.

I still remember that card. Allison had always liked balloons. She liked them even better than getting flowers. Hell, she always had one in her room just to bounce around to kill time. I found a card that on the face of it had some balloons surrounded by hearts, and on each of the balloons there was a word. The message the words on the balloons said was, To a Very Special Person, On a Very Special Birthday.