Falling Out

This a true story of a girl named Melissa. Please take time to read this beautiful experience.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Falling Out

Dear Travis,
What's happened to us? I used to feel so close to you, but nowit's as if there are miles between us. I have always believed that friends come before everything else - girlfriends and boyfriends - everything. I guess I was wrong. Thanks for the push back to reality. I am sorry that we have had a falling out, but i want you to know that i will still be here when (and if) you need me. I will miss you.
Melissa


No "love you" no "yours sincerely"... as i noticed how plain my name looked on the paper all by itself, Travis walked into the hallway where i stood waiting by his locker. I glanced around quickly, looking for a way to escape, but before I could leave without being seen, I heard his all-to-familiar "Hey", as he spotted me.
I put my head down as he approached, hoping that he wouldn't see the pain in my eyes. I handed over the letter, which he took with a small smile. "Thanks Melissa."
"Can you call me tonight?" I replied, "After you read the letter?" My voice was shaking, and my words were unsure, but if he noticed, he didn't let on. I gave him a quick hug and left the hall, though turning from him was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
An hour later, as i talked with my friend Caitlan on the phone, I explained that I couldn't belive what I had actually given to him. What was he going to think?
"He's your friend, Melissa. It's going to be okay," Caitlan reassured me. As I listened to her words, I thought of just how important a friend he was. I had always found it easier to confide in guys, because somehow they seem to judge you a little less, while understanding you a little more. That was definetly what I had with Travis. He could understand me when the rest of the world couldn't. He trusted me, let me grow and listened to what I had to say without judgement--whether it was something he wanted to hear or not.
When I had realised that Travis had a thing for my other best friend Janette, I never thought that his asking her out would affect as many things as it did. Suddenly, it was as if he and I had no chance to talk on the phone or write letters, no freedom to hug or be ourselves. Suddenly Janette, whom I had known since my second grade,didn't trust me enough to be with her new boyfriend. She felt jealous..... but she didn't realise that I, too, had my own feelings of jealousy. I was jealous of the time she got to spend with Travis, and resentful of the time I could not.
The click of call waiting brought my thoughts back to the present, and I answered the other line knowing that it was Travis.
"Hey, so um.... yeah, that was the saddest letter I have ever read," he began. "I never knew you felt that way."
"Yeah, well, you weren't exactly around to ask, either," I replied harshly.
"Yeah Missa, I know, I know...I am sorry that we haven't had much time together, but all I can say is that it will get better. I mean, it can't get any worse. But we can beat this--you and I will always be friends."
"Trav, everybody says that, but you and I know that it is not going to happen." My voice trembled, and tears welled up my eyes, threating to spill over.
"Its different with us, remember? Nothing can tear us apart. We will be friends forever." I hung up the phone that night feeling a little bit better, yet at the same time, wondering if the promise would last.
Time went on, and nothing seemed to change. We seemed to grow farther and farther apart, and the thought that we would ever be friends again slowly faded. We talked once in a while, usually a polite "hi" in the hallway, but our "friendship", as it was, was making me crazy. The night before winter break, I made the decision to bring closure to the situation. I put everything that reminded me of Travis into a box, and put the box in my closet. There was one thing I could not put away: a stuffed lobster named Allen that I had won on a trip tp Las Vegas. It was a trip I had spent with Travis. I knew what I had to do.
I saw him at school the next day, and handed him the stuffed animal.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Allen--you do remember him, don't you?"
"Yeah, but...."he started to say.
"It's so he can be wiht you.... while I can't." My last few words trickeled out, and big tears started rolling down my face as I realised this was the last time I could call him a friend. Travis looked at me, motionless and silent, as if only realizing then that we had grown apart, too far beyond repair.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked me. I nodded my head as more tears streamed down my face. He pulled me into his arms, Allen and all. It was one of those hugs that reassures you that someday everything will be all right. And now, I do not regret what happened between us. It was an experience that will make me stronger and help me grow. I had never paid attention to the saying about how boyfriends and girlfriends will come and go, while your friends will last forever. But now, I see it as the most important advice I had ever been given. One day, I know it will be better. Sometimes I see him with Janette, and before he passes, he always gives me that famous smile.....

Melissa Lew.

(The above story has been taken from the book "Chicken Soup" )