Someone Like You

She was hardly ready to go when Ella got the text-message saying, “I’m here.” She still had to finish her hair and choose a pair of shoes. It was about eight thirty in the evening and the summer light was still visible outside her window. There was a knock on the door and with a brush in one hand and two different of shoes in another, she opened the door and let Tyler in.
“Evening.”
He took a step in and closed the door. He was wearing dark jeans with a white button down and a grey blazer. He gestured at a picture on the wall and asked, “New canvas?”
She nodded.
“It’s nice. Are you ready to go?”
“Almost.”
She ran back into the bathroom to finish her hair while he waited in the living room.
He teased her, “If you keep touching it, it’ll only get worse.”
Once her hair was finished and the shoes were picked out, they were finally ready to leave. It wasn’t until she walked out of the door that Brad’s face popped into her head.
Ella and Brad were together for just about six months. Their feelings towards each other, however, went deeper and farther than that. He was her first love.
From the beginning, they were both way in over their heads; obsessed with each other – from texting constantly to always being together –no one or nothing could separate them.
Brad was everything and more than what any girl would look for in a boyfriend. Not only was he an excelling athlete in golf, soccer and lacrosse but he was also an extremely intelligent student. He was tall, with medium brown hair and brown eyes that made her smile every time she gazed into them. Everything about him attracted her to him and with each passing day their affection towards one another grew stronger. In a matter of weeks they were in love- a love that most would describe as puppy love. Eyes grew twice their size at the sight and even thought of one another. When the two were together, no one else existed. Every morning Ella would wake up to a message on her phone reading, “Good morning beautiful, I hope you had a good sleep.”
“So I was thinking Italian, is that okay with you?” said Tyler.
Ella had forgotten all about Tyler for those few moments.
She failed to notice that she was in the car with Tyler and had subconsciously carried out their conversation from the house to the moment she answered, “I love Italian, that’s fine by me.”
Italian – it reminded Ella of the time her and Brad went downtown to grab a slice of pizza. She had a slice of cheese with a Sprite, while Brad had a slice of pepperoni with a Coke. They sat outside eating and talking. Occasionally they would see someone they knew and conversation was put to a halt. Following pizza, they went their favorite ice cream shop and order the same thing – a cup of mint chocolate chip.
“I’ll have the Chicken Parmesan with a Coke. And she will have…”
“Ella…” said Tyler.
“Oh my bad, I will have the Shrimp Scampi with a Sweet Tea. Thank you.”
As Tyler and Ella sat at the table, she couldn’t help but think about Brad. Why did they even break up? Is there something she could have done differently to save their relationship? Nevertheless, Ella told herself that she was over it, and not to recreate the past.
“Is everything okay?’’ asked Tyler.
“Yea, everything is fine just remembered something, but its not important” she said. Someone Like you by Adele played in the background through the restaurant’s rusting speakers.
“Okay, if you say so. Ella, have you decided where you wanted to go to college?”
“Well you see, to be honest Tyler, I’m not really sure where I want to go. All I know is what I want to do.”
“Which is?” asked Tyler.
“Journalism. Broadcasting journalism, to be more specific. What about yourself?”
Although she was unsure about where she would be attending college in the Fall, Ella did know where Brad was going – to an Ivy League.
“I got a full scholarship to play football for the University of Michigan” claimed Tyler, whose face lit up at the chance to tell someone this.
“That’s great news! I’m so happy for you, I know how hard you must have worked and trained.”
This conversation between Tyler and Ella was becoming more pure. Brad was no longer on her mind, reminding her of what could have been. He was no longer distracting her. She was finally starting to enjoy being with Tyler – talking and laughing with him. Just then she realized something that she had never grasped before:
Ella had kept dwelling on the past; remembering how things used to be instead of how they were. Rather than enjoying her time spent with Tyler, all she could think about was Brad and what he was doing. In reality, Brad most likely never thought about what Ella had been doing or how she was. She was consumed with the old relationship; therefore making this new one cease to even begin to exist. She had missed the opportunity to start a new chance at finding new love. While thinking about what could have been, Someone Like You popped into in her head and she began humming the tune- contemplating if the right choice was made.