Only the Pretty Lies

by Rebekah Crane

kids. Hell, I’m a total runner when it comes to relationships. The second a person wants to get serious is the second I want to bolt. But I can tell you what love isn’t, Amoris. Being in love doesn’t mean being ignorant. It doesn’t mean the world gets more beautiful. In fact, I’m pretty sure most people who fall in love are scared. All of a sudden, you care a lot more about what happens. It isn’t just you anymore. You have to deal with someone else’s pain, which, let’s be honest, isn’t easy. But someone else’s pain shouldn’t have to be suitable, or palatable, or convenient, or even make sense, for us to deal with it. Pain is pain. It isn’t up for debate. It just is. Stop thinking this is about you. If this is about you, and proving you’re not a bad person, then you don’t really love him. You’re using him to make you feel better about you. To prove Kaydene is wrong about you. If you continue to look at it like that, you’re right. You are going to hurt him. So I ask you, is this about you or Jamison?” “It’s about the both of us.” “It doesn’t sound that way.” “What?” I ask, frustrated. “Are you mad that Jamison’s mom said she didn’t trust you? Or are you mad that she might be right not to trust you?” I fumble for a response. “I just want her to trust me. I’m a good person.” “Not trusting you is not the same as saying you’re a bad person. This isn’t about you.”