They were in middle school. Everyone was friends with one another but some just stayed to their own clique. Friends would always walk home together after school, and enjoy the afternoon. Cynthia always walked home with her two friends Shawn and Gabriel. Everyday after school, they would walk together and go to Dunkin Donuts. Cynthia saw this guy in her grade that she had never spoken to before; Anthony was cute, muscular and had a great sense of humor. She wanted to talk to him but lucky on a cold winter day while her and her friends were walking he tagged along. They walked and talked and got to know each other a bit. He was so nice, everything he said would make her laugh she felt a connection. That day they walked Cynthia home first because her house was the first one on the way, Cynthia left Anthony for last to say goodbye. However, when she got home she went upstairs to her room and turned on her computer and went on MySpace. She couldn’t help but tell him that she thought he was cute. So when she got online she sent him a comment and said “You’re really cute, I think I like you”. That night she checked her inbox and there was nothing there. Was he not interested in her? She would ask herself. The next day she saw him at school but she was so embarrassed she didn’t want to make more of a fool out of herself. She didn’t tell him anything until they met again.






It was summer before the first year of high school. Life was beautiful
and wonderful, until Cynthia fell in love. Cynthia didn’t know what love was until she met Anthony, a boy who went to school with her. It was summer of 2007 August 28, when Cynthia decided to do have a pool party with a few friends. Cynthia invited her close girlfriends and a few guy friends that live right across the street from her. She wanted Anthony to come so bad. But she didn’t know how to ask him. So she told her friend Olivia to invite him and so she did. Little did she know that he would actually show up, she was so flattered to know he was there. The party went splendid, they had so much fun. They talked and joked around with each other. But there was something different about this guy, he gave her hope that maybe they could have something more then friendship. The connection she felt was amazing it was an indescribable feeling.
Before she met Anthony, she had dated other guys but they were jerks. They only wanted one thing from her and that was sex. She felt used, sad, and lonely because every time she thought she could build up a beautiful relationship with a guy she was left and felt unwanted.




A few days went by after her birthday party and she was hoping to get a call or a text from Anthony. However, it was Tuesday morning, three days before Cynthia went on vacation to the Dominican Republic. That morning she went on the computer onto MySpace and checked her messages, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Anthony actually sent her a message, she was shocked! The message read “ I had fun at your party, but it seems like you need a man named Anthony to make you happier”. Cynthia felt so happy reading that, her heart raced for about ten minutes, was this really happening she asked herself over and over again. How could she have said no to him? She liked him for awhile but was always to scare to tell him. So there it was the moment of truth she responded thoroughly to Anthony message saying “I’m glad you had fun, I did too, and yes maybe I do need a man who’s nice and respectful, just like you!” Cynthia was appalled , she felt as if she knew Anthony for a lifetime. It seemed like no one made her feel the way he did, happy. On that same day something fantastic happened, Anthony asked Cynthia to be his girlfriend. Cynthia couldn’t help but read the text over and over again. That night she wished and hoped that this was the guy for her, she knew she was young to fall in love but in her mind it didn’t hurt to try. So she said “yes” to him without any hesitation. Cynthia didn’t think about what her parents wanted or if they would have liked it or what they thought about it, she was taking the chance.









It was now one month later; it was September two weeks before school would start. Anthony and Cynthia didn’t really talk much over summer break because she was away to the Caribbean while he was away down the shore with his family. Therefore, they didn’t get to spend time together as so they wished they could have. When they got back to school they weren’t even sure if they were still dating, it had been weeks since they had spoken. When they saw each other they were unsure of how to greet each other with a hello or a kiss?. Cynthia went up to him confused unsure of what to say to him, she didn’t want to make herself look stupid in front of him, incase they were still dating.
She went up to him and said “Hey, were still dating right?” Anthony hugged her and said yes of course if you still want me to be your boyfriend. After all, Cynthia didn’t feel stupid after she asked him, it was worth asking. That day at school went wonderful they talked and made each other laugh, held each others hands, and walked each other to class. On that same day, after school was over Anthony met Cynthia at her locker; they walked out of school together everyday. Anthony, didn’t always have too much time to spend with Cynthia he was a typical sport guy who was always busy and hardly hard anytime for himself. As for them it was hard to see each other they were always busy Cynthia with her family and Anthony with football and his family. Things were going as they wished, it was hard enough they didn’t get to see each other as often as they liked. The only time they really got to see each other was at school. Her parents weren’t very fond of him, he never did anything to them they just never gave him a chance to prove he was a good kid. Knowing she couldn’t see anything broke her heart apart, she didn’t want anything but to be with him just like any other normal couple out there in the world.
Mrs. Richardson tried to give him a chance but she always said they would mess it up for themselves by doing stupid things they shouldn’t have been doing. And so it was hard for them to be together all the time. Cynthia started to become unsure of what she wanted.



It was around November, that Cynthia started talking to this guy named Brian; he was friends with her boyfriend. He was Spanish not too tall, medium height, he was a nice kid. But he would follow them everywhere they went. Anthony and Cynthia didn’t really have a lot of privacy when it came to their friends, but something was different about Brian. Brian started getting closer to Cynthia in a way that they became inseparable at times. It was weird, not knowing what she was getting herself into she spoke to Brian all the time and was always nice to him. She didn’t think anything more but that they would be best friends, someone who she could always talk to and who would be there for her as a friend. He didn’t want to be just friends with her, he wanted more than that, but how could she do anything stupid to hurt Anthony this was his friend and she was in love with him, she couldn’t. Days went by and things were okay but at times it felt like they were both losing grip of each other. The things Anthony would say to Cynthia were like no other, they weren’t sweet words they were cruel and selfish words. Cynthia couldn’t help but to hide herself from everyone, she was heartbroken. She never meant to become friends with Brian so that her relationship with Anthony could get ruined she was just a sweet girl who was nice to everyone and hated to see someone be left out. Things started to stir up between Anthony and Cynthia he told her she needed to stop talking to him because he wanted to be with her and that he didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t break up with her because he said “he loved her” was that true, did he really love her or did he just not know how to break it down to her? She wondered to herself why didn’t he ever breakup with her, he always spoke about and how at times it would run through his head and he wanted to but something didn’t let him go through with it.
Cynthia couldn’t keep hurting herself like this, she had too much stress on her. But she didn’t do anything about it, she felt that if she left Anthony nothing would be same anymore they would go their separate ways she didn’t want that, she loved him. So she chose to stop being friends with Brian, she chose to stop talking to guys, because everything she did was wrong to Anthony. Weeks went by and things were getting back to normal, they were happy, but behind their smiles was a sad face something didn’t seem right. Every day they would see each other at school Cynthia felt different, like she had no feelings towards anything or anyone. Her problems from home and her problems with Anthony became her shadow. Not knowing what to do anymore she just tried her best to put a smile on her face. She tries her best to overcome her problems until they get way out of line. Anthony was acting ridiculous, he didn’t let her wear certain things, she couldn’t put makeup on. She was being controlled and trying to be changed to someone that she wasn’t by the person who she loved most. Most times Cynthia didn’t mind it because she would wear clothes that would sometimes show off her body, so she would thank him for changing those things about her. But then Cynthia started to get sick of it, hearing the same thing made her sick to her stomach. Overtime, she started to lose hope she wasn’t sure if she wanted a boyfriend anymore not if he wasn’t going to accept her for who she was. Anthony, didn’t have trust in her for some reason. Maybe he did trust her but he didn’t trust the guys around her. She got sick of everything, it was too much for her to handle in less than a year so she spoke with Anthony and they broke up.