In all of my three years of knowing her I have never seen her cry. Until yesterday that is. I mean, she’s told me she has cried, for no reason at all sometimes, but I have never actually witnessed her cry. Yesterday was a normal day, we were hanging with some friends, one was visiting from Maine, and she was sitting in between me and him. She was the only girl in the group, like always, but that never bothered her. She said girls easily bore her. We were all laughing and having a good time. Then it started; her cry that is. Soft at first; if I wasn’t right next to her I probably wouldn’t have heard it al all, but I was so I did. Then her body started shaking. Again, slowly at first, then became more noticeable when it seemed as if she was hyperventilating. Then she looked into my eyes. The eyes I thought I knew, all chocolate brown and full of life, were now red and glassed over with tears. She just stared at me and softly whispered “See, this is what I mean by random crying” just loud enough for me to hear then she dropped her head in what seemed like shame. What I thought was a confident girl who seemed happy and perfect now turned into a vulnerable girl who looked like she was seven again in a matter of seconds. I knew this was not a random cry. She kept assuring me that it was and that it happened during this time of the month if you know what I mean, but somehow I knew it wasn’t. It might happen all the time but there was definitely a reason besides hormones. The problem was that I couldn’t pin point exactly what it was that had made her start to cry. As she was now sobbing in my arms I looked up and saw all of the other guys staring in confusion at the girl now clinging on to me for dear life. I just whispered softly in her ear “It’s okay, I’m here, and I will always be here.” Then, as fast as it began, she stopped crying, looked up at all of the guys and smiled. I knew that was a fake smile and a fake laugh that followed, but I played along. I now think I knew what had set her off. It was me...She was crying for me...

In all of my three years of knowing Sam I have never seen her cry. Until yesterday that is...