There was something about him that drew me to him. It wasn’t his personality, his charm, or his ruggedness.
Rather, it was one of the rare things: his tears.
I swear, it had only been by chance that I saw him when I did. He was sitting by himself on a bleacher in the university football stadium and crying because he thought no one could hear him. Now, I wasn’t very taken by other guys when they cried, but when I saw the tears sliding down his face, something about them attracted me to him. It was like I was the fly and they were the honey, though they might as well have been vinegar. Were it any other guy, I would’ve just walked away, but instead, I walked towards this particular one.
I carefully inched closer and closer until I said timidly, “Hi.” His eyes flew open as he gasped and his gaze turned towards me. I could see unshed tears glistening in his deep brown eyes. I quickly apologized, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He hastily wiped his tear streaks as he said, “That’s okay. I never expected anyone to see me like this. No one on this campus has…until you.”
I wanted to kick myself for wondering, but dared to ask, “Why are you here all alone?”
He shrugged, “It’s just as you have said: I’m alone.” I was still confused until he clarified, “I just came here recently. My family and friends are very far away and I have no one to talk to. I try to keep up appearances by being this heartthrob around campus, but I have no real friends. I’ve built up this public image by being part of the band and various associations, but I’m not happy. I want to make my family proud, but I…I only want to go home.”
Again, the tears rolled down his cheeks as soon as he shut his eyes. My heart broke for him because I knew what it was like to not quite belong. Just when another huge tear began its descent, I scooped it up with my finger. He looked up at me in surprise as I said, “You aren’t the only one.” I don’t know why I did it, but because I had recently read a romance novel titled Teardrop, I decided to put his tear into my eye. I never regretted it since.
I then sat with him and after I gave him my name, I asked, “What’s yours?”
He gave a small smile and said, “I’m Phoenix.”