So this is the story of something that happened to me quite some time ago, so I'm not really affected by it anymore, just wanted to share and see some other people's thoughts about a situation like this as I never bothered to talk about it at the time and at this point am rather curious about what others would've done or if my actions/reactions were justified in this scenario.
First, some exposition; It is my junior year of high school, and I had just become especially close with a girl who I had known since freshman year who was in the school marching band with me. Predictably, I catch feelings for this girl. However, much to my frustration, I would soon see just how much I was not alone in this regard, as practically a third of the school was gunning for her as well. Despite this, she would go on to senior year single, with myself appearing to be the best candidate out of that army of suitors (Most of our peers and classmates supported us dating, if not outright believed we already were).
Enter the latter half of senior year; My relationship with her is as strong as ever, and now the schools annual Tolo dance is fast approaching (For who don't know, Tolo is a school dance akin to Prom or Homecoming, but with a few notable differences, such as girls asking guys instead of the usual vice versa, and couples wearing identical, matching outfits rather than formal wear). She meets a new student who had recently moved into town, and unsurprisingly, he attempts to hit it off with her. I was unaware of her involvement with this new guy until 1 week before the dance, when one of my friends informed me that she was unsure of who to ask to Tolo, myself or this new student (who btw was generally regarded as highly attractive by most of the girls in the one class I happened to share with him). Now, I analyzed this situation countless times, and came to conclude that 3 outcomes were possible:
Outcome 1; She goes to the dance with the new student and all my hopes are dashed. This, I felt, was the most likely outcome, as she had recently begun to spend most of her time with him and not me, and the fact that she was even questioning the choice between someone she had just met or someone she had known for far longer and got along extremely well with, needless to say, rose some alarms in my mind.
Outcome 2; She opts to take me to the dance and I emerge victorious from this little love triangle. As stated above, her recent behavior makes this outcome less likely, but still possible. I deigned to not hold my breath, though, and had accepted that outcome 1 was almost a certainty.
Outcome 3; She chooses me for the dance, but maintains a romantic relationship
in secret with the other guy. This was a fleeting thought, and I practically dismissed it altogether, as in the years I had known her, I did not think she would have it in her to do something so deceitful, especially to me. But little did I know.........
Indeed, the nearly inconceivable Outcome 3 comes to pass. She asks me to Tolo 2 days before the dance, and I couldn't have been more excited. The day before the dance, another one of my friends came to me bearing dark news; she had witnessed my newly acquired tolo date making out with the very same new guy she hung out with. I immediately dismissed the claim, believing my friend had merely seen a lookalike; after all, what did I have to worry about? She chose me, that was that, I believed.
The dance passes.
The following Monday, I see her coming by my cafeteria table at lunchtime to sit down, same as usual. However, rather than sitting, she tells me, "I need to go catch up on some chemistry work, so I cant hang out today" (Or something along those lines, I cant perfectly recall the wording at this point) but I had to only look to my right, over at the cafeteria entrance, to see the lie for what it was; for HE was standing there, waiting for her to return to him so they could run off and do whatever it is they do when they are alone. To further confirm that this was the case, I stopped by the chemistry classroom almost immediately after they left to see if she actually was doing work like she said. She was not. I later spotted them together roaming the halls hand-in-hand, and that was the last nail in the coffin. I felt immensely betrayed.
After hours of thought over it throughout that afternoon, I came to a singular conclusion; that any feelings I had towards her, romantic or otherwise, have been rendered worthless, and I said to myself
"I can't let her do this to me and have her get away with it! She needs to pay for this, somehow!" Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do in this situation in terms of vengeance, but I knew the one thing I could do, if nothing else, was to take away our friendship for good. So that's what did in the end. I unfriended her on Facebook (mostly to send a message) and essentially shunned her for the remainder of senior year. My old feelings for her persisted, but I remained strong and denied them to the end.
Now, a few years have passed and I have begun a career in the USCG, and this is all behind me, though the memories are still fresh on my mind. And so ends my story
(Holy crap, this may just be the single longest post I've written on Smashboards lol)
