Up-close and Personal

Jade sat all by herself in her room. It was a few days before the big day-her wedding day- but she had been locking up herself there for the past few weeks. She didn't eat much. She didn't do anything much. She just sat and stared at the blank space. blank space. Blank is empty, she thought. Empty was what she was feeling inside her. She glanced on her bedside table to find out what time is it. Instead her eyes met Ken's eyes-her fiance's eyes. The photos of both of them had stood on the bedside table as long as she could remember. But again, Jade didn't really remember much. She suffered from trauma and was lost a portion of her memory. The doctors insisted that nobody should tell her what was the missing memory. They insisted for her to recover it on her own. So it was just lately that she found out about the portion of memory which was missing from her mind. It was just lately that she had chosen to just sit and stare by means of spending the day. It was just lately that she had a second thought about this wedding. And it was just lately that she began to think of dylan...

Jade met Ken in high school. Everybody knows they were an item. Inseparable. Unbreakable. Ken was easily one of the most eligible bachelor, nice and kind to everybody. Jade was miss popular. That title explained everything about her. but since Ken didn't really have much time to spend with her, Jade and Dylan became friends. They weren't classmates but they got close very quick. Dylan was the kind of guy which cared about his friends. He was easygoing and fun. The kind of friend that Jade really needed.

The day before prom, Dylan came over to Jade's house, as always. They sat on the porch and talked. Talk was what they did everyday. Jade had thought that there was something wrong about Dylan that day. But she could not tell what was it until Dylan turned to her and said, "I love you, Jade. will you go to the prom with me?". Jade was thunderstruck. She didn't know what to say. No, she could not go to the prom with Dylan. She was going with Ken. Though he didn't ask her yet, but Jade didn't think that such thing needed asking. They were after all a couple. But something inside jade was nagging her. She could not bring herself to say that he didn't love Dylan. She looked into his hazel eyes and she knew those words were true. But she just kept herself quiet. Fighting furiously inside to strain herself from telling him that she too thought she was falling in love with him.

"I take that as a no," Dylan said suddenly. He got to his feet and said, "Somehow, I hope you are going to be happy for Id love to see you wearing your smile always and I love the way you laugh."

Before he walked away, he turned to her and smiled. The smile she thought she would remember forever. Only that she had forgotten the smile for years. Years until she recollected her memories a few weeks ago. but it wasn't all. Jade remembered the prom too..

The school hall looked magnificent. Jade had never thought it could look that beautiful. The shining chandelier hung low in the middle of the hall. Everybody was in their best suits and dresses. The music was great. The dance floor was never empty. Talking and jeering filled the gaps between songs. So this is what they call senior prom, Jade thought. Everybody was feeling good that night. Everybody but Jade. She still wondered how was Dylan. She kept looking in all directions to see if she could catch a glimpse of him. She hardly noticed when ken left her side, saying that he'd be back with some refreshments for them both.

Jade was in the middle of crossing the hall when she heard an earsplitting shriek. It was followed by another scream a moment later. Jade spun around and watched everybody was screaming at her. Confused, she looked up to see the big chandelier was falling on top of her. It was going to land right on her head. Jade felt her legs turning jelly. She could not move her body. The next second she was being pushed out of the way by somebody. Jade fell hard on the glossy, polished floor. her head knocked into the brick wall. She could feel the warmth of a sticky red liquid in her head. She could hear people screaming louder. She could even hear a few tears. but the last thing she remembered seeing was Dylan's body crushed under the heavy chandelier. Blood was everywhere. One of the glass was stuck in his skull. Dylan's hazel eyes had stopped shining. but Jade could still see the love in it...

When she woke up the next day in the hospital, she had forgotten all about it. She only knew she suffered a trauma and that she should recover by herself. Not by the helps of others. Jade remembered trying to look through all her school magazines and albums for clues of what had happened, but she found none. So she went on with her life, graduated from one of the national's best universities, had her own high-flying career and Ken had proposed in the most special way one could think of. Her life was happy. She learnt not to care so much about the missing puzzle in her head. She had thought that if she was bound to finding out the truth, then one day she would. And she did.

It was when Ken brought her back to the school hall for a reunion of their class. There stood the heavy chandelier, illuminating everything inside the hall. The tables and chairs. The cutleries and glasses. Before she knew it, she had let out a scream. Everything came back in a rush. She could see Dylan. A chandelier glass stucked in his head. His body covered with bloods and pieces of glasses. His arms flailed helplessly on his side. And his eyes...

It was hard to remember it all and yet act as if nothing had happened. Jade got up to her feet and walked to the windows. From her room on the second floor, she could view the scenery of the ground around her house. Her eyes locked to the porch. It was there that she last saw Dylan smiled. And suddenly something Dylan said struck her.

"Somehow I hope that you'll always be happy for I'd love to see you wearing your smile always and I love to see you laugh." She recalled.

Jade realized that Dylan didn't saved her so that she would live in depression. He didn't save her so that the thought of him would haunt her forever. No. He saved her so that she could continue to live happily. She was happy these past years. Her life had been wonderful. And to be sad and lost all the will to continue such happy life wasn't really what Dylan would want for her. Maybe, she'd proceed this wedding after all. Ken was always nice and supportive towards her. He really did love her. She'd continue living her happy life too. That was what Dylan had wished for. Only that in her deepest mind, there'd always be a memory of Dylan. She'd always remember his last smile, his last words, and that last look in his eyes which told her that he really loved her. 'I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, but I loved you too,' she thought. And it didn't matter whether her life would always be wonderful or would she be having more obstacles in future, in Jade's heart, Dylan would always be the one who stole a part of her heart....