His Soccer Girl

A Shoulder to Cry On

I sat in silence, unsure of what to say. I was so quick to pounce on Bryce that I didn't realize that maybe there was a reason behind him not telling me. It probably would be like sprinkling salt on an open wound.

I placed a my hand on top of his and gave him a soft smile. A smile that told him I understand, even though I was still confused. But I wanted to be that person to lean on, and tell me things like this.

"Well maybe he's here to patch things up." I suggested.

"Trust me Summer, he's not. And it would make me feel a hell of a lot better if you stayed away him."

"Bryce, I can handle myself around him okay?" I said.

~*~*~

I glanced down at my beautiful wedding gown. In my hand was a bouquet of white lilies. In my mind I couldn't process that this was already happening. The music began to play, and I made sure my hair was okay. I linked arms with my dad as the doors opened. We began to slowly walk down the aisle. All the guest focused on me as I watched Bryce, who looked as handsome as ever.

"You look beautiful." My dad whispered.

"Thanks." I whispered back.

As I continued to watch Bryce, my vision got blurry, or maybe it just got a little bit darker in the room. Perhaps a cloud was momentarily blocking the sun.

"Too bad I won't be able to see it." He whispered.

I turned around to ask him what he meant, when I tripped over something. At first I was mortified, thinking I had tripped over my own two feet in the middle of my wedding, when I realized I want in the church any more. My hands gripped the cool grass, as I pushed myself off the ground.

My white dress had grass and dirt stains smeared all over it, making me groan in frustration.

I turned over to see that I had tripped over a grey stone. I crawled over to see what it was. It was rectangular and had writing on it. Looking closer, I read the words.

'Here lies
Brandon Wayne Gerlds
Beloved husband and father
March 6, 1974-May 27, 2010'

My skin crawled as I gazed upon my father's grave. "Too bad I won't be able to see it..." Those words were deafening. I couldn't hear anything, but those words. Those words were being shoved down my throat, choking me. I wanted to scream at the pain this was causing me, but no noise escaped my mouth.

I scratched at my throat, begging for air...

Black dots danced across my vision, as I began to lose consciousness. Before I blacked out, I let out a scream.

*~*~*

I woke up screaming.

"Summer what's wrong?!" Bryce asked franticly.

I couldn't answer right away, my breathing was too hard and I was trying hard to convince myself it wasn't real.

Bryce cupped my face in his hands and made me look at him, "It's okay. It was just a dream."

I still couldn't find the words to respond. A single tear escaped, and slipped down my cheek.

Bryce wiped it away with his thumb and pulled me close to him. "It's okay." He whispered as he rubbed small circles on my back.

"Br-bryce..." I stuttered.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.

"My dad. He was there and then he wasn't... He was just gone!" was all I could say before sobs shook my body. It has been 4 years since he has died, and here I was blubbering like a baby over a night mare. Realizing this, I sucked in a breath so no more sobs could escape. I wiped my eyes, and bit down on my lip to hold in the sobs that were fighting to escape.

I felt Bryce move so he was facing me. "Summer, stop trying to be brave. You don't need to be tough all the time. It's okay to cry. And I'll be your shoulder to cry on. Forever. And I will always be here to wipe your tears away. I promise you that."

I small sob escaped my mouth, the same time a chuckle did. I hugged him. No, it was as if I was holding onto him as if my life depended on it. He held me tightly as if I would slip away if he didn't.

We laid there for what seemed like hours, before Bryce broke the silence.

"Tell me about him." He said.

"Who?" I asked, confused.

"Your dad."

"Oh." I realized, I've never actually talked about my dad since he died. The most I've talked about him after his death, was when I broke down in front of Bryce my sophomore year. But he doesn't know much about my dad, other than he was active duty and died over seas.

"Well, he was awesome. He made sure that we always had family time. Every Friday, on his way home from work, he'd pick up a bacon cheese burger pizza and movies. On my birthday, he would take off of work and spend the previous night decorating the house. He would always make a new poster for my birthday. He was so good at drawing things. I remember how I use to ask him to teach me to draw, and we'd sit together for hours while he taught me to draw the simplest of things. Honestly, I don't know where he found the patience to do that. Because I dont have an artistic bone in my body. But my dad introduced me to soccer. He was actually my coach for every team I played on until I entered middle school. Then he came to every one of my games to cheer me on." I smiled as I thought about it.

"He would've loved you." I said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah. And I'm sure you'd like him too." I smiled at the thought of Bryce and my dad talking and joking around together. But the happiness was short lasted when I realized they would never meet.

"I miss him."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comment and Vote!