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[10] Not Meant To Be

"Delilah, what are you doing here?"

Once she had climbed through Kaylee's window, Delilah held up two cups of ice cream and a bunch of CDs. "I heard what happened." She shrugged. "So I figured you needed a friend and a really good movie marathon."

Kaylee grabbed one of the ice creams from her hand and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." Delilah patted her back before walking past her and jumping onto her bed. She began fiddling with Kaylee's laptop and, without looking, she asked, "So what movie do you want to watch?"

Taking a seat at the edge of her bed, Kaylee said, "Do you have 10 Things I Hate About You?"

"But that's a romance movie," Delilah said, looking up from her laptop. "I thought you hated romance movies?"

"I know." Kaylee shrugged. "I want to try something new. To get over the breakup."

Delilah raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure a romance movie is a good cure for that?"

"I always avoided romance movies because they reminded me of something I couldn't have — love. Being loved, I mean." The words felt weird on Kaylee's tongue. She had never said them aloud before, for she had always feared that it would make them more real. But saying them right now, out loud, to Delilah turned them less scary and made the walls that Kaylee had built around herself crack and weaken. "And it just made me hate myself because I wasn't worth staying for. That there was something about me that made me broken and unwanted. But, the other day, my grandma taught me that there were different types of love and it made me realise that I'll always be loved, even if I would never have romance in my life. So, I guess, by watching this movie, it means that I'm okay with not having a soulmate and that I'm starting to see my ability more as a gift than a burden."

The impact of her words shifted the atmosphere in her room that it took a moment until Delilah nodded and asked, "Okay. The movie's on. Are you ready?"

"Let's start."
—

When graduation day came, they were hysteric. Well, Jonah mainly.

"I can't believe we're highschool graduates." Delilah crossed her arms. "Are we that old already?"

Kaylee nudged her. "Delilah, Jonah might start crying again."

"Hey, I did not cry."

"Sorry, my bad," Kaylee corrected herself. "Jonah's eyes were only sweating during the ceremony."

Jonah smiled. "That's more like it."

"Man, you guys are such babies," Delilah said, rolling her eyes. Someone from the crowd of parents yelled out her name so she turned around and gave them a thumbs-up before averting her attention back to her two friends. "Anyway, I gotta go. My family's got this fancy dinner reservation so...Kaylee, I'll see you on...?"

Kaylee nodded. "This weekend."

"This weekend," Delilah repeated before grinning and heading off with her family. "Bye!"

With Delilah's presence gone, now it was only Kaylee and Jonah. The following weeks after their breakup were, as an understatement, very awkward. Although they were inseparable since they were seven, due to their highschool romance, their lingering heartbreak had admittedly created a strain in their relationship. So now, whenever they were alone together, they would face a series of weird hugs, forced laughs, and terrible puns.

But Kaylee knew that they would go back to the way they used to do.

Eventually.

Though not right now.

"So," Kaylee said, fiddling with the edges of her sleeves. "You're going to Washington State, huh?"

"Yeah. Business Management," Jonah said, his eyes roaming everywhere. "I'm actually going there early. Since, uh, my aunt lives in Washington, she thought I should spend my summer there and get to know the place."

"Oh, that's great!" Kaylee perked. It really was but — "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too. But, hey, there's always Skype," Jonah suggested, reciting his old pleas. After that there was awkward silence, in which Kaylee was about to say her final goodbye and possible not see Jonah Geller for a very, very long time. She was about to bid her farewell until Jonah began to pull something out from his pocket. "I, uh, got you something."

Jonah took Kaylee's hand from her side and placed a bunny keychain — similar to the stuffed bunny he once gave her — on her palm. "It's a goodbye present. Or graduation present. Or both. Anyway, you can decide."

"Jonah —"

"I know things between us have been weird lately but..." For the first time since they were alone together, Jonah looked directly into Kaylee's eyes. "I want you to know that — broken hearts and all — I'm glad you were my first love. In fact, I couldn't think of anyone better. So you don't have to blame yourself anymore for what happened because...you were right. You wouldn't be the Kaylee Oh I know and love if you didn't say the things that need to be said."

"Jonah." Then, out of the blue, Kaylee pulled him into a hug. "Thank you. That — that means a lot to me."

"No problem," Jonah whispered back and it took them a moment before he pulled away and said, "Well, I'll see you around Kaylee Oh."

Kaylee smiled. "I'll see you around too, Jonah Geller."

Without anymore final words, they waved each other goodbye before Jonah turned around and left the auditorium. And at that moment Kaylee thought, so what if she didn't get the guy in the end? So what if Jonah Geller and her were not meant to be? In the end, he will always love her. Maybe not as lover or a soulmate, but as friend. And, perhaps, that was good enough.

THE END.