muse:not like the movies

based off of katy perry's song, "not like the movies" from teenage dream. listen to it while you read if you'd like? for extra angst power, here we go!

muse:
that night had been amazing, beautiful, perfect, romantic, and all other sorts of adjectives with good connotations. she had never been expecting that dance--the dance with her crush, to her favorite song, relatively alone on the marble dance floor. their footsteps had echoed silently throughout the hall as the song had unfolded. he had been a bit awkward at first, just offering a hand and asking hesitantly, "can i have this dance?"

she had fallen so hard. for him.

she remembers her cheeks coloring, biting her lip nervously, raising her hand slowly with her mind racing to catch up with her body, speeding at zillions of miles an hour just to get to that moment: "yes." and in the world created by the feminine voice along with the chiming of piano chords and a rather chivalrous saxophone, they had danced. it felt like more than four minutes, of course. they had started off far apart, her feet moving slowly with trepidation following his even more unsure footsteps. gradually though, the heat radiating from his body drew her in like a magnet, and she took her hands from his and looped them around his neck, bringing both of them close. his strong arms had encircled her hips, and his head rested on hers. it was all the best moments she'd had so far all rolled into one instant--her first concert, her first birthday party, her first, her first, her first. her first. that's what this was. and it was worthy of a blue ribbon, gold medal, trophy cup, all the stars in the sky.

but that was then.

in the weeks afterwards, he didn't even acknowledge her presence. they passed in the hallways and eventually the pain of looking at him drove her to find different paths. she drowned herself in music, trying to recreate that moment with the perfect song, the perfect voice, the perfect blend of everything. and then he had walked out of her life. broken her heart. just one look, and she knew that it wouldn't be like the movies. she wouldn't walk into his arms, the world wouldn't stop spinning, and the camera wouldn't slowly pan up to the stars.

she had cried. for hours, for what seemed like unspeakable periods of time. people had come in and out of her life, offering support, offering to replace what she had lost. but she had just cried, drowning everyone else in the flood of her tears.somehow, though, she picked up her broken pieces and moved on. but he still had that piece of her heart, he had taken it, she had willingly parted with it, and the pang had never really gone away.

a year later found her staring at the photos of that wonderful night, trying to remember everything she had felt and put in on paper for him. because even though it's not like the movies, we can still try to make things work. i've heard third time's the charm... please, i love you, i love you, i love you.