The People Who Change Your Life Forever

They say when you meet someone; they have the ability to change your life forever.

In my case, this was a boy named Matthew.

We met by accident. I was at Shopland with my mother and godmother ordering my usual pizza and smoothie combo when the cashier denied my mother’s AmEx card.  Flustered, my mother turned to my godmother who was furiously scrounging in her bag to come up with some cash when a small tap on my back came.

Behind me was Matthew, waving a ten dollar bill in my direction. He had a big grin on his face and instructed me to keep the change. “We’re in the same History class together. “he chuckled.

I gave the bill to my mother who promptly paid for our food as my godmother and my mother both thanked Matthew profusely for his unexpected act of kindness.

The next day at school, a single plastic daisy was attached to my locker. When I looked around to see who had done it, a pair of dirty Timberland boots greeted me from underneath the door of the next locker.

“A lovely girl deserves a flower doesn’t she? “Matthew winked. He was holding the remainder of the bouquet in his hand as he nervously gave it to me. I could see his hands shaking. I took the bouquet and embraced him in the hallway. “Thanks.” I said, “You’re a really cool guy.” Matthew probably took that as a sign that I liked him because he then lifted me up to meet his lips. He tasted like Nacho cheese and presumably had lunch before coming to see me.

Whatever it was, it seemed to have started the beginning of something amazing.

Matthew and I were virtually inseparable for almost six months in a blissful relationship when suddenly out of the blue, Matthew stopped communicating with me. Any trace of him was gone from all my devices.

At first I was confused but then late one night, Matthew called me in a sudden panic. He drove to my house, picked me up and drove around as I tried to decipher all the words I could between his constant sobs.  He found the local diner we used to hang out in and stopped the car.  He wiped some tears off his sleeve as he looked at my face. “This is the last time I’m going to tell you that I love you.” he confessed to my sudden bewilderment.

“Why? What happened?” I asked as we both got out of the car. It was a cold and chilly night and normally Matthew would have given me his Bomber jacket to wear but this time was different.

This time he looked at me as if I was a complete stranger.  Matthew refused to even look at me inside the diner and was silent the entire time of our meal. “So is this goodbye then?” I asked.

He could see my eyes developing huge puddles of tears pleading to reconsider but instead he pushed a crumpled up bill towards my nose signaling me to pay for our meal and leave.

I thanked our waitress as I saw Matthew suddenly cheerful in speaking with a female caller on his cell phone.

I left outside to wait for my cab as a wave of sadness suddenly hit me. Inside the cab, I cried like a baby before being hushed by my cab driver. “You know my sister is a casting agent. She could use a good kid like you.” he said, handing me her business card.

I dried my tears with a tissue as I paid and thanked the driver not knowing what big opportunities lay ahead of me.

Soon after I called the cab driver’s sister, I was cast in two local commercials which led to work in local catalog and soon a small part in a movie.

Maybe Matthew breaking up with me was a sudden blessing in disguise….