What She Knows About Him (That Other Girls Don’t)
By Sara Clark
He draws his last cigarette, reaches into his back pocket and retrieves his old, beat up lighter. He inhales and blows a cloud of smoke into the bitter air. He calls the people inside his quaint house his closest friends, but in reality, they don’t know him.
He goes back inside, and he drinks a cheap beer he bought on his way home from work. One of his favorite songs plays on the stereo. He sings along out of habit, but he is quickly reminded of his past.
He stops singing, looks up, and dramatically starts to cry. His friends run to him asking, “what’s wrong?” and “are you okay?” But little do they know, he’s had it all planned. The song, the crying, the manipulation… It’s all an act. But they don’t know.
While they comfort him his iPhone buzzes, like clockwork, with a text message from his ex-girlfriend. He tells one of his friends that she is playing games. He tells her all of the terrible acts his ex has committed. His friend believes him. She cares for him and tries her hardest to help him out of this rut he’s so carefully and knowingly put himself in.
He confides in her, and she confides in him, or so she thought. Their friendship has been a roller coaster. He has been spiteful and harsh, and it’s only going to get worse, but she doesn’t know.
She doesn’t know that he’s using her. She doesn’t know that he’s selfish and doesn’t actually care about her. She doesn’t know that he’s perfected the damsel-in-distress act.
It’s fake… he made it all up. He lied for her attention, but she doesn’t know.
Then one day, while he’s “drunk and unhappy”, he lets it all out. He tells her the cold, hard truth. He tells her he doesn’t care about her and her life. He bashes and belittles her. She tries to be strong, but she can’t take him anymore. She’s done because she knows.
She knows that he just wanted her attention, and he couldn’t care less about the problems she had came to him with. He told her he cared about her. He told her he loved her. But now she knows.
And while he’s living his life with a flawless mask, she wonders if anyone else knows the pain he’s capable of causing.
But no one knows except for her… she knows.