Loving you was one of the easiest things Art could ever do. Loving you came naturally to him because how could he not be in love with you? Effortlessly beautiful smiles you gave him, the soft sound of your laughter after he told a joke that wasn’t even that funny. Loving you was easy. Knowing you wouldn’t love him the way he loved you was harder.

Art remembers the exact moment he realized he was in love with you. It was back in middle school when the two of you were walking home after school. He carried your backpack as you skipped ahead, talking about whatever. He had hardly been paying attention until you mentioned one of his tennis teammates, Peter. You talked on and on about your raging crush on Peter and Art thought he might be sick. This heavy feeling settled in his stomach and he felt like vomiting. From that day on he knew he was in love with you.

That fateful day had been 7 years and Art still kept quiet about his feelings for you. He desperately tried to will them away but it didn’t work. He was still hopelessly in love with you. To make matters worse, he was helping you get ready for your first date with some guy you had met. Art didn’t know exactly how you had met the guy—he mostly blocked you out when you talked about your romantic adventures or else he might start crying.

“Where did you say you were going?” Art asks you as he “casually” lays on your bed tossing a tennis ball up and down. In actuality he has never felt more tense in his entire life but you can’t tell. Of course you can’t.