High School Heartache - Part 12

Eric was a pretty athletic guy and he took an interest in cycling while we dated. He used to ride his mountain bike from his school, and sometimes his house, all the way to my school, just to see me. It was very endearing. I mean, these little cycling trips would easily be 25 miles round trip and he did it several times.

The week after prom, I was at school having a perfectly delightful day, when suddenly my world came crashing down. My friend "K" pulled me aside around lunchtime and said that she needed to tell me something. She sat me down and explained that she heard something disturbing and after researching it, she determined that it was probably true. Eric had cheated. And he had cheated BIG TIME. And it was with his best friend, my classmate. I was devastated.

To make matters worse, Eric had decided to surprise me at school that very day via one of his cycling adventures. He showed up and all I could do was cry and tell him to leave. He didn't understand. He had the most hurt look on his face, but I didn't care, because he had just broken my heart and left with a piece of it...forever.

Later that night, Eric called me at home. He begged to know what was wrong and I told him that I knew about him and his friend. Silence. "Eric, I know about the two of you. Did you hear me?" Silence. "I don't know what you're talking about." Yeah right. "I know that you cheated on me, just admit it." More silence. "I didn't cheat on you and whoever told you that I did is a liar."

I told Eric that I didn't want to see him anymore. I could tolerate a lot of things, but cheating wasn't one of them. He tried calling several times and continued to deny my accusation, but I just wasn't hearing it.

Since our paths had no reason to cross, I didn't see or hear from Eric for a long time. We ran into each other at the local mall over a year later and it got me thinking about him again. We started talking later that year and started seeing each other again "unofficially". That lasted for a few months until I met my hubby and then I left Eric in the dust.

Fast forward 9 years and I'm in an accessories aisle in a home improvement store. I'm searching for outlet covers for my newly painted living room and a salesman approaches me to ask if I need help. I glance upwards and can't believe my eyes. It's him. It's Eric. We chit-chat for a couple of minutes and trade stories of how happy we are. He's married with twins on the way. Good for him. We walk away from each other for what I'm pretty sure will be the last time.

Fast forward another 3 years. We meet again and trade phone numbers this time. Hubby is well aware that Eric & I are talking now, but I assure him that it's nothing more than 2 old friends catching up. And it's been exactly that. We talk periodically and try to keep up with each other. He actually brought his kids to my oldest child's birthday party last year and it was fine.

With all the time that has passed and everything that's happened, I now know that he & I will never be anything more than friends. Although, I still wonder to this day if he was lying or telling the truth about cheating on me back in high school. Maybe one of these days, I'll get up the courage to ask him and get the final answer to that one last question.