It's Cliche, Isn't it?

Our love story was almost like something out of a modern fairytale. Harper was the shy girl who kept to herself and got straight A’s in all her high-school classes, and I would be called a jock, considering I focused on how far I could throw a football instead of my grades. 

However, if I had focused on my grades, I never would have introduced myself to Harper. 

It was in my senior year of high school when everything started; when my grades dropped low enough that my football days were threatened if I didn’t get them up quickly. A tutor was suggested, and I didn’t have much of a choice but to begrudgingly agree. 

And like fate pulling us together, Harper had agreed to be my tutor. You know with her being the top of the class, and all. 

We started meeting in the Library during lunch, and we mostly looked over Math since that was the main subject I was struggling with. At first, I only talked when I needed to; I didn’t want to get to know Harper, and I wanted to get back to focusing solely on football, but as week after week passed, I noticed myself starting to change. 

Harper was kind and patient, more so than I deserved. I’ll admit there were a few times I got so frustrated, that I ended up lashing out at her, but she would just smile and wait for me to take a breather. Heck, she even let me step out into the hallway when I was angry enough. 

One day, after I had to take one of my breathers, Harper asked me if there was something I needed to get off my chest. I shrugged it off and told her no, but instead of prying for answers as I expected, she smiled and replied, “Alright, but if you need to talk, I’m always willing to listen.” 

I think that was the first time I realized just how beautiful her smile was, and I wanted to spill everything that was upsetting me, but in classic stubborn form, I kept my mouth shut.  

In high school romance movies, there always seems to be a montage of the two main characters growing closer. Thinking about my tutoring sessions, that’s what it felt like in my brain. It got to the point where I felt excited to go to the tutoring session, but my excitement came at a cost; my teammates, who I always sat with at lunch, began to ask questions about where I was running off to, and like the jerk I was, I would make up small lies and excuses. I was too embarrassed to tell them about my tutoring sessions with, who was considered the outcast of the school. 

By the time midterm rolled around, my math test grades had gone from usually a failing F or D to an average B, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride in the progress I was making. 

But like the old saying goes, “Pride comes before the fall.” 

A teammate found out about my tutoring sessions after spotting me in the Library with Harper and had spread dating rumors on both the team and the rest of the school. By the time, school ended everyone had heard the rumor. 

When Harper and I found out about it, she was willing to dismiss it, but I made the mistake of going on the defensive. When one of my classmates was laughing and teasing me in front of a big group of kids, I lost it and shouted for everyone to hear, “Why would I waste my time dating someone like her?!” 

After the words came out of my mouth, it was like I could feel her eyes on me, and like the plot twist in a classic movie, Harper was staring at me with tear-filled eyes when I turned around. That’s when I realized what a huge mistake I made, and I could only watch while she darted for the bathroom and the crowd headed for the lunch room as the bell rang. 

I waited in the Library for her, until the bell signaling the end of lunch rang, but she never showed up. I should have expected it, but I was desperate to apologize to try to make up for my mistake. 

I beelined it for the nearest teacher and asked her about Harper; the teacher told me she had seen Harper leaving with her mother during lunch, and the revelation that she had left school was like rubbing salt in a wound. 

The rest of the week, Harper was absent from school, and another tutor took her place. Exam week for midterms finally arrived, and Harper returned that Monday. Since we were busy with exams, it was impossible to try to go up to her and apologize, but I was determined to pass the exams, so her tutoring wouldn’t be for nothing. 

And I did! I passed with A’s in everything, even math!

My excitement was more than any victory in a football game, and I wanted nothing more than to tell Harper the good news. 

The first opportunity I got, I went on the search for her, but when I did find her, I was filled with rage. It was the cliche, popular girl and jock boys ganging up on the shy kid, and they had boxed her in against the lockers in the hall. 

They were teasing her and spilling all her learning material from her backpack onto the ground, and I had to restrain myself from giving in to my rage and punch them all in the face. Instead, I pushed passed and placed myself between the bullies and Harper. Luckily, telling them to back off and threatening them was enough to get them to leave, and after they were gone, I turned around and asked if Harper was okay. 

She nodded in response and started picking up her school supplies, which I began to help her with. After everything was cleaned up, Harper turned to leave but I stopped her and started repeatedly apologizing for being such an a-hole, and that she didn’t need to forgive me and I didn’t have an excuse. 

But with tears in her eyes, Harper turned and said, “I forgive you.” 

Her soft response nearly made me break down, and I asked if I could hug her. She nodded again, and we hugged; that’s when everything came spilling out; I told her how I felt worthless, and that my parents were in the process of splitting up and that’s why my grades had dropped so low. I told her how she made me feel worth something just by being patient even when I lashed out. 

And through my rant, Harper told me everything was okay and to let everything out. That’s when I realized just how much she meant, and that I wanted to be with her. 

Even after I passed midterms and didn’t have to be tutored anymore, I sat with Harper in the Library every day for lunch and even met a good group of friends, who I eventually became close with. 

Usually, in classic romances, this is the part when the two start dating or get married and live happily ever after, but that wasn’t the ending Harper and I were destined for. 

It was a month before graduation, and my joy was at its peak; I had finally mustered up enough courage to officially ask Harper out. 

I asked her to meet me after school, but there was something off; she seemed more quiet than usual, and whenever she smiled, it seemed forced. I shrugged it off and went ahead with my plan. 

When I finally asked, I was met with silence as Harper only stared at me. It got even more confusing when she started sobbing. 

I sat her down and asked what was wrong, and the answer made my heart skip a beat. 

“I…I’m sorry!” she cried, almost hyperventilating. “I should have told you sooner.” 

“Told me what?” 

Shaking her head, she finally stuttered, “I’m dying, Josh. I have had cancer for three years, and the treatments have stopped working. The doctors say I have until the end of this year.” 

This entire time, Harper had been quietly suffering but still found the strength to wear a smile. 

I embraced and cried with her; I didn’t care how long she had. I loved her and wasn’t going to give up on her like she didn’t give up on me.