What do you do when a man who taught you in junior high school reaches out to have a heart-to-heart talk with you? This was my experience two years after I completed my studies. I was in high school at the time, quite naïve and impressionable.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP CHANNEL TO RECEIVE ALL STORIES IN YOUR INBOX

Gabriel told me he loved me all those times I was in junior high school. He said, “I couldn’t tell you because I feared you would reject me. Or worse, you would tell your friends and end up embarrassing me.”

At that age, his interest in me made me feel special. I had a little crush on him, which made me see him as everything I wanted in a man. He was attractive, confident, and so charming.

After his confession, he asked me to be his girlfriend. It scared me. I felt a man like him, in his mid-twenties, who owned a car and lived in a fancy house should have a serious girlfriend. So I turned him down.

He didn’t back off. He kept asking me to give him a chance. Each time he came I asked him, “Are you sure you’re truly single?”

Each time he would swear, “You are the only one I have eyes for. There is no one else in my life.”

Eventually, I let my guard down. It was the first time someone had professed love to me so openly, and it made my heart flutter with joy. I am sure we all remember that thrill of someone loving you as a teenager. The innocence and trust that accompanies it.

I was sure that he would never do anything to intentionally hurt me. Every single promise he made, I swallowed it whole, no questions asked. And this man was full of promises.

I was living in a bubble with him until I stumbled upon a post on social media. It was a photo of Gabriel and another woman. The way they posed in the photo sank my heart into the pit of my stomach.

I checked out her profile and realized that she was the CEO of a company. She was Gabriel’s girlfriend too. They had been together for years.

I was hurt and angry. I didn’t even stop to think before confronting him. He said, “This means nothing. We used to be together but now we’re just friends.”

It wasn’t the words he said, it was the way he sounded hurt that I didn’t trust him. I even felt bad for the confrontation and apologized.

A few months down the line, one of Gabriel’s friends called me. He told me everything Gabriel told me was a lie.

“You are just a small girl he is playing with. He has a woman in his life, and everyone knows he will marry her.”

He didn’t tell me to leave him. He left me to decide for myself if I wanted to continue being a plaything or if I would walk away and focus on my high school education.

READ ALSO: Sometimes You Just Have To Decide You’ve Had Enough

It broke me to walk away but what choice did I have? I couldn’t have stayed when I knew very well that I was being played.

It’s been five years since that break up but I still haven’t moved past it. I can’t bring myself to trust people, especially men. To him, I was all fun and games but I am the one living with the brokenness now.

You Broke Me Into Pieces: A Daughter’s Emotional Conversation With Her Father

I am struggling to forgive him because of this. I believe he took advantage of my innocence and trust. I should have known he was up to no good when he said he loved me during my junior high school days. What kind of decent adult man finds a teenage girl desirable anyway?

Sometimes, I pray that he experiences a fraction of the pain and betrayal I went through—just so he understands what he did to me. I don’t know where he is now so I can’t tell how his life is going but I hope that no matter how good he has it now, someday karma will catch up with him.

—Marigold 

This story you just read was sent to us by someone just like you. We know you have a story too. Email it to us at submissions@silentbeads.com. You can also drop your number and we will call you so you tell us your story.

#SB