ALONG THE WAY

Her name is Glory James. She's a radio host for the local alternative station. She's also a writer. But before she was ever any of these things, she was just a girl who once loved a boy and had to eventually learn how to live without that love. That was a long time ago, but the scars are still very real and she carries them around - hidden. I passed her on the street a few weeks ago, and while it was only for an instant that we crossed paths I felt as though we connected - in some weird way. I never knew how much an instant could tell you about someone.
Glory is the only child of hippy parents, this explains why her full name is Glory Sunshine James. Her name was something that she struggled to embrace throughout her entire childhood and most of her adulescene.
It wasn't until her second semester of her senior year that she became more and more comfortable with herself, and her name. That was also when she met Ryan. Ryan was the type of guy that she had always imagined herself being with. He was taller than her, well-built, and had plenty of tattoos. He loved cars and rode BMX, which only made him even more appealing. They met while she was working at a local restaurant. And while she wasn't really focusing on anything other than finishing her work shift so that she could go home, she couldn't help but notice him staring at her when she bought him his food. They began to talk and get to know each other and finally he worked up the courage to ask her out. She accepted and after that night, her life wasn't the same again.
The hours passed as though they were seconds when the two of them were together. It wasn't long before the "L" word came into the picture. After the exchange of the "I Love You"s, their bond only grew closer and closer. Before either of them realized it, months had passed and in a blink of an eye he was before her on one knee with a shiney ring in his hand. She cried, and eventually said yes. They figured that if they could survive her parents response to the news then they could survive anything.
Glory and Ryan didn't realize that their romance wouldn't last the months to come. Ryan started working all sorts of hours at his job and Glory had just graduated high school, so her time was to spent having a good time and being with her friends. Even though she worked too, they were on completely opposite schedules. Slowly, they began to drift farther and farther away. While they never really fought, they began to simply not speak to one another. They both knew what was to be the end result of all this.
After they broke up Glory took it really hard. She didn't get out of bed for days. She refused to talk to anybody, all she wanted was to be left along and hope that all of this pain and heartache she was feeling was just a dream that she'd wake up from at any moment. She wasn't dreaming and she had to learn that all on her own. Eventually, she decided that she wanted to be happy again and in order for that to happen she had to get her ass out of her bed and continue on with her life.
Glory Sunshine James got out of her bed. She went to college. She worked to achieve her dreams and she made friends along the way. She applied for the internships and dream jobs that at one point she would have wanted to apply for but wouldn't for that of fear of rejection. She hid the scars from the world the best she could. Very few ever even learned of the scars or the reasons why they appeared. She loves her job. She recently released a novel and her family and friends have never been prouder. But under the tattoos and hot pink & black dyed hair, there is that same girl who has scars from a love she never saw coming.