24 Roses

24 roses. 24 days filled with declarations of love. 24 moments where life will mark her as mine. I’ve loved Anahi Pratt since she moved in next door at the age of twelve. With her knobby knees and a mouthful of braces, she made my heart thump harshly inside my prepubescent chest. One look into the greenest eyes I’d ever seen, and I was hooked for life. Owned. However, I was tongue-tied and confused and did the only thing I could: offer my friendship. Over the years, those feelings never changed. Instead, they grew—morphed into something deep and profound. But never once did she see me as more than a friend. Never did she see the man that worshipped the ground she walked on. The man that needed to be what she wanted. Needed. I stayed on the sidelines until that day: A crash. Her life on the line and my world came to a screeching halt. Life is short and changes in the blink of an eye, a lesson I suddenly understood. There wasn’t a second to wait. No more hiding behind the guise of friendship. She was mine, and it was time I claimed her.