Teenagers Play the Game of Love

There he stood at the pavilion. Calhoun Mane felt the strong winds shove him towards his aggressor. Zach never had anything bad to say about his friend, but that changed the night before. Calhoun met two girls from school at a public park. Miranda had dated Zach since the beginning of the school year. She had sat on Calhoun’s lap at the pavilion, kissing and hugging him. Calhoun knew the couple’s status had changed days earlier. He had heard the entire ninth grade gossip about their breakup.

Calhoun enjoyed kissing girls, but he was a teenager incapable of falling in love. His naivete was a surefire way to get him in trouble. He often wondered whether love was a possibility for anyone under the age of twenty-five. Twenty-five was the age his grandmother designated as appropriate. Immaturity gave him many reasons not to get involved with teenage girls, but after dating a number of female students he met, no such emotional connection had formed yet. He figured that at age fourteen, no seriousness came with a make-out session in the park. What transpired with Miranda was a plan to anger Zach, so naturally, the betrayed friend threatened Calhoun during English class.

Zach met him at the pavilion after school. They began to fight. Calhoun ducked his head, stepped into a wild punch that missed its mark. He felt the blunt force of Zach’s fist collide with his temple. Calhoun kept swinging at the much taller teenager without landing a single blow. Zach had a two-inch height advantage and reach on the now punch-drunk Calhoun. Zach finally stopped and extended his hand. The two teenagers shook. A renewed respect for one another gave them a shared understanding, one commonly known among temporarily fallen-out friends. Ex-girlfriends were off limits, especially females who played emotional games.

Zach found out that Miranda had called Calhoun the night they met up. He broke off any involvement with this manipulator. Neither Zach nor Calhoun felt a need to throw blows at one another ever again. A rumor started around the hallways that Miranda had instigated another confrontation with two other teenage boys from Central Junior High School. Her reputation then prevented her from forming new relationships with boys, so she switched to girls. She never did stop playing games with hearts and minds. Numerous individuals sustained injuries as a consequence of her conduct. Calhoun’s bruised eye healed up, but going forward, he acted more carefully when a girl showed him interest.