the moving on chronicle
Tell yourself that he's not worth it. He's not worth your tears.
Tell yourself that, really, he's not worth all the pain. You deserve better.
After the mantra of hypocrisy, tell yourself you love him and later find out that you can't.
Then you'll laugh because you'll realize—"I finally moved on."
You just hope it's as easy as that.

∞ apple ∞

"Moving on is like disposing an apple," says Haruno Sakura to her blonde best friend. She leans against the backrest of the bench she and Yamanaka Ino sit on and plays with the bright red apple that her hands grasp. "You take a single bite. A few minutes later, you look down and see it bruising. You'll want to throw it, but you know what?"

Ino's tear-stricken face finally looks up at her. She giggles at the pink-haired girl's awkward analogy.

"What?"

Sakura smiles as she looks down at the fruit. "Even after having thrown it, it's still there. Maybe not in your hands, but you know it still exists."

"So it's like that?" Sakura's blonde friend asks. They look ahead at the lamppost that stands across from them. "I may have wanted to dispose of my feelings for him because he bruises it? But even after throwing it—even if I try to . . . to let go of it—it will still be existing? How do I move on, Sakura? It hurts."

"It's simple," answers Sakura. "You eat the apple. You chew it down to pieces, swallow it. Then you'll realize, in only a matter of minutes, that it's gone. It's all in the past."

Ino does not speak.

"And I know it's difficult, but you won't move on unless you haven't tasted what your feelings taste like." Sakura laughs. "When it's too rotten to gobble it down, go on, throw the rotting apple. It will take so long a time, but there will be others who would consume it."

Ino raises an eyebrow. "Others?"

"Pests."

Then Sakura laughs, but laughs more when she realizes that her best friend finally smiles for the first time that day.

"Who taught you that?" Ino questions, turning to her.

She smiles at the blonde. "Sasuke."

The smile Ino wears disappears into a thin line and she stares at Sakura. "Sak—"

Sakura laughs. "Don't worry, I'm fine." She winks. "I've eaten my apple."

author's note: Kidnap My Heart shall be updated this weekend. :) Review?