As the sun rose above the hills of the Grandville, the town began to stir. The light began to creep through the apartment window of John Raymond. Mr. Raymond was a factory worker. Everyday he would begrudgingly separate himself from his bed. He hated going to work everyday. Especially on days like today. Raymond didn’t even have to look at the calendar to know what day it was. This particular February 14th was especially bad. It had been 20 years since Raymond had been heartbroken on Valentine’s Day.
There used to be a woman in John’s life. Her name was Susan Smiles. She was perfect for him. Susan knew exactly what to say to John when he had rough days at work. They had grown up together. They were high-school sweethearts. Susan and John attended Grandville Public High School where they fell in love freshman year, and from there on out they never left each other’s side. They were inseparable, they did everything together and would always be seen walking through the halls of the school hand in hand. This is not to say that the couple didn’t have the normal problems. Both Susan and John were subject to jealousy and were often upset when they weren’t together because there was some sort of distrust in the relationship. After high school they attended different colleges. They promised to talk everyday and to spend as much time as possible talking and seeing each other. This is where the heartbreak struck.
It was Valentine’s Day, 1989. John was feeling especially romantic and wanted to see his sweet Susan Smiles. He decided to take the day off and go and visit her in college. The two schools were around five hours apart. One was on the east side of the state while the other was located in the center. John got into his Camaro that he loved almost as much as Susan. He prepared for the long drive, and began his journey towards the east side of the state where her college was located. A long five hours later, that had been filled with incessant radio talk, commercials, and music, he arrived at that the college. He had never been to this campus, but was excited to see his sweetheart. John went into the nearest building to ask where he could find a certain student. The secretary who he talked to told John that he could find Susan in room 58 in the Yosemite Dormitory. John said thank you and left, anxious to see his girlfriend of four years. He found the Yosemite Dormitory without any difficulty, it was one of the biggest buildings on the campus. After entering he walked up two flights of stairs where he saw the sign that said rooms 38-59 were on this floor. He smiled at the sign and began his walk down the hallway. He excitedly sped up his pace because he could see the room numbers increasing. “47…48…49″, he read as he walked down the long corridor. John finally came to room 58. John was so excited to see his one true love that instead of knocking he just grabbed the handle and twisted. He opened the door and saw Susan who was lip-locked with some brown haired boy. She opened her eyes and looked shocked to see her Johnny standing there wide eyed and quivering. John slammed the door, turned and ran down the long hallway, the rooms flying past him, “49…45…40″. He ran down the stairs, out the front door of Yosemite Dormitory, across the campus into his Camaro. John got into the car, stuck the keys in the ignition and drove off. The only noise inside the car on the five hour car ride back was when he said, “Never again.”