He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. Plucking petals off of a flower one by one is a game played by someone in love to determine whether the person of their affection feels the same way. The last petal plucked is known to be the petal of truth. Realizing the love-me petal is no longer the reality can lead to the most significant of heartbreaks. 

According to an article written by Gigi Engle, when your heart is broken, it can feel like the end of the world. No amount of pain has ever felt so agonizing. It’s like a giant hole was pummeled into your chest, with no hope of recovering. 

Not everyone overcomes heartbreak the same. For junior Ashlyn Sundell, understanding that a person she loves would never be there for her like they were before was the hardest part about overcoming her heartbreak. 

“All of the sudden you stop talking or something goes wrong,” Sundell said. “Then you aren’t as close and you know the relationship is never going to be the same again. I think when you know how things used to be, and knowing it will never be the same again, is especially hard to go through.” 

Sundell had conversations with important people in her life concerning her feelings about the breakup; this is a coping mechanism during heartbreak that Sundell used. 

“I tried talking to my friends about it to see their opinions, but it depends on the friends you talk to because some will just say, ‘Oh I’m sorry, I know you’ll get through it,’ trying to be comforting,” Sundell said. “Although, at the same time you want to feel like you can get through it.” 

It is good to have comforting friends when going through a heartbreak, but it is also good to have a close friend that will give solid advice when going through tough times. A close friend could help the person focus more on positive things and less on the relationship, or take their mind off of the relationship by spending time with them. 

“I was trying to give her as much support as I possibly could, by giving her advice to not go back to the person,” junior Brianna Clarke said. “I also told her that keeping the negative out of her life and the positive in it was a good thing.” 

When someone is experiencing a breakup, sometimes all they will want to do is to be left alone. As much as someone may be hurting, it is good to go out and spend time with friends. 

When you go through a breakup, the only thing you want to do is be alone, Engle wrote. Instead, you need to get out of the house and spend time recovering from a heartbreak. According to Engle, the best way to do this is by going out and doing some of the activities you love to do and bring joy. 

Talking to friends made Sundell realize things about her relationship that she may not have if she had not talked to her friends about her feelings. Her friends helped her realize that she was so in love with this person that she did not care about all of the negatives he was bringing into her life; she only focused on the times he made her feel good about herself. 

“I think the hardest part for me was understanding that he wasn’t a good person for me, and I can do better for myself,” Sundell said. “I can’t try and fix him and I can only do what’s best for myself inside.” 

Overcoming a heartbreak takes time and even sometimes a person may not fully recover from it. A person could move on and see other people, but always have a space in their heart that will never be fully over the heartbreak. 

“Well, seeing other people fills that hole you feel when you get heartbroken,” Sundell said. “The hole that tells you to know they’re gone. You just feel empty, but it kind of fills that space. There will always be a part, or that hole that can’t be fixed. Seeing other people does help, but it’s honestly only temporary.” 

It is normal to experience heartbreak, whether you are an adult or a teenager. A lot of people go through it. Heartbreak can leave a hole in someone’s heart if they let it, or it can help someone make decisions in the future that can save them another heartbreak. 

“We’re young and we’re vulnerable and we want to experience love,” Sundell said. “Being in love is a great thing, but it can also be a terrible thing at the same time because we are so young and so we’re not necessarily mature enough to handle being in love and having a relationship.” 

Falling in love with someone can make two people happy. Unfortunately, sometimes in the end, someone’s reality may be he loves me not, leading them to be poisoned by the petals.