Teach Me How to Love

Rule 8: Remember Details

~Remember Details~

School passed by in a blink of an eye and I actually tried to pay attention for Abigail. Yet you can only ask a person to do much and apparently listening to lectures for over six hours is too much for me.

I sat in the library for hours waiting for Abigail, but she didn't come. Worry for her well-being filled me since this was unusual for her.

Although I wished to wait a little longer to see if she would show up my father would be losing his alcohol induced haze soon.

Reluctantly I hurried outside and began walking towards the house that contained the man of my nightmares.

"Matt, wait up," a familiar feminine voice said. Despite my better judgement I halted and slowly turned around.

"Rachel what are you doing here?" I asked confused once I saw Rachel rushing out of the small café around the corner.

"I was getting some coffee," Rachel said after a long pause. Then she pulled out a black jacket.

"Here this is yours," she said as she handed me the worn out jacket.

"Thanks. How did you get it?" I asked still drawing a blank as to how my jacket could have gotten into her possession.

"You let me borrow your jacket while you walked me to my house. Remember I was drunk and you forgot to take back your jacket," she said with some uncertainty creeping into her voice.

"Oh yeah, thanks," I said as realization dawned on me. After I grabbed my jacket a somewhat awkward yet comfortable silence fell between us.

She pulled her tan trench coat closer to her body with thin hands when a strong wind swept through the small alley way.

"You must be cold. I should let you go warm up," I suggested. I awkwardly shifted my weight to my less injured leg as I waited for her answer.

"I'm actually waiting for someone so I'll stay out here with you," Rachel responded.

Silence enveloped us once again until a small van pulled up to the entrance of the alley. When the window I rolled down I half expected a person aiming a gun at us to be revealed, but was glad to be greeted with the familiar pale face of Abigail.

"Hey Abigail. Thanks for picking me up," Rachel said cheerfully except there was an undertone of sadness in her voice.

"We have company Rachel. Meet me at the café around the corner in an hour," Abigail said in a strained voice. Rachel turned around to enter the car and waved at me.

Her red boots disappeared through the door right before the car sped off. Questions flooded my mind and I could only hope that some of them would be answered later.

After some contemplation I entered the pink café just outside the alleyway. Bright lights assaulted my sensitive eyes upon entrance. Each wall was unique from the other ranging from wallpaper to paint, to polka dots to striped, and even hot pink to salmon.

Brown tiles reflected the luminous light coming from the fake multi-colored crystal balls hanging from the ceiling. Tables occupied the empty space between the counter and the booths.

"Hey darling I'm Lacey. Booth, table, or counter?" A young woman asked in a southern drawl.

"Um counter please," I said while surveying the delicious pastries in the display case which doubled as a counter.

"Sure thing you can sit right over there. Call me if you need anything," Lacey replied cheerfully, nodding her head of golden curls at an empty stool.

"Thanks," I responded curtly unable to return her cheerfulness. The plastic chair was more comfortable than it looked. I swiveled in the chair slightly while staring out the window. The scenery was captivating.

Plop, plop, plop. Dainty raindrops fell from the darkened sky onto the gray buildings that lines the empty streets.

A soft sigh escaped my chapped lips as I turned my attention back to the café.

"Why so down darling?" Lacey asked, her slim figure approaching my weak one.

"Life," I said matter-of-factly. Lacey's pale blue eyes stared intensely into mine.

"Look life is life. It is meant to be hard since life is a test of yourself. And this test isn't graded on the difficulty of the problem or the answer but your reaction to the problem. So don't allow it to get you down. I'm not trying to quote a book I'm just telling you what I learned from my own life," she said forcefully.

Just then I noticed the dull sparkle in her eyes that came from experiencing hardship. After that piece of advice she proceeded to wipe down the empty tables, giving me time to muse over what she said.

Maybe she's right about me needing to learn how to react rather than just waiting for the solution to come to me.

"Matthew," Abigail's soft voice said tentatively. My chair swiveled so I was facing Abigail. She was wearing a cable knit sweater and jeans that complimented her pale face which was more pale than usual.

"Abigail," I greeted her in the same manner. I patted the pink stool next to me as a gesture for her to sit down since I had a feeling this might take a while.

Finally she sat down on the chair staring distantly at the brown and pink striped wall.

"You know my sister don't you?" She inquired quietly while twisting the ring around her finger. The luminous lights caused the gold band and the heart shaped ruby to sparkle brightly.

"I'm not sure. What's her name?" I asked still captivated by her ring.

"Rachel," she said unable to meet my eyes. Abigail quietly continued to twirl her ring. I let my jaw drop at this, I never would have thought they were related as sisters or even related at all.

"Yeah I know her," I said slowly as the pieces began to fall in place.

"Rachel said that everything changed when he left. Who left?" I asked. Maybe if it was another person I would have been more subtle but I figured both of us were past being polite with touchy subjects.

"My dad," Abigail said with such an overwhelming amount of sadness I fought off the urge to question further and simply gave her a quick one shouldered hug.

We were thrown back into silence. A normal response to news like this would have been saying I'm sorry but everyone knows that saying I'm sorry does nothing to cheer that person up. It just shows how little you understand about their situation and hardship.

A familiar song began to play softly. Abigail jerked upwards from her slumped position and pulled out a phone. She then pressed her ear up to the phone while her face slowly lost its color which had been slowly returning back to its original color.

Then the phone was shoved into her pocket and Abigail began to get get up before hesitating for just a moment with her mouth opened in such a way that she resembled a fish.

"Take care of yourself Matt. I'll see you tomorrow in the library," with those parting words she ran off into the pouring rain. She managed to add color to the gray world surrounding this town.

Matt?

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Author's Note: Woah I updated. So anyone see that coming? we are finally starting to unravel the secret life of Abigail Simmons. I hope you enjoyed it. Read, vote, comment, and fan. Luv ya all!

-WrittenDreams3

~Question~

If you could have any super power what would it be?

For me probably the ability to control time.