The Kindness Of A Sunflower (h.s)

fourteen

paige

Maya and I walked into Woody's which was a 1920's jazz inspired club/ bar type thing. Apparently, someone in Maya's art class had gone and said it was really fun.

"This place is really cool!" I say to Maya.

"Yeah it's sick! Do you wanna try and find a table or just go to the bar?"

"Let's just head over to the bar."

"Okay sounds good."

We started to walk over and I was able to really take in my surroundings. The booths were covered in a red velvet and all the employees were dressed as flapper girls and mobsters. There was a raised platform that served as a stage where a band was playing live music and people were dancing on the dance floor. The bar was located on an upper level with smaller tables that were placed so you could overlook the dance floor and band.

Maya and I go to the bar and order our drinks and go to one of the tables. I look down onto the dance floor, sipping on my vodka cranberry, and see a rather large group of people seated at one of the booths chatting away and laughing. One of the guys seated there had curly brown hair and tattoos littered his skin almost like--no.

It couldn't be.

Harry was on a flight to Florida right now, not in a club in New York.

The doppelganger threw his head back and roared with laughter.

I look down and see my ring hung on the chain around his neck.

I smile from ear to ear.

"What?" Maya says, looking down at the table. "Oh my god is that--"

"Yeah it is," I say getting up from my seat and making my way toward the stairs and walking down to the lower level.

I reach the floor, grinning, and start to make my way over to the booth.

I stop dead in my tracks.

One of the girls he was with now stood up and her hand was in his. She had long legs like me but they were stick thin. Her brown hair cascaded down her back in perfection. I couldn't spot a single flaw on her.

He pulled her into him and she sat down on his lap. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear like he had done to me countless times and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. Her one hand slid up to the nape of his neck and threaded her fingers through the curls that lay there. Her other hand slides down his chest slowly and starts rubbing it in circles. His one hand lays on the small of her back and the other high up on her thigh.

I feel my eyes start to water.

I couldn't move.

He reached up to grab behind her neck and pulled her into him, putting his lips onto hers.

I watch them as I see her deepen the kiss, my feet seeming to have become immobile. I felt the salty tears start to run down my face.

He told me he wanted to try this.

He told me he didn't want anyone else.

He told me he'd wait.

He told me we wanted me.

Only me.

And I believed him.

I believed that he would actually want to try and would want to be with someone like me. I'm average looking and there isn't anything special about me. I was stupid for believing him.

I feel like I'm drowning as the music and the people around me fade away, and I start to hear a ringing in my ears. I can only see them.

His lips start to move down to her neck and he starts to suck.

It feels like someone has just ripped my heart out of my chest and crushed it in the palm of their hand.

Her hand in his hair tightens around the curls as his lips continue on her neck. Once he is satisfied, he moves to the other side of her neck and continues there. Her hair falls away and even from here I can see the purple mark left by his plump lips.

Tears cascade down my face with not an end in sight.

The ringing intensifies and doesn't stop.

I'm drowning and there is no one to save me.