twenty-first ➵ lrh (eng)

two

as i said before, shortly after that day i met him again. a week had passed and, again as i said before, i wondered about those blue eyes for awhile, but i didn't expect to see him again.

i was waiting for my best and only friend, although "best" was kind of an euphemism. at that time it was clear that she was still hanging out with me because she felt bad i that i didn't have any other friends. so when she didn't show up i wasn't surprised. she had other much cooler friends to hang out with, i guess i wasn't that cool.

i wasn't so bad though. i thought that i was an average and kind of cute girl. most people wouldn't like the red hair, but i did. i got red hair from my mum, and since she was gone they were something that made me feel closer to her. she died when i was four, though, i never complained about it, my life was fine. so i liked the way i looked, i wasn't ugly, i didn't know why people didn't want to hang around with me. ashley, my friend, said that it was because i was awkward and silent. but i couldn't do much about it.

it was very cold outside, since it was late november. i was wearing a jacket but my hands were turning red, i almost couldn't feel my fingers. i had been waiting for ashley for almost an hour when i decided to head back home.

"oh, hi violet, what a surprise." a voice called from behind, taking me in fact by surprise. i turned around facing someone's chest. i had to look up to see that it was luke. he was wearing a giant blue hoodie. that hoodie.

this time his hair wasn't wet, but it still covered his forehead. i noticed that he had a black lip piercing.

"do i know you?" i felt bold enough to joke. a second later i realized and i bit the inside of my cheek.

"no way you don't remember your best friend!" he joked around too, making me crack a little smile. later on, i'm sure it was mostly his bright personality that got me to fall for him. he always had a smile on his face, no matter what. he always had a kind word to say. he was just too good for this world.

i noticed he was wearing only a hoodie with no jacket. "aren't you cold?"

"surprisingly not. i'm used to much hotter temperatures in winter, but i'm fine." he said politely.

"well it's november, what did you expect?" i replied, i didn't usually act so smart and sarcastic, i was surprised myself too. but all i could come up with was that he made me very nervous.

"I come from australia and it's basically always summer." he said.

"oh, that makes sense." i didn't know what to say.

silence fell. he stood in front of me, staring at me in silence. i faced the ground, my face was probably redder than my hair.

"why do you stay here? you don't have anything to do?" i blurted out, i didn't mean to seem rude, but i was completely clueless on how to act. he made me feel uneasy, but it wasn't his fault. ashley was right, i was so awkward to be around.

"you seem lonely, i wandered if you wanted some company."

his words floored me. my cheeks were burning and i forgot how to speak.

"i-i.. you don't have to, i'm fine i was going home anyways. it's not like i want people to hang with me out of sympathy, my friend didn't show up but, it's fine she's probably busy, it's not like i don't have friends.."

he laughed. " i'm not doing it for sympathy. i'm sure you have plenty of friends. but i don't have anything to do right now, so if you're free, you can bless me with your company."

i was speechless. i didn't want to seem hopeless in his eyes. i didn't want him to think that i was a loner with no friends. i didn't want him to find out that i was a boring person to be around. but he was right. i was hopeless, i was lonely, i didn't have friends and i craved human interactions like nothing else. he didn't know how alone i felt, and if you would ask me, i'd say that i already fell for him a little that day. i fell for his smile that always hanged from his lips. it's not as bad as it seems though. i'm sure that anyone in my place would have fallen for him. but you couldn't expect otherwise from someone as hopeless as me, i would always get attached too easily.

it was obvious that ashley wouldn't have shown up that day. later she apologised, but i didn't care. i spent the entire afternoon talking to luke, it was so easy to be around him now.

_

i watch as the second petal gets carried away by the wind. i have a few memories of my mother, but i remember that she would always tell me a story when i was little. the story tells about this little red string, attached to everyone's finger. everyone carries this string along their entire life, and if you're lucky enough one day it will lead to its other head, attached to another's person finger. according to the story, this person is supposed to be your soul mate.

i wasn't used to fantasize about stories, but when i met luke it suddenly came to my mind. was it possible that our strings made us meet? but in the end it doesn't matter, because even if such a thing existed, now it would be broken.