Peach & Lemon

Chapter 1

I hate my mom.
Okay, I don't actually hate my mom. I'm just disliking her right now.
My English teacher insisted that we should read "Hamlet" before the school ends, even though summer break is just around the corner, less than a month away. And my mom always agrees with the teachers.
So here I am, at a bookstore on a Sunday afternoon. I should be getting drunk with my friends, not looking for a stupid classic.
"Just drop that attitude, Twyla! Grab the damn book and meet me by the cashier." My mom walks towards the bookshelf where her favorite type of books are, leaving me alone.
I spot the classics' book display. While I was looking at all the different covers of the same book, my eyes got distracted by the most beautiful view I've ever seen.
It was a girl. The most gorgeous girl my eyes have ever captured. She had her hair like the "Anne with an E" girl from Netflix. Orange, long and straight. In her shiny, loose hair there was a beret. A beret that looked like a peach (with two leaves and everything!).
Peach girl was the fusion between the cuteness of Bella Poarch's face and the body of a bikini model.
She was dressed in a white simple t-shirt, a pleated soft-pink skirt and eccentric-cute makeup that looked like it just came out of a fairytale. Her eyes were painted in a pink shade and a little white eyeliner. Her cheeks shared the same shade as her eyes, with white fake freckles and her gloss was clear as the greek sea.
She straightened her round, big, silver, Harry Potter-like glasses to her face while looking through a book.
She turned the book twice, absorbing all the little details in the cover. Then, she smiled, happy with her book choice. Turned away and walked to the cashier, where I couldn't see her anymore.
I was petrified. I couldn't believe I just saw a goddess in front of me and didn't have the guts to ask for her number. Or even say hello!
I grabbed one of the "Hamlet" books and ran after her. When I finally got to the cashier, she was putting her new book inside a tote bag and immediately left the store. The line was so long... I couldn't reach her. I had to let her go.
"Did you find your book?" My mom asks, tearing me out of my thoughts.
"I did." I answered. "And also found the love of my life." Whispered to myself.
Later that night I told Juno, my best friend, all about Peach Girl. How good she looked in that pink skirt, how immaculate her makeup was and how misterious her peach beret made her look.
She laughed at me like I was an idiot.
I am an idiot. An idiot that falls in love with Peach girls at the bookstore.
I'll probably never see her again.

🍑🍋

"I'm telling you, Juno! She was like an angel!" Juno is probably already sick of listening to me. It's seven thirty in the morning, we're in the school bus and she clearly didn't have her morning coffee.
"Yeah, right. Did she also have a halo and the holy spirit with her?" Juno rolls her eyes and stares at me, annoyed.
"No, she had a peach beret. If you've listened to me, you would've known." I argue back. "I have a feeling that tells me she isn't from our town."
"Dressed like that? She probably stopped here in the middle of a trip or something."
"You're probably right..." My heart gets crushed by Juno's words. I know she's telling the obvious but I really wanted to believe that peach girl is my soulmate. That she would magically appear on the bus like in the movies.
I need to face the fact that I'll never see her again.
Wait.
IT IS HER!
The school bus stopped and Peach Girl got on it. She sits in the front row, next to the window on the left.
"It's her." I whisper to Juno.
"Who? The Peach Girl? No way!" Juno gets up and seeks for her. "I'm sorry, Twyla, you're officially delusional. I don't see any peach girl around. Or the holy spirit."
"She doesn't have the peach beret, dumbass. She's in the front row!" Juno looks at her and opens a big smile.
"Her? The carrot-head girl?" Juno's obviously mocking me.
"Yeah, I'm ninety-percent sure it's her."
"Go check, then." She pushed me off the seat, until I was in the middle of the bus. Juno didn't even let me think this straight. I take a deep breath until my chest is full with air.
I walked towards her seat, at the beginning of the bus. When I was right beside Peach Girl, I turned to her but she didn't even look at me. I noticed she was reading a book, so I tried to get her attention:
"Hey!" I called her. I don't know her name yet. She doesn't react to my voice either. I see she has ear buds. Okay, that explains everything.
I tap her shoulder. She turns to me and takes off one of her ear buds. She looks a little surprised:
"Yes?" She asks in a really tiny voice. A little childish, maybe. It was very similar to Gypsy Blancharde's voice. And it doesn't bother me at all.
"Hi!" I answered with all the courage I could find inside me.
She looked very different from yesterday afternoon. No peach beret, no cute outfit and no eccentric-cute makeup. Instead, she had a white plain t-shirt, a corduroy khaki skirt and a navy blue flannel jacket. The tiny black eyeliner, the ponytail and the white converse are extras.
"Hi. Can I help you?" Peach Girl looks confused. Or should I call her Navy Blue Girl now?
"What's your name?" I ask, smiling.
"Who wants to know?" She asks like she's having fun with this conversation. Points to me!
"Twyla."
"Autumn." The name of the love of my life is Autumn. And I love it.
"Can I sit?" I point to her backpack that is taking the seat beside her. She hesitated but removed the backpack anyway. I sit beside her, she closes her book and pauses her music. There's an awkward silence between us.
"How old are you?" The silence is broken. Thankfully.
"I'm sixteen, and you?"
"Seventeen. What are you reading?" I'm losing no time with her. Not after I lost her at the bookstore.
"Carry On. By Rainbow Rowell."
"What is it about?" She blushes instantly.
"It's a little like Harry Potter. However, it has more romance".
"That seems fun." I talk but all I want is to stare at her the whole trip to the school.
"Do you read much?" She asks, with her eyes full of hope and excitement.
"Hum..." I scratch the back of my neck. "I don't, sorry." Her excitement vanishes like steam from a hot drink. "But I am reading something!" Her eyes meet mine, hopeless. "Hamlet, my teacher made me read it".
"Oh, yeah! It is really good, isn't it?" I nod.
I have no idea. I haven't touched the book since I shoved it into the bookstore's bag.
The bus stops. She grabs her backpack and waves goodbye. Then, she disappeared like she did at the bookstore. Juno gives me my backpack: "Was it really her?" Her curiosity probably killed a cat once, it won't happen again.
"Yup. Now I'm a hundred-percent sure it's her."

🍑🍋

English is the last class of the day. I have a relationship of love and hate with this class. It's an easy A for me, the reason why it's boring. I skip class lots of times due to boredom and I have something telling me that's why my English teacher wanted to talk to me.
And that something is the actual teacher:
"Twyla, you're a brilliant student but you're a step away from failing my class!" She's not judging me, she's warning me. "If you miss class one more time with no justification, I would have to fail you. I'm sure that's not what you want." She sounds worried. Obviously more worried than I am.
"It's not." She steps closer.
"You need to promise me you'll come to all my classes from now on!" Her eyes tell me she could kill me if I don't promise. So I do.
"I promise." But it doesn't mean I'll keep it.
I run to the bus and when I get on it again, Autumn's there. Her hair has shrunken from a ponytail to a messy bun.
She's not reading anymore, instead, she's writing in a notebook.
A notebook with a lavender cover and gold side-pages. I sit right next to her like we've been in a long-term friendship.
"Hello again!" She gives me a shy smile. "What are you writing?" I try to peek at her notebook. A huge fail. Autumn covers it, getting it closer to her body, away from my eyes. She finishes her writing in a second and closes the fancy golden notebook.
"It's my diary," She explains. "It's private".
"Oh, sure. As a diary is supposed to be." She nods and places the diary on her lap. I noticed a little drawing of a moon and some stars (also in gold) on the front cover. "How was your day?" I ask.
"Tiring. Overwhelming. Yours?"
"Almost failing English class. The usual."
"Twyla!" I hear a voice coming from the back of the bus. I see Juno getting closer to my seat, obviously furious. "I was waiting for you! I fucking called you ten times! Where did you put your phone? In your ass?" Juno is almost yelling.
"Actually, on silence mode." Autumn looks away, like she's giving us privacy.
"I was worried! I thought you got detention!"
"Close one. I'm almost failing English class."
"You stupid! I told you not to skip classes! Do you want to repeat eleventh grade or what? I don't want to be alone at college."
"You're not going to be alone at college, Juno. You have your alcoholism, it will help you make new friends." I almost got punched. I actually would if Autumn wasn't there to see.
Me and Juno keep "fighting" until the bus stops and Autumn leaves. My eyes follow her while she leaves, with her eyes on the ground and clearly uncomfortable.
"Happy?" I cross my arms.
"Come on, Twyla! Are you really going to be mad at me because I was worried about you?" The emphasis on "I" is clear as water.
"Fine. I'm sorry." I'm not. I'm not sorry. I just don't want to fight anymore.
"I'm sorry if I scared the holy spirit." I can't hold my laugh.

Hello readers! Hope you're having a nice day!
If you don't know, this is my only book written in English. It's a whole new experience to me so I hope you're patient enough to handle my mistakes 😅
I'm here in the end of the chapter to ask you to help me: if you see any mistakes or if you see the words are getting too repetitive, please warn me in the comments! Your help will be REALLY appreciated!
Thank you so much for understanding! Bye and good reading :)