running out of time - dylan and leila

tell my sweetheart

5 months =  21 weeks left.

At 15 in 2006, Leila is Dylan's favorite girl. His crush since he was a child. She has tan skin and long, light brown hair. She likes cute, vintage, and lacy clothes. She has gold hoops and a gold bracelet. Tonight, her friend Luna is over, and she's telling her Dylan's moving. Luna's just like Leila, but silver jewelry, dark waves, and goes thrifting. "Dylan's moving? Finally. I'll finally get some peace," Leila says, rolling her eyes.

Luna rolls her eyes. "He was your boyfriend in preschool, Leila. You're still mad about that?" She giggles. The two girls are sprawled on Leila's bed, surrounded by magazines and half-eaten bags of chips. The summer night air is thick with the scent of cherry lip gloss and the faint hum of the old box fan in the corner.

She huffs, tossing a magazine aside with way more force than necessary, sending a few loose pages fluttering to the floor. "I was four, Luna. It doesn't count. And it's not like he's stopped being annoying since then." Her fingers fiddle with her gold bracelet, twisting it around her wrist. The topic always makes her fidget. "He's always—ugh. With the stupid nicknames. And the smirking. Like he knows he's getting to me."

"You've only got 1 school year to get his number. Maybe you should get revenge?" Luna grins, picking a chip from the bag between them and crunching loudly. "Bet he'd lose his mind if you kissed someone else."

Her cheeks flush instantly, and she grabs a pillow to smack Luna with, narrowly missing the bag of chips. "Shut up—I'm not kissing anyone just to piss him off!" She's had multiple sneaky links. But she'd never admit it. She tucks her hair behind her ear, gold hoops glinting in the dim lamplight. "Besides, it wouldn't even work. He'd probably just laugh and call me 'sweetheart' like always." She says it like it's the worst thing in the world. It is.

Dylan has nerdy interests. For example, he's been collecting Pokémon cards since childhood, watches anime, and has a side crush on Misa Amane from Death Note. Valid, she's FINE! Right now, he's sprawled on his bedroom floor sorting through his latest pack pulls when his phone buzzes with a text from Luna—because of course she's snitching. His smirk curls slow as he reads, thumb swiping lazily over the screen before firing back:

 tell my sweetheart i said hey. and that she's welcome to come say goodbye properly before i leave. 

Dylan's actually scared. Leila doesn't care about him. But she's his favorite person in the world. And she'll just forget him.