Priya glances up at him and pushes her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "How so, O'Connell?"
He smiles at the way she addresses him by his last name, reminding him of old coaches and little league soccer matches. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like everyone has somewhere to be, someone to be with, somewhere to go. Everyone seems so busy; it seems like maybe I should be busy too, but—"
"—you're in a standstill?" Priya supplies with a half-smile of her own. "I feel that way sometimes. It happens to the best of us. As self-involved as we — I'm not saying you directly — are, we are almost equally as obsessed with others."
"Are they doing better than us? Are they more successful? Do they have more opportunities? More money? We're silly, hypocritical, little people, O'Connell."
For a moment, Ford feels as though he's speaking (or reading from) Kira. The resemblance between the two — especially in demeanor — is, at times, uncanny.
Their main differences are this: their positions. Whereas Priya controls a crowd at center stage, megaphone in hand, Kira would be backstage somewhere, controlling everyone (unbeknownst to them) like a puppeteer.
The former thrives under scrutinizing eyes and lives to disprove, to show everyone who ever underestimates her that they are so incredibly wrong.
The latter enjoys being underestimated. She did not mind that people thought she was a pretty face, a girl with her hands clasped at the waist, waiting to be commanded. (At least, that's what Ford thinks.)
"Same time tomorrow?" Priya asks as she walks Ford to his car, stopping to tie her shoe.
"Swim practice tomorrow," he replies with a single roll of his eyes. "I should at least show up twice a month. How about Wednesday?"
Priya nods and laughs, springing up the steps to her house.
>>>
PERHAPS IN ANOTHER LIFE, Ford O'Connell had wronged Adalia Barco, for she is all kinds of unrelenting and unforgiving in this one.
When he pulls into his driveway, he spots her almost immediately. Even under the dimming glow of the setting sun, Adalia is still as clear as ever, dressed in all black, long legs dangling off his front porch.
Her hair's shaped haphazardly by the wind, and to his surprise, she doesn't bother to comb it back into place.
"I don't care what your excuse is, Ford," she begins as soon as he nears her. "I really don't. I just want you to know that I waited, for an entire hour after my party was over for you. I thought maybe you were stuck in traffic, or maybe you overslept, or maybe you were just running late."
"I looked like such a fool, Ford, sitting on the stupid grey doorsteps of my stupid white house in my stupid pale pink dress — you know, the one you said you like? — waiting for some stupid boy to show up. You said you'd come, Ford. You told me you wouldn't miss it, and not only do you miss it, but you don't even apologize for it."
There's something so alluring about her, about the way her smiles seemed to foreshadow fire and rain and wind and all sorts of chaos that Ford finds himself devouring her words as though they are her last — even when they are thrown square in his face.
"Adalia," he begins, his voice failing him. "I— I'm sorry you had to wait for me."
Ford's insufficient attempt at an apology has Adalia cocking her gun, yet again. She is a force to be reckoned with, on par with natural disasters and other means of instant destruction, and right now, Ford O'Connell is her clear target.
"Honestly, Ford, I'm just going to go. You obviously don't care about me, or us, so why should I?" Her words are no longer laced with menace, aimed straight at his heart; they simply are, suspended in the air.
She waits a moment, sharp angles softening into sinuous curves until she realizes Ford didn't know what to say. With one last sharp intake of air, she starts her car and disappears over the horizon.
_____________________
a/n: HIII LOVES!! how are you all doing?? I'm sorry I couldn't update last week; it was lunar new year (a big HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR to all my asians), so the festivities (and people) at my house were in full swing. (I'm also sorry that this update is just meh)
So what do we think of Ford now? Ooo, and of Adalia? Priya?? Is Ford in the wrong for not attending Adalia's party?
three : retribution
Start from the beginning
