Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

FOR ME, HAPPINESS had always seemed like a funny sort of thing. I never quite fully understood how a heart could light up with such delight and joy. It was a sensation that would send flutters about my chest that radiated of warmth and excitement. Such euphoria would then proceed to flow through every blood vessel available in my body. It was a drug in its own right and ever since Apollo came into my life - although the road was still filled with certain bumps and less than pleasant situations - it was almost all that I felt.

It was such a simple word and emotion. Yet, because of its simplicity, people constantly overlook it and take it for granted. Many would think that happiness was an obligation in life that was to be given to them without working for it. Most of the time, they could not see the importance of it until it was stripped away from them.

Unlike these people, happiness was never something that was guaranteed to me.

True, I was not unfortunate. I had many blessings in my life thus far and the future, too, looks bright for me. I had a lovely family, a hobby that could keep me entertained whenever I was feeling bored, delicious dinner waiting for me whenever I wanted to eat, a warm bed, and a roof over my head. That was more than what half of this cruel world could even wish for.

However, I was also human. I wanted things that I did not have. Things that I could most likely survive without but yet when I lack it, it would hardly be living. Because of such a human trait, I always wanted more. And one thing in which I wished for above all was someone in which I could share my joys with. I wanted someone that I could give my laughter, my loyalty, or share my woes and worries.

Now, after what felt eternity in the pit of loneliness, I've finally found someone that could fill up that void in my life.

Now, I have Apollo.

After speeding through the carnival, hopping from ride to ride, we finally came to a halt at our final destination for the night. Seated upon a Ferris wheel, I allowed all my thoughts to take over my mind and zone out from reality. If Apollo had not knocked me down on that fateful day, my life would obviously be very different from what it had evolved to be.

Apollo did not just become my friend. He offered to give me a makeover far beyond the small boundaries of physical appearances. He provided me with a whole new perspective on life itself and that the journey to conquer it would always begin with myself.

The media portrayed him as the villain in the world of adults, a bad guy that needed to be stopped and corrected before anything too serious could happen. In truth, he was only someone that needed a friend, someone that understood him. In other words, he needed someone that could look away and turn a blind eye to the harsh reality of adulthood and still live in the blissful realm of childhood.

In more ways than just one, Apollo was so much like me.

I caught his eye just as I turned, watching his bright blue irises fixated on me while a small grin curved his lips effortlessly.

"You're staring."

The corners of his lips turned up when he heard my words, his pupils focusing on me as if snapping away from his daydream.

"Kind of hard not to," he simply said. "The wind is starting to mess up your hair."

Just like how I did with all of his playful comments, I took this one with a pinch of salt an allowed myself to smile, echoing my voice into the starry night.

"Your insults are getting lamer and lamer every passing day."

"Maybe because I am hanging out with you too much. You seem to have the effect on people, you know? Change them." He shrugged gently, waving his words.