APHRODITE

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it was saturday, june 30th, 2018. eleven-thirty at night and here i am walking around town in the dark, stars littering the gloomy blue sky. this time i had not left the house due to my parents fighting but because at this point it was basically routine, and anyways the stars were pretty.

i'd been walking for about ten minutes when i got to the playground i was heading for. call me childish, but i love the swings. i got over to the green swing and plopped down on it. i moved back and forth a little bit, dragging my feet across the ground while looking up at the sky. the wind was picking up a bit, going from barely there to enough to mess up my hair.

i heard a house door shut behind me, i turned around to see a boy i knew from school coming out of his house. actually, he wasn't just a boy i knew from school. he was a boy that i'd been crushing on for the past year. a boy that i wanted to notice me for the past year. a boy that i wanted to be with for the past year. alex carter was more than just a boy i knew from school.

i looked back to where i was looking before. i heard footsteps going down the sidewalk for about 10 seconds, and then a pause. they continued, but they were going a different direction. hearing them gradually becoming closer, i knew he was walking over to me.

"hey," i heard his husky voice from behind me. i turned around to face him, he gestured to the yellow swing next to me. "mind if i sit?"

"no." i whispered, trying not to let him see how nervous i was.

he sat down on the swing, facing the opposite way that i was. there was a moment of silence before anyone spoke. "so," he started. "what are you doing here?" he asked endearingly.

"i like the wind," i bit my lip. "what about you?"

"needed some air." he said. "i was gonna go for a walk and then i saw you, you seem chill so i came over here. i can go if you want-"

"no." i interjected. "it's okay, you can stay."

it went quiet after that, i was bad at conversation and didn't know what to say, and i'm guessing he didn't either. the only thing that i could hear was the sounds of crickets and the wind blowing. naturally, the temperature dropped as it was getting late and the wind kept going, making it colder, and of course i went out in a t-shirt. the wind was blowing and blowing, giving me goosebumps and causing me to shiver. alex noticed this. "do you wanna borrow one of my sweatshirts?"

this was one of those situations you always want to be in but when it actually happens, you don't know how to react or what to say. i was an awkward person. "uh, no, it's fine, i'm good. thanks though."

"okay, just thought i'd ask." there was another minute of silence. "so how is your summer going?"

"good i guess." i honestly wasn't really sure what to say. "what about yours?"

"good." i'm pretty sure he didn't either. "hey, you're friends with melanie, right?"

"kinda."

"has she," his voice sounded somewhat hesitant. "has she said anything to you about me?"

"kind of," i started. it was a little weird talking to the guy i've had a crush on forever about his girlfriend. "she's mad at you." it was even more weird trying to talk to him about that exact situation. i didn't want to say something that would make him annoyed at me or upset about what happened.

he sighed. "she's annoyed because i was paired with leah for a science project and she said i was flirting with her when i wasn't, we were literally just working on the assignment and talking about it but i guess i'm not allowed to talk or laugh around other girls."

"girls are weird." i said. that was the best i could think of, i didn't know what i should or could do.

"yeah," he started. he seemed to not really care much about how she was mad. "can i tell you something?"

"yeah, sure." i looked from my slowly swinging feet to his, which were stationary on the ground.

"you won't tell anyone, right?"

what was he going to tell me that was so important? why would he trust me with a secret? why would he trust someone he barely knew? i felt special, it was silly, but i did. "your secret's safe with me."

"i," again, his voice was hesitant. "i feel like i'm not really into melanie anymore. she's always getting mad at me and when she's not she's asking me to drive her somewhere or making me go be the third wheel while she hangs out with her friends, so we can 'spend time together'. we never do anything fun anymore. it's just, it's not the same."

"if you're not into her then end it i guess, nobody would wanna be in a relationship where the other person didn't feel the same way. it would probably be better to do it now than wait however long and have her find out then." i wasn't very good helping in these situations, but i wanted to try my best. i bit my lip, watching myself kick my feet on the ground.

"yeah, you're right." a gust of wind went by and i shivered again, my t-shirt not enough to keep me warm. he looked up and saw. "i'm getting you a sweatshirt." he said, standing up and walking back to his house.

author's note: here's the first chapter, hope you like it. not sure how often i'll update but hopefully enough. comment what you think, please <3