《The following scene is all a flashback from Aurora. You'll get to understand prior to the end of the chapter》
•
'By the way, how did you two meet? I mean you and Shane.' Aspen asked as she rested her hand on the table and leaned closer to me.
'Shane? And who may that be?' My mind wandered to all the people I had come across, but no 'Shane' came to memory.
'Oh c'mon, you don't need to play the dumb card on me. I'm not against you two hanging out. Just wanted to drop a few warnings before I return to my table.'
'Excuse me? You must be mistaken. The only person I came in with is Sebastian.'
A peal of laughter echoed in my ear as I stared at her, waiting for an explanation.
'I'm s-so sorry, it's just... Sebastian? So that's what he goes by now?' She once again bursted into another sequel of laughter, leaving me dumbstruck by her statement.
'What do you mean, that's what he goes by now?!' My heart wavered at the thought of what she meant. I knew where she was getting on to, I-I just wanted confirmation, a confirmation to prove that my conclusion was wrong, to prove that Shane is not Sebastion, to prove that he didn't lie to me, to prove that he didn't trust me enough to tell me that! And I got it, I got my damn confirmation.
'Oh, honey, Shane is Sebastian, only that Shane is his real name.'
I felt like an unexpected bomb fell from the sky and landed straight in my heart. My emotions erupted like that of a volcano and littered all over the place. No tears rolled down my cheeks, no emotions were printed on my face. All the chaos was happening inside me, inside my mind.
'I'm sorry you had to hear about that from me, and I doubt he would have told you anytime soon. I didn't want you to end up like me. He'll dump it all at full force on you out of nowhere and tell you it's over, I mean, who the hell breaks up with a girl you've been going out with for four solid years!'
Now it was my turn to laugh. I laughed hard enough for tears to joyfully dance down my cheeks, only that this wasn't tears of joy, It was mixed with hurt, sadness, betrayal, and rage. What better way to express your anger than to laugh it all out, Huhn?
'I've met many kinds of assholes in my life and trust me, he's the worst outta them all. He isn't worth the tears, honey. It's best you learn that sooner than later. I learned that the hard way.'
She extended her hand across the table with a tissue in it. I sniffled as I took the tissue and sobered up. I then came to realize, that she must have suffered way more than how crushed up I felt. I could only wonder who in their sane mind would ditch such a pretty and lovely lady as her. We only met just a couple of minutes ago and it felt like we've been long-time friends.
Before I could ask her to elaborate further, she started, 'Back when I was still a naive little girl, everything about me beamed with love. I always made sure I had shared part of that love with someone, who'd have thought one silly mistake would end up ruining my life altogether. I bumped into a disturbed, lonely boy seated alone on the roadside bench, the sun was about to set, as chill breeze whoosh past the leaves mixed with the sound of crickets humming spawned a melodious tune. I went up to him and we both conversed for what seemed to be an eternity. A few days later, we started hanging out often. Months passed and we were finally an item. Those were the most joyous years of my life, even if it was all a lie... four years later, he invited me out for dinner, back then I thought he had wanted to finally propose, so I picked out my prettiest dress, but instead what I got was a brief, cold breakup...' She exhaled.
The glow in her I once saw was no longer there, she slumped on her seat as she tried calming her emotions. I could see the internal struggle within her and that was totally understandable. At one glance, I knew she had not fully gotten over it, but she kept moving, trying to pick up the broken pieces one by one no matter how long it takes.
'He never explained to me what I did wrong to deserve such a cruel gift. He came clean after he finally ended things with me. For four damn years, I had waited patiently for a proposal only to be told our relationship was all a lie. I then came to realize, I gave my love to the wrong person, and that will always be my greatest mistake! His name was a lie, his family was a lie, his freaking personality was a lie! There was nothing about him that he didn't freaking lie about to my face... I thought it'd be easy to get back up on my feet, to return to the cheerful girl I once was, but reality hit me and I was left drowning in my tears day and night, never to see the light of day again. It took me an entire year to partly regain myself back. I enrolled in another college, met new sets of people, and grew a lot of friends. I thought I had finally gotten over it, over him, but once again, reality proved me wrong... I didn't know what to feel when I saw him flirting with you, hurt? Anger? Jealousy? Hatred? I shoved it all down until the realization shone on me... I had been the only one suffering, day and night over our stupid relationship, he never really cared about it, about us to begin with, and as he said... everything was all a lie... I decided not to sit back and watch the same thing happen to another pure, innocent girl, Aurora, that's why I'm telling you this.
If I were you, I'd stay as far away from him as possible and I'm not saying this cause I'm his ex. He's a sly and very cunning fox. Loving him was my biggest regret. He never deserved love and will never. Run as far away from him as you still can... before it gets too late... He's the devil reincarnate behind all those façades.' She finished with a smile tugging at her lips as she reached across the table and pulled me into her embrace, I breathed in the soothing scent of early morning dew with a sprinkle of lavender flavor that engulfed her. She pulled away and smiled warmly at me for any question I might have.
'Do you still love him?' My voice came out on the verge of a breathless whisper as I tried not to sound too nosy about her personal affairs.
She chuckled, a slight frown attempting to pull up beneath her heart-shaped glossy lips. 'The one question I had battled with for years... I finally got the answer to that question...' Her gaze veered to her side as a faint smile mingled on her lips. I followed her gaze and was immediately frozen in my seat.
Sebas- no, Shane! When did he get here? I gasped, Aspen! I averted my gaze back to her to check if she hadn't broken down. Before I could utter a word, Aspen spoke, 'Yes, I still do. Every single day, month, and year that went by, that was one thing I could never really give up... I didn't let my happenings decide my personality or how I treated others and so should you... my offer is still on, dial my number if you ever need to talk about anything... till we meet again, Aurora.' She waved as she hastily worked her way through the crowd unnoticed, like water filtering through the cracks in a sidewalk.
I caught sight of her moist eyes before she turned her back to leave. Meeting him again must have made her walls crumble down once more. Abby saw her scurrying off, she shot a quick glare at me before dashing after her. Judging from her expression, she didn't seem to know a thing about Aspen's past which made me ponder... Why'd she trust me-a stranger she just met...
A familiar raspy voice drew me back from my trail of thoughts. 'What did she tell you?!'
I scoffed within, shouldn't he already come clean and fucking tell me the truth? If we weren't in a crowded space, I would've hurled a punch at his face for hurting Aspen and another at his groin for not sprinting after her to make things right. As the jerk that he was, stupidly took his seat like he didn't just freaking meet his ex! The lovely lady he had been dating for four damn years! He discarded her like a fucking piece of shit and still had the right to forget her?!
A large part of me felt remorseful for her and a smaller part felt jealous, which I'd say was the last emotion I'd think to feel towards him.
'Just girls talk, you know... boys and all... whatever girls talk about when they hang out...' I laughed awkwardly trying to sound as truthful as possible. This wasn't the best time to point out what I know at least not yet.
•
I stood out on the sidewalk to get some air, to get some distance from him as the memory of the conversation I had with Aspen came to mind. I inhaled the warm scent of orange blossoms and freshly baked apple pie mixed with the putrid smell of sweats oozing out of the clothing of different strangers as they brushed past me.
I turned back to the coffee shop, about to step in.
I halted and glanced right over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette figure blended in with the crowd.
Mom? I barreled through the crowd of people in hopes of catching up to her, all to no avail.
Damn it! I lost her!
I stood huffing as I slid against the wall for support as I regained my breathing. I knew it was her! Despite the dark hoodie she had on, I could always point her out in a crowd of million civilians, she was my mother after all. I ceased my search and went around to leave.
Huhn?
A note stuck to the sole of my leather sandal, I bent over to toss it away but found a neatly written handwritten crafted on it.
'Go back home now! You aren't safe here!' The note read.
"There's no home mother... lost it a few days ago, all for my silly hunt for you. You were once my home... but not anymore..." I whispered as a sudden recollection came to mind.
'I wove you, mama.' I said fiddling with her thumb. 'Mama loves you too, baby. I promise to always be by your side, my little gummy bear... and if by any chance, we somehow get separated along the way... always remember these eight letter words... I l-o-v-e y-o-u.'
My eyes bolted wide open like I had just solved a puzzle, which I actually did.
That's it! I love you! She always made me spell it out loud, because she was passing on a message, a message only my older self could unravel! Makes me wonder if she actually meant those words...
~~~
Sadly, I'll have to stop here for now T_T but cry not, there might be a double update this week! Hopefully...
Hope I didn't bore you with the lengthy flashbacks-plays an important role(;
Who has been your favorite character so far? Let me know in the inline comment>>>
Thank you for reading my book!!^^
Vote. Comment. Follow!!♡♡♡