FRUSTRATED, Jasmine fell onto the navy sofa with a groan, her two best friends already situated on either side of her. An empty paper cup lay discarded on the glass coffee table, and her coat has been dumped haphazardly onto the wooden floorboards.
"Why, of all people, did I see him?" She whined, her head flopping onto Renee's shoulder.
The older girl laughed, wrapping her arm around Jasmine's shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. Pippa laughed, swivelling to face the two other girls on the sofa.
"Well, it could've been worse, Jas! At least he's cute, and nice. And he likes you. He's really quite the catch." Pippa shrugged, picking up the empty cup and throwing it directly into the waste-paper bin with ease.
"Well that's the problem! I don't want to like him!" She sighed in aggravation, standing from the couch and beginning immediately to pace the living room of the flat.
"Maybe he'd be good for you! Seeing him everywhere has to be some sort of sign, Jas!"
"No! I just need to take my mind off of it. Off of him! Okay?" She ran her fingers through her messy mop of dark curls, gnawing at her lip with nerves.
"Well how about we head on down to the Christmas light-up? I heard it's going to be bigger than last years!" Renee suggested, bouncing up and down excitedly in her seat - Renee loved Christmas, and she never planned to hide it.
Pippa nodded in agreement, the idea of the brightly coloured lights illuminating the streets of New York, and the steaming hot cocoa they consumed every year being a huge deal breaker for her.
The two looked expectantly at Jasmine, waiting for the confirmation they were certain they would receive. With a slightly reluctant - and mostly incoherent - grumble, Jasmine nodded her head, her corkscrew curls bouncing around her like a mane.
"Fine. Wrap up warm. It's cold." She mumbled, stalking off to her room as her two friends rejoiced on the sofa.
--
"It's so cold I think my feet may freeze to the ground." Jasmine shivered, wrapping her warm coat further around her slim figure.
"You're telling me," Pippa stuttered, the cold making her teeth chatter as she spoke. "I think I can feel my hands turning into icicles."
Renee laughed, shrugging her shoulders. Her outfit, complete with puffy jacket, cosy scarf, gloves and hat, kept her incredibly warm, a warmth that Jasmine and Pippa were jealous of, to say the least.
"Hey, three minutes until lights on. How about we take some selfies?" Pippa suggested, always one to lighten the mood.
Jasmine nodded, wiping the specks of snowflakes away from her glasses as she pushed them further up her nose. She leaned in towards the camera, wrapping her arm enthusiastically around Pippa's shoulder as she grinned, eyes bright and shining. Renee stood on the other side, her laughter in the moment trapped forever as Pippa tapped the button.
They took several more photos to remember the moment, but they were swiftly interrupted by the countdown beginning. A voice was resonating around the crowd. Everyone seemed to be joining in as the numbers fell down from ten to zero.
Jasmine watched with delight, absolutely speechless as the light flickered on all at once. Beside her, her two best friends were cheering, their glee evident in both their voices and their faces. She looked around the crowd, taking in the excitement on the faces. She was most certainly a self-proclaimed people watcher.
Her face couldn't help but fall, however, as her eyes brushed past a familiar face in the crowd. Perhaps she'd imagined it, she thought, maybe a snowflake had fallen in her eyes and disrupted her view. Her eyes slowly drifted backwards, and sure enough, Anthony Ramos stood amongst the crowd. He seemed to be chatting animatedly to a friend, who was listening intently to him as well. Both men seemed to have forgotten about the beauty of the tree that sat before them.
Jasmine span on her heel, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Renee and Pippa were still in their element, snapping photos of the Christmas tree repeatedly.
"Guys!" The shrill shriek was enough to grab the attention of the two girls.
"What now? Are you too cold or something? We'll grab hot chocolate in a moment, calm down." Renee explained, phone still raised in the direction of the glistening tree.
"No! It's not that, it's... Well, it's Anthony!"
"See! We told you you're caught up on him! You must like him." Pippa teased, elbowing her friend as she sent an over-exaggerated wink in her direction.
"Don't talk rubbish, Pips, I saw him! I still do, he's over there." She groaned, pointing as subtly as she could to the boy that was barely across the street from them.
Immediately, Renee and Pippa jumped into action, dashing past Jasmine to the edge of the curb. They let out loud gasps when their eyes caught onto the man who, miraculously, happened to turn up everywhere.
"No. Freaking. Way!"
"What do I do? Is he stalking me? He really is everywhere! What if he approaches? Do I apologise for being so uptight last night? Do I conf-." Jasmine's seemingly endless rambles were cut short by a hand being clamped over her mouth.
Pouting, she peeled it away and crossed her arms in defeat. Renee rolled her eyes as she watched the boys across the street, who seemed to be in as much of a tizzy as Jasmine was.
"Forget it, Jas. If he comes over, you speak politely to him. If he doesn't, it's down to you."
"Down to me? What do you mean?" She asked, teeth nibbling nervously at her bottom lip.
"Well, it's down to you if you want to actually pluck up the courage to talk to him or not." Pippa shrugged, peeking over Jasmine's shoulder in an inconspicuous fashion, trying as best as she could to avoid Anthony's gaze.
There was silence for a moment, an exhausting silence that seemed to last far longer than it did. It was as if the blaring noises that usually surrounded the streets of New York has been muted with a remote, because all Jasmine could hear were her own thoughts swirling around inside her head, suffocatingly loud. Renee and Pippa waited patiently for a response.
"Okay." She nodded, dropping her hands confidently to her sides.
"Okay?" Renee asked, trying her best (and failing) to hide the anticipation in her voice.
"I'm going to speak to him." She nodded, causing her two friends to squeal in delight. They's been too afraid to say it, but really, they thought Anthony seemed very suited to their friend.
Without another word, Jasmine span on her heel, rushing through the energetic crowd as fast as she could to make it to Anthony before he left. She couldn't tell if her friends were following her or not - she didn't care, really. She was just desperate to make it to the boy who couldn't seem to leave her mind.
She was distracted by the thoughts that had flooded her mind, so distracted in fact that she crashed into a figure, taller than her in size. She felt herself toppling backwards, only for her wrist to be caught by the person, pulling her back upright and closer to them.
She was uncomfortably close to the assumed stranger, but she was, at the very least, thankful that he'd saved her from crashing directly onto the wet, concrete ground.
Looking up and into the eyes of the stranger, a gasp escaped her lips. She was speechless, every word knocked from her brain. The only word she could comprehend was in her mouth, on her tongue, and then out, floating around amongst the air.
"Anthony."
-
hi! it's kirsty, and i'm deeply sorry for the length it's taken to upload between this chapter and the previous. michaela and i have clashing schedules and timezones, and we're both busy with schoolwork and exams, so it's really miracle that we're ever able to come together and plan at all!
thank you so much for reading! any kind critiques are greatly appreciated!
- potterblacks