-maybe i could replace you-
The small brunette rolled her eyes, looking at her watch. It was 2:37 pm on a Wednesday and her blond best friend was almost forty minutes late. He had texted her the day before saying he wanted to apologize. They were supposed to meet up at their favorite coffee shop to talk everything out. The pair used to do weekly visits but they hadn't been since their fight. Luke would always show up only five or so minutes late. She should've known that it was too good to be true.
Paisley was quickly scribbling in her journal. She just couldn't believe that Luke would stand her up like that. They hadn't been talking for two weeks and he finally reaches out to her but doesn't keep up with his end of the deal. Paisley was pissed.
Luke was probably too busy fucking his girlfriend to remember that he had a prior commitment.
And boy, did Paisley let that anger flow onto the paper. Luke and her had been friends for too long for him to be petty over such a small fight. It wasn't her fault that Valentina was a jealous little bitch that thought Paisley was out to steal her man. Maybe it was partially true that the brunette was in love with Luke but she'd never stoop so low to try and steal him. She'd be just as bad as Valentina as she did.
Paisley reached forward and allowed her fingertips to graze her coffee cup so that she could take a sip from the hot beverage. She honestly didn't understand how there was people that could skip drinking coffee. The small girl was certain that she would have the mentality of a sloth if she didn't at least have a mug of it every morning. She knew what it was like to have caffeine withdraws. Her hands would shake and her voice would stutter.
The small girl allowed her eyes to wander around the shop and to observe the people. She could easily write a story about every person in the room and come up with different scenarios for each one. That was her favorite thing to do. Her and Luke would always go to new places and would come up with ideas for each person and compare their thoughts. She always liked writing vignettes for them and adding as much detail as possible. Paisley liked the back story. She loved knowing about others.
She made eye contact with one of the boys across the room. He was absolutely beautiful. His black hair was sticking up right and he had the cutest beard scruff that she had ever seen. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown but had a golden twinkle to them. He cracked a small smile when he noticed her staring back and she couldn't help but grin. Paisley was sure that it was love at first sight. Okay, that was an exaggeration and she definitely loved Luke but she couldn't help but stare. She could replace him right?
Paisley watched as the boy stood up from his table, whispering something to his group of friends and started walking her way. She thought she was about to die. Why was he coming over here? She hadn't even done anything. Just smile. She wasn't good at flirting. She had legitimately only dated two other people in her life and it always started out awkwardly.
"Mind if I sit here?" the boy asked, smiling as he looked at Paisley and then to the chair in front of her.
"Yes! Wait! I mean- no! I don't mind. I meant yes that you could sit here," Paisley rambled.
Her face was definitely very red and the guy was still smiling at her. Her skin was blotchy yet the boy still looked at her like she put the sun in the sky.
"Oh god," she mumbled, placing her face in her hands. She was just wishing that the Earth would open up right where she was and swallow her whole.
"You looked sad. You look too enthralling to be sad."
"My friend ditched me but it's okay," Paisley said, rolling her eyes at the thought of Luke. He was the one destroying their friendship. Not her.
"I don't see why anyone would stand you up. I, a gentleman, would never do so. My name's Khalid and your name is?" the boy asked, smiling at how adorable the small girl was. She was so flustered and he had only asked if he could sit in front of her.
"Paisley," she whispered.
"What? I can't hear you. Can you please take your hands away from your face so I can hear you?" he asked and then added, "And so that I can see your beautiful face again?"
Luke who? Paisley didn't know a Luke. She only knew the beautiful god of a man in front of her.
"Sorry. It's Paisley. I'm not good at this type of thing," Paisley responded then adding again, "Sorry."
"No need to apologize. It's cute," Khalid said, grinning as he watched the cheeks of the girl in front of him turn a deeper shade of red.
Paisley hadn't felt this flustered in so long and she couldn't help but want to keep talking to the boy in front of her. She could just feel some type of attraction to him but on a deeper level.
"You're a writer too," Paisley blurted, watching his body language.
"Guilty," Khalid responded, "I write songs. I just like being able to put my emotions to music. You're clearly a writer. What do you write?"
He gestured towards her notebook that she had set down and closed, right next to her coffee mug.
"Stories. I like to tell stories. Whether it be about in the moment about actual people or actually coming up with a plot. Vignettes about people I don't know are my specialty," Paisley responded.
She felt a bit weird about being so open but she couldn't help it. Sitting at the cafe with Khalid made her believe that she had known him for years and not minutes. Paisley could see herself going to so many different locations with this boy and spend hours writing.
"Write one about me," Khalid said, smiling widely.
"It takes me awhile to do so. It's hard to just write one thousand words in one sitting," the small girl said, smiling and shaking her head.
"I guess we'd have to meet up again for me to read this. This Friday at five o'clock?" the black boy asked, taking out his phone and pulling up to a blank contact.
He passed his phone across the table and she looked at his screen. She couldn't help but laugh and type in her information. Khalid was just so charming and somehow knew what to say at every instance.
"Works for me. Well, maybe six. I have a meeting at five," Paisley explained.
"I'll text you and we can work out the details."
"I'll be waiting."
"What's your favorite flower?" Khalid asked, grabbing his phone back and lifting himself so that he could put his phone in the pocket again.
"I like petunias," Paisley responded.
"Noted," Khalid said.
He looked over at his friends and noticed that they were all packing up their things. They were about to head out without him.
"I have to go but I'll see you in two days. I'll text you once I get in my friend's car," Khalid said. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed tightly. The small girl shifted their hands so that their fingers were tangled together and it felt so natural.
"Okay! I'll be waiting," Paisley exclaimed. She watched as Khalid stood up and walked to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. Paisley's cheeks inflamed again and Khalid couldn't help but chuckle.
"See you later, angel," he said.
Khalid finally turned around after his friends started hollering and whooping for their best friend.
"Sorry," he added, before turning around and leaving the girl at the table once again.
The brunette couldn't help but watch as he walked away. He joined his friends and walked out the cafe. She sighed once the door swung shut behind him. Khalid was beautiful and he was interested in her. She couldn't help but be flustered.
Paisley waited a moment before going and pulling out her notebook, opening up to a blank page. She started writing down everything she could but the first sentence stood out the most.
I met a golden boy today.
***
Long time no update? Sorry if there's typos. My computer keeps incorrectly things. Like I just wrote "long" and it "corrected" it to "the". My computer is as old as my wattpad account so like four years old and it's spazzing and I want to cry.
I haven't been online in a long time and I missed it a lot. I'm not sure if I missed wattpad just because of how rude some people can be and the break was really nice but I missed writing and reading all the NICE comments. I've been working on a new story and I have about six of the forty scenes done and I'm so excited for it because I eventually want to be published and I have a teacher helping me with it!!
I've been so incredibly busy some weeks but also haven't been. I easily could've updated over these six months but I just needed a break. I'm not even sorry for the long wait. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and liked that I included a possible love triangle aka my bby Khalid and I know it's rough but it's my first time writing anything 5SOS in like a decade.
This will be my last year writing anything on wattpad and then my account will be retired due to me going off to college. I hope to finish Exposed and Invisible in that time but we'll just have to see what happens with the story I want published!
I love you all so incredibly much and I hope you are all having an excellent summer! Thanks for reading and not giving up on me!
-E