I wiped my tears as the credits started rolling. Oh god, is an action movie supposed to move me to tears? I looked to my side to see Lucy sniffing as well. "It's touching, isn't it?" Lucy whispered in my ear. I nodded. Either that, or we were too emotional.
"He's leaving," I nudged Lucy when I saw Lucy's crush standing up and she immediately sat up straight. "Let's go," she said, determined as she tugged on my wrist.
I stood behind my friend as she caught up to said crush and tapped on his shoulder. "Lucas?" She questioned with a soft voice and I tried to stifle my laughter. Lucy and soft are polar opposites. Lucas turned around and cocked his head to the side.
"Yeah?" he replied, a little uncertain. I frowned. Does he not recognize her? "Oh Lucy!" He smiled, showing his rows of straight teeth. "We're in the same Chemistry class aren't we?" I heaved a silent sigh of relief.
"Are you here alone?" Lucy asked as the three of us walked out of the theatre. "Yep, my friend couldn't make it at the last minute," Lucas shrugged. "Let me introduce, this is my best friend Aria. She attends Aravale High too." Lucy turned to me with a wink and I smiled. "Hi, nice to meet you," I greeted him. "Hey, I'm Lucas. I've seen you around school," he told me. "Really?" I asked, a little surprised. I hadn't noticed him. Lucas nodded, "when you were waiting for Lucy outside our Chemistry classroom." I nodded in understanding, "I see."
An idea suddenly occurred to me and I held back my smile, "Lucas are you free later?" I asked him as Lucy looked at me with raised brows. Lucas nodded, "why?" "I suddenly remembered that I had to babysit my neighbor's child, will you go have supper with Lucy?" I frowned and tried to sound apologetic.
"Sure, I'm a little hungry myself," Lucas agreed. I smiled gratefully at him and from the corner of my eyes, I could see that my best friend was trying her best to contain her excitement. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, gotta run," I waved to the pair and ran in the direction of the exit. Once I was out of sight, I fished my phone from my backpack and texted Lucy: I'm waiting for your juicy details ;P and received a wink as a reply from her.
Smiling to myself, I skipped out of the mall and headed home.
*
For some reason, there was some unexplainable feeling of euphoria deep within me. I was on cloud nine, elated, gleeful and whatever words you could find to describe that familiar, yet seemingly unfamiliar feeling.
I looked around my surroundings and took in a deep breath. The air smells fresh and crisp, with a hint of sweetness from the flowers blooming nearby. The blue skies were dotted with clouds and birds were chirping happily. What a wonderful day, I thought to myself.
Far in the distance, I heard somebody calling me. "A! A!" That voice...only he would call me that.
As I was about to turn around to look at the source of the voice, the booming voice of my mother woke me up. "Aria! You're gonna be late if you continue sleeping!" Oh god.
It was a Monday morning and like every other student out there, I absolutely dreaded school on Mondays. Who wouldn't? After we get to have a break from school over the weekends, here comes Monday.
"Urgh," I groaned, shielding my eyes from the blinding sunlight outside my windows. "Aren't you getting up?" my mom asked in that ever so patient voice of hers. "Mom..." I dragged my words, "I feel ill," I pretended to cough. "I might have caught a flu," I sniffed my nose loudly in an effort to fool her. "Yea, right. Why don't you start attending some acting classes first?" My mom commented and my lips flattened into a thin line.
"Fine, I'm up," I gave up and dragged myself out of bed, resisting the temptation to jump back into it after my mom walked out of my room.
*
After washing up, I put on a white spag dress and a denim jacket which has little rips on it before grabbing my gray backpack and rushing out of the house. "Oh boy...I'm gonna be late..." I looked at the time on my phone, signaling that I only had twenty minutes to get to class.
When I made my way to the bus stop, the last student was boarding the bus and I hurried up the bus before the doors close.
Oof, squeezy. Upon boarding, I was shoved by a few students. Frowning, I tried to move to the nearest handrail but failed to as the bus was too packed. I'll have to steady my own balance then. I can do this. Just a few moments after I steeled my resolve, the bus screeched to a stop and I fell backward. Shoot.
Bracing myself for the impact on my rear, I shut my eyes tight but was surprised that it didn't hurt one bit. Huh?
Meekly opening my eyes, I was faced with a familiar face. "You..." I widened my eyes in disbelief. The guy that I bumped into the day before raised in brows whilst staring at me. "Sorry," I bit out as I tried to get up, but my lips were met with another pair of warm ones when the bus suddenly lurched. I blinked my eyes a few times and froze. Again?!
I jumped back, embarrassed and wished that the ground could swallow me whole. I could feel many pairs of eyes on me but I refused to turn to look at them. "Sorry," I mumbled out as I looked down.
"You're not gonna headbutt me this time?" The guy teased, holding onto my waist as the bus driver continued to drive dangerously.
I flushed red. "Sorry, that was..." I looked away, flustered, before standing up and holding on tightly to the back of a seat.
The stranger that I had kissed two days in a row shook his head with an amused grin.
*
When the bus stopped in front of the school gates, I quickly alighted from the bus as I caught sight of the time. Five more minutes.
Running to my locker to grab my books, I made my way to class right on the dot. Phew.
"Why are you sweating buckets?" Lucy asked, concerned when I plopped down on the seat next to her. "It was a hectic morning. Mom's using my car and I had to take the bus," I told her as I tried to catch my breath. "Poor thing," Lucy said sympathetically just as our teacher, Mr Wills made his way into class.
*
Brring! The lunch bell finally rang.
I was famished. I had skipped breakfast this morning and I felt like I could eat a cow. After meeting up with Lucy at her locker, both of us made our way to the school cafeteria.
"What are you getting?" Lucy asked as we made our way to the queue. "Hmm..." I pondered as I looked at the dishes that were serving today. "Mac and cheese, I'm starving," I answered my friend. Lucy nodded, "I'll get a ham sandwich then."
Holding our tray of food, Lucy and I made our way to our usual lunch spot near the field when we were stopped by someone.
Lucas? That reminds me...Lucy hadn't told me about what happened yesterday with him.
"Sure," Lucy said.
"Huh?" I voiced out loud, not sure of what's happening. "Stop spacing out Miss Space Cadet," Lucy shook her head with a smile. "Let's sit here," Lucy told me, signaling to Lucas' table.
"I have two friends coming later," Lucas told us after we sat down, "you know Dylan right?" Lucas asked Lucy and she nodded. "Dylan's in our Chemistry class," Lucy explained to me. "Wait... Dylan as in Dylan Baker?" I asked and both of them nodded. "You know him?" Lucas asked and I shook my head. "Not really, I've heard his name somewhere."
Dylan is our school's football captain, and he's pretty popular in school, so it's kinda impossible not to know him, but it's not like I will tell his close friend that.
Just as I was about to dig into my food, Lucas was greeted by his friends who sat down next to him. I turned my head to look at the newcomers and my jaw dropped. The guy who I accidentally kissed is Lucas' friend?!
"You..." The both of us said at the same time. "You guys know each other?" Lucas asked, looking back and forth between his friend and I. "She's the one who k..." his friend started but I kicked his leg, giving him a pointed look.
"Nope, I don't know him," I replied. "Nice to meet you, my name's Aria," I said with a fake smile. "My name's Jasper," the guy introduced himself, smirking. "And my name's Dylan," Dylan introduced himself with a grin.
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around," Lucy addressed Jasper. "Yep, I just moved to this town a few days ago. Today's my first day," Jasper told her.
Hold on... he's new here? It couldn't be right? I saw him near my house yesterday too...
"Your last name wouldn't happen to be West, would it?" I asked, frowning. "How did you know?" Jasper asked, surprised.
Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.
"Your last name wouldn't happen to be White right?" Jasper pieced two and two together. I shrugged.
"What's going on here?" Dylan asked the both of us, curious.
"She's my neighbour."
"He's my neighbour."
The both of us said at the same time.