POV: Luka
Hearing that Greyson saw Mia rocked me to my core.
After all these years I was ready to give up and accept that her memory would have to stay as just that. A memory.
I hated that I had to attend another class today instead of meeting up with the guys. My internship mentor from my freshman year had encouraged me to learn Italian if I wanted to work in fashion photography. I wasn't sure that was the path I wanted to go down still, but it wouldn't hurt to add another skill to my resume.
Photography was the air that my lungs needed to survive and it became my savior when couldn't think past my pain. If learning Italian was going to help me, than I wasn't going to ignore that advice.
I slipped into my Italian II lecture at the last minute. I could see the Professor making her way to the front of the room, so I took a seat in one of the back rows. I didn't think anything of the girl sitting in the row ahead of me until she raised her arm to touch her neck. Not until I saw she had a tattoo.
It was a lark.
I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest and I heard myself breath in quickly.
Please let this be her. Please let this be Lark.
I wasn't religious but in that moment I spoke to whatever gods might hear me. When Vera called her name, Emily, disappointment washed over me like a tidal wave.
It wasn't until I remembered what Greyson had said in his text that I snapped by head back up and looked at her.
Greyson had said she was calling herself Emily.
Even if I hadn't put two and two together, I would have known it was her by her voice. She began to speak in Italian and it rolled off her tongue easily. I couldn't understand most of what she was saying, but her and the Professor seemed to be having a nice conversation. I wondered where she pick up the skill. What her life had been like.
Even in another language her voice still held that huskiness we used to tease her for. It seemed out of place in a 13 year-olds voice. Now it fit like a glove.
Hearing her talk felt like a dream. I had imagined her voice so many times.
Mia sat back down and before I could lean forward and say something, Vera called my name. I watched Mia's body freeze up as if she had been shot with a stun gun.
She knew I was behind her.
That a part of her family was behind her.
I stumbled through my conversation with Professor Bianchi. The whole time my eyes kept shifting down towards Lark.
I desperately wanted her to look at me. I also hoped she wouldn't. I would have lost my concentration.
I sat back down when Vera told me I was okay to finish. My knee bobbed up in down at what felt like the speed of light. Lark still hadn't turned around and something told me she wasn't going to. I thought back to what Grey said, about how she didn't respond to her name, and realized she would try to run away once class ended. I packed up my stuff early and waited for Vera to dismiss everyone.
Sure enough, Lark practically threw her stuff in her backpack and jumped out of her seat to leave.
I couldn't let her go. Not again.
"Lark please don't run away. Please don't disappear". I could hear how shaky my voice was and I was surprised it didn't crack when I said disappear. It felt like forever before she turned around. It felt like heaven when she finally looked at me.
Even though the young girl I knew was gone, I could still see her in the woman staring back at me. Her hair was darker and her eyes looked sad. The cheekbones that were just staring to appear nine years ago, were now pronounced and highlighted her delicate features. She had always been pretty. Now she was ethereal.
"Luka." She spoke my name in a whisper. I could tell from that one word that she didn't want to run. She was just scared. Of what, I didn't know.
"I can't believe you're here. You don't understand how badly we've been trying to find you". I hoped she could here in my voice how much I still needed her.
"I'm having a hard time believing I'm here too". She spoke sarcastically and she smirked at me. The gesture looked wrong on her face.
"Will you come somewhere with me? The guys. They need to see you too. We all share an apartment in the city. We could cook you something or just sit and talk. Whatever you want". I know I sounded desparate. I didn't care.
She looked at me. I could tell she was trying to decide because she was biting the inside of her cheek. A telltale sign of an indecisive Lark.
"Okay. I'll come with you". She sounded unsure. I hoped we could prove to her that we were still worth her love.
I wanted to take her hand in mine, but resisted the urge. I didn't know how she would react to that. It had been nine years after all. Together we walked side by side and I lead her to the apartment I shared with the guys.
The four of us used to say that she was our sun and we were her beams of light. Looking at her now, I don't know if she's still that sun. She's something new now. Darker, but still gentle.
Now, I think she could be our moon.
I just hoped she'd allow us to be her stars.