What Love Entails

one

sous l’âme || one

♠︎

Life is unpredictable. You could be having the time of your life, thinking that it would last forever, when life pulls on a sneak attack on you and everything changes. Or you could be way down in the pits when suddenly you’re way up in the sky. The point is- you never know what is coming to you.

I, for one, never knew that I would be distracted by the sound of a soft giggle in the middle of a lecture emitting from Bree, River’s girlfriend. She was trying to control her laughter as River, who was seated beside her smiled at her.

Must be some joke he made.

I smiled on recalling how River used to always make me laugh with his jokes.

I shook my head. What was I thinking? I turned my attention back to Mr. Smith’s lecture on contemporary writers. However, my attention seemed to keep going back to River and how good he looked today. With black jeans that enhanced his long lean legs and a denim jacket over a classic white tee that hugged his broad shoulders, his attractive features seemed to draw even more attention. His dark hair was tousled with strands falling over his forehead which enhanced the hazel colour of his eyes.

Oh my god.

I sounded like a love sick girl pining over a boy.

I snapped myself out of it and tried yet again to focus on the class lecture. After about ten minutes of not being able to focus as my mind kept drifting elsewhere, the bell rang, signalling the end of school.

I slowly got up and packed my bag as the students rushed out of class. As I exited the classroom, I bumped into someone. “Sorry,” I mumbled as I looked up and made eye contact with River.

When was the last time our eyes ever met?

His expression was blank and his eyes cold. I couldn’t stand how he looked at me as if I was a total stranger, so I quickly ducked down and scurried out the hall.

I checked my watch as I hurried off to my part time job at Ginger- a small lovely coffee shop just 5 blocks away from school. It was surprising that I hardly found any one from our school there, I mean, it was fantastic. Homely and cute, it was a great place to hang out.

I smiled as I entered Ginger and saw my manager, Gabriel. A tall, handsome man in his early 20’s, he was chill and an overall amazing manager. “You’re up in five, Kyla.”

“Ditto,” I made my way to my locker and quickly put on the shop’s uniform before going up to the counter and beginning to work.

The sound of a bell ensued, indicating that a customer had entered the cafe. Putting on my nicest smile, I immediately looked up and said the usual, “Welcome to Ginger.”

A slightly surprised face looked at me before it’s expression turned into a sour one. He turned to his friends before making his way together with them to a table. My heart hammered against my chest as I tried to calm my senses down.

What the hell was River doing here? Why this place of all places? And he’s with his jerk friends, great. Time for some humiliation.

Being the only part timer there at the time, I had to make my way up to them. After five minutes of assuring myself that it was going to be fine, I mustered up the courage to go up to their table. Four heads turned to me, one of which immediately looked away.

“Are you ready to order?” I asked, trying not to sound nervous.

River sneered. “Maybe if you didn’t sound like a frightened mouse.”

I could feel my cheeks flush as his friends laughed. “We don’t bite,” one of them said before they piled in their orders. I quickly jotted them down before hastily making my way to the counter and relaying the orders to the chef.

“Sorry I’m late!” Andrea, my co-worker said as she stood next to me. Thank goodness she was here. Now I wouldn’t have to go face River and his friends again.

Andrea also went to Hardelle High; she joined just a couple of months back, and was already quite popular- after all she was smart, beautiful, kind and cheerful.

As she went up to serve River and his friends, she was greeted enthusiastically. “Oh hey Andrea! We didn’t know you worked here.” and stuff like that. After an anxious hour and a half or so, they got up to leave. They bid bye to Andrea while River didn’t even spare a glance. I let out a huge sigh of relief when they were out of the doors.

“So Kyla,” Andrea grinned. “You going to Kaden Lloyd’s party tonight?”

“No,” I smiled tightly.

“Why not?” She looked disappointed. “It’s the weekend. I’m going too and I’d love to see you there.”

“Parties aren’t my thing,” I shrugged.

“Oh come on!” She nudged me. “Kaden’s parties are amazing, you have to attend one of them at least once in your lifetime.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good.”

__________

I squirmed in the peach coloured dress Andrea lent me for the party. “You look amazing!” She beamed. I looked at myself in the mirror. The dress was really pretty though it was simple. She made me wear a wedge, after failing to convince me to wear stilettos. My hair was let down loose as it was and my face had some light makeup on, courtesy of Andrea.

“I could say the same to you,” I looked over at Andrea. She was wearing a classic blouse with a skater skirt. Her hair was cascaded in curls, bringing out the softness of her face. She looked really beautiful.

“Thanks. Let’s go!”

And off we headed to Kaden’s party. Despite my firm resolve to not attend the party, Andrea’s repeated persistence managed to persuade me. Plus I figured that maybe I could use a little fun. She asked me to come over to her house so that we could dress up together to which I consented.

The loud sound of music booked into my ears as we approached Kaden’s house. His house was massive, and had a modern retro look. Andrea parked her car and we both got out. I was extremely anxious as it had been a long time since I attended a party; I used to sometimes back when River and I were still a couple. Thinking of it made me feel nostalgic.

“So Kyla,” Andrea turned to me. “Let loose okay? Don’t think about anything. Just go crazy and have fun!”

Yeah. Stop being all depressed about River and just have fun for once.

“Alright.”

We went into the house and the sight of bodies grinding against each other immediately came into my view. I scrunched up my nose at the scent of sweat and liquor. I turned to find Andrea surrounded by some guys enthusiastically talking to her. Feeling out of place, I made my way to the drinks section and poured myself a cup of coke. I slowly sipped it as I tried to find an open space where it wasn’t so crowded.

On catching a glimpse of an open door that led outside, I quickly scurried to it. It was in fact the swimming lounge. I breathed a sigh of relief and let myself relax.

“What are you doing here?” An all too familiar voice echoed, making my heart almost stop.

I slowly turned around and on doing so, he immediately came into my view, my eyes locking with his captivating hazel ones.

River.

__________

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