Silent heart.
1090 Words
The first time i met Arthur wick,he was soaked from the rain,standing outside the student hall like he owned the world.
Sophia ran to him. Sophia Wells My loyal friend,daughter of Mr Wells. I felt for her after her loss
“Arthur” she squealed.
He stared at me for a moment and walked over to me.
“You're the famous Natasha I've been hearing about.”
He asked offering me dripping handshake from the rain.
“Famous’ huh? So Sophia has been lying to you.”
“She does that,sometimes” he joked,nudging her.
Sophia blushed so hard that i couldn't watch.
Arthur and Sophia were bestfriend since childhood they behave like they were siblings or maybe couples.
After this moment Arthur became our shadow. Or maybe we became his.
Late nights at the library studying together,Cheap groceries in the back of beat- up truck,secret dares and stolen concert tickets.
We were a trio,until we weren't. Honestly I don't know when it shifted.
Maybe when he grabbed my hands during our haunted house game and didn't let go.
Or it could be when he started saving the last slice of pizza for me and not for Sophia.
Maybe when he looked at me in the room like the only thing that matters to him.
One fateful night he caught me staring at him with a lovely glare.
“What?” He said grinning.
“Nothing.”
He leaned closer to me.
“You know you're terrible at lying.”
“Oops I didn't know that.”
I shoved him away. He laughed,this soft, crackling sound,like he was discovering something new.
Sophia saw it. Of course she did.
I caught her once,standing just outside the dorm hallways, watching us.
She smiled when I met her eyes. Such a tight,painful thing.
I almost stopped, almost.
But Arthur here, squeezed my hand under the cafeteria table,and the world narrowed to just him and me.
*****************
After graduation.
“We're out and done” Arthur said throwing his hat to the sky.
“Asia, anywhere we want.”
I laughed. “Big plans there,Mr wick.”
“I mean it,both of us.” He turned serious.
“Natasha nothing is stopping us.”
Sophia dropped her fork in frustration as it clattered against her plate.
Arthur didn't notice it, but i did.
I tried to talk to her once.
In the middle of a saturday movie night,when we ran out of popcorn and Arthur went to get it.
“Sophia” I said hesitatingly but calm.
“You're okay right?”
She blinked, smiled. too fast.
“Yeah I'm fine.”
“No hard feelings too?”
“Yeah everything is perfectly fine.”
And that was it no confession,no ugly truth. She chooses silence and i choosed Arthur.
Homecoming night,Arthur waited under the lights as usual, looking nervous for the first time since we met.
I ran to him. Breathless.
He caught me like he always did.
“I love you.”he whispered against my hair.
I wanted to cry. Instead, I kissed him.
In the crowd i saw Sophia clapping. Cheering.
“You're happy right?” I asked her later,in the hallway.
She shrugged.
“I swear, both of you are perfect.”
Weeks blurred by in a golden haze.
Sneaking out after curfew. Making promises we barely understood.
Arthur wrote my name with paintings on every sidewalk in campus.
Natasha -wick.
He wrote it like we were married to eachother.
I pretended not to notice the way Sophia's hands tightened around her books.
“You'll always be my best friend,” I told her one night, driving home.
At then my father bought my first car for me.
Sophia smiled,but it didn't reach her eyes.
“Yeah. Always.”
I wanted to ask if it hurts,or if she hated me. But decided to keep it to myself.
I just kept driving.
One evening, Arthur grabbed my hands in the dark.
“I don't care what anyone says about you and me” he murmured.
“I'm not letting go”
I leaned my head against his shoulder, believing every word he said.
Well it was supposed to be simple.
Graduate,get married,escape.
Me, Arthur, and a future too bright to look at directly.
Sophia would be there too somewhere in the background,smiling and clapping for us.
But sometimes I feel pity for Sophia.
Sometimes late at night,I, see Sophia sitting alone in the quad. Head down buried to the ground. Shoulders hunched like she was holding herself together with both hands.
And I feel like this small guilty thought above whisper runs in her head.
“You stole something that was never offered to you”
At night Arthur becomes more romantic,like he watches it in a movie.
Arthur would pull me back,wraps his body around me making me feel warm. Kisses the doubt off my skin.
“You and me, always”he said.
And i believed him cause believing was easier than breaking.
I came back to the estate late that night and behold my cruel stepmother was there waiting for me.
With an angry look she said.
“Where have you been all day.”
I stammered. I felt like my heart fell on the ground.
“I'm just coming from Sophia's place.”
“So that's why you're not picking my calls.”
Sometimes I do put my phone on silence while attending lectures.
“I'm sorry.”
She laughed and fell to the ground, i got confused at the moment, whether I should join her in laughter or wait for her to finish.
“You know Sophia just came here looking for you five minutes ago, and now you're here claiming,that you're just coming from her house.”
At this moment I knew I was been screwed up. She cleared her throat as she came me a vicious glare.
“Start talking miss.”
Suddenly it looked liked God sent an angel from heaven to come save me.
“Miss Natasha you have a telephone call from your father.” Our servant said.
“Go ahead but you won't be lucky next time.”she said angrily.
“That which keeps late at night will soon be revealed.”
I over looked her and answered the telephone call,sometimes I wish my father never knew her,or where did he pick her from without knowing her background I hated her and she hated me also.
Whatever was her intention in marrying my father will soon be exposed.
- Writer
