Love is not only Romance

Chapter 2

As days went one, the excitement I felt when it was close to maths, grew stronger. Maybe it was the fact that Elle was different that drew me to her. She didn't care what people thought, or at least she didn't make their effect known. She brought out something that I had lost a long time ago. She brought out the hope that I threw away. Honestly, I felt like my life was crap after my dad died. My only reason for living was my mom and little sisters. When I lost him, I lost everything but my sadness.

Every day I hid my pain with sarcasm and fake smiles, sometimes I couldn't hide anything, and I was zoned out the entire day, I speak not of this to advertise my sob story, rather I speak of this to make her impact known. Afterall the light cannot be seen without the darkness; that's what she taught me, but we will get to it later.

We bonded over songs, the first being Back to you by Louis Tomlinson and Bebe Rexha. We had conversations, actual conversations where she made me feel like she wanted to hear my thoughts, my opinions. She made me want to try new things. She made me want to be more out there. She made me want to believe that there is so much more beyond the spot I seemed to be glued in. One of my favorite moments that I truly love is the day when my sister's invisible-ink pen accidentally ended up in my case. For that whole hour, we wrote all over the pages of our maths books with the maths lesson as the soundtrack. Till today, our legacy, our story remains in that book that is hidden somewhere in the storage unit. Maybe it is a small, childish thing but to me, it is so much more. It might've been the first time I let my childish side out. It is who we were and for that, I'm kind of jealous.

"Do you want to have lunch with us today?" Her voice cut my train of thoughts as I collected my things. It was the first time anyone had offered to separate me from my friends. I looked around the class to spot Samantha, my best friend. I didn't want to make her feel a certain way. Especially with everything happening with her on and off again boyfriend Isaac.

"You don't need their permission you know. It's just lunch." She rolled her eyes as I took a moment to realize that she is right, it was just lunch. I smiled at her before telling her I would like to spend lunch with her.

Her excitement was hard to ignore. she grabbed my hand and dragged me to Alexa. I managed to signal to my friends that I would be with Elle. I barely had time to notice their disapproving stares before my attention was captured by the two energetic girls next to me.I already knew Alexa. Samantha introduced us last year. We have never really spoken before, we just greeted each other when we crossed each other. now that I am actually talking to her, I wonder why I've never taken time to get to know her better.

For the entire lunch hour, we ate and roamed around the school. they stopped and greeted people I've never seen before like the social butterflies they are. I stayed in the sideline, awkwardly greeting those who noticed me. Elle and Alexa made jokes to ease me into their vibe. Have I ever thanked them for that?

Mid-year examinations came, and we barely saw each other. However, somewhere along the line, I realized that she meant more to me that she knew. Maybe more than she should. Was she even a friend? I found myself talking about her. I admired her so much. She was like my new favorite book. And I was just starting it. It lured me in. captured my attention. What plot twists would happen? What is next? The exams weren't as stressful for me. Maybe because I just didn't care. I couldn't care less if I failed or passed. I was one with the wind, but never as peaceful. The thought of my mom made me get back on my feet. She is my anchor. She will always be my anchor.

Elle was the star of the show. To me, she seemed so surreal. I wanted to be her, or at least like her. She didn't try hard to been seen, to be heard. She had people who were dying to talk to her and me? I had 5 people who seemed to want nothing to do with me and my baggage. She lived the life I dreamt of. Or at least I thought she lived that life.

We often tend to forget that we never really notice what we think of or what we hope for. We just silently judge everyone. Someone could be the saddest person on the inside but pulls up a smile and hides away everything. we never check if someone is okay. Why don't we? I was never the best person to be around, notice how I said was? Elle is the one who reminds me that putting yourself down is never going to take you anywhere. It makes sense. After I stopped dwelling on the things I wished I could change about myself, I started to improve myself, I started to grow.

The thing about life is that you never know what is going to happen next, if you asked me if I ever thought of writing a book about my best friend, in 2016, the answer would be sure. But we all know what sure is. Sure is the agreement to something you're not confident about but you're too nice to say no. but as I write this, I can't believe that I would've doubted this moment.