Chapter Two :Before Everything Changed
618 Words
Chapter Two
Before Everything Changed
Three years earlier...
“Adrian!”
He stopped walking.
He already knew that voice.
He turned around and found Lena running toward him, holding two books against her chest.
“You walk too fast,” she complained, trying to catch her breath.
Adrian smiled.
“You're the one who's always late.”
“I wasn't late.”
“You were twenty minutes late.”
“That's not late.”
“Then what is it?”
“Fashionably delayed.”
He laughed.
Lena smiled proudly, as if she had just won an argument.
Adrian reached for the books in her hands.
“Give me those.”
“I can carry them.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you taking them?”
“Because I want to.”
She looked at him for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“Okay.”
They continued walking together.
They had been together for almost two years.
Everyone around them knew it.
Their friends teased them.
Their families knew.
Even the woman who owned the small café near campus knew that whenever Adrian came in, Lena wouldn't be far behind.
They were that couple.
The kind people looked at and thought—
They're going to last.
Lena suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
She pointed toward a small restaurant across the street.
“I want cake.”
“We just ate.”
“I didn't ask if you were hungry.”
He stared at her.
“You're unbelievable.”
“And you're buying.”
“Of course.”
She smiled.
“That's why I love you.”
Adrian froze for half a second.
Lena raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're staring again.”
“I like hearing you say it.”
Her smile softened.
“I love you.”
This time, Adrian didn't hesitate.
“I love you too.”
They crossed the road.
Neither of them noticed the woman sitting near the restaurant window.
Mira.
She had been watching them for several minutes.
Her eyes followed Adrian as he pulled out a chair for Lena.
She watched him laugh at something Lena said.
Then she looked at the empty chair beside Adrian.
Something in her expression changed.
“Lena,” Mira whispered.
She already knew her name.
She had known it for a while.
And she knew something else too.
Adrian didn't look at other girls.
He didn't flirt.
He didn't care about attention.
He only had eyes for Lena.
Which meant there was only one way to get him to look at someone else.
Lena would have to disappear from his heart first.
---
That evening, Adrian walked Lena home.
They stopped outside her gate.
“Tomorrow?” he asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“Same place?”
“Same place.”
He smiled.
Lena reached for his hand.
“Adrian?”
“Hmm?”
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“No matter what happens, don't ever believe something about me without asking me first.”
He frowned.
“Why are you saying that?”
“I don't know.”
She smiled.
“Just promise.”
Adrian squeezed her hand.
“I promise.”
Lena smiled.
“Good.”
She turned toward the gate.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
She took three steps.
Then turned around.
“Adrian!”
“What?”
“I love you!”
He laughed.
“I love you too!”
She disappeared through the gate.
Adrian stood there smiling.
He had no idea that one day, that promise would be the very thing he would break.
And when he finally realized it...
Lena would already be gone.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD