Between the Lines | ✓

Cliche 30: Stars in the Sky and in His Eyes

Ding, dong.

I startled from where I was staring at the door, the shadow of a figure - Elias - a mere blur in the stained glass panelling. My mouth suddenly felt very dry as I stood up, bones creaking, and I sucked in a tight, arid breath.

'Come on, Lex. You've been thinking about what you're going to say for over a week now. You couldn't get your words out last time, but this time you've got to get your shit together! This is what all of those late nights talking to yourself in the mirror was for!'

Hand on the doorknob, I braced myself, opening my mouth.

Whoosh.

I swung the door open, eyes shut, blurting out the words I had kept bottled up for far too long.

"I am so sorry about what happened the other day, I messed up! Please don't hate me, because I love you too! Please go out with me!" I rushed out, one word tumbling into the next.

And then, there was silence, with only the thudding of my heart in my ears punctuating the air.

Steeling my nerves, I peeled my eyes open, only to find someone standing there that definitely was not Elias.

Because the guy was wearing a pizza shop's uniform and holding two large pizza boxes with loaves of garlic bread and a Coke balancing atop them. 

The guy just blinked at me with a raised brow, just as I got a text from Aubrey.

AuBrey not AuDrey - 5:02pm
Alex! I totally forgot to tell u
Amber ordered pizza for you and elias before
Said that a dinner date is wayyy more romantic than just sitting around outside!
It should be arriving any second now!
And good luck! We believe in u and ur love! 🥰💪

I smiled bitterly at her ill-timed message, apologising to the poor delivery man who just gave me a pitying look.

"You've got this, bro," he said, patting me on the shoulder consolingly.

Fuck! Don't look at me with pity in your eyes, dude! Everything is going to be fine, absolutely fine!

Still shell-shocked from the unexpected failure of my love confession, I stood there in a daze as the pizza man got back in his car, driving off while giving me another pitying look as he peeled off the sidewalk.

When the car with the obnoxious light-up pizza mascot on top of it pulled away, a lone figure was revealed across the road. The person, now no longer obscured by a giant neon pepperoni pizza, was wearing a crisp navy suit, the blazer unbuttoned to reveal the complimentary fitted lilac shirt and dark suspenders. The boy's tie was neatly done, with a silver tie bar nestled in the centre. The setting sun cast a warm glow across the boy's face. Dark, curly hair seemed to be freshly styled, accentuating the person's sharp features. Features that were etched into my waking thoughts and my brightest of dreams.

My green eyes met pools of dark umber, recognition followed by panic flashing in them, as Elias seemed to take a step back before freezing. The two of us were locked in a standstill on opposite sides of the same road, the expanse of sun-kissed asphalt seemingly insurmountable between us.

My mind found this moment to recall a line from 'Say No to Bad Boys' about how the ice around Xander's heart had melted away with the burning fire of his love for Aubrey. That line had made me scoff at its sheer cheesiness, but here, I couldn't help but resonate with it.

Because I froze the last time Elias had faced me, this boy who was so brave and kind and good, and I didn't want to freeze again. 

So, unlike last time, the fire of my love for Elias thawed the ice around my ankles, and I leapt across the road, pizza in hand.