She walked with me through the main foyer, keeping her body close to mine. It made me feel uncomfortable; she was cold compared to Axel's warm presence. It was also awkward when I slightly tired to push her away from me, but she came even closer mushing our shoulders together.
"Would you mind, um, telling me how I know you?" I asked warily, giving up on trying to distance us.
"Have you ever seen an elf?" She whispers, focusing her vision ahead.
"An elf? Like little woodland creature? I only believed in those when I was like six or seven-" I momentarily stop walking, suddenly hit by a truckload of memories that I thought had been buried forever.
___________________________________________________________
TEN YEARS AGO
"Jason, my love. Someone very important is coming over today." My mom cooed, gently patting my head.
"Coming over? Why? What will they bring for me?" I demanded, furious that she had called someone other than me important. She giggled, picking up a cup of tea from the table.
"They will bring something you can cherish forever. Although you mustn't be greedy with it, it's a very strong yet fragile thing." She says, blowing on her tea.
I was very excited for what they would bring me, even though I didn't know what she meant. Maybe some biscuits? I can't have them forever, though. And they broke easily.
I loved being outside, nature fascinated me. I spent the afternoon outside in the woods behind our house, looking at the sap that gathered on the pine trees.
I was oblivious to the sound of tires pulling up in the driveway, and I didn't see the four black cars that stopped in front of our house. I did, however, hear my father go out to greet the people that got out.
It then occurred to me; those must be the important people! The ones who brought biscuits! I turned in the direction of the house, skipping out of the woods.
I only stopped when my eyes caught a glimpse of something, long white and flowing in the wind. Its... hair was too big for its body, and what was it? It looked like a girl, but more graceful. It didn't have human-like movements. I froze when it looked in my direction, and I started to panic as it walked towards me.
I didn't have the guts to move, so I just stood there until she came up to me. Her eyes were pretty, like the ocean.
"Are you an elf?" I asked, looking down at her.
She looked at me for a moment, before glaring and punching me in the stomach. I doubled over from the surprisingly strong blow, clutching myself where it hurt.
"Idiot! Swindler! Womanizer!" She yelled, stomping off in the direction of the woods. Why was she calling me those things? Maybe those were the only bad words she knew? I looked back to the adults, who continued their chatter, paying us no mind.
"W-Wait!" I called after her, as I saw her white hair disappear behind the trees. She could get hurt in there, she was just a girl. I was stronger than her, so I had to protect her. Besides, the grown-ups weren't doing anything.
I rolled up my sleeves, trudging into the forest. My father had marked off some trees where I wasn't allowed past, he said if I saw them I had to turn around and go back. I was going to, when I saw a flash of white in the corner of my eye. I followed the light, ignoring the tree markings and going deeper into the woods.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going? I said wait!" I yelled after her, batting branches out of my way. The forest got super dense, and I began to lose track of her shining hair. So, I picked up the pace, running after her.
"Don't come near me!" She sniffled, speeding up too. She was crying? Because she was an elf? It wasn't my fault she wasn't human. And why'd she have to make me go through all this trouble? I had already scraped myself in several places carelessly running through the branches like this.
I suddenly heard loud shriek, followed by a snapping sound. "H-Hey! Are you okay?" I yelled, running towards the sound.
I then stopped mid run, backing up from what was before me. The ground dropped, revealing a huge cliff that went down further than I could see.
"Um, Hello? Did you fall?" I whispered, peering over the edge. I heard the sounds of muffled sobs coming from further down, and saw her clinging to a branch hanging over the side.
"I-I don't need your h-h-help," She squeaked, tightly shutting her eyes. I quickly ran over to the edge, unsure what to do. If she fell, she would die. How could she be so stubborn at a time like this?
"Take my hand!" I said, reaching out to her. She slightly moved her head to look up at me, tears in her eyes.
"No! Leave me alone!" She tucked her head back in its original position, making the entire branch sway .
"Wha-? What do you mean, No? Listen, I'm sorry ok? I didn't mean to call you an elf. You're a girl! You're a pretty girl, right?" I said desperately, reaching out for her again.
She stopped crying, and looked up at me. "Y-You think I'm pretty?" She hiccuped. The branch swayed intensely in the gusty wind, almost snapping and falling over the edge with her on it.
"Yes, you're really pretty! I really like your eyes, they're blue just like the ocean! Now hurry and take my hand so we can go back!" I pleaded, inching closer to the edge.
She thought for a moment, before eventually crawling forward. The branch heaved backward, slowly sliding off the edge. She crawled faster, taking my hand before it fell completely. We watched it fall, breaking into a bunch of pieces as it slammed against the rocks at the bottom.
"J-Jeez! That could've been you, you know!" I sighed, plopping down on the ground. She silently looked at the ground, shuffling her feet on the ground.
"Let's go back, okay? My mom said there are important people coming that brought biscuits." I said, getting up and brushing off my pants.
She hurried over to me, softly taking hold of my pointer finger. "Where's the way back?" She said shyly, looking down.
The way back. Right. The... the way back!
"Umm right, okay. F-Follow me." I said, picking a random direction to walk in. She silently nodded, holding tighter onto my finger.
YOU ARE READING
Can't Help but Love Him
Romance"So," He grabbed the hand covering my face, moving it out of the way. "You saw, didn't you?" I stumbled out of my chair, backing away from him. "I-I don't know what you mean," I was extremely unaware of my surroundings, causing me trip on my bag an...
