About Last Night

GREEN

My experience two days ago left me thinking... Maybe, just maybe, I didn't want to be out of the loop all the time. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't care about celebrity gossip; Or what hashtag was trending on social media. As much as I didn't care about the best filters for your Instagram posts or the newest TikTok dance, the one thing I did care about was being able to talk to my friends. The only thing I wanted was to participate in lunch time conversations and laugh at the memes they'd send over WhatsApp. I had no interest in models and singers or their fantastical love lives, but perhaps that was the sacrifice I'd have to make if I wanted to be a better best friend. I was so caught up in my head that I barely noticed the dry grass scraping against my ankles as I high-kneed across the abandoned field, the crusty brown blades snapping and sticking to my rolled up denim jeans. It was late afternoon by now and I was at The Park.

As the name implies, 'The Park' was a run-down park. It was exactly what its name suggested. A few years ago, the town had decided to build a recreational space where families could come to play and at the same time relax. This is how 'Green Square' came into being, a huge piece of land was excavated near the town square and turned into the city's social hub. There were food stalls, a play park for children, a trendy spot for teenagers to hang out—incredibly fast wi-fi. Usually whenever I visited the twins, we'd hang out there.

The great social hotspot did however result in a lot of abandoned neighborhood parks. Like this one. It was just one street from the nearest neighborhood but still people chose to walk fifteen extra minutes to get to Green Square.

Each time I came here I saw the lonely swing set and the isolated roundabouts, but in all honesty, I liked it this way. I liked that nobody came here often, that most days I was alone with my homework or with my thoughts. My typical visit to The Park was only when life at home became too overwhelming, as it was today. While mom was still at the grocery store, Dawn suddenly decided that she did not like strawberries anymore—-even though they were her favorite after-school snack. I had tried helping dad calm her down, but we couldn't. Because we were all watching Dawn, we left Mia unsupervised, and she covered the entire kitchen wall with orange Jell-O. I was so frustrated that I almost spanked them both. So, I left. I grabbed my school bag and headed out—but only after helping dad clean up. I wasn't an awful person.

So here I was, phone in hand, staring at the Instagram app in the Apple Store. Was it worth downloading? I asked myself, clicking the button. After I clicked the icon, I heard the soft sounds of guitar strumming, the melody was sad. I immediately regretted it. I didn't think anyone would be here at five PM. Only my neighbor Lucas ever hung around here, but he only came when he wanted to make out with one of his girlfriends, and five PM was too early for that. And I didn't think he could play guitar. So, it had to be someone else. As I walked closer, past the slides and towards the seating area, I almost gasped. Before me was a boy. He was leaning over his guitar, back perfectly arched in a way that only someone who played for years could. He had a pencil balanced between his lips and a notebook on the table beside him. None of that made me gasp though. It was when he looked up and right at me that I realised the hand of beauty had favorites.

He blinked, then rubbed his eyes. The sun hitting him right in the face, illuminating his irises bright green. Then he paused, right hand flat on the strings and eventually removed the pencil from his mouth. He stood. At full length he was tall, exceptionally so, with soft baby curls falling into his face—he needed a haircut, I thought. When he stepped forward, placing the guitar on the table beside him, he looked at me and smiled. The curve of his jaw, his glistening green eyes, all of it...even the way the sun bounced off of his high cheekbones. It was mesmerizing. Who was this boy? And why was he looking at me like that? I knew my cheeks were redder than ripened tomatoes by now, and I already knew that there's no way I'd be able to listen to my parents after this, not if they're telling me to stay away from The Park.

"Hi," he said when he was close enough. And I just knew. It was far too late for me to turn the other way. I was inches away from falling in love. Or maybe I was delusional.

The boy stood in front of me with expectation on his face, his eyes traveling to the phone in my hand, then carefully back and searched my face. "Can I help you with something?" he asked, a slow smile starting to form at the corners of his mouth. "Or are you just going to stand there staring at me?" I could tell he wanted to chuckle. I saw the way he forced his flush lips over the pearls of his teeth. Perhaps he was use to this—having girls go speechless in front of him. Maybe that's what it was like being attractive, having people stare at you, never knowing what to say.

"Yeah," I said, the air sticky with embarrassment. I've been openly drooling at him for the past five minutes. "Uhm...you're in my spot," I motioned towards the table. "It actually has my name on it."

It did. I really did. It had taken two days for me to carve it into the grey limestone, multiple little cuts on my fingers. It was worth it, because even after three years, my name was still there.

When he turned around, following the direction of my hand, he couldn't see it. His notebook was covering it. But he still smiled. "So, you're Kay," he said, his fine eyebrows arching. "Can't tell if I'm impressed that you carve so well, or terrified that you actually carried a knife..."

Witty, I thought, looking around. It was almost dusk. "Scissor," was all I said. "I'm not a delinquent," and I took a seat on the other side of the table. I pushed his book aside and tossed my math's book there instead. As much as I hated algebra skipping class two days ago wasn't my best idea.

"What do you think you're doing," he protested, racing to grab his notebook from falling off the edge. "Do you have any idea how valuable this book is?"

"Could you keep it down," I asked sweetly, "please?" I was trying my hardest not to notice how good he looked with flushed cheeks. "I'm trying to concentrate,"

He walked over and pulled the calculator from my hands. "You have no clue who I am, do you?" His voice was low, eyes narrowed. He was close to me. Close enough for me to make out the individual scents of his cologne. He smelled like fresh oranges and sawdust, in a distinctly boyish way. But cute or not, I wasn't about to be intimidated by him, even if our noses were touching. He pulled away first and squinted at me. My heart was pounding in my chest. He smelled good.

"I'm Shaun," he said, face relaxing into a smile. He stretched out a hand.

I shook it, then said, "I'm Kay," his hand was warm and fingers calloused. When I dropped it, he took a seat opposite me.

"You have pretty eyes, Kay—is it just Kay, though?" His own eyes were smiling.

I nodded, "Yeah, it's just Kay," I answered. "And thanks, your eyes aren't awful either."

He chuckled, muttering something under his breath. "Well nice to meet you," he said, fingers idly playing with the pages of his notebook, "Just Kay,"

The joke was dry, but I still smiled. I liked him, and not just because he was cute. Something about the way he shoved my math's book to the side told me that this was the start of a very unlikely friendship.