HIP #3: Forgetting The Old Us

Chapter 16

I hopped in the backseat of the car and Britney was at the front. "How was school?" Eros asked as we both buckled up the seatbelts wrapped around us. "Fine," one word for it.

I'm not sure if it was fine. That's just the first day and I already feel like it's chaotic. Nothing was hard with all the lessons. They were honestly easy and the teachers were nice. Except for one.

But I bet Britney thinks nothing's wrong with him.

"Nice," he nodded.

He started the car and began driving. His hands were wrapped around the steering wheel and his head was kind of dancing along with the upbeat music playing inside.

"Can I- umm, roll this down?" I was hesitating to speak but I pointed at the windows. I really like driving with the windows down. "Oh, sure," he looked at me through the mirror above him and smiled.

I rolled down the window and the wind ran to me as if we haven't met each other for a long time. The breeze is still the same and the smell too. This is what I love the most about my city, Paris.

I sighed and watched the things we passed by. As I smiled at each person we drove through, I was brought back to the past.

After the first night I met Arthur, I looked and searched for him. That feeling when a person had an impact on you. At that party, I felt like he understood me though he didn't really confirm it. My best friends had always comforted me about my family issue but that time, it was different because, at a glance, a stranger understood the feeling I couldn't explain to anyone but myself.

When we introduced ourselves to each other and finally found out our names, he went back inside saying that his friend called him. I wanted to spend more time and talk to him more about certain stuff but who was I to stop him and make him chat with me? Of course, I did what everyone did could have done if they were me. I let him do what he asked for.

I was left there on the bench with only the stars watching me, the moon observing me smile, the trees swaying through the wind, and the breeze wrapping me around.

****

The next morning, it was Saturday. Though it was already the weekend, mom and dad were still not home because they had their own affairs. So, it was just me and my brother as always. I decided to go for a walk. I wanted to do it with Kobie but when I got into his room, I found him still asleep and looked so wasted with a girl beside him whom he brought last night. I bet they did something that shouldn't be mentioned. Well, he brings a different girl every time he wants to.

I left by myself with only my wallet in my pocket which contained a hundred dollars. I walked around and greeted the neighborhood. They all have been nice to me ever since I and my whole family moved in. They're very welcoming. Unlike in our old town back when I was in middle school who seemed like they didn't even know we lived there. They acted like we were total invisible ghosts to them.

As I was walking around, I found a stall where there were words written on the board top of it "Vinyl Shop"

I thought of buying vinyl for Britney who has always been a music lover since her birth. I wanted to buy her a gift so I marched into the shop and scanned all the albums placed on different shelves. I browsed through the pile of vinyl on ran my hands on them.

There were a lot and some were not even recognizable. But I remembered one thing. That she always loved the band named "ABBA" so I looked for it.

I had a hard time.

There was a lot.

I switched from one shelf to another and from one to another again. It was tiring as heck that I wanted to just leave. But I was already there so I asked myself why did I want to leave when I spent an hour browsing? I thought my efforts had to get paid off.

Finally, there I found one where the letters in my mind were written and the people in the picture were exactly the ones I was looking for. But even before I can grab it, a veiny white hand met it and rose it up. "Excuse-" my words were cut when I saw the guy from last night.

But he was still wearing the same shirt, same pants, and same shoes. Yet, he looked good.

Arthur.

A smile automatically slipped on my face. "Umm, hey. Arthur, right? From the party last night? Do you remember me?" I was kind of shy so word by word, my voice got lowered.

"Oh, ah... yeah. Umm, Shane?" He scratched the back of his neck thinking of what he could have said.

"Umm, here. You can take it." He handed it on to me. I frowned. I know I looked hard for that but at that moment, he immediately got me under his spell, and his magic scattered around my body so I refused to get it. "No! You grabbed that first so you should take it!" I complained with a smile. People around our house knew me for being such a smiley girl but my smile at that time was nothing compared with the other ones I let out before.

"No, no, no, no, no. I can't do that. You should take it." He insisted.

"What? No, you take it!" He hard-pressed it close to me but I pushed it away back to him gently.

"You should." He pushed it again

"Fine." I had no choice but to grab it from his hands after he offered it to me.

"So, you're a fan?" He leaned on the shelf behind him.

"No, not really. I mean, I listen to their music but I'm not a fan." I responded.

"I see."

"Umm, it's just for my best friend." He pressed his lips. that was the first time I found a guy pressing his lips to look attractive. Because mostly when I saw boys doing that, I always think of them as perverts.