𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼

you're the best best friend someone could ask for.

fᵣₒₘ ₘₐₜₜ,

the more people surrounded her, the more lonely arielle felt.

it felt almost like mockery. people holding hands and chattering. all crinkle-eyed smiles and toothy grins. they were sipping on their overpriced coffee, talking about their lives. all whilst arielle sat at the corner of the starbucks outlet, half a doughnut on a plate and an empty cup. her cup was completely empty - even the caramel drizzle around the cup was wiped clean. proof that she had spent way too long moping at the corner, waiting for matt to show up.

"tardy asshole," the girl whispered under her breath.

if the lighting in the coffee shop wasn't so dim-lit, the whole outlet would see the gloomy face on arielle's face. if somebody measured her pout length, it could compare to a duck's beak. countless times she checked her watch, then her notification bar like clockwork. only to be disappointed. time continued to move forward, yet no texts from matt whatsoever. she felt like a little girl waiting for her parents to arrive from work all over again.

more people entered starbucks, to the point where there was a queue. arielle took it as her cue to leave the store, she didn't want to be an asshole who'd take up so much space and not order anything. the day she becomes that type of person would be the day the clouds rain gold.

four hours had passed by, but matt still hasn't come around. the sun began to set, creating a marmalade line on the horizon. arielle watched from the mall rooftop, recording the scenery with her camera. she adored sunsets much more than she did sunrises. for one, you wouldn't have to wake at the break of dawn to witness a sunset, and secondly, she enjoyed how the world seemed to settle down as the sun sets. how people would slow down and just stare at the sky. she loved it. she wished she had the capability to stop and awe people like sunsets do.

a deep sigh. the sunset was able to calm her down for a moment, until worry began clouding her thoughts back again. at first she was fueled with anger, cussing matt's name in her head but the more hours passed, the more worry began to cloud her. matt would never leave her hanging. especially when she's all alone. matt wouldn't even dare to leave her side whenever they go out together, something about matt having the responsibility to protect her. he would stay by her side with her hands wrapped around his arms, and glared at any guy who got too close to her. she used to call it idiotic, said that she didn't need a shorter boy to protect her. but at that moment, when she didn't have matt by her side, she started feeling vulnerable. scared that she didn't have matt's arm to hold.

"this can't be," she monologued, heading out of the rooftop entrance, "he must've had an accident or something. maybe the idiot got lost in the mall."

anxiously, arielle checked every parking lot in the mall. her green eyes wildly searched for matt's van in hopes the boy already arrived but got lost in the mall. he never had the best sense of direction, after all. you could go to a specific mall with him a hundred times but he'll forget the way each time.

the familiar van wasn't seen.

like friendships, malls don't last forever. at 10 pm, arielle was forced to exit the mall. pathetically, she sat at the stairs of the entrance, staring into nothingness. the embarrassment from being stood up was eating her alive. she contemplated hers and matt's friendship - how one-sided it has been lately. everything came crashing back to her - the way she'd make effort to talk, set up a hangout, yadda yadda - only for matt to not even show up. at that very moment, she didn't know how to feel. worry, because something might've happened to his best friend or anger because perhaps, matt had simply forgotten.