LUDICROUS | ✎

Chapter│74

──────
L U D I C R O U S
[ chapter 74 • unspoken love ]
──────

SHE IS BACK.

My Atalie has finally made her way back home. She was finally back in my life. And, although we rekindled our friendship and nothing more, I couldn't be more pleased with it. It didn't matter if we were just friends; having her back in my life mattered because I couldn't function without her.

It was an ongoing battle to move on each day and not contact her number after that final time. I had let her go just as she asked, but I had always found it difficult to let her go entirely. Instead of calling her, I wrote to her. And, although I never sent out any of the letters I wrote, it was an outlet for me. It was a way where I tricked myself into thinking she was still a part of my life. The letters were me venting to her in a sense.

I couldn't take my eyes off her. Seeing her in front of me and conversing with one another felt so surreal.

The sunlight from outside was hitting her skin just right. The brown of her irises overshadows the hints of green. Her lips looked soft and glossy as she tucked them between her teeth as she was staring at the menu in front of her.

"Kio, do I have something on my face?"

My brows creased together; I was frowning. "No, why?"

"Uh, because you've been staring at me since we sat down." She says, raising her brows as she places the menu down.

I wet my bottom lip and chuckle, shaking my head as I tear my gaze away from her, adverting my eyes to the menu. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Uh," My eyes bounced all over her face, taking note of her freckles not being visible. I remember her freckles would be splattered against the bridge of her nose, dancing up to her cheekbones. "Why are your freckles covered up?"

"Oh," Her nose crinkles up, and her fingers tap against the table. "I stopped liking them."

"How come?"

She shrugs, "So, Standford, huh? How's that?"

She changed the subject, noting that she didn't want to continue the previous topic in the conversation. "I like it. Your brother has made years there easier and more fun."

"My brother has made college fun for you? You guys still haven't ripped each other's throats out?"

"No," I shake my head. "With you being gone, we got close," I say. I watch her carefully, watching as she nods, looking back down at the menu. I know she still feels guilty about leaving even though it was the best decision for herself. And I don't know how to make her see that.

Realizing I had opened up a sore wound, I quickly changed the conversation at hand: "How's New York been treating you, Allie?"

Her lips tilted slightly into a smile once I said her nickname. "It has its ups and downs, to say the least." She starts and then goes into a rabbit hole about her time in New York. Talking about how Bella and she first started out there, barely making it, their time site seeing and partying, and most importantly, how hard they worked to get into their dream schools and started getting amazing opportunities for fashion and art shows.