𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 ❥ 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚

𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈

June 20, 2023

Augustine

As I looked behind me at the lifeguard stand I was surprised to see a familiar face. I slowly walked out of the cold water and towards the white, wooden stand. The boy at the top seemed to spot me too and jumped down from the stand. He gave me a warm embrace as I looked into his caramel brown eyes. I missed those eyes. I hadn't seen James since middle school and even though I was only 14 then, I was madly in love with him. I never really got over that crush and seeing him brought all those feelings back to the front of my mind.

"What're you doing here?" He smiled, looking down at my face.

"I'm down here all summer with my family!" I exclaimed, remembering he stayed down here for the summer as well. Perfect time for a summer romance.

"So am I," James laughed, "How have you been? How's high school treating you?"

"I'm great, high school's fine, I'm gonna apply to UNC for college," I told him, glancing up into his eyes again, "What about you? Any girlfriends? You have to have a girlfriend by now."

"Um, yeah," He shuddered, "I mean kind of... we're going through a bit of a rough patch but she's... great."

I faked a smile as I felt my chest physically hurt. I'm sure his girlfriend was a great person, but James was mine first and I wanted him back.

"Well, what's her name?"

"Betty," He smiled when he thought about her.

"Cute name," I giggled, "She seems sweet."

"Yeah... she is," He laughed, "What about you? Ever get with that crush from middle school."

You mean you, I thought to myself. I never told him who my crush was, he just knew I had one. "No, but I dated John Laker."

"Oh my god, John?" He exclaimed, "We were bros back in the day."

"Yeah, um... turns out he's an asshole," I sighed, remembering how he had cheated on me the summer before junior year.

I never cared much for John until he made me feel like I had to fall in love with him. And then I did, and it hurt. I tried my best not to think about him and focus on James instead. His hair was different from last time I saw him. Longer, shinier, better.

"Well, Augs, what're you doing tonight? My cousins and I are going mini golfing, you wanna come?"

My face lit up, it was almost a date. "Yeah, of course. Let me give you my number so we can make plans."

He handed me his phone and I made a contact for myself. "I'll text you when my shift ends," James promised.

I walked back to my sister Sam with a big smile on my face.

༻ 𓆉 ༺

July 8, 2023

Betty

"Just text 'hi' or something normal, y'know?" Emma sighed as I contemplated on what I should send to James. I collapsed onto my bed and groaned; no, I didn't know. I was so lost on what to do about James. We hadn't talked for two weeks and I hadn't even attempted to text him. We had planned for me to go down to visit on the twentieth and I wanted to settle this fight beforehand.

"I can't just be normal, We haven't talked in two weeks" I said, exasperated. I glanced over to Eli, who had slowly become a close friend of mine after prom, "Any ideas?"

"You're asking me? The boy who can't even talk to his crush?"

I screamed out of frustration as I leaned back onto my pile of pillows. I was in the same situation two weeks before; why is love so confusing.

"Okay, that's it, give me you're phone," Emma said, snatching my phone out of my grasp. I didn't even try to take it back, I trusted Emma with these things. She actually had a good relationship with her long term boyfriend. She and Drew would probably be married by the end of college. I watched over her shoulder as she typed out a message and hit send with out even consulting me. Suddenly, I felt an odd feeling of dread in my gut as I reread the message over and over. What if this went wrong; what if he had thought we had broken up and that's why he never texted me; what if... No, no more over thinking this, I'd just wait for him to respond.

All three of us sat there for a minute or two, silently waiting for a response. Emma was in her notes app writing a poem and Eli was reading 1984. I just stared at the blue bubble containing the text Emma had just sent.

Hey James. Just checking in making sure we're still on for the 20th. Please don't think this is an apology, I did nothing wrong. Anyway, call me whenever you can.

How did she do that so easily? It took me weeks to even build up the courage to text James and she just sent the perfect text in five seconds. To tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her, y'know?

I couldn't look at my phone screen anymore, it made me want to cry every time I read his name. I threw it face-down on the pillow and picked up the TV remote. I quickly turned on my comfort show and zoned out on Rory and Lorelei's quick yet somehow relaxing yammering. Emma looked up from her phone and scooted towards me. She loved this show just as much as I did and we were slowly converting Eli into a fan. I pulled my white cardigan off my desk chair and wrapped it around my shoulders. That cardigan was my favorite thing in the world. I wore it almost everyday and it came with me everywhere. It was like a portable hug that you never had to ask for.

I smiled as I realized how perfect this moment felt. I was with my best friends, watching my favorite show, and we all just cared about each other so much. I pulled out my phone to take a picture for my story and completely disregarded the text notification.

I typed out gilmore girls hangout with my favorite people and tagged Eli and Emma next to the photo and posted it. Before I could put my phone away, I got another text, and this one I couldn't ignore.

dear reader,

i can not express how hard it is to write heterosexual attraction. I can't wait until i get to the good part of this book. Anyway, please comment and vote! Don't ghost read.

with love,

em