Stars

00:03

[dedicated to andy, who is a hella lovely best friend]

.*.*.

His lips stretched into a smile. Arlando remembered her now. The blurry lines were becoming sharper. He remembered when he first met her at the ball, how beautiful she was. Not only in the way she looked but also in the way she behaved and spoke. Looking down at the pages, he read the lines where she said that he had power over words. He didn't know that about himself. He did, however, remember being mentally frustrated when Kathleen took so long to give him a reply.

He rarely did that. He rarely asked girls out for a second date or exchanged numbers. He always preferred one night stands. But there was just something in the way she walked and talked that had him hypnotised. She didn't attempt to kiss him. She just talked. She talked of her studies and how well her Creative Writing classes were going for her. She talked mostly about novels. Arlando didn't understand much of what she said but everything she said seemed to intrigue him. He remembered asking her about her favourite novels and he listened intently as she told him endless stories. One particular favourite of her's piqued his interest.  To Kill A Mockingbird. And even though he never had the interest for reading, the way she talked about it with a flaming passion made him want to get his hands on a copy.

Arlando's smile dimmed as his memory brought this all back from the dead. How could his mind just forget about the relationship he shared with such a memorable girl. And why had he broken up with her? Even though seven years ago was a long time, Arlando had no reason to forget her so why did he? Did she hurt him? No girl had ever hurt Arlando Cassa. Except, of course, Evaline Gold but never from his past. 

Patience was never an attribute he possessed, and he turned the page, the second chapter staring at his face. Then he progressed to read.

.*.*.

CHAPTER TWO

We met up after the ball two weeks later at the park. It was a magical night. Getting you to meet me was probably the hardest thing I had to do. It wasn't because you were unwilling. No, it was quite the opposite. You were very willing to meet me. There was just one problem. We attended different universities and did different courses that didn't make time for us to meet each other and that was the obstacle that was preventing me from seeing you and you from seeing me. Every time I was free, you were busy either having classes, having guys night out or studying.

In all honesty, I didn't picture you as the studying kind of guy despite being in university where absolutely everyone is serious. You struck me as the guy who was still stuck in high school. I didn't believe that you spent at least twelve hours a week studying until you sent me pictures of your textbooks at 10 PM in the night along with several explanations to what the text's in the books meant. I didn't understand anything you told me but it sounded awfully brainy and I couldn't be bothered trying to figure it out. I always hated Maths and your dream was to become an Architect. Too bad that involved Maths.

Our busy schedule's surely didn't stop us from conversing. Sometimes you'd call me at 1 AM in the morning and sometimes at 11 AM. You had impeccable timing but you'd say that even though you enjoyed messaging me, it wasn't the same thing as hearing my sweet voice ring in your ears, even if the phone manipulated part of my voice and made it sound slightly mechanic. You made me smile, Arlando.

We would talk days on end despite our busy lives and you said that you wanted to meet me again. You brought it up several of times. But when I was not busy, you were. And when you were not busy, I was. In one of our conversations I mentioned something about a novel that I had recently read and the main couple would meet up at midnight because their parents had forbid them from seeing each other. That's when you said, "that's a bloody genius idea."