A Love Like War

s i x

SONG OF THE CHAPTER:
I'm Low On Gas and You Need a Jacket by Pierce The Veil
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"Oh, um. Hi." I mumble with an awkward little wave.

"Hi." She whispers back before turning back to the lake in front of her.

She's pretty too, not Stella beautiful, but still pretty. She has wide brown eyes framed with dark lashes and pale skin. Her soft, pink lips are full and her long brown hair hangs down past her elbows in messy natural ringlets.

"I'm Jack." I tell her with a light grin.

"Maria." She mumbles back in answer.

Maria. Like our song. It's kind of ironic really, because she looks nothing like a stripper, with her wooly sweater that covers her torso and hangs down to her finger tips and the pair of black leggings half covered by long tan boots.

"So what are you doing here?" I ask as I uncomfortably shift from one foot to another.

"Nothing really, what about you." She asks, and I think it's the longest sentence she's ever spoken.

"Escaping it all." I tell her with a small smile.

She nods before turning back to the water. "I'm actually trying to get away from my boyfriend." She replies after a beat.

Did Stella ever go someplace to get away from me? Was I ever too overbearing that she just needed to escape?

"What did he do?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Nothing really. He's being moody and grouchy with me. I just didn't want to be there."

I breathe a sigh of relief, I was rarely grouchy with Stella. I always treated her like she was delicate, breakable. I never wanted to scare her away from me. "Like male PMSing?" I ask.

She laughs, a short out of breath sounding laugh. "Kind of, yeah. So what kinds of things are you escaping?"

"My band and an ex-girlfriend." I reply quickly.

"You're in a band?"

Shit.

"Uh, yeah. Sometimes I mean. We aren't super serious." I tell her after a moment.

She laughs. "So nothing I would have heard?" She asks.

"Probably not." I say.

"Aw shucks, and for a moment you almost seemed cool." She responds with a small smile. Her smile is beautiful too, shy like she has no idea the effect she could have on a guy. Innocent.

"I'm really not." I tell her. "Cool, I mean. I'm not cool."

She shrugs. "I don't know. You don't seem that bad. Probably a real ladies man in high school."

"Nah. Girls didn't like me. I was too loud to get girls." I reply.

"Really? I thought girls loved the loud ones." Maria tells me.

Loved me? Hah. I'm unlovable.

"I was a different kind of loud. I was the one at the back of the class making wisecracks about the teachers hair. Dude, I got kicked out so many times for that." I shake my head a little at the memories. Mr. Patrick really hated me.

"Oh, the one who thinks he's funny but really isn't?" She asks.

"No, that was my best friend. I was the one who thought I was funny and was funny." I declare solemly.

Laughter, she laughed at me again.

"I was! Two people signed my yearbook with 'you're a comedian' and I was nominated 'most likely to become famous." I skip over the little detail that it wasn't for comedy I was most likely to become famous, it was for music, and it wasn't just me. There were three other boys in that category with our little label 'All Time Low.' And somehow we aren't in the prestegious alumni category. The school must have really hated us to not count us as a succes.

"And are you famous now?" She asks.

"I'm a huge hit in Antarctica. The penguins dig my act."

She laughs again. "I don't doubt that."

"You totally do! You're like," I raise my voice to sound more feminine, "oh my god, he's so dreamy and hot, but what a nutcase this guy doesn't know anything!" I decree.

"I think it's the other way around." And she deepens her voice. "Damn, that Maria's pretty hot. Too bad she's got a boyfriend, cuz she's totally into the penguin joke."

I laugh quietly. "You did seem pretty into the penguin joke." A pause. "Do you listen to 5 Seconds of Summer?" I ask quickly.

"Sometimes. Why?"

I smile. "Mr. Hemmings really likes the penguin joke."

"And you've told it to him before?"

"Of course! We're best friends." I tell her honestly. She doesn't know the difference.

"Right." She tells me as she drags out the word. "And Sam Smith is my uncle."

I nod a couple more times. "He did say you were always his favourite niece.

More laughing. "You're crazy."

Crazy about Stella.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I have no idea what I'm doing rn.
WATTPAD RECOMENTATION:
Storm and Silence by RobThier