Say Hello For Me

t h i r t y || hide and seek

Liam can't hear his thoughts reverberating from one side of his skull to the other over the sound of his worn out leather boots striking the pavement. The force of his steps causes his body to jolt as he strides across the crowded parking lot, eyes wide open and mind alert. The chaos and celebration going on inside Dawson's can be heard from a mile away. He doesn't know whether or not he's supposed to be celebrating. This is not the way it's supposed to happen.

The campus has never felt wider, each path seeming to take him straight out to the sea. As Liam scours the grounds, he searches his mind for some form of justification. He's not surprised when he can find none—he's going out on a limb, and he knows it.

Ten minutes pass.

He's made no progress. For some reason, he's ended up back right where he started; in front of Dawson's karaoke bar. The music is still playing, voices seeping through the walls of the building.

Thirty minutes pass.

He doesn't know where else to look. Maybe he waited too long for the puzzle piece.

Maybe he just waited too long in general.

The hour mark dawns on him.

He gives up. She could be anywhere by now, and it would be impossible to find her.

As Liam makes his way to Vy's apartment, he can't help but feel disappointed in the depths of his heart. This isn't the way they are supposed to meet, but the world plays by its own set of rules. No one knows what they are. How else can you explain why some people draw the shorter straws in life?

Ten minutes later, Liam steps onto the doormat in front of Vy's apartment building. The sole of his shoes brush against the bristles on the mat, the sound filling the silence around him. He turns around momentarily and stares off into the distance knowing that his quest went unfulfilled. A part of him feels empty, a void cascading over him.

His hand reaches for the door handle blindly, his eyes still focused on the moon in the sky. Tonight, it looks lonelier than usual. The shining stars are nowhere to be seen.

Liam feels like the moon tonight.

He takes a deep breath before he steps inside. Before he knows it, he collides into something, and it's not the door.

It's someone.

And he accidentally steps on her toes as he steadies himself, grabbing the wall for support.

"Hi," a female voice mumbles quickly after the accident.

Slowly, Nessa steps out from under the porch light, it's luminescence shining directly on her pale skin. Her hair is a little messy, the curls susceptible to the humidity in the air. There's color on her cheeks, a soft pink that's gradually reddening. A small curve sits on her lips as she locks her brown eyes with his. She's everything he imagined her to be.

"I guess I'm getting you back for that textbook," Liam teases.

"Were you looking for me?" she whispers in a voice so soft that he his ears strain to hear her, referring to him gawking at the sky.

He nods his head slowly, pulling the edge of his lip into his mouth. A silence hangs over them, their eyes finding a way to speak for them.

"Why'd you run away tonight, Nessa?"

She doesn't have an answer for him. Instead, she asks, "Why'd you follow me, Liam?"