Every love has a story. How you first met. Who said the first word.
Even mine does.
Seven o'clock is not the time anyone will think of falling in love. But as our worlds collided, we did just that. In a moment...
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Chapter 23
The following morning, I searched for Ariel as soon as I'd arrived in school. I didn't come in early today, and she could have gone and hung out with Jane and Brooks. But when I checked for them in the field, I didn't see her with them. I had thought of other places, like the canteen. She was always hungry in the morning, but she wasn't there either.
It took me a while before I found her sitting on the pathway leading to the gym. A yellow envelope was on her lap, and she was taking out the pictures inside it.
"Hi, Ela," Nora, one of our classmates, greeted me when she saw me walking over to them. Allie and Sarah were also in the group. They were both juniors and members of the school paper club.
"Hi," I said, timidly waving a hand. I didn't talk to them often, and it felt awkward to see them outside of club meetings. They already knew that I came for Ariel, so they carried on with their normal conversations.
Walking over to where Ariel was sitting, I tried not to stumble out of nervousness. She already knew that I was here, but she didn't even turn around to greet me. Ariel kept on looking over at the pictures on her lap, pretending to be busy.
I knew she was angry at me. I had tried calling their house last night, but her mom said that she was already sleeping, even if it was only seven o'clock.
"Ariel," I called her quietly, when I was standing behind her. She kept on ignoring me, so I lightly tapped her shoulder. "Can I talk to—"
"Nors, which one do you think is better?" she asked Nora, loudly.
Nora was startled at first. She stole a glance at me before turning her attention to Ariel. Confused at the situation, she checked out the pictures. After deciding, she pointed to one. "This one?"
"I think so, too," Ariel replied, placing her bag on the empty spot behind her. We had our fights, but this was one of those days when I didn't know how to fix it. How would I explain it to her when she refused to talk to me?
Forcing a smile to hide my embarrassment, I left the group and headed to the school building. She was the one who was looking for me on the rooftop yesterday. Ariel was like that. She would walk out if she couldn't contain her emotions, often after having an outburst. But after reasoning out with herself, she would always be the one to initiate reconciliation.
Only that, as Ariel was trying to find me and talk to me, she had seen us. At first, I didn't understand why she had to leave. But when I'd thought about it last night, if I were in her position, I would have probably misunderstood it as well.
I didn't intend to be close to Athan that way, and he was only being a friend. If Ariel got hurt when she saw us, it could only mean that there was a part of her that hadn't completely let go of her feelings for him. And now, I didn't know what had hurt her more, out of all the things that happened. It felt like we all betrayed her.
