❝I wanted you to be the last thing on my mind. I wanted you to be the reason I close my eyes. But I can't sleep, and oh God I wanted to be your high.❞ -EDEN, gravity
I find a red rose in my locker Friday morning.
It is the Friday before Damon's Halloween party and I had woken up late after staying up until 2 am finishing a painting. It wasn't my smartest decision, but at least the painting turned out nice.
When I had opened up my locker, there laid a single rose by my textbooks, with a sticky note that read, "for Sleeping Beauty." I pick up the rose and hold it gently, twirling the stem and watching the petals twist.
"Noah's too smooth," Damon comes up from behind me, draping an arm around me casually. "I don't know how, but Noah always gets girls to feel something."
"A burning sensation while they pee?" Hunter offers as he leans against my locker. "One time, after Noah and I finished fooling around, it started to burn when I peed and then Noah told me he had—"
"I know that didn't actually happen, but I still don't want to hear it." Damon deadpans.
Where did these boys come from? In both the literal and figurative sense. They are quite unbelievable at times; like they are straight out of a book.
"Oh hey, Diana, didn't see you there," Hunter says and turns to me. He widens his eyes dramatically. "I can't believe I actually get to see a real life angel. I think I've actually been blessed."
Damon rolls his eyes and smacks Hunter's forehead. "Shut it, trash bag. Your pickup lines are getting worse and worse."
"Hunter's just passionate, is all," Noah stands beside Hunter. Noah grins and his eyes trail to the flower in my hand. "A rose? How sweet."
"This creep broke into my locker," I joke. "It's kind of scary. I keep getting roses from this unknown person...I think I might have a stalker."
Noah glowers at me. "Or a really hot, sensitive and awesome guy is trying to be a gentleman by turning a bad memory of an ex into a good one with a new friend."
"I don't know, man," Damon plays along. "Sounds kind of creepy to me, right Hunter?"
"I think it's cute," Hunter states obliviously. We all look at him, dumbfounded by how he didn't catch on to the joke. "But I'm wrong?"
Damon rolls his eyes, his arm still around me. "Ignore that one. He's not the brightest tool in the shed."
"But I'm the prettiest," Hunter chirps. "Wait...did you just insult me? So damn rude."
"Don't worry, Hunter," Alyce cooes at him and wraps an arm around him. "You're more than just a pretty face to me."
"Thank you, Aly," Hunter grins down at her, moving his arm around her waist. They look like an actual couple right now. "Your words mean the world to me."
"Ugh, what the fuck is this?" Damon grumbles. "Cute shit is disgusting."
"Don't be bitter," I chide. "It's not anyone's fault that you pick the most difficult girls to fall for."
Damon looks down at me, eyes twinkling with amusement and sadness. "I guess I have no one to blame for that but myself."
❀ ❀ ❀
"The way he looks and talks about her," I say slowly. Noah and I are currently at his place, continuing our movie list. "He loves her. He looks at her the way Josh used to look at me. Before everything went down."
YOU ARE READING
The Art of Falling in Love
Teen Fiction❝I never used to believe in soulmates, but now I find myself questioning every thought I once had about love. It was almost as though love was too weak a word for what I felt for him, that perhaps soulmate is indeed the correct term. Perhaps every s...
