Take What I Can Get | ✓

[5] Thick Rimmed Glasses

After last week, Delilah acted differently towards Kaylee. However, not in a way that they distanced themselves from each other. There was something in the way Delilah spoke, looked, and addressed to Kaylee — something that hung off her tongue, made her glances seem a second longer, and transformed Kaylee's name into a stranger. As if she was beating around the bush, unsure of what to think of Kaylee.

Because now Delilah knew how Kaylee Oh saw the world. Not of blue skies and sunflowers and a bucket of mysteries yet to unfold — but of red strings and loopholes and a painful friendly reminder of what Kaylee was never destined to have.

Because now Delilah knew how too weak Kaylee was to break her own heart, so she decided to break Jonah's heart instead.

"So how was at Delilah's last Friday?"

"Hm?" Kaylee hummed, her mind reeling back to reality as she stopped fiddling around with the strap of her bag and looked up at Jonah, who was grinning at her. "Oh, it was fun."

"You don't sound like it was fun."

For some reason, Kaylee snapped. "It was, okay? Could you please shut up about it?" Jonah blinked and his smile fell. Kaylee shouldn't be lashing out at Jonah. It wasn't his fault. This wasn't his problem. "Sorry. It's just — I'm just tired."

Jonah wrapped an arm around Kaylee's shoulder and pulled her closer. "I know this really good ice cream shop down the block. Wanna go?"

"Don't you have jazz band after school?"

"Yeah, well," Jonah grinned once again, a little wider than usual. "This is more important."

—

Kaylee sat by the window, with her head down and her hands on her lap, refusing to look through the glass. As she waited for Jonah, who was at the counter paying for their ice cream, Kaylee played with her fingers. She thought that by doing so she might feel at ease and that the thin red strings that roamed outside would, for a moment, disappear.

She must've looked tense because, the next thing she knew, Jonah had bought her a large cup of vanilla ice cream, heavily topped with gummy bears, once he had returned to their table and sat across from her. Kaylee smiled. "Thanks."

Jonah searched her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Kaylee answered as she lowered her head and focused her gaze on her ice cream. "No. I, uh, rather not."

And, for a while, there was silence — until Jonah went ahead and took one of Kaylee's gummy bears. He tossed it into his mouth and smiled at Kaylee, whose eyes began to widen at him. Then he proceeded to get another one, which only resulted in her swatting his hand away and protectively covering her cup of ice cream.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm taking a gummy bear."

"You can't have any. They're all mine."

"But —" Jonah pouted and it made Kaylee's heart flutter a little. "I paid for them."

"Okay then." Kaylee smirked, scooping up a portion of her vanilla ice cream with her finger and smearing it on the tip of his nose. "You've got a little something on your nose."

While she was laughing, Jonah leaned forward and let the top of his chocolate ice cream touch the tip of Kaylee's nose. She stopped and stared him. Jonah smiled. "So do you too."

"Oh, you are so not having the last word, Jonah Geller."

And just like that, they were a mess. The passersby from the other side of the window would have thought they were weird, with Jonah and Kaylee's faces covered in sweet vanilla and chocolate ice cream. But Kaylee couldn't care less. Because, right now, all she could think about was getting back at Jonah and decide whether to smear his face with more vanilla or chuck a gummy bear into his curly hair. All Kaylee could focus on was this moment — not before, where all the littlest details built up to this point, and not after, where their story would finally stumble and fall.

Kaylee Oh had right now. To be with Jonah. To just be happy.

But, like all great moments, theirs came to an end when a redheaded girl, with a mess of freckles on her cheeks and thick rimmed glasses slowly sliding down the bridge of her nose, marched to their table and crossed her arms at them.

"Didn't your parents tell you it's rude to play with your food?" She grumbled as she impatiently tapped her foot. "And I have to clean up after your mess!"

"We didn't mean to—"

The redheaded girl didn't let Jonah finish. "Oh, just wipe your faces!"

She took out a pile of tissues from her pocket and slammed them onto their table before storming off to the staff room. And, although their encounter was swift, somehow Kaylee noticed the way the girl's red string of fate narrowed as she reached their table and extended when she walked away.

Now time began to run. Now everything began to tumble.

Because Kaylee was just a passerby — a moment of distraction for Jonah until the day his true love finds him and claims him, whether or not he's got her heart tucked in his pocket — who knew the horrific truth that that day was today. Because they were, and will always be, fated to meet.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hii~

I hope you liked this chapter, it took me longer than anticipated to write this, but it's finally here! Also, it summer vacation so I have much more time to update this.

Anyway, if you liked this chapter, spread some love~ Idk how the author's note work still so ...um... yeah. Popcorn. Cheese nuggets. Burritos.

Okay. I'm done now. Bai~

-andy