"Great! Just great! Now I'm going to be wet when I get home! Thanks a lot!" She complained in an uproar before collapsing her head down to her lap.
Everyone starts to look at her and wonder what happened. Some turned to me and started whispering between themselves. Others just ignored it and looked out their windows. There was a kid that faced me with a stern look on her and mouthed to her brother "That's a bad man."
It sucks to see someone getting bummed like that. That sluggish weight on your shoulders always annoyed me. I've had that weight on me for a long time. It sucks to live life with that much pain, and maybe even more so for others. I might be late for supper but—
"Hey, don't be down, alright? If you want, I've got an umbrella with me. I can get you to your house," I placed my hand on her shoulder to console her.
She slowly raises her head and looks at me. "You sure you want to do that?"
"Yeah, of course, I do. There's no harm in helping, right?"
She starts to hold up her sniffles and wipe the tears off her eyes with her hanky.
"You seem nice to me. Thanks for that," She gave a smile to reassure me.
"Haha, no need to thank me. Uhh-by the way, I want to ask about your day. You said earlier that today seemed rough to you?" I remembered what she said while she paid to the conductor. I assumed it would have been the cause of her mood.
"Oh, ye-yeah. You know some days just make you lie down and break. I guess today was one of them for me." Her voice seemed weary while saying that as if something terrible cracked her up.
"Damn, I'm sorry for what you had to go to. What happened?" I felt like asking her would be a bit rude, but my mind felt curious. There was quite a silence between our chat, but she sighed and went on to explain.
"I argued with my Dad earlier today. I came to the bus stop late, making me miss the bus and take another one. Already late to class, I was pretty pissed at myself. Then, I failed 2 finals for the semester. And, worst of all, I lost my grandmother's locket. The one thing she gave me before she passed." She told me with a depressed look. Her eyes were stormy gray. She was completely out of color.
I didn't know how to console her. It was as if the world was against her. I couldn't imagine that much pain in someone. I just sat there silent on my seat. She seemed so helpless, I just looked at her blankly. Then, it hit me.
"A locket?"
"Yeah. My grandmother gave it to me. She passed about 5 years ago and was the last grandparent I had. She was the one who was there when I was down. She even said that she "loved me more than her husband," which was nice to hear from her."
As I listened to her, I reached my hand into my pocket. I saw something on the locket's heart-shaped pendant that I didn't notice before. A piece of metal that had the same color as the rest of the necklace. Touching it, the pendant clicked open, revealing a picture of a young woman sitting on a black vehicle. The photo looked old with deteriorate spots all around the edges. There was no doubt about it. It must be hers.
"Uhh... Did the photo have a woman sitting in front of a diner?" I realize the photo had a diner behind it. The name was a bit hard to read, but it looks to be a classic 40s or 60s type of diner.
"Yeah, something like that. How'd you guess?" She looked confused.
"Is this the one you've been looking for?" I raise the locket on my hand so she could see it.
It was silent for the next few seconds. Her eyes widened as she stuttered to say anything.
"Why... do you have that?" As she held the pendant on her palm, tears started to form in her eyes.
"It's quite a long story actually, but I managed to find it under a bench. I was going to go back to the office to report it, but it seems I have found the rightful owner already." I awkwardly laughed at that moment, but she didn't seem to mind. She gave me a smile before doing
something I never thought would happen. Suddenly, she opened up her arms and gave me a warm embrace.
The hug felt different for some reason. I hugged my friends and my parents and they all felt quite similar. This didn't feel like that. It was soft and tender, similar to a child's. It wasn't long until she decided to let go, though.
"Sorry about that. I just... needed someone. That's all." She chuckled a bit while wiping her tears away.
I looked out the window and met a familiar café behind a small blue shed with a bus stop sign. The vehicle comes to a full halt before I hear the doors at the front open.
"This is our stop." We both got up and made our way out to the front.
The outside was slowly drizzling with a strong petrichor scent. We were standing under the small roof the shed had. I unzipped my backpack and took out my umbrella. I clicked it open in the rain and zipped up my bag.
"That should be good. So, where to?" I look over to her as she stepped forward and lead the way.
I was not used to walking with someone. My friends lived quite far from me, so I was always left alone when I travel home. My busy schedules also limit me from hanging out a lot as well. And I am quite introverted too, so social interaction isn't my best quality. But yet, at this very moment, I felt warmth.
"So, do you often read books?" She starts to break the silence as we cross the wet road.
"Yeah, but I only visit the bookstore for new reads every two to three weeks. The books help with my story writing since I need some creative inspiration once in a while." I managed to respond as my head was trailing off on its own. She stopped in her tracks and looked back.
"So you're an author?" My head suddenly came back to reality as she popped the question. I did not notice I accidentally mentioned my story writing hobby.
"Uhh... well, I mean I write stories, but I haven't published anything. I do plan to someday. But I think I'm sticking to my degree for now." As she listened, her eyes kept in contact with mine.
"What kind of stuff do you write?" She cocks her head to the right as her lips open slightly.
"Mostly anything, to be honest. Although, I do tend to jump from one story to the next. So, no story ever sticks with me for that long." I figured the constant clutter of paper around my room speaks for itself. "Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy yourself a lot on?"
Her eyes squint as she pauses at that second. "Do you mind if we take shade for a moment?" She points to a nearby Mini-Mart behind me.
We slowly walked over to the store and went inside to temporarily dry off. She quickly then grabs her backpack. It was surprisingly well organized there. Every item was either labeled or was kept in its separate compartment. She pulls up a bright fuschia clipboard from it.
"Now... I have only shown this to a handful of people. So, be happy you're one of them."
Right away, she opens the clipboard up to reveal several figure sketches in different styles of clothing. A female figure to the right is wearing a laced white sweet-heart tank top paired with blue high-waist ripped denims and beige gladiators. Her hair was tied up in a cherry-on-top messy bun with Sunnies shades.
A male figure on the bottom right had a bright yellow undershirt with a cherry red hoodie jacket, dark blue jeans and Nike sneakers. Another figure was wearing a denim jacket covering a white turtleneck sweatshirt and black leggings. There were a few more, but I was so mesmerized at the moment that I could not even think.
"...Fashion?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Fashion design. It was a quiet afternoon in September when I decided to look up trendy outfits on Pinterest. And up until now, I haven't stopped loving it." She flips through a few pages and showcases a bunch of other sketches.
"Wow! Have you ever actually took some of these and made them in real life?" I start to wonder as I tilt my neck a bit.
"I did! I got to be the costume director for the theatre department this year. Pretty neat, right?" she exclaims without hesitation.
"Oh! Do you know Chris and Claire?" I've never really met any of Chris and Claire's friends. It's just that I'm not comfortable being in a room full of over-exerting extroverts who sing. Believe me, that's the last thing on Earth I'd ever do. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate musical theatre. I'm quite sure I have watched the entire High School Musical trilogy at least 5 times.
She gave a brief pause as she cocks her head slightly to the left. Her eyes narrowed in direct focus at me and her lips faintly open.
"...Uhh...Yeah, they've been with since 9th Grade. Why ask?"
I couldn't say anything. I wasn't even able to move. I was suspended in time from a single thought in my head. If she was with them since 9th Grade, how come I haven't seen her before? Was she probably referring to a different Chris and Claire?
"...which school did you go to?" I managed to get a reply in my confusion.
"Franklin High."
I completely froze. We went to the same school. Was she a transfer student? Did we have opposite schedules? I mean, it has been 4 years or so since graduation. Maybe she had a glow-up. But yet, I'm quite sure I have never seen her before.
"Mind if I get your name?"
"Alivia. Alivia Haynes."
That's where it all connected. That familiar feeling I had in class, the locket, the similar features and the warm feeling I had around her. She was not reminding me of her. She was her.
She was Alivia Hollie Haynes, the girl I had a crush on since Freshman Year.
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