Enchanted

Please Don't Be In Love With Someone Else

I don't want to be here, I thought as I took another sip of my drink. Social events were not my thing. If I had a choice, I'd rather sit in my room, reading Sarah Dessen books and listening to Taylor Swift songs. I had to attend this particular one, my cousin Kaitlyn's wedding rehearsal dinner party- all because I was a bridesmaid.

"Cheer up," my dad whispered in my ear. "Some people haven't seen you in forever."

"They should probably make more of an effort if they wanted to see me," I replied. He shot me a warning look and walked away.

I let my eyes admire the pink and white paper lanterns that hung from the gazebo. Those, along with the pink hydrangea and peony flowers gave the occasion a romantic atmosphere.

"Aralyn?"

I teared my eyes away from the decorations to notice a lady with brown hair coming my way.

"Oh my!" She embraced me into a tight hug. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby!" When she released me, I placed a fake smile on my face. "I'm Leslie. You probably don't remember me- I helped your mother decorate your room. Is it the same yellow and white?"

"Yes ma'am," I said. "Thank you."

She met my eyes to give me a small smile, then she looked away. "So, where's your parents? I would like to say hi."

"My father's over there." I motioned with a nod of my head over to the corner where he was talking to someone.

"And Kerrigan? Where's your mother?"

My smile fell. Leslie probably doesn't know, I thought, taking a sip of my tea to stall time. "Um.."

"Hmmm? Where is she?"

I didn't like talking about my mother. From what I heard, she was a terrific person: sweet, loyal, lovable, kind- one of those rare individuals . The reason why I don't like talking about her is because she died in childbirth. I know it's not my fault, but knowing that my mother is not alive because she passed away while bringing me into the world makes me feel guilty.

"Well," I said, "she's not here right now."

"And why not?"

"Because she's dead." I felt my dad's eyes on me once I said that sentence.

"Oh." Leslie took a glance at my face and then scanned the area. "I'm sorry."

Even though she said it, she didn't sound apologetic. I heard too much of the automatic "I'm sorry" phrases- I didn't need that.

Angrily, my eyes looked around for anything I could use as an excuse to get away from her. Once I looked over at the back door, I spotted a pair of brown eyes just staring at me. Everything- my anger towards Leslie, my hatred of social events, and even the slight guilt I felt evaporated.

"Aralyn?" My dad's shadow approached mine and I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yes Daddy, I'm fine."

He wrapped his arms around my body. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, it's not your fault."

"Would you like to go home now?"

I shook my head, having a slight feeling that if I went home now, I would miss something very important. "No thank you."

"Okay then." Dad gave me a final squeeze and kissed my forehead. "Whenever you want to leave, just come and find me," he said, walking away.

I looked over again at the door to see if the boy was still staring at me. Once he realized that I was looking, he narrowed his eyes as if to say, 'Have we met?' Slightly, I shook my head and dropped my gaze to the ground, where I noticed a silhouette walking towards me.

"Hello."

I immediately looked up. "Hi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ethan Chambers," he said, taking a hold of my hand from my side, lifting it up to his mouth, and kissing my knuckles. "Your name is?"

"Aralyn Sinclair," I replied, sensing my face go red. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Are you sure we haven't met before, Aralyn?"

"I'm pretty sure."

He smiled. "You're right. I would've remembered a pretty face like yours."

We stood at our little spot, talking, laughing, and getting to know each other a bit more. I learned that Ethan was just a visitor to Florida- he actually resides in a town in Missouri. He was here because his family was a friend of Kaitlyn's fiance. That fact that he didn't live here disappointed me. The time for us to depart and never see each other again was creeping closer with every minute we spent together. But we would approach that time when it came.

Clink! Clink! The faint sound of something hitting the side of a champagne glass was heard, and all conversations stopped. Kaitlyn, the one who got everyone's attention, smiled wide and said, "Dinner's ready. Please take a seat at the tables."

Ethan grabbed a hold of hand when I was about to walk away. "Sit beside me," he whispered.

I nodded slowly and walked with him to the table. His family was already seated, so he lead me other there and pulled out my chair, motioning me to sit. I was aware of almost everyone watching the act, including my father, who sat to my right. "Thank you," I said, blushing.

"No problem." Ethan smiled at me and sat down.

Eating didn't give us enough time to talk, but once everyone started getting full, they started leaving. Ethan turned to me after drinking the rest of his water. "Who do you love?"

"Excuse me?"

He leaned closer to me, as if he was embarrassed that anyone would eavesdrop. "Are you in love with anyone?"

"Aralyn, sweetheart?" My dad tapped my shoulder. "It's time to go."

"What?" I looked at his with surprise. "T-time to go?"

"Yes dear. Your grandmother is waiting for you."

"But- but I don't want to go."

Dad gave me a look. "We don't have a choice."

Reluctantly, I stood. "I'll- I'll see you later, Ethan?" I really wanted to see him again. I really did- I think I liked him. 

"Yes ma'am." He smiled and waved as I started walking out with my dad.

I wanted to say that it was really nice to meet him again, but I felt that was overbarring. So I kept looking over my shoulder every few seconds to see if he was watching me. He was.

"I think he likes you," Dad said, holding the car door open for me.

"Are you mocking me?"

"No sweetheart." He shut the door and climb in the drivers seat. "I'm not mocking you. I thought it was really a nice act for him to do. You were blushing."

 I didn't respond to my dad; all I could think about was Ethan's question. Was I in love with someone? I mean, sure, I had little crushes on some boys at school, but would that be classified as 'love'?

When I arrived at my grandparents' house, I went straight to shower and ten minutes later I was in bed. But I couldn't sleep. "Please don't be in love with someone, Ethan," I whispered to no one in particular. "Please don't have someone waiting on you."

And I never saw Ethan Chambers again after that wonderful night.