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4. Second First Kiss

August 2026,

Scars Bay, USA

Jayden

I paused at the doorway of my old bedroom. I hadn't been here in a while. It was filled with memories of Alya. The mini library reminded me of the hours we had spent building and curating the perfect collection of books - ones that both of us loved. The shelves full of trophies, medals, and framed certificates reminded me of the years we had spent playing sports and competing for awards. The desk reminded me of our study sessions. After we started dating at the beginning of our senior year of high school, most of those study sessions ended up with us in bed.

I walked in and sat on the bed. Those memories felt like a lifetime ago and yet, I remembered them like it happened yesterday. It was weird to be in here again.

My eyes fell on the side table. I picked up a picture frame of Alya and me. She was smiling so hard that I could see most of her teeth. Her blonde hair was tucked behind her ear on one side and her cheeks were red. And I was kissing her cheek. I had a slight smile on my lips as if I couldn't help but smile when I was kissing her.

"Do you remember that day?" Alya asked. I was surprised to see her here but I was also very happy.

"2nd August, the summer before our senior year. The day we had our second first kiss." Of course, I remembered.

Our real first kiss was when we were five years old. Alya had seen adults do it and wanted to see what the fuss was about. So, while playing hide and seek, we were hiding together and Alya took the opportunity to kiss me. She walked away with a nonchalant smile, unaffected and unaware of how that kiss had changed my fate. Those three seconds made me fall in love with her when I didn't even fully understand the meaning of love. Those three seconds made me obsessed with her for the rest of my life.

Our second first kiss was in Belmont Hill, her father's art gallery.

At that time, we thought that he had walked out on her and her mother when she was thirteen years old. Despite claiming otherwise, we knew that she missed him terribly. On her seventeenth birthday, after the party was over, I convinced her that we should hire a private investigator to find him. She agreed. And that was the beginning of the end. Kate had given us the contact of one of the best PI's in the city - Samuelson. While he started searching for Alaric, we decided to be proactive and become detectives ourselves. We went to Belmont Hill to go through his office in the hopes of finding some clues.

I remembered that day as if it happened yesterday.

***

August 2017,

Scars Bay, USA

"Jay," Alya called, looking a little thrilled. I looked over and spotted a diary in her hand. It was covered with thick, handmade paper and it looked like the pages had been stitched together. "Dad had once taught me how to make books from scratch. I made the one in which we stuck our pictures from the school trip. This is the one he made. I didn't know he kept it."

I walked over to her and took a closer look at the book. It was definitely handmade. All the papers in it were handmade too and they were definitely stitched together by hand. "He sure was a talented man. I wonder what happened to you," I teased.

The only reply I got was a smack on my arm. Figures. "Ow!" I rubbed where she hit me. She had a bit of a violent streak, not that I was complaining. Because that meant physical contact and I was a sucker for her touch. In fact, I teased her quite often just to feel her hands on me, even if it was for a 'stop annoying me' smack. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Growing up around boys and playing all kinds of sports made her tough.