Brooklyn:
After being forced to spend one summer in Italy with her grandma, Brooklyn always found her way back to the cobblestone streets but not for the feeling of a summer never ending, but for Valentino, a boy who radiates trouble and sees throu...
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POV: Brooklyn "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different." – C.S Lewis Summer #3
Arcadia has remained the same.
The leaves and marks on the trees remain even when the years of life pass on, serving as the only solid thing I've ever known. No matter the season, time, or year, I knew I could come back here and look into the same plain fields I'd seen a million times before. Arcadia gave me the only thing I lacked:
Peace.
The way the wind would kiss my cheek with a whisper always grounded me back to Earth when I felt like I was floating to Mars. I would close my eyes and pretend it was the touch of my mother's hand, even though she never held me the way I saw my friends' mothers hold them, but I imagined what it would be like anyway. Soft and reassuring.
I still do it to this day.
Valentino's mom was the closest thing I had to that, and knowing he's here when she needs him makes my blood boil a little hotter each second. I want to tell him how he should be grateful to have a mother. I want to scream at him for being so inconsiderate, but I know there's only one reason why Valentino would be here when he knows his mom needs him.
He's grieving his father as much as she is.
When we first met, I can still remember seeing the fading bruises and scars that littered his arm. It wasn't until the day I met Val's father that I knew he was the one beating Valentino. The laughter of Mrs. Morelli would quiet when he entered, and the tenseness in Val's shoulder returned. Anyone with a brain would catch on.
The silence between us is heavy with unspoken words, putting Val and I on a tightrope of who will break first. On one side, I want to leave and pretend none of this happened, while a part of me, the part that brought me here, urges me to stay. My mind battles over what each would mean. After everything that has happened, any simple move can change everything.
I chose grey.
"Val," the name comes from lips in a mere whisper, but I know he heard it when I feel his eyes on me again.
My hopes that he would answer started to dwindle until I felt my heart jump at the familiar, "Yes, mia piccolo stella."
Rope wraps around my throat, tightening and choking me as I hold back the bittersweet feeling of hearing the nickname Valentino gave me what felt like ages ago. I know I'm not the only one who was moved when I saw a flicker of surprise cross Val's face at his own automatic response, but I don't let that stop me.
I scoot closer to him until we're shoulder-to-shoulder. My entire body buzzes with nerves and anticipation, and I take a shaky breath before I continue with, "Come here." The words shatter the very glass Valentino, and I was tip-toeing, scared that any move would make the situation worse.
My entire body freezes at the command, and I start to panic, cursing myself for being so stupid, until I feel the weight of a head on my shoulder. It's heavy, but I don't move, not even when his tears start to wet my shirt. I just lean my head on his and stare at the sun setting, ignoring the ache in my heart.
Today, Valentino and I are strangers. Two broken strangers who need someone to smooth their jagged edges Parallel to the day Val first cared for me, I care for him, trying my best to hold the broken piece of his heart together. Like the way he did mine without knowing when he wrapped his hoodie around my head.
It was the first time in ages that I felt the warmth of kindness break through the coldness I've always been given. It was the first time that I started to see light at the end of a dark tunnel, so I paid my debt today because I knew of the horrors of tomorrow.
Tomorrow, the past will visit and remind us of betrayal, lies, and deceit. Our memories will be tainted with new truths and revelations. The very foundation of friendship is broken beyond repair. I'm not ready for it, and I don't think I'll ever be, but you can't run from the past forever.
Valentino's breaths even out, and I focus on the way his chest rises and falls in sync with mine. The day finally comes to an end as the sky starts to darken and the stars start to paint stories in the form of constellations.
Moving very slowly, I shrug Val's head off my shoulder and lay him as comfortably as I can on the grass. He doesn't falter a bit, but it doesn't stop the pang of guilt in my chest at what I'm going to do.
Once I find myself off the path, I run towards the street as fast as I can. A cab passes by, and I hop in, giving my address to the driver immediately. The gnawing feeling of looking back tears me apart, but I don't. Images of the look of betrayal on Val's face at my disappearance plague my mind.
How would he feel when he wakes up and realizes I'm not there? I wonder if he would think it was even real or a figment of his imagination.
My thoughts carry me until I'm met with the unmistakable bright lights of the city that cause my face to reflect onto the window. The girl in the reflection is unrecognizable with her dull eyes and pale skin.
She is the ghost in the mirror who has seen the worst in life. Looking at the reflection hurt so much that I looked away, but that didn't change the feeling of the girl's eyes on me as the cab drove me farther away from the oblivious boy I left behind.
When I told Valentino I hated him, I met it, and even though guilt gnaws at me for leaving, I don't look back.
It's about time he got a taste of his own medicine. ___________________________________ A/N: No comment 🏃🏽♀️
