On the outside, Alorah is a simple, diligent, and caring 17-year-old girl who only sees the good in people. Yet, behind all that is someone who has worries of her own. A strong worry that keeps her heart racing every time she lies in bed at night, r...
It was startling how similar my mom and I were in many ways. After our talk last night and the moment I had with Julian, I felt...another year's worth of burden lifted off my shoulders.
When I woke up this morning, I received a notification from him. It was a GIF of two puppies sitting in a car—a brown and a white puppy. The white puppy was looking out the window, while the brown one had just woken up and was in a daze. At the bottom was a good morning text word, and following that GIF was a message:
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Julian Hayes
See you later, little one.
I thought we could talk at school, which made me excited and nervous. However, the chances were slim since every time there was an opportunity, the group he was in would jump in and bring him away.
From the classroom to the hallway, they would magically pop up and surround him, laughing and talking to one another, taking up the spaces and making others stand to the side to give way to them.
At this point...they were getting on my nerves. You better believe I will one-up them if I can. Yet a part of me knew that it would be impossible. I realized that a new side of me was slowly evolving, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to face it.
"Girl, are you alright?" Layla stood in front, blocking my path. I looked up, clutching my books against my chest, as I slowly came back to reality.
"Hmm?"
"You seem out of it," Layla said, which made me scrunch my eyebrow at her.
"Let me explain it in simple terms. You seemed conflicted about something or, perhaps, someone," Amelia translated, her eyes narrowing like she knew who was on my mind.
They can see through me, but should I tell them about Julian's situation? It's kind of an invasion of privacy if I tell them.
"You caught me," I sighed. "I was thinking about...Julian."
"Hayes? Why?" Layla asked.
"It just..." My voice trailed, not knowing how to address this, when I remembered what Layla told me about him, "Layla, remember that time when you told me not to let Julian slither into my heart?"
She hummed at me, not knowing where this was going, but it seemed like Amelia had an idea.
"What made you say something like that? Did anything happen before?" I asked, and the minute I mentioned it, her body started moving in an unusual way.
Layla stared at me for a couple of seconds before avoiding my gaze, from looking at the ceiling to the students passing us to Amelia, who had her arm crossed under her chest, waiting for her to continue.
Why was she—
"Layla?" I called her out gently. She still kept avoiding my gaze, which annoyed me. "Layla!"
"Alright! I'll talk, ok?" She yelled back, glancing at our surroundings before meeting my gaze, "I feel disappointed with myself for thinking this way, knowing your personality of not wanting to think badly of others."
"Layla, I won't get mad at you for having a different perspective than mine. Everyone is different and handles things differently. I want to know," I pleaded.
I felt a soft hand on my arm and peeked behind to see Amelia observing our surroundings. I followed her trail, noticing the number of students leaving the classroom, making the hallway more cramped than usual.
"We should find another place to talk about this," Amelia said, gently nudging us toward the direction the students were going to avoid counterflowing.
Once we left the building and reached our usual hangout spot, we sat down on the grass and formed a close circle so we wouldn't need to speak loudly.
Some students also did the same as us, sitting on the grass and bonding with their best friends.
While others were on the sports team, they would practice their game slightly farther from us to avoid accidents.
"That's very considerate of them," I thought, gazing at their passionate and shining selves. "So...could you tell me the reason?"
I switched my attention to Layla, who had a startled look on her face. I waited patiently for a few minutes, wondering how serious the situation was.
"Layla," I called her, slightly irritated by the long wait.
"I heard a few comments about Julian from a couple of students. His reputation at this school. Of course, I didn't want to be clouded by other people's judgment, so I confirmed it by following him. It was—" she glanced to the side before looking back at me, "partially true. I didn't want him to rub off on you and bewitch you into liking him so that he could hurt you in the end."
"And the reason why you were hesitant to tell me about this was that you were—"
"Because I knew you would see the good side of him. You would advise me to wait for another side of a person to surface because there was bound to be a reason why they acted like that in the first place," Layla finished.
I didn't have to tell her what I thought anymore because she had told me. My heart twinged at seeing her shoulder slumping down and her head hanging low, and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her shoulder to comfort her.
"Then, please listen when I tell you to trust me and wait. I will watch over myself, and if I see any signs from Julian that may harm me, I promise I will keep a distance," I said, turning my body slightly and reaching out an arm to Amelia. She took it, and I pulled her in for a hug, "Both of you."
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*Unknown POV*
My whole life, I have regretted that I have never been present in my daughter's life. Due to my work, I'd be somewhere far from my family. Now that I can finally spend time with her, you appear in the picture.
Honestly, I'm jealous that my time with my daughter will be cut short, but if being with you will keep her smile shining bright like a star, I'm willing to give up my time with her.
GIF Reference:
Kierank1 (n.d.). Dog stressed GIF. Tenor. https://tenor.com/view/dog-stressed-good-morning-cute-puppy-gif-14724544
