Twelve thousand words about you

Chapter 5: Sunset

I woke up the next morning knowing it was going to be a great day. Mia and I had set this date around a month ago and we had arranged to go and watch the sunset together. Afterwards, Mia would stay at my place and we'd have a sleepover. 

That morning I didn't really do much. I went for a swim early in the morning. I would have gone for a run but I didn't want to accidentally bump into Marc. Going for a swim was the safer option. I got back home, proud of myself for not having thought of Marc nor anything that involved him during my swimming. Sometimes, I felt like crushing on someone took up too much energy. Especially when you don't want to think about them. He and his perfect features constantly crawled their way into my mind. But I didn't want him to. I was happier being single. No preoccupations. No strings attached. But the more I tried not to think about him, the more I thought about him. It was exhausting. It's like when someone tells you not to think about an elephant, but then you imagine one. Just this time it was myself making me suffer this way instead of someone else. I felt stupid.
I walked over to a shelf in my bedroom and took a book. I needed to get him off my mind before I went crazy. But I simply couldn't concentrate on what I was reading. For every word I read, my brain managed to make some sort of connection to stupid Marc and I ended up thinking about him instead of paying attention to what I was trying to read. I ended giving up on the book and left it back on the shelf. 
Maybe, if I listened to music and actually deepened in my thoughts and confronted myself I would get it over with. Maybe I had just made up a movie in my head that wasn't real at all and I just needed to make myself realize that he was like any other guy. And, I mean, I had literally just met him. You can't REALLY like someone if you have just met them. Can you?
I felt like such a mess. Such a big, huge mess. I just wanted to hide under my sheets, fall asleep and stay there forever, without having to worry about anything. And this was all just after spending one single day with him. I would absolutely not be able to survive another day with him. I needed to avoid him at all costs. 
I felt like all the energy had left my body. I just wished I could switch my thoughts off and rest. 

I got a text. It was Marc. The last person I wanted to get a text from. Although if someone else had sent me a text, I would have thought about how relieved I would have been knowing it wasn't Marc, but then I would have thought about Marc. I wanted to scream.
I didn't open the notification but I could see what it said.
>Thinking about answering soon??
I put my face into my pillow. I didn't want to think about this right now.

                                                                                           ***

After lunch, Mia came over to my house to leave her stuff there. We had a few hours left before we had to go watch the sunset. So we decided to start getting ready at that moment without wasting a minute of our time. We were going to dress up for ourselves. Plus, then we could take pictures with the sunset afterwards. 
Mia was painting my nails in a beautiful shade of light blue. We had music on. Mia kept looking at my phone, at me and at my phone again. 
-You haven't looked at your phone once this afternoon. - Mia said looking at my nails. 
-Why should I be looking at my phone? - I said, not wanting to get into the topic.
-Oh, don't play dumb. I know you have been avoiding answering Marc all day. Just give it a try. If you start feeling like it isn't going to end well, you can always back out before it does. - she looked at me with pitiful eyes - Pretty please.
I really wanted to say no. But something in me just couldn't.
-Ugh. Okay. Fine.
I took my phone with the hand that was already dry. I opened the picture and answered it. I showed Mia the text message he had sent me.
-What should I answer to that?
-Just tell him that you woke up late, was busy all morning, ran out of battery and just charged it.
I didn't like lying, but I didn't know what to say. I wrote that and around ten minutes later, just when I had started painting Mia's nails he answered me. 
>As long as you aren't ignoring me, it's fine
>*Picture*
-Answer him. Immediately. -Mia said as soon as she saw the message.
-Calm down. I'm on it.
I quickly answered his picture and liked his message.
-Okay. I've answered. Now I'm gonna paint your nails. Once I've painted one hand, I'll answer him again. Otherwise we're never gonna finish. 
Mia reluctantly agreed. I finished painting Mia's nails and while we waited for them to dry, I spoke with Marc. It was kind of fun, but I didn't admit that to Mia. 
Once our nails had dried, we moved on to our makeup. I preferred mine very simple. Usually I barely used mascara. So we finished my makeup in the blink of an eye. I had mascara, blush and gloss and I already felt like I had quite a lot on, comparing it to my usual look. It's not that I didn't like makeup. I loved doing it for fun, but not really when it was to go out. Mia, however, was more outgoing in that sense. She wore tons of makeup. I loved helping her and doing her eyeliner. 
We got dressed. I was wearing a simple, white skirt with two frills and a blue top that matched my nails. I spun, making my skirt fly and I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror. I loved how I looked. It made me feel confident. Mia was wearing a similar skirt, but with a tile colored bandeau top. We had some time left, so we started dancing to the music and singing. We took pictures and picked out the jewelry we wanted to wear.
We left my house and got on our way to a field. We were going to watch the sunset form there. We arrived and there was a stunning light. We took pictures of each other and waited to see the sunset.
-Are you kidding me? That was it? - Mia complained.
-There was literally nothing. The colors were mixed with the clouds.
Mia and I looked at each other in disappointment. All we had seen were some pale yellow and pink tones. 
-We should have probably looked up when it was best to watch the sunset. - I said.
-Yeah. I guess.
I got a message. I took my phone out and Mia and I looked at it. 
>Hey
   You got any plans? 
   We could meet up if you want
It was Marc. I looked at Mia and before I could react she grabbed the phone out of my hand and texted Marc. 
>Sure
   I'm with Mia, so she'll come too if that's okay
   Bring Alex with you
   Send your location
-I'm going to kill you.
-You can thank me later.
I got another message from Marc telling me where they were. We started walking towards their direction. They were in the main street. I asked Marc where they were exactly and he sent a picture. We saw them in front of us. I felt a bit awkward.
-Hi. - I said.
-Hey. - Marc said with half a smile on his face. I loved when he did that. Why did he have to do that?
Mia and Alex exchanged smiles.
-So.
-So.
-Are we going anywhere or are we just going to stand here all night? - Mia asked.
-Where do you want to go? - Alex asked.
-I want an ice cream. - Mia looked at me.
-Sure, let's go get an ice cream. - I said.
We walked and small talked a bit. I found myself feeling comfortable, but this time I didn't try to avoid it or deny it. I had to start allowing myself to enjoy things. 
Marc and Alex sat down on a table while Mia and I ordered ice cream. We sat on a table for four. One on each side. I sat in front of Alex, with Mia to my left and Marc to my right.  We were sitting so close that Marc's leg constantly brushed mine. And I liked it. From time to time we crossed looks and smiled to each other. He was quite funny. 
We finished our ice creams and went for a walk. 
-Do you have plans for tomorrow? - I asked them, but mostly looking at Marc. 
-Not really. - he said. 
-Tell her - I heard Alex whisper. 
-We might go on a roadtrip to some village near here. You can join us if you'd like. It'll only be for the afternoon.
-We'll think about it. - I said, really meaning it. 

We said goodbye and we each went our way. Mia and I went back to my place. We watched Mama Mia and went to bed.