RE : Love At First Heartbreak

Flashbacks

For some reason I can't explain,

Once you were gone, there was never,

Never an honest word,

That was when I ruled the world,

-Viva La Vida, Coldplay

I sat, perched atop the balcony of one of my dad's business partner's house. It was New Year's Eve. Parties were thrown all across the neighbourhood, celebrating a successful year gone by.

Adults walked along the streets holding all kinds of alcoholic drinks. They all looked like they had drank more than they could handle. Children were playing those mini firecrackers you pop by throwing onto the ground and stepping on them.

Everyone seemed to be in a festive mood. Everyone except for me, that is.

I pulled out my phone and checked my Whatsapp. 2 notifications from Jessica. I grinned and tabbed into our messages.

Jessica : hey sean!! :) happy New Year's Eve!!!

Jessica : what're you up to?

I checked the time stamp. Message sent at 11:17PM. I looked at the clock on my phone. 11:23PM. Damn. Had I really been here for 2 hours already?

I hastily tapped out a reply.

Sean : nothing much really.

Sean : I'm being held captive at one of my dad's friend's parties again.

As if on cue, she instantly came online and replied. I found it kind of sweet at the time. She had this rule where she wouldn't instantly reply someone because she didn't want to seem desperate. She often broke that rule for me.

Jessica : you wish I were there with you, don't you? ;)

Sean : kind of. hehe

Jessica : you free to chat now?

Sean : well I don't think I'm busy so

Jessica : no, I mean are you free to voice call now?

Jessica : gosh you can be so thick sometimes.

Sean : not my fault. I inherited it from my parents, after all

Jessica : just answer the question -.-

Sean : yes, Jessica, I am in fact free to voice call now.

Jessica : you got FaceTime?

Sean : which iPhone doesn't?

I barely sent that message out before my phone started ringing. Jessica would like to FaceTime. I took out my headphones and plugged them into the port before accepting the call.

The screen showed her lying in her bed looking back up at the screen. Her chocolate brown hair was splayed across her pillow, looking like snakes slithering around. Something about her eyes always made them look like they sparkled. Her smile was beautiful as ever, almost making me faint on sight. Even something as minor just seeing her pictures gave me butterflies in my stomach and made my heart skip a beat. Being around her was a completely different story.

"Hey," she said softly, her voice as angelic as ever. She smiled even brighter at me.

"Hey, Jess," I responded. "How's your New Year's Eve?"

"Uneventful," she pouted. " I miss you Sean.." she said, her voice trailing off. She had a sad look in her eyes, as if she might start crying at any moment.

"I miss you a lot too, Jessica," I told her, and I saw somewhat of a spark in her eyes, as if she'd felt relief from hearing those words. "Don't worry, we'll see each other when school reopens in a few days," I said and smiled.

"Obviously you would miss me. I'm so amazing," she sassed. She got into a seating position and flipped her hair, as if to prove her point. I laughed. "I'm looking forward to the first day of school."

"I'll finally get to see you again in person after 2 months," I said. "It feels like forever since I've seen that beautiful smile of yours in real life."

"I'm probably as excited to see you as you are to see me, dimwit," she scolded. I felt warmth spread throughout my body after hearing her say that. I must have blushed quite a bit, judging by her follow up statement. "Don't get your head in the clouds. I meant that as a best friend," She glared.

"You're cute when you're angry," I told her. It was her turn to start blushing. "Your cheeks are really red," I said, mocking her.

"Shut up, Sean," she said while trying to cover her face with a pillow. "Don't get the wrong idea, I just don't get complimented a lot."

"I'll change that," I told her. "You're way too beautiful to not be noticed," I said and smiled.

"You're such a flirt," she said, eyes peeking from above the top of a pillow.

"Only when I'm around you," I laughed.

I checked my clock again. It was already 11:56PM. Just 4 more minutes to New Years.

"Hey, Jessica?" I asked, her face still half hidden under her favourite pillow.

"Yeah?" She answered, still blushing but not as badly. She lowered the pillow so it was resting on her lap.

"Would you spend New Years countdown with me if you could?" I asked.

"I would give anything to," she said, sobering up. "You should know that."

"Yeah so would I," I said, feeling butterflies in my stomach. Jessica just said she would give anything to spend New Year's Eve with me. Holy shit.

The clock on my phone struck 12AM as fireworks went off in every direction. I looked up and saw the sky exploding with bursts of colour in flowery patterns.

"Happy New Year, Jess!" I wished her.

"Happy New Year to you too!" She wished back.

I flipped the camera to the back-facing camera and showed her the fireworks going off in my area.

"Whoa," she gasped. "It's so beautiful!"

"It really is, isn't it?" I flipped it back to my front-facing camera.

"I wish we could go to an open field and cuddle and watch the fireworks together," she said.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard her say that. I choked on my words as I struggled to voice them out. "I'd give my whole world for that."

"And so would I," she said. She smiled at me through the tiny smartphone screen one last time before she said, " Sorry, Sean, I gotta go. My parents are bringing me outside for supper to celebrate New Years. Talk to you later, okay? I love you!"

"Oh, alright then. Enjoy yourself, alright? I love you too!" I exclaimed. The phone went into the lock screen and displayed our call essentials. FaceTime with Jessica. 45 minutes long.

I felt light-headed after that. I looked up at the sky. The firecrackers had mostly stopped, but there were still some going off in the distance. It was one of those rare nights where you could see the stars in the sky from the city. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even notice my dad calling me to tell me we had to leave until he came and tapped me on the shoulder.

She told me that she loved me. This is the best night of my life.