Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

THE FLOWERS IN Apollo's living room were bright yellow carnations this time. My fingers gently grazed the petals, sighing at the floral scent fondly. Of course it would be in yellow. Ever since I mentioned that the color suited him best, he always wore it like a badge. His t-shirts slowly lightened from the usual ebony black to a mustard, then to the color of sunflowers painted by the summer sun. If anything, yellow was now a signature.

"You picked carnations this time," I casually remarked. "Any reason for that?"

Apollo shrugged. I could hear the sizzle of the pan from where I sat in the living room, in clear view of the kitchen where he stood by the stove with a wooden spatula in hand. He had insisted on cooking dinner for the both of us when he learned that my parents weren't going to be home. With his aunt away on a business trip, he had the house to himself and hence, the self-proclaimed right to invite me over whenever he desired.

"No particular reason. I just thought it was pretty when I passed by the florist's yesterday."

I spun away from the flora, raising an eyebrow. "You find anything in the color yellow pretty, these days," I deadpanned.
He looked up from the frying pan, a sparkle dancing in his eye under the gleam of the ceiling light.

"Yes. I now know yellow's beauty."

Playfully, I shook my head, tucking back a stray strand of blonde hair behind my ear when it fell out of my ponytail. I did not bother with a response, allowing Apollo to cook in silence. He whistled a song under his breath, "Lavender's Blue", if I recognized the tune correctly. For a second, he looked truly carefree, as if nothing in the world could touch him from the high pedestal he stood.

"Are you ever afraid?" I couldn't help but suddenly ask, making Apollo turn over immediately.

"Of?"

"People leaving you."

I thought I heard Apollo scoff once but the action was so minuscule that it left me wondering if I had imagined it after all.

"I've had many people leave me before. I guess it probably wouldn't hurt as much if another left me."

"You can never practice for something like that, though. I doubt heartbreak if something that can be cured. Nor can it be prevented like an immune system fighting the common flu."

Apollo shrugged. His dark brown hair flew over his eyebrows for a second before he hurriedly combed it back in one smooth stroke.

"It all comes down to who it is that leaves. Some people's departure will hurt more and some will hurt less, I suppose." He paused in his actions, suspicion suddenly haunting his eyes as he squinted in my direction. "Why do you suddenly ask?"

"I am not going to leave you, if that is what you are wondering," I laughed. Waving a hand casually, I continued, "I just suddenly got curious. I don't know why but I thought of Opal and your past together."

His lips formed a large round 'o', gaze suddenly dropping back down to the pan and spatula that he held in hand. It seemed as though he wanted to look anywhere but at me.

"She told you?" I finally heard him ask after what felt like an eternity of dragged silence.

"The bits and pieces. I can't say that I wasn't curious, though."
"How is it that you remember that but not anything else that had happened on New Year's Eve?" Apollo frowned. He began to plate the food, sending out dish after dish of delectable side dishes before finally bringing out a heaping plate of pasta to share.