After ✔

09| Gabriella

Algún día, a mirar atrás y saber exactamente por qué tuvo que suceder

Burning like embers falling tender
Longing for the days of no surrender, years ago. And will you know?
So smoke 'em if you got 'em, cause it's going down.

All I ever wanted was you.

My eyes flicker to the street from the window.

People seem to zoom past the speed of lightning. A child calls to his sister, both playing hide and seek among the parked cars.

They're the only ones that stay.

The neighbourhood is quiet, serene.

I can't pinpoint my color right now. Some days, I'm one of the million shades, very specific - standing in between light and dark, dull and bright.

Others not so much.

I sigh as I look around. The bed is unmade. His clothes are strewn on the ground.

Mason's plates are still in the sink.

He knows his job is easier than mine. It's less tiring. Less hours. Less paper work.

Why doesn't he care?

I brush my hair away from my shoulders. There was a time I had dyed it pink. Then purple. Then red.

Now it's back to its original.

What's the point?

The front door opens and I'm greeted to a sight of Mason in his dad's arms. He's bundled up in his little hoodie, already asleep.

Nate tucks him in bed in his little room whilst I return to the couch in the living room.

"You didn't answer your calls today."

Not a Hi. No hello.

Work was fine, thank you.

Bullshit. It was terrible. My boss fired my friend and he nearly fired me too. I dropped coffee on my skirt and didn't have any extra clothes. My father is upset with me. My mother is upset with me. Nate, you're supposed to be easy to talk to.

So many damn problems.

The blue I had felt so vibrantly in the morning had faded. Now I am a dull shade of rusted brass.

"My phone died." I reply. My voice is hoarse.

He sits next to me on the couch.

"I'll take you out to dinner, tonight." He says. "It's Friday anyways."

I look at the clock. Seven.

Atleast I won't have to cook tonight.

"What about Mason?"

"Valencia and Dani are upstairs." He says.

I don't want to go to dinner. Why can't we just stay in, cuddle on the couch? We can order take out.

But it's the first time Nate's asked me to dinner in a long time.

So I play along. "I'll get ready."

"I'll take Mason upstairs."

I get up first and head to my room.

Maybe this could be fun, I try to tell myself.

You're fucking twenty four, Gabriella. Not forty. This would obviously lighten up your spirits.

I look into my closet. I find a dress one of my friends convinced me to buy a long time ago.