OUTRÉ (disc.)

deux

for freekookies ; i'm sorry i can't make things better for u since i'm like 2818821819 miles away (idk u do the maths) and ive never been good with words and consoling ppl in general but i genuinely hope ur days will get better! i love you vani bunni

warning: v v short + crappy chapter ahead pls bear w me

CHAPTER TWO

;;

OF SUMMER SICKNESS AND MELTING POPSICLES

2006.

the perpetuity of summer was beginning to settle itself upon jen's nerves by july 21st, rendering her blood hot and sticky, enveloping her ochre flesh with perennial warmth.
summer wove its' delicate auric fingers through jen's hair, plaiting her toffee strands with utmost care. breeze blew from its' tangy lips, glossed from eating an orange popsicle, fanning her nape. summer was a blessing, all sunshine smiles and golden days. summer was, essentially, priya.

jen spun around to look at her.
the melted popsicle she had licked a while ago had dribbled down her chin; her fingers, saturated with the same substance, gripping harshly onto the edge of the mattress for support as she sat. her sheer, white dress swished as she did so, her ebony curls bouncing.
ethereal, jen thought as she brought her palm to her chin, eyes gleaming with adoration.

after june 29, jen could not simply look at priya the same way. she hadn't known it then but she was bound with a curse of teenage love. it had gotten the best of jen's naïve self, clouding the recesses of her mind, pulsating through her veins, slowly morphing her into a new being.
the curse had also left her with a some sort of inexplicable want, which, much to her dismay, made her chest swell in pain and pried her innards open and all she wanted was for it to be gone yet she didn't want the thrill – of falling in love – to end. she quite enjoyed the ambivalence of it all, really.

'congratulations, ttal, you're a teenager now,' her abba had said when she asked him about it. jen had told him that it was some random boy. one that she'd made up in her head.

(jen didn't tell him this part, though. of course she couldn't. she could never imagine the look on his face if he ever found out that it was priya.)

her father, then, fumbling his big hands over spiraly phone cords, sleep-deprived eyes roaming back and forth over the sea of white papers in front of him, had refused to elaborate furthermore on the subject. it was understandable why – the answer was right in front of her eyes. her abba was a busy man, after all; answering stupid questions about puberty from a fifteen-year old who was curious with her weird, estrogen-craving hormones would be the last thing on his list. he had better things to take care of.

jen was used to his abridged responses - but with this matter, it was different.
these things were all so new to her, the concept puberty and attraction. like an unknown planet that had just made its' existence known so suddenly.
an enigma she wanted to unearth.
this was a feeling that nothing could ever satiate.

but jen was a good daughter, so she did not press her father for more answers, leaving her with a plethora of questions raging inside her tumultuous mind.

"hey jen?"

the sound of priya's voice rooted her back to reality from her little reverie. jen nodded as she watched her put the magazine down and stood up on her feet, her sticky popsicle stick long forgotten on the edge of the bed.
" i'm going now," priya said, bringing her hands – which were, strange enough, no longer sticky with the remains of the sweet popsicle – upon jen's jaw.

this had elicited a small oomph from jen, baffled with her sudden movements but she was able to regain her composure as priya started rubbing the skin above the corner of her upper lip, her fingers light to the touch, resembling the gauzy fabric adorning her slender frame.
in such close proximity, jen could make out each and every one of priya's features. the ones she overlooked: the single mole on the dip of her chin, the small freckles that dusted her cheeks. she was flawless, even up close.

"sorry for leaving so early. kun pôr and kun mâe are expecting me to be back at home by six,"

"and why is that?"

"family business, they said. i don't know."

priya finally let go of her grip and proceeded to grab her small, brown satchel. before she stormed out of the room, she planted a chaste kiss upon the elder's forehead, the smell of honeycomb and fresh citrus emitting from her hair as she did so, and murmured a soft 'i'll see you tomorrow'.

a/n; anticlimatic as hell but i just had to update

im sorry if it didn't meet ur expectations i hate this too

+200 reads ?? im

what did i do to deserve this omg

++ one more thing: because my cambridge checkpoint exam is nearing (dangerously close, might i add), i can't update because i'll be going completely inactive starting tomorrow!but nonetheless thank u for not giving up on my book i love u <3