A collection of short stories in which the root of their love is simultaneously the harbinger of their demise. Because the risque of the heart's desires is often found embedded in the knife jutting through it.
"...you're writing style is top-notch...
Beauty does not lie in the eye of the beholder. At least, that's what James Parker thinks. If it did, that would mean that his beauty, expressive paintings and dark skies, would be nothing but a facade and James Parker cannot accept that.
His girlfriend, for instance, soft and wonderful, is definitely beautiful. Even now as her head was buried in her shaky palms, James Parker was sure of it, despite whatever the beholder has to say. That is, after all, why he fell in love with her.
He parted her hands from her face. "Don't do that, please," he whispered.
She looked directly at him, first enamoured, then confused, then frustrated. "James, are you serious? Do you realize what this means? I can't do it."
"Yes, you can," he quickly retorted. "With me. We can do this together."
"James, we don't have anything in our names. Nothing. Not a cent," she reasoned.
"Not yet." Her head fell again, and so did his heart. No one at their school, not even themselves, saw this coming. Ming, a band geek and James, an art nerd, both struck by an unlikely tragedy. It was almost too ironic to be true.
"Come on, don't be like that. Think of her."
Ming pulled her hands away and her head flew up so quickly that all the thin strands of her hair were sent in a frenzy. "Her?!" she erupted. Her chest heaved. "James, what about me?! She has her whole life ahead of her! What do I have?!" James knew she wasn't necessarily mad at him, even though her face was painted red and her screams were sharp as sketch lines. He'd experienced it enough to know better. But that didn't mean he'd liked it.
"Can you not be so selfish for once?! Jesus Christ, Ming, we have a daughter. It's not all about you!" The words reeled out before he could even blink, and by the time he realized what he'd said and was ready to apologize, he realized, he didn't want to apologize.
Her mouth fell and her eyes glossed over. Then a fire rose in her and Ming pushed back her boyfriend. "You know what?! I want to see you miss half a year of school and not graduate! I want to see you give birth, Parker! Let me see that, Parker!" She spat the words like acid, burning away the flesh and bone at his chest before getting a shot at the organ hiding beneath. Then she flung her fists there, just to make sure he felt something that was even half of what she felt, but James grabbed her hands. And like always, their contact sparked something indescribable and suddenly they were both hyper-aware that the only thing between them was air. Now, she was so close. Their noses were almost touching and James desperately wanted to kiss her. "Rot in hell, James Parker."
And like the chords on Ming's violin, James' heart was rung out till it snapped. He bit back everything he wanted to say to her because, in a sick way, he was still irrefutably in love with her. But, for the first time, he couldn't tell if the feeling was reciprocated. So he searched for his answer in her hard eyes, slowly leaning forward, lips eager.
A sting greeted his right cheek.
A painful, faraway cry sounded. It took Ming and James both a while to realize that the sound came from a completely uninvolved third party. James stepped back, swallowing his thoughts like a fat pill before tearing his eyes away from Ming and following the sound. He didn't expect her to call after him, but he foolishly hoped that she'd at least follow. However, by the time he reached the door that the crying was behind, he heard his front door slam shut. Ming was gone.
Hesitantly, James switched his focus from the door shutting to the door he was about to open and twisted the knob heartily. Upon entering, among all the litter in his room, laid his small daughter on his bed. And in the far recesses of his mind, James Parker wondered what the hell he was doing.
Author's Note Thank you guys so much for 2k reads! Wow!
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