boys and girls

june 26th

after two days of writing, eating cup noodles at home and walking around the city when she could, hailey finally went back to the cafe.

as the bell rang, indicating her arrival, she inhaled the scent of coffee around her.

as usual, she bought her tea and went to sit down at her usual place. however, it was occupied.

by the one and only, ethan. she rolled her eyes at the sight of him but continued walking, nonetheless.

he had his nose in a book. so he only looked up when he heard the chair in front of him scraping the wooden floor.

he smiled brightly when he realised it was the girl who had been in his mind for days, even if he didn't know her name.

"hi."

"hey." she smiled softly at him.

his heart beat a little faster.

as she set down her things, he admired her. how she tucked her messy hair behind her ear, her glasses occasionally slipping from the bridge of her nose. how she seemed to be even brighter, thanks to the lighting that came in through the cafe's windows.

she was beautiful. she wasn't perfect. she was real. and he liked real.

"what's your name, purple?"

she rolled her eyes at his name for her.

"is it that important?" she asked, just wanting to get her writing done.

"well, yes. every pretty face needs a pretty name to match it," he mentally fist bumped himself, proud that he sounded so smooth.

"cheesy."

he simply winked at her.

after that, they sat in silence. him, reading his book. her, writing her book.

there were some moments where they would catch each other's eyes while going to take a sip of their drink. they would simply smile at each other before returning to their previous activities.

their relationship, or whatever they had was simple. and they both enjoyed simple.

hailey appreciated these moments because she got both peace and company. sure, it was great to be alone in a quiet room but it was even better to be with someone and still manage to maintain that peace.

ethan appreciated these moments because she was always distracted when he snuck peaks at her. she never seemed to realise his eyes on her. he didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

after a while of their silence, hailey finally spoke up, satisfied she was able to finish her chapter for today in peace.

"hailey." and that was all she had to say for ethan to look up in confusion.

"what?" he asked, not quite understanding yet why she said that random name.

she sighed. "my name is hailey." she explained. his mouth formed into the shape of an "o". after processing it, he smiled slightly.

"i like it."