How To Love ✓

26.

Amara

"I'm telling you Mara, you're into the dude." Sylvia and I's conversation since I came back was constantly reccurring about Lucien, who now, was the talk of the school, besides me. The outcome of the tragic accident of the stranger made news and surprisingly, we made it too. We weren't interviewed by news anchors and reporters, no, just by the School Board of Directors, the OA and my mother, Luke and Cotton reached out to me. I am still in waiting to know if any of Lucien's family reached out to him, by the way he speaks about them gives me a sign of discretion.

Lucien was something else. One minute he would be innocent and vulnerable, the next, he would be fuming with anger. I guess the separation of his parents caused the mood swings, caused him to purse himself in the trenches.

Sylvia was sitting on the carpet floor next to my bed giving herself a pedicure while I painted my toenails with black nail polish. Since being in year 1, I don't have the choice of deciding whether or not I could undergo night classes, but as a cancer patient, I have any day off from class. Sylvia on the other hand, I didn't know what her story was.

"Fine!" Knowing that she would not let this go, I raised my hands in the air in surrender. "Maybe I do have feelings for him...." I started to blush slightly, and my words trailed off. She grinned triumphantly.

"What?" I moaned as I put the nail polish on the bedside table and closed the bottom cap. "I know he doesn't feel the same so why confess something that would never happen?"

"Why are you so unwilling?" Sylvia averted her gaze.

She declared, "Mara, just admit you like him." I liked Lucien more than I would've wanted to admit, but she was correct. I thought it went beyond simply liking him, but that wasn't something she needed to know just yet.

"Please let's not talk about this," With a moan, I stood up from my crossed posture and navigated using the tips of my feet to get my phone, the tank trailing behind around every bend. 

 "What are you looking for?" Sylvia questioned me.

"My cellphone. I want to check in on Lucien, make sure he's okay. He's probably in Lit right now, so hold on." I sigh and turn to leave the room.

She yelled, "Put on some shoes!" but I ignored her and closed the door behind me to block out the quiet murmurs.Students hurried to their dorms across the hallways, with some heading towards the library and others heading out the doors to find fast food establishments. Probably lunch time.

As the familiar brunette entered my frame of sight, I noticed that a big smile was fixed on his lips as his dark brown eyes met mine. "Lucas!" I shouted out of sheer joy. I hadn't seen him since before he left the state to go to Florida and he was as happy as ever.

I missed him. I did not want to lie; I felt like our brother-sister bond was crumbling down.

He lifted me up and gave me a firm hug as he drew nearer.

I smiled and whispered, "I missed you, dude." He brushed my hair to one side, ruffling it. "I missed you too."

I decided to make small talk "How was Florida?"

"One word; HOT," he exasperated, and I snorted. "A little heat wouldn't kill you."

"I know. Besides, everything else was seemingly amazing. I held a baby for the first time. I was nervous and scared as hell, but she was the most precious thing ever. How about you? Did I miss anything?"

Some students that passed by and knew Lucas greeted him and with his genuine friendliness and easy manner, he greeted them in comfort.

"Nothing much, really. Normal routine..." my eyes trailed off of his and unto a figure walking straight to us. I grinned widely. It was Lucien.