FACE TO FACE [ ruel van dijk ]

five

jade

"see this is the part where i actually hate myself for watching The Notebook right before bed."

marcus says,rubbing his eyes.

he slept over last night.cried so much,so now his eyes look like a  queen bee threw a sting party on his face.

"oh, they're not even that bad, don't be a pussy." krissa says,handing him an ice pack.

"bitch is you blind?i can barely see my own eyeballs."

"is the ice pack really required?" i say.

"you guys are such bullies.it was The Notebook for fuck's sake."

"you've seen it like a millon times before."

"oh aren't you so tough,jadelyn?"

"shut up,marcus." i threw his jacket at him.

"okay come on,guys.let's go!"

krissa grabbed her car keys and we left the house.

"are you sure you guys won't stop at the cafe?"

marcus asked from the backseat.

"im sorry,babe.but justin wants us to be there by 9." krissa says,taking a left.

"who the fuck is justin?" 

"justin bates.our new boss." i say.

krissa pulled over to the cafe.

"well you bitches tell your new 'boss' that i am and always will be...your number one bawwss. "

he sassed,then got out of the car.

"we will,bye!" i say,then krissa drove off.

we got to the theatre's parking lot and started walking to the building.

"shit." krissa stops.

"what?"

"my fucking script.i gotta go back to the car.you go ahead."

she ran back hurriedly before i could even answer.

i continued to walk alone to the theatre,hoping justin hadn't marked us late.

i was almost at the door when i saw someone having trouble with taking some things out of his car.

i stopped,and observed.

you okay there,buddy?

he drops two things from a box he was holding.

"fuck!"

yep.you definitely need some, boy scout.

i decided to go help him.

"hey,need a hand?" i say as i got closer to him.

"nah,man.im fine." he says,trying to get his key to go through so he can lock the vehicle.

"you can barely see anything.here, give me the box."

"no." he whined.

what a baby.

"come on,hand it over." i said,almost sounding like a mom.

he let's out a sigh,then backs up a little bit to face my direction.

when he finally turned to me,
our faces were just inches apart.i could see the sweat on his forehead from this angle.

he looked at me straight in the eyes,as if he's trying to recognize me or some shit.

his cheeks were rosy pink,eyes were dark brown,and was wearing a very familiar beanie.

my hands were  ready for the box's weight,but he isn't actually handing them over.

"you can let go now." i whisper.

"no." he says,still staring at me.

"what?"

"what?im sorry,yes.here you go." he finally let go and went back to lock his car,then grabbed the couple things he dropped earlier.

he took the other box and we started walking.
he seems oddly familiar to me.

have i met you before?

five letters.but i couldn't even ask.

i swear i have seen him before.i just don't know how,or when,or wh-

"so, where's your friend?" he asked.

i didn't realize we were already silent.

"she uh,forgot her script in the car she went back to go get them." i answered.

there was another pause before he continued, "do you live near here?"

"yeah,actually.just 7 minutes away.you know that cafe down at the Parkinson's?"

"yeah?"

"just a couple of blocks away from there."

"cool.congratulations on getting the part,by the way." he smiles.

"wait,how did you know?"

who are you?

"i work here.i was here yesterday when you guys auditioned."

ooooh..

wait,the-

"technical director." he continues.

"oh.. yeah,i remember you."

i didn't realize we were already in their office.

wow,it smells great in here.

"here,give them." he said while putting down his box and taking mine.

"is this yours?" i said,looking around the office.

"um, yeah.it's a little smaller than justin's but i prefer it like this."

"no, it's nice.smells good too." i said.

he got quiet.i looked at him,he was smiling at me.

"you okay?" i smiled back.

"oh,sorry.yeah.im coo-"

"attention everyone,hello?? is everybody here?where are the rest??"

we heared justin's voice echo through the entire building.

"shit,i gotta go.see ya!" i said,walking out.

out of curiosity,i stopped and turned back to him and said,

"wait, i didn't get your name."

his head was peeking out of the door,looking like a kid.

"i'm ruel." he says.

ruel...

i gave him a smile and said mine.

"i'm jade."

he paused for a bit,before smiling back.

"i know."