Hate Me Love Me

44| Social Skating ⛸

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

"There's a difference between being happy and being distracted from sadness." --- Author Unknown.

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

'Does everybody feel bad about saying he was too small?' Dylan asks, and I put a finger to my lips, ignoring the notification sound from my phone.

'Shhh. I'm telling the story.'

He straightens his back quickly and puts his hands on his lap like the children around him, and I hear him mumble 'zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket,' under his breath.

'So, later, everyone came and apologised - that means they said sorry - to the little lion! He was so happy, and nobody ever said he was useless - that means that he can't do anything - ever again! The end!' I finish, slamming the picture book shut. 

The little kids stay still for a moment, getting over the fact that the story is over, and then they're all up and jumping around the library, roaring and crawling and snapping their "sharp teeth" at each other.

Two librarians come rushing into the area, trying to get them to calm down, and I see Dylan walking over to me. I crouch and smile at him warmly, reaching my arms out and wrapping them around his small frame. He tilts his head only slightly to meet my eyes, and they're just like mine -  blue-green. We have the same dark red hair, but where his hair is super curly, mine is wavy.

'Dylannn!' I nuzzle his nose with mine, making him giggle.

'Valerie?' he asks.

'Yeah?'

'Am I useless? Or am I useful like the little lion at the end of the story?' he questions, and I can see the anticipation and hope in his two eyes.

'Dylan. You're the most precious person ever,' I press our foreheads together, ignoring the rest of the library. 'You're my best friend, you know that?'

'Yeah. I do,' he replies, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

'Well. Good. Because I love you so much. Mommy and daddy love you so much. And Julian loves you so much. And all your friends love you so much. And everyone else too. And you're super useful because I need to hug you. All the time,' and to demonstrate, I tighten my arms around him.

'Good. Because you're cosy,' he mumbles, snuggling into my sweater. I press a kiss on his head.

We stay like that for a while, but he's an energetic kid, so he goes back to his friends to mess around and annoy the librarians. 

I pull out my phone and open the messages in a groupchat with Lola, Madison and Marcus. They're inviting me to Danny's - the student body president of EHI - middle-of-school-year party, which is similiar to Clementine's start of school part, but better.

Marcus leaves the chat to text a girl to be his date for the party, and I stay at the library to study for a little longer before going home with Jo, Dylan and Julian. All of us have books with us.

It runs in the family.

I change into skinny jeans and a warm white sweater that clings to my torso. With my velvet boots on and my hair in a high ponytail, I take a mirror selfie and send it to my stepmother, who went back with my dad a week and a half ago.

She gave me the sweater, and I fell in love with it instantly.

I swipe some shiny red gloss onto my lips and put on some eyeliner and mascara, finally ready to go. As I'm admiring myself in the mirror, I hear a horn from outside and rush to tell Jo that I'm leaving. She gives me a kiss on my forehead and then I jump into Marcus's car, speeding away.