Starlight | completed

Chapter 13 | dinners & chaos

❝He waited for the person from that night to reappear, but she never did.❞

Chapter 13 | dinners & chaos

Luce ever since he was a child had never liked the word beautiful. That word in people's mind seemed to inspire a certain type of image. It was the people in the magazine covers, all pretty and poised. It was the girl every guy in their school wanted to be with. No one ever thought it was Aera.

In the kindest way possible Luce could see why they didn't call her beautiful, she was plain. So utterly plain. Her eyes were a simple plain brown, and her hair also a rather plain dark black. Her skin was utterly unblemished, making her look even plainer. At first glance there wasn't a feature that stood out about her.

Her face was a forgettable one, everything fit into it perfectly. From her almond shaped eyes, to her dainty nose, and her pink lips, they all just blended right into her face. Not making her stand out whatsoever. It was when Luce met Aera that his perception of beautiful changed however.

There was beauty in the tender smile she would flash him as they walked home together. There was beauty in the softness of her smile, there was something in her that was bright. Those eyes that once seemed so plain, were more like stars now. Starlight. If not classically beautiful, Aera was beautiful with a sincerity Luce could never quite place.

"Your hair is so beautiful" Will mumbled, and Aera in front of him burned a bright red. And there was Will who found beauty in her prominent physical features. Her lighter hair, the cheekbones that looked higher because of the makeup she had put on. The perfect symmetry to her face, the type one would find in a magazine.

It was the type of beauty Will saw in Aera, and it was the type of beauty that Luce despised with a passion. As she ducked down her face a vibrant red, Will reached forward and caught a lock of her hair. Aera flushed again. Luce looked down at his food. It was some type of soup, noodles at the bottom and chunks of vegtable floating towards the top.

It didn't look particularly appetizing but Aera had recommended it and so Luce had gotten it. The restaurant they were at was full, a dozen or so people in the room they were in. Will's group of about five friends were with them. Ana was there as well, Luce didn't particularly like her.

As if sensing Luce's eyes on her Ana stared at him, Luce frowned and looked away. "Hey Aera" Ana called out, and Luce's eyes bolted back up. Ana slyly smiled, something deviant hidden in her bright gaze.

Aera looked up at her and faltered a bit at recognizing who she was, her glasses slowly tipping down her nose at the very moment. "Weren't you wearing contacts yesterday?" she asked judgment dripping from her every word. Luce sighed and wondered what her problem even was.

Aera had never once done anything to her, she just stared at her, that same curiosity in her eyes that she had with everyone. It was another beautiful thing about her. "Uh- I just prefer glasses." she mumbled weakly, meekly.

That wasn't the Aera, he had once known, the Aera he had known would have glared down at Ana and walked away. Not sparing her time for such a person, but the Aera he had known had died a long time ago. Luce knew he couldn't expect a person to stay the same forever, but as odd as it was.

Many times he found himself missing the Aera he knew from years ago, there was something more fierce to her back then. She was more fierce before she'd met all these people, before when she'd simply been herself and had not cared for a single thing.

When she hadn't cared about being popular, when she was fine with her only friend being him. He sipped his soup, and bought himself back to reality. That Aera was as good as dead, he couldn't keep hoping for a person that did not exist anymore.

Aera was now giggling along to a joke or something that Will had muttered at her, and it was then a strange coincidence happened. Luce and Ana both stared at the pair, a very similar, a mirrored look on each others faces. Jealousy.

Someone played music all of a sudden, snapping them out of their moment. Luce sipped his soup once again. Will turned to Aera a twinkle in his eyes, Aera smiled up at him brightly. "Would you like to dance?" he asked. And Aera hesitated, a unsure expression coming to her face.

"Let's not" she finally said. It was then that Luce once again recalled the Aera from so long ago, they'd been at a similar restaurant to this. Having dinner with their families together, their parents were good friends then. His mind flashed back to that day, it was vivid in his mind.

"Twirl me Luce" Aera had said to him such a wonderous light hitting her at the very moment, she glowed like the moon. All soft edges and laughter, she could light up a room the moment she stepped into it. She had lit up Luce since the moment she'd stepped into his life.

Grabbing her hand, he wrapped it around his, an uncannily bright smile on his face. They were playing some type of jazz music, the sound echoing through the room. Some people shot them odd looks, but Aera didn't seem to care as she held onto Luce.

"Twirl me" she begged again, and Luce did exactly as she asked this time. Spinning her around the room, around and around again. As people around them began to watch them bug-eyed. Back then neither of them had cared.

He dipped Aera, and then spun her again. Out and then right back into his arms over and over again, her infectious laugh filling his ears like the sweetest melody he had ever heard. And just like that, they had danced the night away.

He looked at the Aera across him, she wasn't that girl anymore. How did she manage to change so easily, when Luce seemed to remain the same forever? "C'mon let's dance" Will pleaded once again, and Luce waited. He waited for the person from that night to reappear, but she never did.

Shaking her head at Will she looked nervously to the ground, "I'd rather not. I'm no good at it." Luce smiled to himself bitterly, he had never been good at it, but then again neither had Aera. In some moments all she had cared about was living her life to the fullest, enjoying life.

It seemed now all she cared about was fitting in, blending in. And Luce knew in his heart, with a sinking feeling, that girl from the night would never come back to him. She was gone, and someday soon this Aera would be gone from his life too. Because she would choose them anyday. And Luce knew in his heart, he knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

But what was life without trying?

~~~
someone tell me a joke, pls (: