A Thousand Lies

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UNEDITED

His words kept replaying back in my mind, like a song set on a loop. It was endless and repetition of the former, yet my heartbeat continued to rise with each time.

"I fell for you, my hero."

"Hey, aren't you going to get off?" A balding old man roared at me, and it was then that I realised that I had been blocking the way. I had stood frozen in the same spot until my stop.

"Sorry," I told him as I stepped out.

"Kids these days," he muttered as he shook his head, getting off the bus after me, his long coat swaying behind him.

I ignored him.

I ignored everyone.

I couldn't even seem to function properly.

I'm sure that everybody would have at least one celebrity crush. And some would even fantasize about what it would be like to date them, to have them like you, that sort of day dream. But to have it become a reality was not something anyone could expect; it was a whole new story altogether.

Yet somehow, it had become a reality for me.

Alan Leuwenhook actually liked me.

In that moment, I felt like a giddy high schooler whose crush had reciprocated her feelings. Even under the darkest of clouds, the world shone in my eyes with a new spark. I wanted to tell someone, anyone,to shout it out to the world that Alan Leuwenhook liked me.

He likes me.

Drowning in my elated state, I didn't even notice that I was still standing near where the bus had stood until someone bumped into me. Heck, I didn't even realize I was smiling like an idiot until I got stares. Today, I didn't care about that. The fact that the anti social pianist went out of his way to confess to me in a semi private space was enough to send me over the moon.

He even did it in such a way that I wouldn't have to reply immediately. Alan leuwenhook was kind and gentle, despite his glares and  seemingly harsh words. It was just like him to give me time to think about it. Not that I needed to in the first place.

With a new spring in my step, I walked the few steps to my home. It was only when I was turning the keys that I felt the vibration of my phone.

Once I was safely inside, the rain started to get heavier. I hoped Alan got home before that.

When my phone continued to vibrate, I took it out in annoyance.

This had better be important.

The name on the phone screen made me frown. It was Tyler. He hadn't contacted me past few weeks because of a crisis at the company. He was busy handling the affairs and I was busy with school. I missed our banters and pranks.

"Hey," I greeted him cheerfully as I picked up the phone.

"Livia."

"Yeah? Who else, idiot?"

"I found out about it a few weeks back."

"Found out about what?" I tried to weasel myself out of whatever topic he was going on about, hoping for the love of god that it wasn't about my condition.

"Your kidney."

All the colour drained from my face with whatever high was left.

"Wha- what about it?" I hated the stammer, a nervous habit I had from childhood.

"Don't play dumb, Liv. You know what I'm talking about."

This would definitely sound like a threatening phone call from a third person's point of view.