*Let's Fall In Love*
Part 1:
No matter how I looked at it, a blank page was a blank page. My hand hovered over the keys on the keyboard, then withdrew again. The deadline for my short story was fast approaching, but my mind was simply not cooperating. Even after brainstorming for two hours, the words still eluded me.
"Argh, damn!" I slammed my fists against the keyboard in frustration, watching lines of gibberish appear on-screen from the impact.
A heavy arm dropped across my shoulders. "What's happen??" Rey poked his head forward to look at the monitor screen.
I shoved at him lightly. "Shut up. I'm trying to write a story."
"Trying being the operative word," he said with a pointed look at the almost empty page. "What's the problem?" He flung himself onto my bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. The year we were seventeen, we'd gotten the idea into our heads to paint the ceiling black, 'just for fun'. The paint strokes were obviously amateurish and the colour clashed horribly with my baby blue walls, but I'd left it as it was for nostalgia's sake.
"Hey! You're messing up my sheets!" I grabbed the nearest object and threw it at him. It turned out to be an eraser.
He sat up and shot me a cheeky grin. "They were gonna get messed up sooner or later, anyway."
"But I just made the bed!" I said sulkily.
He threw the eraser back at me. "You're such a little kid sometimes."
Even though it verified his statement, I couldn't help sticking my tongue out at him. Then I turned my attention back to the computer again, hitting a few keys to delete the nonsensical letters on the document. "Hey, Rey. Have you ever been in love?"
Behind me, I heard him choke on air. "Whoa. Sudden change in subject. Cannot process."
I swiveled the chair around to glare at him, then stopped short. "Wait. What's that look on your face?"
"What look?"
"That deer-in-the-headlights look!" I jabbed an accusing finger in his general direction. "So who's the girl?" I asked slyly.
He ignored the question skillfully. "What's with the sudden talk about love, anyway?"
At that reminder, I sagged back against the chair as all the energy drained out of me. "I'm writing a romance story for class, but the words just won't come out! I can't write about something I don't know."
Rey fell silent.
"Hey," I nudged his foot with mine. "Why are you being so quiet?"
"I was just thinking. Does it really have to be about romance?"
"Well, no. But romance stories are easy to write! It's always the same thing ' boy meets girl, things happen, they fall in love, blah blah blah." I rolled my eyes.
He smirked. "If it's so simple, you should have no problem writing it already."
I let out a growl of frustration. "I wish. I'm fine with planning the scenario, but when it comes to describing the emotion itself, I'm totally stuck."
"You can't really describe love," he said musingly. "It's just' a kind of feeling that makes you feel warm inside, like everything is right in the world when you're with that person. And you'll do anything to make her happy'' what?"
I was gaping at him. "What the hell? This is the first time I've ever heard you talk like that. What happened?"
Unexpectedly, a tinge of red scoured his cheeks. "Shit, I was just saying'"
"What did you do, swallow a whole dictionary of cliches?" I asked. His words were still running through my mind, and I barely suppressed a shudder at the mushiness they signified.
"Cliches are cliches because they're true," he said defensively.
I sidled up next to him until we were practically nose-to-nose. "So who's the girl you're so madly in love with?"
He edged away to reinstate some distance between us. "Yeah, right."
"You can tell me," I cajoled, flashing him a winning smile. "I'm your best friend!"
"There's no one."
"I don't believe you," I huffed. "Any guy who can spout poetry like that has to be head over heels in love enough to lose his mind!"
"I didn't spout poetry," he sounded offended, and after a pause, "and I'm not out of my mind, either."
"Close enough!" For some reason, I was annoyed. Having being together since early childhood, Rey and I had always told each other everything. This was the first time he'd deliberately kept something to himself, and it' bugged me. Over the years, he'd gone out on a few dates with other girls, but he'd never really had a steady girlfriend. Selfish as it was, I was used to be the number one girl in his life, aside from his mother. Now, it felt like my long-held position was in danger of being snatched away.
I observed my best friend of twenty years out of the corner of my eye. He was staring into space, a frown etched upon his brow. He was probably thinking about her. "Maybe I should fall in love too," I decided on a whim. "Hey, introduce me to some of your friends!"
The pensive frown transformed into an instant scowl. "Hell no!"
"Why not?"
"They're all jackasses."
"Is that the way you refer to your own friends?" I asked, half-teasingly. I felt strangely light-hearted. It looked like he didn't want his position in my life to be usurped by the existence of a boyfriend, either.
That discovery satisfied the inner selfishness within me, that was all...
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