19TH NOVEMBER.
ORION ACADEMY:
CAMPUS.

THE excitement of the basketball game on the next day was up in the air. Students were enthusiastic about the first game against their number one rival, Braxtonford University and also to see Lex Rivera--the freshman captain--play and handle the team. There was too much pressure on Lex--this was exactly the reason why he had just one minute to wish Aphrodite good morning and he wasted no shred of a second in doing otherwise.

Yumi was in the bathroom, taking a shower and Aphrodite was busy unpacking her clothes when she had a strong pair of hands wrapped around her waist. She felt a kiss on the nape of her neck. Her body jolted with intensity. She swirled around and kissed him.

"Good morning," she whispered when they pulled apart.

"Good morning, Aphy." He smiled. "Probably won't get a chance to meet today but I need your luck."

Aphrodite kissed his dimple. "Is that enough?"

"Mhmm, more," he demanded. She stood on her toes but Lex instantly lifted her with ease. She kissed his eyelashes. His lips twitched upwards against her neck. She chuckled at the tickling sensation. "You can still do better." Upon his statement, she bit her lips and cupped his face before tugging him closer. A soft touch, a quick kiss--that's all he needed to melt. Aphrodite couldn't help but be amazed by the impact she has on him. His eyes were still closed when she pulled apart. She captured his face in her memory and imprinted his smell, soaking every detail. She was his home and he was hers.

"You should leave before Yumi comes out," she murmured, not willing to let go herself.

"Ugh." He whined.

"Lex!" Aphrodite called him out. "I haven't talked to her yet."

A frown formed on his face as he let her go. He put her down and took a few steps away--that was the first time when Aphrodite glanced at what he was wearing; blue jersey and shorts. Tomorrow he will be playing for their academy and she will be sitting at the bleachers--cheering for the man she loves.

Fuck, did she just say 'loves'? Oh, my, my.

"What's wrong? You look like you're freaking out," He remarked.

She was. She had just admitted to herself that she was in love with him. Shit.

"Oh, um. I just...I have a paper to submit in one hour. I completely forgot about it. I...I will see you later." She flashed her best, convincing smile. Lex likely noticed that it was something else but dropped it anyway.

"See you later." He smiled back and turned around to leave.

Once he was gone, Aphrodite's legs felt numb. She laced her fingers in her long hair and began to nervously play with it. She plopped on her bed. She had barely started to date Lex and she was already falling for him. They were simply going to give it a shot. And look how that turned out.

Yumi walked out of the bathroom. Her silky black hair wrapped in a white towel. She gazed at her roommate and pinched her thin eyebrows together. "What's wro--" Yumi's words were cut short when Aphrodite's phone rang. She picked up her phone to find an unexpected name flashing on her screen. All the colours drained from her face as her fingers trembled over the screen--confused if she should pick it up or not.

After a lot of debate with herself, she finally made a decision. "Hello? Riley?"

She heard a delicate sigh. "Rose, hi!" Riley's voice was fresh in her memory but somehow, she sounded different. Like she wasn't her Riley anymore. "I got your voice message."

Her heart skipped a beat. "I...I was drunk, Riles. I am sorry to trou--"

"I wanna meet you."

She took a moment to register what Riley had said.

"What? Seriously? You wanna meet me? Are you sure you're not drunk?"

Riley laughed at her reaction which made her relax. Aphrodite's tensed shoulders loosened. "No, Ro. I am not drunk. I want to meet you because I want to move on. I want to forgive you and want to be forgiven by you too. I have a meeting with someone today in Mainland Town. Can we meet after five?"

"Today?" That was way too early.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't inform you sooner. I chickened out everytime."

"Yeah...no...yeah, okay," She stuttered. "There's a cafe called Stars Collide in Mainland Town Central. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, sure." She felt her smile despite the palpable atmosphere. "I'm glad you didn't say no."

"Me too."

It was time to face her past and move on to the new story. It was time to close the Riley chapter of her life.

Little did she know, her Riley or Yumi chapter was far from over.

•••

Aphrodite's legs kept bouncing as she waited for her ex-best friend to make an appearance. She was staring outside the cafe, her eyes following the pedestrians that passed by the cafe--teenagers, a mother carrying a baby, a dog walker. She was deep in her thoughts when she heard the chair in front of her screech.

Aphrodite snapped her head to the person in front of her. Riley smiled at her as she tucked her brunette hair behind her ears.

"Hey," Aphrodite croaked, "You dyed your hair."

Riley brushed the tips of her hair with her tiny fingers. "Yeah. I like them better now."

Not just the hair but the ginger Aphrodite once knew was gone.

Aphrodite could feel the bolts of nervousness Riley was sending--the constant gulping, the fidgeting with her hair, the lip-biting, it was like they're meeting for the first time all over again, but this time they had history. This time Riley wasn't the new girl. This time Riley wasn't closeted. This time Riley knew Aphrodite far better than Aphrodite knew herself back in the day.

"What made you reach out?" She questioned.

Riley dared to look in her eyes, much like Yumi does when she is nervous.

"I already told you." A tentative dry chuckle escaped Riley's mouth. "I wanted to forgive you and want you to forgive me for everything. I can't keep running away from you, not like my cowardly self did six months ago. I...I need to get things straight." Her naturally long eyelashes streaked her freckled cheek as her hazel green eyes stared at the empty table. "I need closure," she added with a hollow sigh.

"You never did anything wrong. It's me who should apologise and I do. I am sorry for being so oblivious, so naive and so...ignorant towards you and what was going on. I would've walked away too if I were in your place."

Riley stiffened and glared at Aphrodite. "Yeah. That's the difference, Ro!" Riley's voice was loud. She quickly noticed the changes in her tone and calmed herself down, her narrow shoulders slumped down. "That's the difference between us. You would walk away but I ran. God--" she clenched her jaw. "--I feel so embarrassed after admitting it."

"Hey." Aphrodite's eyes softened. "Don't do that to yourself. It's not your fault. I, um. I've been very cowardly for the past months too. I almost threatened my one chance at love because I was afraid I would mess up or he would walk away. I mean, you know how toxic my relationships have been."

Riley seemed much relaxed after she conceded. "Is that why you drunk called me that night? You were freaking out about your feelings for him?"

No, sweetheart. Don't answer that question. It won't be good for either of you.

"No." Aphrodite shook her head. "It was someone else."

Why won't she fucking listen to me?

Oh, yeah. I forgot. She can't hear me. Damn. What a bummer!

"I am confused. You have feelings for two people?"

Riley's curiosity and willingness to listen reminded Aphrodite how much she missed her best friend, how much she needed someone to hold her back and yell some sense into her. How much she wanted someone to just listen. It was unbelievably selfish of her to talk about herself and her problems when Riley was the one who wanted to move on. By telling her feelings, Aphrodite was only entangling Riley even more--making it harder for the latter to move on.

But for once, she didn't care about being selfish.

And that's where she fucked. That's where everything went downhill.

"I was dared to click a picture of a girl kissing someone who wasn't her boyfriend so I got drunk and approached a girl dancing with another girl. I tried to push them to kiss each other and it got a little bad. She assumed that I was dating my roommate and she teased how she thought we didn't have chemistry. It got me so I asked my roommate to kiss me. And in the middle of an intense kiss, I was flashed with the pictures of us and I stormed away but...but my roommate followed and pulled me into a kiss again. But the worst part was that my boyfriend, who wasn't my boyfriend back then, saw all this and..." Aphrodite trailed away when she absorbed Riley's reaction.

Riley wasn't just listening anymore with curiosity. Instead, her eyes flashed with anger. Her porcelain white skin wasn't white anymore. Her face coloured with rage. "Riles..."

"I can't believe you right now," she muttered with disappointment. "After what happened between us, I thought you must've changed. I was almost certain. Well, I was wrong. Really really wrong." Riley scoffed.

"Ril--"

"You know what, Aphrodite?" She raised her arms in surrender. "Just drop it. I don't want another apology or explanation speech from you. I am tired of this and I am tired of you."

Aphrodite blinked. Her mouth agape. Broken words, poor structured sentences begin to formulate at their own slow pace. "Wh...I don't understand. I thought you wanted to--"

"Don't bother to pretend you care what I want. After what you just told me, I have realised that you don't care about what people feel or think. You never did. You never do. I'm pretty sure it were you who pushed your boyfriend away first. You didn't care asking what he wanted, right? Am I right?" Aphrodite's silence gave her the answer. "You are unbelievable. I am done trying to forgive you. I have to stop caring about you.I have to make peace with the fact that you, Aphrodite Rose, are a lost cause. I should've listened to my parents ages ago when they told me the truth about girls like you."

Riley screeched the chair behind as she stood up. "Rich girls really do have cold hearts. But that isn't the case for you. You have a heart. I know you do but it is so rotten that it corrodes the people around you. You drain people of life. You are a virus."

Saying this, Riley stomped away--leaving Aphrodite with a heart punctured with her sharp words.

header image by Kris Atomic

well dang, that's hurtful.

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