(Back to Reality)
Acacia sighed softly. "I guess this should be enough for today," she muttered, closing her laptop gently.
I looked out the window. The sky had turned tar black, heavy clouds rolling in slowly, swallowing what was left of the light. I heard a light tapping on the glass, and then it became a soft pitter-patter, the kind of rain that felt like it had something to say.
I walked toward the window and whispered to myself, "The rain almost looks like the teardrops I've shed for him... a never-ending one. Just how time flies."
Door unclicks.
"Acacia?" I turned my head to Rosie, who had just walked in, slouching onto the couch.
"Acacia, we should hurry to the airport or we'll be late," she said casually.
I gasped. Right, how could I forget? I quickly ran to my room and changed out of my pajamas.
Meanwhile, Rosie had already brought the car around from the basement parking and was waiting at the front entrance, so I grabbed my bag and rushed down to meet her.
As we drove off into the city lights, Rosie smiled and said, "I still can't believe the three of us will finally be reunited after six long years."
Rosie and I had moved in together during our college years and had been living together ever since. Rudy, on the other hand, got transferred back in eighth grade after her dad got promoted and their family moved to Canada. Even so, the three of us somehow stayed in touch all these years.
And today, for the first time since Rudy left, we were going to meet her again.
As I looked out the window, the rain still painting lines across the glass, I couldn't help but think of Lucas.
Maybe it was because Rudy always reminded me of him. After all, just like her, he too left after high school. We stayed in touch for about a year before slowly losing contact, just like most stories that fade out when life starts pulling people in different directions.
We reached the airport and Rosie drove around to find parking while I went ahead to look for Rudy at the arrival gate.
I stood in the waiting area, eyes scanning through the blur of moving faces, trying to spot Rudy in a crowd that felt like a thousand people were all walking past me at once.
And that's when I saw him.
Lucas.
He was walking in the middle of a group, straight in my direction, and for a moment the world around me went quiet. My heart skipped, my breath caught, and my mind went blank. I couldn't move. I couldn't even look away. All I could see was him.
He walked past me and my body froze. Everything that I had long buried came rushing back the moment our paths crossed in that silence.
My heart felt like it had been quietly ripped open, and even though I tried hard to blink back the sting in my eyes, the tears betrayed me anyway.
Just when I had started to believe I had moved on, just when things were beginning to feel normal again, why did he have to show up now?
I bent down in the middle of the waiting area, trying to hide myself as the tears streamed down, completely overwhelmed and unsure how to stop.
Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Acacia? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Rosie asked, her voice worried.
The last thing I ever wanted was to worry Rosie. She was the one who stood beside me when everything in my life was falling apart, and the thought of making her go through that again made me hate myself a little.
I quickly wiped my tears and came up with a lame excuse about something getting in my eye. Rosie clearly saw through the lie but didn't push me.
From a distance, I heard someone shout excitedly. "Baby. Rosie."
And then came Rudy, running toward us. The moment we saw her, all the heaviness seemed to disappear for a while as we rushed into a three-way hug, jumping, laughing and squealing like the giddy, dramatic kids we once were.
Author's NoteNot to confuse you, dear readers.Acacia is writing about her high school days on her laptop.Characters in her story:Acacia goes by the name Ella in the bookLucas goes by the name LouRudy and Rosie remain the same in both the real and the written story