185 Christmas Eve - Flowers (2/2)
I took a bite of her crepe, taking in the different flavors of her crepe, savoring it. A warm feeling rose in my chest as I appreciated the fact that I now have a friend that I could do normal things with, someone who does not want to associate with me because of my status but because of who I am.
”Here,” I said, reciprocating the gesture. ”Have a bite of mine.”
”...” On her face, there was a reluctant look as she gazed into my direction as if she was a mother taking care of a naughty toddler. ”Fine,” she sighed and finally gave in after staring into my begging eyes for a bit.
Slowly, she brought a hand up to her hair, brushing it away from the side of her face and keeping it away in an elegant manner as she leaned forward and took a small bite from my crepe. On her face, there was a gentle and almost dreamy look, one that I am sure would be extremely seductive to boys. In fact, it even had a similar effect on me, causing my face to become warm as I blushed in a somewhat flustered manner.
She's just prettier than me, more mature and more compassionate than me in every way possible that I genuinely feel as if I am inferior to her. Even though I stand before the glitz and glamor of the stage, I am still unable to compete with someone like her.
After we had finished eating our crepes, we made our way over to the exit of the mall and once again stepped foot on the cold, winter streets of Palisia. The sky was quite dark down as time had gone by fast, leading to the advent of nighttime in the beautiful city that is decorated with festive ornaments. It could be said that it was because of the festive spirit that caused the large population of pedestrians, or one could say that it was because of the large population that engendered the festive spirit. Whichever the case may be, the city has an overall positive atmosphere going on for everyone in sight.
It was actually quite nice walking among people who smiled as they enjoyed their holiday season. Everyone seemed to be walking with a companion, either it is family members, lovers, or just friends in general like me. That makes that one teenage boy with the dark hair and black muffler scarf walking alone an oddity in the crowd as he walked past us. He drew my eye, and also Muria's as well, causing the two of us to look back over our shoulders and at him. Neither of us spoke about that oddity that we had just experienced, and instead, we continued on walking side-by-side close together in order to share warmth.
That oddity bothers me, but it wasn't to the point that it would foul the mood. I am more focused on treasuring the day's experience with Muria. I am just glad that I finally have someone that I could celebrate the season with unlike before. In past years, I would always be focused on advancing my career and would partake in many different events and live shows. It was quite tiring, and I didn't like it. However, recently, a few months back to be exact, everything changed...How did it change?
I frowned as I realized that there's one more situation in my memory that I cannot recall the cause for. I gathered my mind and tried to focus on what I could remember, arranging them in a clear chronological order in search of where the blank had occurred. Slowly, I was able to piece the fragments of my memory together.
Images of my past flashed before my eyes as I thought back. Scenes of our attempt at causing a change in my father and having him realize his wrongdoings particularly shined in my mind. Instead of it being just me, there was also someone else present in that gymnasium, someone that I had forgotten. Even when I think back with my mind focused solely on that one incident, I could not recall his appearance. However, I feel as if I had just recently seen this boy...But who is he?
Slowly, I reached a hand up to my cheek, gently touching it to discover that it was wet with my tears. In shock, I stopped in my steps and brought my wet fingers before my eyes, staring at it.
Why am I crying? I asked myself. Who was it that I had forgotten?
I looked over to my right in search of Muria's reassuring presence only to discover that she was also in a dazed state, frowning as if she was also trying to recall something as well.
Who are you? I asked myself as I closed my eyes and recalled that one time when I had looked into his eyes. Who are you? Please tell me...
Slowly, that dark fog that had obscured his face lifted, revealing to me his countenance. Immediately, I felt my heart being warmed as I finally recalled who he was.
”Alevian?” Both Muria and I whispered at the same time.
Our eyes immediately met as we realized what it was that both of us had forgotten and had finally recalled. Without saying anything, the two of us looked back in the direction we had come from, knowing that the boy who we had forgotten had just recently passed us by.
With a rapidly beating heart in our chests, we immediately turned around and started jogging in search of him. He's down this street, somewhere in the crowd. We were sure of that. However, that did not stop our hearts from trembling, it didn't stop mine from trembling from fear of losing sight of him once again.
After frantically surveying the crowd, we found him, and upon our discovery of him, I could feel my heart rate increase even more as tears started streaming to my eyes. I wasn't sure what Muria's reaction was as I was too focused on keeping my eyes on him, but I'm sure it was probably a countenance that one rarely sees from someone as calm and composed like her.
With great joy in our hearts, we called out his name.
”Alevian!”