272 Fireworks (2/2)

***

”They're not picking up,” Loyd frowned as he removed his phone from his ear and stared at the illuminated screen.

I looked at his frowning face, and then surveyed my surroundings briefly. We had escaped from the unstoppable tide of people and are now located at its very destination: the beach. This beach was rather...crowded as there were plenty of people either standing or sitting with a towel draped over the sand. However, Loyd and I were able to escape from the worst of the overcrowding by retreating to the farthest side of the beach that is closest to the paved road that is accessible by a stairway to my right.

Sitting down on the free wooden bench, I observed my feet, ignoring the straps of my white flat sandals. My toes were somewhat red after having been accidentally stepped on a few times while walking, and it still pained me somewhat. I should have never worn sandals in the first place.

”Are you alright?” Loyd looked over at me with a worried expression on his face as he sat down next to me.

”Yeah,” I responded, looking up from the ground and at the dark, ocean horizon ahead. ”The pain will go away in a bit.”

”You're kinda like Alevian in that regard,” Loyd chuckled. He then got up from the bench and walked over to the vending machine nearby.

The light from the vending machine casted light onto his face, which naturally drew my gaze towards. I saw that he had a smile on his face, one that communicated a...calmness of sorts. It is a calmness that is only present after something that is unexpected had occurred and things did not get disturbed much and occurred as you had wanted them to be. Maybe this can be considered a look of relief?

”Here.” He walked back and tried to hand me something.

I looked at what he had in his hand, an aluminum can that seemed to be collecting condensation from the atmosphere, and back up at his face. On his face, there was a kind smile, one that seemed to strip me of any caution as this was a look that...felt oddly familiar.

”This should help keep the swelling down if you put it against the spot where it hurts,” he finished his sentence as I accepted the cold drink from him.

”Thanks,” I said and did what he suggested. The feeling of the cold aluminum can making contact with the area on the top of my foot where it was somewhat red and felt hot to the touch due to the gathering of blood was phenomenal. The coldness of the can is as if a drop of elixir in the desperate hours of thirst in the desert, clearing away the pain as it numbed the area and provided me an escape from the burning feeling of swelling that is compounded by the summer temperature.

A soft smile broke through my countenance and replaced the slight frown on my face from earlier due to the pain. But now that the pain is numbed, my mood had improved, which explained the inconspicuous smile.

”Almost the right time,” I heard Loyd whisper to my right.

I looked over at him and saw that he was staring at the clock on his phone. He seemed to be...waiting for something, waiting for the right time.

”Alvelyn.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket as he looked over at me with a determined expression on his face. ”I know we've knew each other for a while now...”

As he started to speak, I simply stared at him with a blank expression on my face as I was unsure of what he was saying. However, as he continued, my mouth slowly widened from surprise.

”I just feel like...you're special,” he continued. ”Whenever I see you...I just feel rejuvenated. It's like...seeing you happy is what's giving me energy.”

Is he...is he doing what I think he is doing?

”Of all the beauty in this world,” he continued, ”none of that triumphs over you.”

He placed his hand on top of mine, which startled me and caused me to look down at where he had done so. Then, I blushed as I looked up and discovered that he had leaned closer somewhat and was staring into my eyes. On his face, there was a slight uneasiness as well as a hint of red. He seemed to be nervous as well, but...had gathered the courage and succeeded in warding off his fears.

”Would you be my girlfriend?” he said to me. Just as he finished, the first fireworks of the night shot up into the sky, blooming into a beautiful flora of ignis.

Author's Note:

I've recovered a bit from my surgery to the point where I'm kinda back to normal now. And one more thing, to those of you that are saying if Alvelyn and Loyd get together they will drop the story, I say just drop the story because it's obvious you don't give a shit about what I plan and want to change the story into something you want it to become. Fuck those of you that are like that and it is people like you that make me consider just straight up deleting my books from this site and just stop right now.