Kale's pov
I stood at the deserted beach that has grown depressingly quiet at the absence of Amory that stormed out a few minutes ago.
I sighed at the weight I felt on my chest as I watched her cry silently, I could not feel her pain at least not on her level, but I could feel that she was in a lot of pain, I had unknowingly opened a can of worms she was still not ready to face, and what started up as a beautiful evening ended up very sour.
Lord this is not what I wanted to happen, I just wanted to bring her happiness with things she used to love.
What should I do now??
I took off my shoes and found myself walking at the shores of the sea, letting the warm water touch my feet and its tides crash on my leg, getting part of my trousers wet.
I don't normally do this, I hate wet clothes, I hate the way it makes my clothes cling to my body and make me extremely uncomfortable, so I usually avoided the rain or any situation where I will have to walk around with wet clothes on.
My mind kept threading on Amory as I strolled in the shallow water,. letting it's waves wet my pant legs, shoes in my hand hoping to get something or some sort of answer on what next to do, I looked up
The sky was getting dark too
Lord... Why won't you say anything huh?
Maybe I shouldn't have tried to do anything out of what everyone does, just end it with dinner dates and expensive gifts ??.
Our beautiful date wouldn't have ended so badly then.
Flashback Begins...
I sat at the small cafe near our school and waited for Carmen. She is now my last resort to this problem. After I have tried other means I have finally agreed that only she can actually give me something I'm looking for.
So I waited, she was a bit late, but she came nonetheless so it was good news to me.
She sat down and greeted me with a smile, after which she ordered herself a coffee and now faced me with a look of curiosity as to the reason I had called her out and requested that we talk.
" Ugh.. Carmen I'm sorry for calling you out like this but I need your help, I need you to tell me what Amory likes, u..ughm.. the things she fancies or things that piques her interest."
I said, going straight to the point .
Carmen looked amused at the question and didn't answer right away, she just stared at me with surprise, so I added
" I asked her out on a date and I don't know what to do, I.. I don't know what to do per se but I want to be able to impress her and make her happy, not just the bare minimum that everyone is doing."
Carmen chuckled a little after I finished, I looked up at her
" You want to make her happy?" she said and I nodded eagerly.
" Amory likes to party, go on prank sprees, sometimes drink with boys and go for car or bike racing and other things.."
I couldn't say anything as my mind raced through the things she mentioned...
" Dinner date, you can find an expensive and the most popular restaurant and have a dinner date alongside a crazy expensive gift, that should make up for the dinner date.
"Ooh" I said this isn't really hard to know, she said a lot of things but I didn't quite hear anything I have been listening to hear, but then she said.
" You can do all this if you want to be just like every other guy she dated in the past, these are the things she appreciates and doesn't have a problem with"
I frowned and the statement
" And if I don't want to be like every other guy she dated in the past??".
I asked and she smiled.
" Then get to know her better, beyond what you can see" when I didn't say anything she continued
" Amory likes to watch the sea with an orange hue, in the past before her brother passed away, we usually went to the beach every weekend to spend time there till the sun went down". She said seemingly lost in thought
" Why did she stop??"
" I don't know what changed at some point but after Atticus died, a lot of things changed for Amory, she stopped visiting the beach, or japanese restaurant or ice skating, a lot changed in her life"
I was shocked at the fact that Amory had a brother..
" I never knew she had a brother"
" That was because we never mentioned it, after Atticus died, it was a forbidden topic in our group, no one was allowed to remotely mention it".
She stood up and went to the railings beside us, it was a three storey building and we were at the last floor, I followed her and the both of us were looking over the city that has become busy, Everyone seemed to be in a hurry, moving around the city, getting to work, to school, the whole town was active and moving.
" You know time passes, shit happens to people but time doesn't ever stop, everything and everyone keeps moving not stopping even for a moment, Atticus was my friend, he was Amory's best friend, the three of us made memories that were unforgettable".
She turned to me now
" I'm not asking you to ask or feel pity for her concerning her brother's death, if it's possible kale remind her that she don't need to hide away" I was thinking and processing everything she had said to me
" What would you advise me to do Carmen?" I asked
" Take her to see the sunset.. she once told me that nothing is more therapeutic than standing at the shores of the ocean and letting the evening sun bathe you both physically and mentally ".
End of flashback
I was already lying on my back as my mind recounted my conversation with Carmen, the other day at the cafe. I wanted to make her happy, would she have been happy if I got her expensive gifts and we just ate dinner??.
Yeah, it's a sure yes, she would definitely be happy, nothing could have actually gone wrong.
But for how long... How long would she be happy??
How long do you plan to keep her happy?
The small voice resounded in my head, and I responded subconsciously
" For a long time, I want her to be happy for as long as she is alive, I want to see her smile all the time, I want Amory to be happy and for me to be the reason for it".
I sighed as I heard my own answer loud and clear. If I wanted her to be happy and not just a fleeting excitement, then I should be patient.
And hope that things will work out and she can truly be happy.
I picked up my phone to call Elijah considering I was stuck at the beach with wet clothes and no car or bike, and I'm definitely not looking for a cab in my current state.
He arrived in 20 minutes and picked me up. His mouth was full of questions which I successfully ignored and got into his car. That didn't stop him though, but Elijah has been my friend for long and I know how to deal with his persistent attitude that I wasn't in the mood to be entertaining.
It's quite easy, just close my eyes and pretend like I was deep asleep and he will leave me alone .
**************************
" Are you really not going to tell me??"
"Yeah"
" Are you serious "
" Yeah"
" That's not fair, I deserve to know "
" You don't deserve anything". I said not stopping or turning to Elijah who is hellbent on making me deaf by asking me questions since he gave me a drive from the beach the other day.
I avoided him over the weekend but I guess he was back again now that school has resumed and he's now on my tail bothering me as I walked into the school this morning.
" How can you say that!, I was the one who had your back ever since you saw Amory and I.. I. Supported and encouraged the relationship. I even gave you different kinds of dating and relationship advice, how could you cast me aside now??"
This time he was standing in front of me blocking me from moving further than I already had.
" Relationship advice??" I asked quite amused, as if I will take any advice from him, his dating record is a disaster
" Yeah, did you forget already"
" Well if you did I don't remember, rest assured I didn't use any of them" I said, trying to side step him
" Doesn't matter, the point is you're telling me what happened on the date, Kale that's the first date I have ever seen you go for in your entire life, you can't rob of that"
I sighed as I looked at the persistent kid in front of me
" Fine, I'll tell you but I can't do that here can I ? I need to go inside " I said and side stepped him this time, succeeding and entered into the school
" You are not bluffing are you??"
" Huh?? Kale you're not lying to me right?"
" Can you hear me"
I couldn't. I saw Amory walk into the school and she saw me too.
I stopped in my tracks and my eyes were trained on her, she stopped and our eyes met.
And as if on compulsion, my feet took me in her direction, I wanted to reach her and ask how she was doing and probably apologize but she didn't let me get close before she walked in another direction, leaving me with a very terrible feeling in my gut.
She is avoiding me, it's already clear now she is, my unanswered texts are a clear proof but I guess I was looking for concrete evidence which is now right in front of me.
" Is she avoiding you??" This time Elijah had stopped the chatter and had just watched the scene unfold before him.
I didn't answer. I just stared at her disappearing form until I couldn't see her anymore. Everything in me wanted to follow her and apologize some more but my fest was petrified.
" She just walked out.. oh my God she's avoiding you after a date"
I turned to him and sighed, looking at his face that was filled with bewilderment. I didn't even want to answer him again, so I walked past him and straight into my class.
" You blew the entire thing, why kale, what did you do, did you suddenly realize you wanted nothing to do with her and said something rude, or... Did you insult her??"
I wasn't so lucky this morning so of course I'm sharing a class with Eli and he's sitting next to me.
" Eli I did no such thing, it's just a little misunderstanding that I plan on resolving the moment school ends today, I promise I'll tell you the details later" I say to him and that seemed to satiate him
" Oh shit she's here" he said
I looked up and watched Amory walk into the class followed by the teacher who was right behind her, she avoided my eyes and sat in front of me.
And I was immediately doused in by her perfume, is it just me or did she just manage to effortlessly surround the class with her entire essence.
It wasn't about the perfume I realized, it was about Amory, her aura and the cologne, her personality and my withering self control.
I couldn't see her face, just the back of her head and the hair that cascaded down in wavy length successfully covering the side of her face and going down her back.
The disappointment of that fact had my hand reaching towards her but she immediately turned her head and I was faced with her fiery eyes that just worked perfectly to cut off my breath and stick it to my throat.
But she turned her back to me just immediately as she turned to me but not before dropping a piece of paper.
I took it immediately to read its content, maybe too eagerly. I was misplacing the words, that did not really matter, my soul needed to be satiated from the gnawing feeling that consumed me as she dropped the paper on my desk.
Meet me under the cherry tree after this class, I need to speak to you.