She knew Rupert's past but how come he never mentioned about someone so important to him to her?
Aiden didn't seem normal.
She was starting to feel he is someone she should never associate herself with.
She felt her chest tighten as shook his hand away, "I am not a published writer. ". Before turning to face him, "Thanks…for this"
Ria couldn't help but feel even more uneasy whenever she met those eyes. She never met this guy before yet why does the way his gaze falls on the wrecked roads feel so surreal?
When he looks at her in that dissonance yet unspoken way she feels the urge to look deep into them. So she looked away.
Aiden stepped aside, "Let's go inside"
It was a huge space considering the amount of military students. He dragged upstairs into a separate section. The area was less like an attic due to its massive space; everything outside was visible due to the fence around the perimeter of the window.
He sat down on the wood, she sat a bit far away from him. The silence was extremely awkward. Except he seemed very at ease with the way he was playing with a broken piece of wood.
She was quiet. Her hands still trembled as she tried to hide them.
He paused, staring at her notebook, "what are you writing?"
She clutched it tighter, "Nothing much…"
He fully turned to her as he tilted his head, "You are very rude"
She raised her eyes and blinked with offense, "I know"
He continued in the same tone, "We will be here for a while until they conduct the investigation and the roads are clear again. "
Ria knew he was right. She simply didn't want to be in the same space as him but she is used to situations like this by now. She opened her notebook and stared at the title
Perennial.
"That's such a show off word"
She turned to him sharply, "It's called using sophistication to link main theme using just one word"
He leaned even closer to take a better look, "Boring. Eternal love as a theme? How stupid"
She did agree with him but she wasn't gonna let him know as she started writing but couldn't because,
"In this economy I don't understand why you are even bothering to write this"
"What do you think of the sun? I find it annoying"
"...I am so sick of fake people. No, actually shallow people"
"I wish I had a gun"
"Do you know how to use a sword?"
She finally slammed her pen and notebook on the ground and glared at him, "Are you always this talkative?"
He stared at his hand, "Look I got hurt because of you and you are yelling at me"
She redirected her gaze to his palm to see a very small cut and an immense sense of annoyance began to flood her system, "That's insane. You should be hospitalised. Can you even use that hand now?"
He shifted slightly, "You are weird. "
As the setting sun began to disperse into a various play of colours the violet hues replaced the orange warmth. He stared at her, "You don't understand the concept of love yet you are writing about it"
She crossed her arms, her tone not aggressive but calm, "Yes because I have a responsibility "
"Then define how you will use love to fulfil responsibility?"
She opened her mouth, "Wait….let me think"
After a while, she was still trying her best to come with something that aligned with her views, "I don't know. Probably emotional response to things "
Aiden smiled imperceptibly, "It's love that causes everything. Love brings a person to existence, love creates pain, love is the reason why we are still on going despite the situation. Even you…are living because of love"
Ria felt that same familiarity, her heart trembled as she said quietly, "... What about you?"
"What do you mean I learnt it from a literary fiction"
"..."
He looked at the indigo sky outside and the golden lamp posts and public chattering of the recent events, "It's time for me to leave. "
She wanted to stop him but he left before she could. She stayed there for a while: why did he say that if he himself doesn't believe it?
Whatever that guy is weird and hopefully the last time they meet.
Later that night when everyone was asleep, Ria sat beside her mom's sleeping form and wrote in neat letters.
" The power of love is an understatement. Love isn't just a literal sense of what we feel or expect. It's the reason for how we feel and why we expect. In that sense, a love that is unique feels even more confusing.
A memory or a special connection that is unknown yet real. Everlasting love is almost surreal…we don't live that long do we?
So why do we believe in a concept of everlasting love, eternal love, perennial love? "
She stopped for a moment. An annoying siren echoed in the air. Another lie, there was no peace to begin with. Looking outside it was already time for dawn.
Janice sipped her coffee as she stared at the empty seats in the cafè. The noon sun was harsh on the people outside ; a long sigh escaped from her mouth.
"Viona, let's close for today"
Viona turned to her while washing the small number of dishes, "We can't. What if someone very hungry arrives?"
Janice scoffed, "It's been years and you are still doing the charity work? If things go like this we will end up in shambles soon"
Viona put the dishes inside the dish cupboard, "It's just for a while"
" It's just for a while, that's exactly what we convince ourselves when we encounter our first love. Inexperienced people can't distinguish between love and fleeting attraction. Love is someone that you can't forget and you don't know why"
Ria paused between her sentences and mumbled, "Why did I even bother to talk to him!?"
…
…
The violin filled the air with an otherworldly sense. Rupert played gently and like a flowing river without any drifts. The audience hummed or closed their eyes in the softness of the melody.
Until the gentleness started to have an edge. The softness met with a hard, almost courageous play of strings. People were staring at Rupert with either confusion or resonation.
Before Rupert could finish the lights turned off and the audience clapped as loud as the speaker of the host. Rupert stayed on stage for a while, his violin almost falling from his grip.
A sense of quiet dread flickered in his eyes, "Finally I found you"
Rupert turned to Aiden's almost annoyed voice. Aiden approached him as he looked at the violin, "What did you play today?"
Rupert stared at his instrument, "I don't know. I drifted in the middle of the performance"
Aiden took the violin in his hands, " Whatever let's talk in my car"
The car was sleek and shiny despite its very dark indigo color, on the front board stood a small flag of the country.
Inside once they were settled, Aiden started, "How is your grandmother?"
"She is good"
Aiden nodded as he turned to him, "I don't even know what to do here"
Rupert's worries about his performance faded as he quickly gave Aiden a pat, "Don't worry about that. Stay with me and don't think of your situation for now"
Rupert felt even more drained looking at his friend's almost too calm face. Aiden was always like this. Calm and composed on the outside and on the inside…
His eyes fell on the fresh scar poking out of his arm when Aiden shifted. Rupert looked away, "Are you still the same?"
Aiden nodded, his voice usual, "They sent me here because of that. "
"But weren't you doing better? After the therapy?"
He looked at Rupert, "I broke the therapist's office with a chair. So no. Nothing changed"
Rupert sighed as he started to try and help his friend a bit, "Aiden…actually you know I understand why you don't want to face your relatives now. Your dad and brother were your only source of sanity—"
But for Aiden a desaturated grey scale began to emerge as a quiet but extreme voice echoed.
"You are mentally unstable", the shaking female voice hit deep into his heart to the point his eyes trembled.
He abruptly cut off Rupert, "Stop. I don't…want to talk about this"
Rupert looked outside the window, "That's so selfish of you"
"We are both selfish."
Rupert turned to him slightly annoyed, "That's because I…forget it. If you want no need to enroll in school here. You already have much higher education than what colleges in here can offer"
"I want to do classes with you. At least that will make me feel normal"
The car rolled on slowly, but both the boys inside felt a heavy pressure.
Rupert's hand clenched tighter, his voice slightly broken, "Sure"
Aiden leaned back, "Your performance was good today"
Rupert turned to him befuddled while Aiden stared back with a small smile, "You already made a change today"
"Love brings intensity. Intensity makes decisions. Love can change someone's internal compass that translates to their external surroundings. Ultimately, love is so powerful it changes the world everyday. That's why we associate it with eternity "
Ria stopped as the wavy breeze swayed her hair out of place, "I wrote the introduction…"