《Match》01 - Leap

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California, Los Angeles.

"I'm going to miss you!" I pulled Betty into a tight hug, wanting the feeling of being close to my best friend to last forever. But I knew I had to let her go. The voice over the tannoy announced my friends imminent departure in precisely twenty minutes.

Betty double-checked her plane tickets and nodded over at her Mom, mouthing that she was ready. Betty caught my sad eyes.

"I'm not dying, Willow!" Betty sniggered, pinching my sides as I gave the plane tickets a blaming look. "I'm only going to London-"

"And leaving me here in Cali!" I retorted, but Betty knew I was happy for her.

I brushed my hair away from my face, the tips of my golden blonde hair wet from the tear stains on my cheeks.

"It's still sad," I mumbled. "What am I going to do without you?" I asked as my voice broke and my lip quivered. Betty stared at me with a foreign look on her face, her eyes welling up with tears.

"You're making me cry, see!" She gestured to the tears that were evidently rolling down her rosy red cheeks. "I'll miss you so much, but remember I'll be coming back over the Summer." She wiped her tears and smiled softly at me.

"That's in ten months time!" I groaned. "Which is ten months too long on my own with Mr McDonall for calculus!"

I gulped down the desire to cry once again, nodding instead.

At least I knew my school. Betty would be the new girl in an English school. But what was even worse was that it would be without me!

I smiled sadly and grabbed onto Betty's hand, squeezing it tight like it was the last time I was going to see her.

My head turned at the sound of Betty's Mom. "Betty, it's time to queue now." Betty's Mom said, a sad expression on her face as she blew me a kiss. With bidding a goodbye to Mr and Mrs Fisher, they ushered Tommy and Isaac out of their seats in a hurry.

Betty turned to me, "So I guess this is it, then?"

I bit my lip hard, hard enough to draw blood, "I guess it is." Without a minute to waste I swung my arms around her waist and squeezed her tight, loud sobs emitting from my mouth. "I love you B." I said.

"I love you too, Will." She pulled away and used her thumb to brush away my tears from my face. She stepped back and picked up her suitcase. "See you in the summer."

And with that, my partner-in-crime, my best friend since kindergarten, was gone. All the colour drained from my life.

My Mom's comforting arms wrapped me tight. "Lydia said she'll zoom us as soon as they've settled." She said. I could tell my Mom was going to miss her old friend, Lydia, just as much as I would. Betty's Mom, Lydia, had been like a second Mom to me. "Everything's going to be fine, sweetheart."

I choked back on the overwhelming emotions, "How do you know? How am I going to be fine, Mom?" I shook my head.

She lowered her head as her free hand came to stroke back my hair behind my ears. "Because you're strong, Will. You always have been." She kissed my forehead and I nuzzled my face further into her shoulder. "Think of this as a new start."

I really didn't want to start over again.

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"Here you go." Mom handed me a cup of hot chocolate, my favourite drink of all time. A comfort drink. I grabbed ahold of the mug, bringing it up to my lips. "Thanks." I muttered and leant into her side as she wrapped her arm around me.

The living room was left in eerie silence, just the sounds of us slurping our drinks. "How are you feeling, huh?" She asked, playing with my hair with her free hand.

"I've seen better days." I croaked out, my throat hoarse and tingly. From time to time taking sips from my drink.

"I know things aren't great for you right now but just know that they'll get better, okay?" She stroked my head. "You have me, sweetheart. Just know that." I was very thankful for my Mom - my other best friend. She had always been there for me.

"Thanks, Mom. I love you." I placed down my mug on the coffee table and snuggled closer to her.

"Love you too." She kissed my head and I seemed to allow my eyes to flutter shut. But then I woke up to the feeling of my Mom slipping out of my embrace. "Want to watch 'Heartstopper?'" She looked down at me, her eyes wide in question.

I smiled. "You know me too well." I replied groggily and sat up with a loud yawn.

Heartstopper was one of my favourite series' because of its happy ending. There was nothing better than watching a comfort series where you know what happens at the end - even better when everything works out the way you liked it.

Mom switched on the tv and handed me the remote before excusing herself to the bathroom whilst I got comfy on the couch.

Maybe everything would be okay..

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The clock ticked to four thirty and I was feeling hungry. It was as if Mom could read my mind.

"How about Mom's special?" She suggested. "Delicious chicken tikka masala! You can help me make it!"

I grabbed the chopping board as Mom grabbed the chicken. With a a little hum, Mom switched on the radio.

"Oh my favourite song!" She laughed and started singing into the wooden spoon.

I giggled. First time in ages.. I know Mom was trying to keep my spirits up... and it was working.

"Hey, remember when I hired that bouncy castle for your birthday and somebody poured all the bubble bath in to the pool so when you all walked on it, you guys were all slipping and sliding? None of you could even stand up for a few seconds. It was hilarious!"

I laughed. "It was really funny when Betty finally stood up and thought she had done it, then suddenly slipped right off the bouncy castle, me following close behind." I laughed again. "Though we didn't find it very funny when we had to have ice packs glued to us for the rest of the night." We were really some crazy kids back then.

"Ah! Do you remember that time at that sports day in middle school, Moms and kids were doing the tug of war sports event and Lydia fell forward and her skirt flew up to reveal her hot pink SuperMom pants?" I said and Mom gripped her stomach, letting out a belly laugh.

"Oh yeah she was mortified! She landed right in front of the principal."

I shook my head at the fond memory. I guess you could say my childhood was elite.

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Mom wizzed up the chicken tikka masala as I placed out our plates on the table, grinning. Just then, another song came on. I froze, my mood instantly sunk, again.

Mom looked over at me. "That's mine and Betty's favourite song." I said wistfully. Mom came round and hugged me again.

"I know honey. Hey, I'll turn it off." Mom went over to the radio, and switched it off.

As the radio turned off, I sunk into a chair, resting the back of my head against it. That song just brung back so many memories. It hurt me to think I wouldn't be seeing her for a whole entire year; even when she does come back, it would only be for the Summer before she went back home again.

Home. Her home was here. Why did she have to live so far away? Selfishly, I wished her Mom never got that job back in London. I wouldn't have to be feeling like this.

The song brung back memories. One of my favourite memories was of the school talent show. We used to go back to each other's houses everyday after school to practise our dance choreography. The song was played so much that I swear I still knew every word of it to this day. We even performed it in front of our parents which was funny to think back on. I wondered how our parents didn't laugh.

When it came to the final day, the day of the performance, we performed our hearts out to not only win, but to take home the big trophy everyone was going crazy for. Little children like us actually won something and our choreography probably wasn't even good.

I knew it was just a piece of plastic, but it was much more that just that. We put our heart and soul into the dance, and knowing that we won together - that was what really mattered to us.

"Will." My Moms voice cut short on my dampened thoughts and I looked up to her as she stirred the food in the frying pan. "I'm going to be completely transparent to you, sweet. School's going to be hard if you make it hard. I know Betty's gone, but it's not forever. Whilst she's out in London starting fresh, maybe that's what you should do too. Don't hold yourself back just because something isn't the way you want it to be." I tilted my head and replayed the words in my head. Over and over again.

I frowned.

"What I meant was, don't hold yourself back on making new friends this year. It's your last year before you're going to college. Just be open minded to the idea of accepting new people into your life who aren't Betty. You never know what's around the corner." Her words stung me like a bee. New friends? What if I didn't want to accept all of this? What if I just wanted to stay on my own and wait till Betty was back?

Was that so bad?

"Just think of all the things you can tell her when she's back. That sounds pretty awesome to me." She warmly smiled and turned back to the food making me contemplate everything.

If Betty came back and had many stories to tell and I had none, I would feel like I had disappointed myself.

I sighed and stared down at my fingers, twirling and picking at the lint on my jumper. But minutes

passed by and my Mom started to shuffle things around in the cupboard, muttering incoherent words to herself.

"Shoot! We're out of rice." Mom groaned, turning down the heat on the stove.

"I'll go and get the rice." I suggested. It would be good to clear my head.

I slipped some shoes on and headed out into the sunshine. I waved over to my old neighbour, Iris as she shuffled out with her refuse bins. "Oh let me help you with those!" I called over.

"Oh no, it's alright my love." She waved and I smile, walking on.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and as I switched it on, my Lock Screen was blank with only the photo of me and Betty hugging as my wallpaper. But there was nothing from Betty yet. A deep and excessive sigh left my mouth. She was probably still on the plane to London..

As I rounded the corner, I suddenly heard a recognisable whistle from behind. My shoulders slumped. I huffed.

"Hey Mike." I said before turning around. Every step felt heavy - like the wheels of his bike as they went round and round before they slowed down beside me. My face dropped in annoyance. This was not what I wanted right now.

I brushed back strands of my hair behind my ear and looked at him, and suddenly my mood dropped even more. His face was lit up, his eyes were wide and sparkly and his mouth was stretched into a wide grin. How could someone be so happy?

"Hey Willow! What're you doing today?" He asked and I mentally groaned. Not only was the heat that was obnoxiously radiating off the sun being a small factor of what was annoying me, but also the fact that he just wouldn't get the hint.

I sent him a smile. "Just going to the shop." I said blandly and he nodded attentively. "What about you?"

He cycled closer to the sidewalk as a car drove passed. "I'm visiting my grandma for a few days. She's kind of lonely in that house of hers." He looked down, a pondering thought on his face but he still remained happy-spirited. I contemplated whether or not I should of said something, but I decided not to. Because he was already speaking,

"anyway!" He chuckled, switching the conversation round a bend, "how are you going to survive calculus with Mr McDonall without Betty?" His question brought me back to my old senses. No matter how nice he was, he always had ways of speaking about some sensitive topics with still a smile on his face.

But I knew he didn't mean any harm. Annoyingly, he was a good guy. I was a good girl. But today, today I was a bitch. But it wasn't all his fault - only that he was happy all the damn time.

I swallowed thickly and picked up my pace as I wanted to near closer to the store. When I saw the head of the shop's roof, I let out a relieved sigh.

"I've got to go. See you around sometime," I said. "I'm sure." I muttered the last part to myself as I kept my will to roll my eyes.

The sound of Mike's bike got further and further away and the last thing I heard before entering the store, was of him saying goodbye.

I rolled my eyes at his joyful self as he peddled up the road. He got under my skin. He irritated me so much that I couldn't help but be annoyed. It could be the way my mood was today and that I was stupidly and unfairly taking it out on him, when I shouldn't be. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't help how I felt, I suppose.

The shop bell announced my arrival and a pleasant-looking man behind the counter nodded over to me, Daren. I smiled and headed for the rice section.

"So I was telling him, I don't like how you're talking to other girls, it makes me feel insecure," Came a voice from the next aisle. "But you know, I hate feeling insecure. I'm not normally like that. I'm usually the one making them chase me."

I was curious as to who the voice belonged to. I meandered towards the greetings cards and postcards thinking I would send Betty a 'wish you were here' message.

The strangers voice continued. "So he's like, flirting with the girl right in front of me!"

"Don't stand for that, Steph!" Came another hushed voice. "You deserve better than that."

"I know, right?" Steph replied.

I glanced up to a mirror that was hanging at an angle at the end of my aisle. I realised I could see two girls about my age trying on hair bands and clips.

I looked closer and I could see that there were two of the popular girls who go to my school. Stephanie and her sidekick Kimberly. Stephanie was known for being the girl that got all the boys. Always dressed perfectly. Her hair always seemed to be in the best possible condition and she seemed to have the features of a barbie doll. Everything about her was every girls dream.

Kimberly was one of two sidekicks that Stephanie actually could stand being around. But rumours had it that Stephanie paid them to hang around with her. I didn't know if that was true but she was rich so perhaps that was a possibility. But maybe she changed from being a bitch. She was a total bitch. She'd kill someone with one look, she'd get mad if someone touched her signature Prada handbag and would kick some freshman out of their seat just because they were sat in 'Stephanie's place'. She said her name was carved into it but people said it was only carved in black biro and most of it had graffitied dicks and cuss words surrounding it.

But maybe making friends would be a good idea. Maybe Stephanie was a softy at heart or an extremely nice person once you really know her.

Stephanie started walking away and Kimberley immediately dropped the clip back into the box and followed after her.

Maybe Mom was right, maybe making friends was not a bad idea after all.

I found a postcard that would be perfect to send to Betty, it actually sayid 'wish you were here?' I chuckled to myself. That was the perfect card.

Walking out from the aisle to go pay for the stuff, my ears pricked up at someone else's voice. But this time it was not of a girls voice. It belonged to a guy. A guy with a super deep voice. Maybe he was a grown man with a beard?

I called it. He was a middle aged man with a receding hairline and beard. I also called that he had dark hair.

I planted my feet still to the tattered store floor, body frozen in place as I could see Stephanie and Kimberly both sauntering passed me. This was going to be a good time to say hello to them both.

Okay. This was good.

For a couple of second it was like everything was in slow-motion. I thought back on what my Mom said. 'Don't hold yourself back on making new friends.'

As I gripped the card in my hand, my eyes latched onto Stephanie's. 'Make new friends.' I ushered myself on. With that in mind, my mouth stretched into a wide smile, my cheeks aching from the gesture.

Suddenly, my face drooped as Stephanie's face turned into a look of disgust as she saw me. She roller her eyes and scoffed like she had just seen a spec of dirt on her new Louis Vuitton limited edition heels.

My heart sunk. Maybe making new friends was hard after all. I felt embarrassed and I could tell my cheeks were an extreme pink hue colour.

"Come on." She tugged on her friends arm to another aisle leaving me frozen in the middle of the store with a bent card in my hand.

Great. Just great.

I sighed heavily and I trampled through the store back to the rice section, reluctantly finding exactly what I needed. I checked my bag to see if I had definitely got my Mom's credit card with me, (it would of been a nightmare if I didn't have it).

"I've never seen you here before, dude. Are you new?" The shop keeper behind the counter, Daren, asked and I felt my ears immediately perk up at the interesting question. Yeah, please do spill that information, Mr dark haired bearded middle aged receding hairline guy. Please do spill.

I snorted to myself for no apparent reason and continue to scurry around my bag for the card, which was unluckily hidden under everything that I had in here. Why did I have so much in here? A way passed the due date chocolate bar, a face mask, hair spray, makeup bag, and a- hey! That was where my cat earphones went!

"Yeah, unfortunately." An unexpected voice grumbled and I froze; hands still planted awkwardly in my bag.

"Well I hope you come to like it around here." Daren said, and this mysterious person hummed deeply in response. The hun replayed again and again in my mind. It even sent shivers down my spine and I shook with anticipation. Receding hairline guy had a good voice. A hot middle aged man? Sounded like it.

"Hey, there's this party tomorrow that everyone's going mad about. It starts at six but it usually tends to get a little wilder around seven or eight. You should come."

The guy again, hummed, shutting down the conversation with a period of long silence.

With where I stood, I had the great advantage of being able to see over the top of the shelf. I stood up on my tip-toes to get a better look - and to my luck, I got a peak at the person. I could only see their back and from what I could see already, was that they were tall and in fact had dark hair. I couldn't tell if they had a receding hair like or a beard, or even if this guy was in his early fifties. But I knew they also had a good back.

I almost tumbled a terrible fall into the shelf but luckily managed to catch myself prior. Once stabilised on my feet once again, I pushed myself up to get a better look.

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