It’s official. There’s no denying it.
Rafayel bought me abook.A book is practically a proposal when it comes to a reader like me. Ever since I met Rafayel at the start of the week, I’ve been withholding on telling Ria.
She’s equal parts my best friend, so she’s the one I go to immediately to debrief on anything new happening in my life.
I wanted to wait until I wascertainabout this crush on Rafayel before voicing it out loud to her, especially after the countless times I thought I liked someone after a few hours, only to get icked out by them the next day.
It’s been a while since we’d last gossiped over our personal lives, especially our love lives.
Of the two of us, she is the more grounded sibling, yanking me down to Earth whenever I tend to get comfortable in my delusions. Ria has never truly approved of any of my crushes. She felt I was too good for all of them, and I meaneverysingle boy I’ve had a crush on.
“For someone who reads about dreamy boyfriends, you definitely know how to pick the worst ones out,” she told me once.
Ria, on the other hand, has never had a crush. She had no time for boys, orlovein general if they weren’t fictional, or a celebrity. Sometimes I wonder what kind of person she’d fall for.She has a close friend, Xavier, who I used to tease her about relentlessly, but she assured me many times that they arejustfriends. Secretly, I still ship them.
Regardless, I imagine her future love would contrast the sometimes sporadic and chaotic energy she possesses. Someone more calm. Reserved. Once that day comes, I’ll be the first to make fun little video edits of them.
When Ria enters my room, she sits at the other end of the bed, dipping the mattress toward her.
“Spill.”
“Okay so, firstly, you have to promise not to tell our parents,” I say, only because it’s the first thing you say when you’re about to tell a secret. I know Ria would never tell.
Ria just nods, waving her hand in ahurry upmotion.
I exhale deeply, upping the dramatics a bit. I’m a film student after all.
“So, here’s the thing. I’ve…met a boy,” I begin, and Ria perches in interest.
“At your film university? I knew that would be where you find the love of your life. If it wasn’t Marlon, of course,” Ria teases, and I slap her knee.
“Let’s not mention theMword right now, okay?” I shudder, like I’d walked through an iceberg or something, “And no, not at university. At this bookstore, right across from the building. I first met him on Monday when I accidentally knocked over a stack of books right onto him.”
“Wait, wait,” Ria holds up her hands, halting my words, “You met this boy just this week? And you didn’t tellme?”
“Okay, I wanted tomake sureI liked him first, you know,” I hold my hands up defensively, and she lifts a brow sceptically.
“But you just met him.”
I wave a hand dismissively, “We had a meet-cute so it counts.”
Ria sighs. She’s been subjected to a lot of my ‘meet-cute destiny’ talks.
“Anyways,” I continue, pushing her thigh, “I saw him first on Monday, and God was he charming. Then, I saw him again on Tuesday, and at that time it was only brief, but he walked up to me from the counterjustto say hi. Andthen,I decided to bite the bullet, and see him again today, andoh my goodnessRia -’
I fall against the mattress with a sigh, allowing the giddiness of it all to consume me.
If this were a movie, there’d be a synthetic rise in the dreamy-pop background music, slowly crescendoing. Fandom accounts all around the globe would begin making ship edits about us. Pink hearts would be falling all around me.
Ria snaps her fingers above my face, and the sharp sound slashes straight through my dreamy veil.
“Do you even know his name?” Ria questions.
I sit up roughly, tilting my chin, as if to say please.
“YesI do. His name is Rafayel and we talked today and he remembered me - and he bought me this book!”
I reach into the tote bag lying beside my bed, and pull out my copy ofAWhisper of the Dark, waving it in front of her face. Upon seeing the title, Ria’s expression twists into a grimace that doesn’t surprise me. She knows the reputation of the book as I do.
