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I wish I were like my best friends, without a care in the world, but my mind likes to screw me over, thinking of the worst-case scenarios.
“And that’s a promise we intend to keep. I know that’s not enough reassurance for your overworking mind, so if by tomorrow morning you don’t feel comfortable, we can leave,” Daisy adds, a genuine smile curving her lips.
A sassy redhead won’t leave my mind. Her hair was a golden copper color, and her striking eyes an earthy, forest green infused with specks of brown.
but when I locked eyes with her again, she stared at me apathetically. Like she couldn’t give a shit that I was checking her out and purposely flirting with her. And that alone made me want to do it again.
Peaches.”
I may be buzzed, but I’m sure that’s her way of saying she likes me.
“It’s not pathetic.” I shake my head. “If anything, he’s pathetic and a fucking piece of shit, but you know, it’s a good thing it happened.” “A good thing?” She blinks, stunned, and takes another drink, then hands it to me. “Finding out that your boyfriend is cheating on you with the girl he told you never to worry about is not a good thing.” I take a drink before I elaborate. “We would’ve never met, and you would have never known what it’s like to have a real boyfriend.”
“How would you like to have a boyfriend for the last few days you’re here?” I sweetly smile at her, although the confusion deepens on her face and she stares at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind. Yeah, I probably have, but maybe this could be a great thing…or maybe not. “Show you what an actual boyfriend is supposed to be like.”
“I don’t need to know much to know that you’re it for me.”
“What’s your favorite Shrek movie?” She snorts. “You’re not really determining whether we’re meant to be over my preference of a Shrek movie?” “Just answer the question. It’s important.” Lola beams. “Two, of course.” “I knew it, Peaches, we’re meant to be.”
There are many things I don’t do, and begging is one of them, but for her, I’m going to do just that.
“Ready for our date, girlfriend?” His smug tone snaps me out of my stupor. When I meet his whiskey-colored eyes, he cocks a brow and a breathtaking smile stretches across his face. Pull yourself together! “Date?” “Have you already forgotten about our date? About me?” TJ places a hand on his chest, feigning disappointment. “Does she do this often?” he asks the girls, though his attention is solely on me, and I’m sure they’re not paying attention to me as they’re too busy talking to his friends. “Do what?” I ask him. “Break hearts.”
“There’s no going back. You’re stuck with me for life and by life I mean until Saturday.” “For life.” “For life, Peaches.”
Because with TJ, it doesn’t feel like I did. With him, everything feels so…comfortable…so normal.
I can’t help but feel at ease with him.
“Just something small, so you never forget me,” I tease, taking out the bracelet wrapped in white tissue paper from my purse, and hand it to him. “I don’t think I could ever forget you.” He shakes his head, taking the gift, and slowly and carefully pulls the tissue paper back. “A bracelet?” His lips quirk up, but when he grabs the faux leather and holds it up to the sky, a megawatt smile takes over his face. “Peaches.” He quietly chuckles, reading the name engraved, then wraps it around his wrist and snaps it closed.
Even if it’s all fake, I’m going to pretend that he genuinely loves that I got us matching bracelets.
“First base couple shit.”
So what’s up with the camera?” I ask as he holds the door open for me to step inside. He had that same camera hanging from his neck last night and this morning. “Can I really be considered a boyfriend if I don’t have pictures of my girlfriend?” TJ doesn’t wait for me to respond as he continues. “Thought I could take pictures of art next to art.”
“You think we balance each other out?” “No, I know we do,” he whispers, his minty breath ghosting over the shell of my ear. “You’re calm, I’m chaos, and together we can create something beautiful…don’t you think?” “Yeah…I think we could.”
“Peaches?” He grins when I roll my eyes at the nickname. Although it’s kind of grown on me. “Yeah?” “You’re worth it.”
TJ’s done an amazing job of making me forget about everything. I was solely focused on his eyes, his heart-shattering smile, and everything we did.
I’m not sure how I’ll ever get over this, but one thing is for certain: I’ll never forget him.
“Whatever happens and is said here, stays here.”
“I’m a little anxious about the real world…” he trails off as if he’s doubting what he just said or is unsure if he should have said that. “I mean, I’m ready, but sometimes I think about how one thing could fuck everything up.”
“It’s nerve-racking, isn’t it? One domino falls, and the rest fall and there’s nothing you can do but watch it go to shit.”
I glance at him as he looks at me. “We should make a promise to each other.” “What kind of promise?” “Finding our happy and reminding ourselves that everything will be okay.”
“Good. Never settle for less.”
May 26. Peach juice. Our talk on the beach. The bracelets. The museum. The pictures. The painting. The dolphins. The sunset. Her.
My body, my brain, and my eyes work of their own accord. As if hearing Little Red and spotting the girl with golden copper hair was an everyday occurrence. Because somehow, amongst the sea of students, I instantly spot her.
She fucking smiles at me. A genuine, warm smile that feels unreal.
Touching her is nostalgic. I find myself wanting to grasp onto a moment from the past and not let go.
“Why a phoenix?” I ask, ignoring the way my hand heats up against her skin and how I can feel her erratic pulse before I let go of her wrist. “The meaning. It symbolizes the renewal of life.” Her voice is low, almost a whisper. “Overcoming the odds in life.”
It’s true what they say, we’re our own worst critics. While TJ sees a masterpiece, I see a painting that still needs a lot of work. I shouldn’t be overanalyzing something I did in a span of a few hours, but I can’t help my probing thoughts.
“You can’t do that to yourself, Peaches,” he chastises. I hold back the urge to roll my eyes at the nickname because I’ve realized now that even after two years, it’s not something he’s going to let go of. “Do what?” “Downplay yourself. Be confident in what you do all the time. Even if it doesn’t always come out the way you want it to the first time. You don’t always have to be humble.”
My friends, the alcohol, and girls aren’t enough to permanently erase her.
And I know I’m extremely fucked because I can’t stop looking at her.
Stunning isn’t enough of a word to describe how she looks.
She stares at the sky with awe, like it’s the first time she’s witnessing a sunset. But I stare at her like it’s the first time I’m seeing her.
“Just some girl, yet her face is tattooed on your arm,” he dryly retorts, his tone patronizing.
“Don’t fucking talk about Lola. If I hear you talk shit about her, I don’t give a fuck that you’re my teammate. I’ll beat the shit out of you.”
The thought of her makes my heart beat rapidly.
“We’re going to be in each other’s lives forever. That’s never going to change. So I want us to get along. I want us to be friends without pretending, or whatever it is you think I want.”
I could tell her that Peaches remind me of sunsets. A vast sky with brush-like strokes of golden copper, fused with amber, and a fiery orange that makes the sky look ablaze. Maybe it’s a reflection of how I felt the last day we were together, ablaze. Burning fiercely but nothing I didn’t want to stop feeling, at least not in that moment.
But to me, she’ll always be my Peaches.
“Some of it is a little hazy, but I remember, Lola. There are just some things you never forget.”
“We’re in this for life.” He smiles. I return the smile. “We are.”
There are not enough words to describe the immense happiness I feel at this very moment or every time I come over. The serotonin that courses through my body when I see the pure joy on my son’s face as he runs to me. It’s something I never thought I’d love so much.
“Your eyes, they get brighter and your smile gets bigger. I don’t know how to explain it, but your expression changes when you drink cold coffee over hot. You’re always wearing those colorful leggings and Converse. I figured you really like orange and green because you always wear them. And your eye makeup is always like a light peach color. And Mexican food is a given.”
“You genuinely amaze me.”
