17 | apple crumble and custard

You should love the person who makes you glad to be alive.

- Elena Gilbert, The Vampire Diaries

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- L I L A -

"So what's going on with you and Carter?" I nudged Yasmine's shoulder, smiling cheekily at her. "Are you a thing?"

Yasmine glanced at me and took a bite of her croissant as a light blush covered her cheeks. "I'm not really sure, but I do like him." She shrugged her shoulders before placing her food down. "I just don't want to rush into a relationship because look at how that turned out last time."

I smiled softly and gave her a hug over the table. The one thing I never really understood was how Greg cheated on her. She was so obviously in love with him, and I knew he could see that because he looked at her the same way.

That was the thing about not so perfect moments; they occur in the most suspicious of places, and no matter how hard someone could try to get out of it, it was impossible.

"So, how are you and Matthew?"

A smile instantly came to my face and I sighed contentedly. "It's good," I answered, light red flooding my cheeks. "I really like him."

"You two are honestly so cute," she cooed. "Matthew can never take his hands off you."

Looking at the time my phone screen displayed, I finished my hot chocolate - which had turned lukewarm - in one gulp, sighing. "Come on, we're going to be late for school."

---

My eyes searched out Isaac in the class, confusion overtaking me once I noticed his absence. Gloria stared back at me with her head slightly tilted to the side. "Lila?" she called, pulling her eyebrows in. "Is it true that you broke up with Matthew?"

I focused all my attention on her, and narrowed my eyes in bafflement. "What? No." My face paled and suddenly I was worried. "Why? Is he going to break up with me?"

Gloria brought her shoulders into a nonchalant shrug. "I saw him with the football in team," she began, smiling awkwardly. "He said he didn't want a girlfriend anymore."

"Why should I even believe you?" I questioned, scoffing. "I know you have a crush on Matthew."

"Hey," she held her hands up defensively. "I'm just telling you what I heard. It has nothing to do with my crush on him."

Turning around in my seat, I chewed on the end of my pen, closing my eyes. I wasn't one to believe things so easily, and although I was quite sceptical, I wanted to hear it from Matthew first.

So as soon the bell rang signalling the start of the lunch period, I nervously walked to Matthew's locker. Noticing a note wedged in between the gap between his and the adjacent locker, I tugged at it, opening it.

Whoever put it there was obviously a mentally slow person since Matthew reading the note was impossible. Not bothering to read it, I crumpled it up, tossing it into the nearest trashcan.

Entering the cafeteria, I spotted Matthew sitting at Greg's table. I approached him with a knotted stomach, sighing. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I turned my back to Gloria and her group of friends, rolling my eyes at their strong stares.

"Can we talk?" I refrained from allowing any vulnerable emotion to seep into my tone, wetting my bottom lip. "Please."

Matthew furrowed his eyebrows and stood up, scooping his cane up into his hand. Noticing his hand reaching for mine, I briefly considered shoving my hands into my jacket before I reached for his hand, allowing him to follow me to the corner of the cafeteria.

He bumped into me as I quickly turned around, my hands reaching for his glasses. "Are you breaking up with me?" he mumbled, his stormy eyes focused on nowhere in particular.

"Are you breaking up with me?" I redirected the question in his direction, leaning against the plain wall. "Because someone's has the idea that you don't want a girlfriend."

"Who?" he questioned, his eyes connecting with mine.

"Matthew, just answer the question." I blurted out impatiently, biting the corner of my lip as I tried to lower my voice.

Seeming confused, he parted his lips and blew out a sigh. "Lila, who said that?" he asked, taking his glasses from my hand and tucking them into his pocket. He paused to try and pinpoint where I was when I shifted on my foot. He stepped forward and held his white cane between his arm and torso so he could grip my face in his hands. "And no—I'm not breaking up with you."

I stared into his eyes, seeing the conflict in his stormy greys. It brewed like an actual storm and I could tell he was telling the truth. "Gloria." I sighed, briefly averting my gaze behind him to see her watching us with attentive eyes. "She said she overheard you talking to the football team."

Matthew shook his head in irritation. "Then she took the conversation without its context. We were talking about ex-girlfriends, Lila. I said that I didn't want a girlfriend after Vanessa. Key word being didn't—until I met you."

I sighed in relief, my cheeks heating up at the thought that I'd naively believed Gloria and worried Matthew in the process. "I'm sorry." I sincerely apologised, hooking my fingers around his wrists. "It was just a bit shocking to hear."

He grinned lazily and leaned forward softly as he subtly located my lips. His slanted over mine softly in a brief but sweet kiss. "At least you came to speak to me. And word of advice, don't believe rumours in high school."

I laughed and took hold of his white cane, handing it to him when he stepped back. My gaze drifted back to Gloria who seemed disappointed. I resisted the urge to flip her the finger and took the high toad as I turned back to Matthew.

"Hey, do you wanna get out of here?"

He nodded his head and linked our fingers. "Sure. I'm not sure I want to be in here right now."

I smiled and took the lead in walking us out of the cafeteria, purposely walking passed the table that Gloria and her friends were seated at. I almost missed the frown on her face, but I decided to not let it get to me.

If anything she'd appeared more childish than ever. I would never have went to such stupid measures to elicit a break up between two people, especially if the subject of my interest didn't show any feelings towards me. Matthew, probably sending the chill in the atmosphere, squeezed my hand in support as we walked out of the cafeteria towards the school parking lot.

"Remind me to steer clear of that girl." Matthew quietly spoke, a small frown on his face. "I wouldn't be in my right mind if I went near her."

I let go of his hand once we made it to my car and tapped his cane to let him know that we had made it. He folded it without too much effort and opened the car door. Once I climbed into my seat, I reached for his hand again.

"She has a crush on you, you know that right?"

The thought must have made him uncomfortable because he grimaced and reluctantly nodded his head. "I could tell from the first time she spoke to me. I didn't pay it no mind because you were sitting next to me. That was all I cared about." His expression of discomfort slowly morphed into a grin. "I definitely dodged a bullet."

He brought our joined hands to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to the back of mine. It was an endearing show of affection and I felt the warmth bloom in my chest. He was so perfect that it was understandable that I wasn't the only girl to have feelings for him.

Something changed in me when I realised that he liked me. Out of all the girls out there, he picked me. If that didn't make me feel special, I didn't know what did.

So with a light heart, I pulled out of the school parking lot. If there was one thing I knew, it was that I definitely dodged a bullet by choosing not to believe her rumour.