The lie on the first of July

"Why do you look so sad?" She asked as we followed the familiar path leading to my house.

I didn't answer.

"Febbie? Hey..." She repeated. "Nothing will happen to you, I promise… I will protect you."

"You lie all the time… How am I supposed to believe this?"

"Febbie!" She said like she was genuinely miffed. "How could I possibly lie about keeping you safe?"

I needed to ask her what exactly would I need to do, however… If I was right, this thing she wanted me to do was dangerous enough, that I was the only person, who would undertake it for her. I couldn't refuse. Not if it was about getting medicine for Time. She might have been insensitive or dishonest, but after all t didn't matter…

"I don't know," I said finally with a grim expression on my face. "But… If you want somebody to trust you… You need to earn their trust first, you know?"

Time stopped and I did too because the thought of letting her hand go was terrible.

"But… Don't you still love me?"

I froze. How could she ask me that? After all, that happened? The answer should be easy… If only I could lie to her…

Because I couldn't tell her the truth… I couldn't love someone who clearly didn't know how to…

"Febbie?"

"What?"

"Tell me. Do you love me?"

Suddenly her eyes turned green and so did the trees and grass. The sky wasn't blunt and cold. There was no crowd of clouds above us. And you couldn't see your breath anymore…

It was hot.

Time's eyes were green…

They usually were brown or light blue, but I remembered that on the first of July they turned green.

"Why are they changing colors?" I asked her then.

"What is changing colors?" She answered cheerfully.

"Your eyes… They were blue yesterday, weren't they?"

She laughed. She wore her navy-blue dress that day and it was also the color of flowers around us.

We were eating strawberry cake I baked for her and she brought some lemonade. I thought I would be too nervous to eat anything… It wasn't our first date however I still didn't know her that well.

I didn't know much about her then…

"Of course. That's for you."

I blinked.

"For me? What do you mean?"

Her hair was lifted for a second by the wind. She smiled and she was so beautiful it made me want to cry. I would never meet anyone like her ever again… I knew that even back then. And somehow I knew we couldn't last forever…

"So you don't get bored." She explained.

"That's absurd! I would never get bored with you."

She looked amused as she changed her position on the blanket to get closer to me. It was our second or third picnic, but I remembered it the most vividly of all our dates that summer.

"Of course! How would you dare…"

And suddenly she was closer to me than ever, I closed my eyes and that was the kiss of the first of July that I remembered as our first kiss.

We met earlier at the beginning of that summer.

I went to the festival with May. It was a lazy evening and even as we heard people screaming on roller-coasters and laughing loudly in the shops, neither of us got fooled. It was just another lovely, boring day. We both knew that even when we danced with the fireworks above our heads.

Eventually, May got tired and decided to head home. She always liked to go to bed early and wake up in the morning to annoy me who was always forced to wake up with her. She was such a laud person… She said it's not intentional and I tried hard to believe that.

However, she always made me a good breakfast and never forgot to ask me how am I doing after school…

I was still waiting for Chuu to show up, so I sat at the bench and stared at the sky that slowly started to get darker and darker, and then small lights appeared in a few places, but only in a few, become even though our town wasn't very big it was still too bright.

I couldn't see many stars from here.

I wished it was darker.

I waited for some time, but then I got bored.

Me: where r u

Chuu: sry I will be a little late

Me: how much late?

It turned out that Chuu didn't manage to come at all. But just when I decided to go home, I met her.

"Such a boring evening, isn't it?"

It was only then that I noticed her presence. She was just beside me, staring at the same sky as me. Then she turned to me and frowned. Her smile widened.

"You know… I was looking for you for some time…"

"Oh… Really?"

I think I might have loved her from that very moment. That would be very foolish of me to fall for a stranger… But it just might be what happened.

"No." She said and laughed. "Why would I look for you? We don't know each other!"

"Oh…" I said and for some reason felt disappointed. "I'm February."

"What a weird name..."

"It's not weird. And it's not for a month. February is for cold… And what's your name?"

"I'm Time."

"And you said my name is weird?" I laughed.

She frowned.

"It's not a strange name for someone like me. I was given it because I can control time. It's actually the most normal name I could have…"

"Sure…"

"You don't seem to believe me… Well, come with me then. You were bored anyway, right?"

She stood up and smiled as I followed her…

And now I was following her again… What for exactly?

Suddenly I realized that even though she was smiling her eyes here filled with tears.

"Why don't you answer me?" She demanded.

"How about you?"

"I already told you that I won't ever stop loving you…"