Chapter thirty five: Present to past
Flashback
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Pear tree blossoms flourished in the courtyard, falling everywhere on the ground, on the snow that was yet to melt, blending together at first glance. The petals were blown around the yard leisurely by the wind.
Miles entered a house and greeted a middle aged woman. she looked delighted with his presence. her hands were busy with house works. yet she walked to the stairs and shouted to the room above, "Perry, Miles is here!". She was instantly replied with bright tone, "Coming!"
Without his notice, two young teenagers ran infront of him. It surprised him that they havent yet noticed their favourite person standing there. one of them shouted to the other, "give me back my bubble gum!" while being chased by him, the other replied "finders, keeper!". they caused a mess in the living room.
Miles gave up on getting their attention. It shifted when he noticed a girl walking down the stairs. she was the person miles waited everyday to meet with, perry. she seemed to have a cheerful mood from the morning.
but it soon died down when she noticed her siblings running around the house and shouted at them, "Aiden, Tyler cant you see we have guest here!"
They halted and ran over to Miles. they wrapped him around, "bro, play with us, i brought the latest video game-." tyler demanded. but Perry was quick enought to drag him away. "some other day, bye-."
They entered perry's room and closed the door behind. Miles again looked around the room he visited only two days ago. there were posters of celebrities on the wall. he noticed few changes, "some of them are missing." perry replied while texting someone back on her phone, "yeah, im making space for the new ones."
"why did you call me so early today?" miles didnt beat around the bush and asked. it got the other quite surprised. she wasnt expecting it in next few hours, "well-...actually....I." she glanced to find him still waiting for her answer.
"okay, I'll just say it-" her last word got his hopes up. he couldnt think out what the next word would be. deep inside he wanted her to like him back but it only faded away like a fake hope. "just say it perry."
"There's this person i like. Its his birthday soon so, I wanted to confess my feelings to him. but he isnt that easy to reach out...so i was wondering if you could help me with a surprise plan."
"..."
"I knew it! I knew you would'nt help me! why did i even try! I should've texted Jay instead!" she fliped her hair in anger.
"who's 'he'?" he asked while staring somewhere else. the look of dissappointment was too odvious on his face. 'what did i even expect from her...' he thought to himself.
"he's a senior of mine. so you helping or not?" with having no answer in return, she picked up her phone, "great, i'll just call Jay." she was stopped with the other's confirmation, "fine. what do you want me to do?"
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When perry and Miles were done with their work, they stepped backward for a better look. tables were pushed in the corner. the room was decorated with ballongs and banners on the wall. "Isnt it an odd place for birthday surprise, a mere classroom!"
miles letdown didnt bring any difference in perry's expression. she looked happy and nervous at the same time "Its where we first met." miles turned around and stared at her for a while, "you really take him this seriously, what if he rejects you?" a silence fell around. perry mustn't had thought that far.
"Im kidding. who wouldnt like you, he has to be a fool to do that." miles said while caressing her cheeks. it brought a light of hope in her face. she smiled lightly but it was soon replaced with nervousness, "how do i look?" she twirled around to give him a better view.
"Beautiful."
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Miles entered his room and slammed the door behind. he couldnt bring himself to walk any further. he fell infront of the door and clutched his fist. perry's last smile flashing in front of him, a tightness built up in his chest.
he began to recall all the past memories with her. he didnt even take notice when he started to have feelings for his best friend. but it soon came to a point where he couldnt stay a moment without her. and now, he had to give up because he's too late. someone else was in her heart. he thought to himself, even if it meant to leave her, he would do it to make her happy.
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that evening, he picked up his phone and texted. [how did it go?] there was no response after. hour passed but there were no reply from perry. he began to worry if it went how he predicted. his phone rang up and he picked it up at once.
[how did it go?]
[I was rejected.]﹉p
[...Should I come over?]﹉m
[Dont bother. Im fine.]﹉p
✘next day✘
[should we meet up?]﹉m
[Im busy today. some other time.]﹉p
✘next day✘
[Im at your house. where are you? your mom's worried for you.]﹉m
[...I wont be be back before midnight. dont wait for me]﹉p
conversations went from text messages to few greetings in a day. soon there were no calls or encounters. she was often missing from her house. she interacted with her friends less and less each day. miles wondered if it was that day that changed everything. soon later, he met up with Jay
"Is there something wrong between you and perry? you two looked distant today." the other refused to answer and sat silent. "other days it becomes pretty wild when you two are around."
"I like her....I like perry." jay's silence wasnt for being surprise but to give miles a break. after it, he asked away, "since when?"
"I dont know..."
"Is this the reason she's avoiding you?"
"No, i havent said anything yet. she changed after the day i helped her with confessing to a guy she liked. he rejected her. I wanna beat that idiot up but i dont even know his name."
"She's hard to reach these days. i dont think the rejection can take its rightful reason. we need to figure out what got her busy."
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