My Valentine
Every Friday morning, Amalia went jogging.
And in the middle of her jogging she would always reach the town graveyard. She would find herself taking a slow walk through it, surrounding herself with tombstones, until her feet stopped in front of one specific grave that read: Kayle Cross.
This morning was no different.
"Good morning," she said, her breathing still heavy from the jog. "Having fun in there?" A small laugh escaped her lips as she continued, "You are probably cursing me from the other side."
She sat down in front of the grave, crossing her legs, and hugged her knees. "Today is a special day, you know? I set your little brother up on a date with my best friend!" A small, bleak smile spread across her lips.
"After you hit the red light in your life, he sort of stopped talking to me. I guess it makes sense, I must have been a constant reminder of you…"
She sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky. The breeze brushed against her body and she could smell the coming rain. She took out her cell phone and dialled a number.
"Hello...?" a very tired voice spoke from the other side.
"Rhea, I thought you wouldn't be able to sleep all night out of excitement!" Amalia said.
"The date!" All of a sudden, Rhea's voice amplified and she blurted out, "I couldn't sleep! Last thing I remember, I was looking at the time and it was almost 4 am!"
Amalia laughed as she leaned forwards and looked at the name carved in it more closely. "Wow, then you should get some more sleep. You don't want to look like a zombie on your date, right? I just called to ask when your date is."
"6 pm. Why?"
"Well, it seems like it will rain today. So, be ready for that."
Amalia heard a small howl on the other end of the line as Rhea moaned out, "Why? Why would God do this to me?!"
"Probably cause you use the word "God" twice every year?"
She chuckled and replied, "Well, rain or not, it's a date! I am so excited! I am going to have an exciting sleep now!"
"Okay, sleep tight."
"Bye!"
Her fingers traced the carved name on the stone and she whispered, "I will take care of him. As promised."
5:00 pm
"It's 5 pm!" Rhea shouted at Amalia as she excitedly ran to her bedroom window.
"What are you doing?" Amalia asked who was seated in the middle of Rhea's bed.
"I don't know! I am too excited!" came the reply from the other side of the room. She twirled in front of the full length mirror and nervously asked, "I look okay, right?"
"You look great!"
"I look okay..."
"Rhea..."
"What?" she asked, turning to Amalia.
Her best friend stood up on top of the bed and said, "You look beautiful. And adorable!"
"You think so?"
"Yes!"
Rhea chuckled and smiled, "I look adorable!"
Amalia smiled, and then fell on the bed and sighed, "Sucks to not have a date on Valentine's Day."
"I am sorry."
"Yeah right, your teeth have been showing since the moment I got here. You ain't feeling sorry for anyone today, you midget!"
Rhea smiled and looked out the window.
"I hope it doesn't start raining."
"The way the clouds are screaming down at us? I doubt it."
"It will be okay...it will be okay. Rain doesn't matter," Rhea slowly chanted to herself.
"Yeah, good luck. I will be using your bed for a nap while you are gone."
5: 30 pm
Scarlet slowly walked down the stairs of her house. She was wearing a long purple gown. Her long black hair fell against her shoulders and onto her back. Her pale, white skin complimented her dark eyes and hair. As she reached the end of the stairs, her father walked to her, a big smile on his proud face.
"Ah, my beautiful daughter," he said, smiling. "It's Alex's lucky day today, isn't it?"
Scarlet smiled. "It's past five-thirty, already, Dad. I wonder when he will be here."
"Well, I talked to his father. He left home an hour ago. He should be here soon."
"Yeah."
That was when their doorbell rang and within a few moments, Alex stood in front of them.
Her eyes lit up as Scarlet spoke, "Hey."
"Hi," Alex replied. "It started raining."
6:00 pm
Rhea was standing outside her house, barely sheltered from the heavy rain. The smile from her face was gone. She held her cellphone in her hand as she stared into the rain.
Amalia stood behind her still trying to dial Alex's number. His phone was turned off.
"It's only 6 pm," Amalia said,"He is just late."
"Yeah..." she murmured.
6:20 pm
"Rhea..." Amalia called out. "Come wait inside."
There was no reply. She had been standing there, fixated in the same place. The rain had drenched her by now.
"Rhea!" Amalia cried out and grabbed onto her arm.
She then felt her body shaking. She slowly turned the silent girl around to see her eyes filled with tears that were continuously running down her cheeks.
She had no words. All Amalia could do was hug her tight and say, "You are ruining the make up...damn you!"
"Oh, sorry," Rhea said rubbing off her tears. "I don't look beautiful anymore. Alex would be shocked to see me now."
"Rhea, come inside..."
"He is just late..."
"Rhea..."
"He is late..."
6:35 pm
"He is late..." she muttered to herself again.
She hated the rain. All things bad happened to her when it rained. There was only one memory of her that was good. It was when he talked to Alex for the first time. It wasn't important to her at that moment, but as days had passed that had become a special day for her. The memories brought tears to her eyes again. This is stupid, she thought.
"So, are you coming?" a voice asked her from the corner.
Rhea rubbed the tears away from her eyes and looked around. There was a figure standing in the rain. He was holding an umbrella. The figure got closer until he was holding the umbrella above her head too. It was Alex.
"Are you going to wait for the rain to stop or are you going to come with me?"
Rhea just stared at him, unable to find words.
"That's what I told you the first time we talked, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Am I late?" he asked.
"You are late," she finally replied.
"Sorry."
Author's Note: Hey guys! We would love to know what you thought of this chapter! Let us know! :) Please.