Falling

CHAPTER THREE

Three Months Ago.

I am sitting in my usual booth in Mocha Beans with a copy of Pride and Prejudice in my hand and a hot cup of coffee on my table. I am deeply engrossed in the lines that I have read about thousands of times before but still haven’t been able to get enough of.

When Cassidy, a girl from my school who works here, comes to my table with the donuts that I ordered, is when I finally raise my eyes and smile at her in gratitude.

It is the first week of our summer break and the entire café is almost empty except for a couple of students from the public school of the town.

Most of the students in my class have already escaped town to go on elaborate vacations in all of the exotic places of the world whereas, here I am, still here because I did not wish to go to Prague with my younger brother and father.

I knew that if I went with them then dad would only get an excuse to not be there for my brother and me knowing that I would take care of Jacob while he would get a chance to attend to his business throughout the trip. At least this way, my brother would get some quality time with him.

Ever since my mother passed away, my father indulged himself in his job as a neurosurgeon. However, soon that turned into a business, and rather than actually operating, he decided to open a chain of specialized hospitals throughout the country. It had been a good decision at the time, the business was booming, however, the consequences were paid by us, since now, we had an absentee dad and no mom.

Things had become a little easier once Dorothea came into our lives and as I grew up, I accepted reality for what it was. However, there has always been one thing certain, and that is that I love my brother to the core of my existence and I would never want him to be upset for even a second.

Hence, after a lot of convincing, my dad finally agreed to leave me in our estate whilst he went on to travel with Jake.

As I sit here, I wonder what Chloe might be doing at the moment. Probably cruising through the blue waters of Santorini, after all, it has always been her favorite vacation spot. Jared too is with her and her family and from the pictures that they have uploaded, they seem to be having a good time.

The chiming of the bell at the café door catches my attention as I look up at the person who just came in. My eyes widen when I see who it is.

She is the last person I expected to find in this town during the summer break.

Luna Moore.

She struts in with her red hair tied up in a messy bun and I almost gawk as I see her wearing an oversized black hoodie and a pair of grey sweatpants. Something must have gone terribly wrong for Luna Moore to ditch her impeccable dress code for comfort.

Not that she does not look marvelous, she does and the way she is standing by the counter with a soft expression on her face, thinking of something on her mind, my heart flutters in my chest.

She has been my crush for the past two years, she is practically the reason I realized about my interest in women and as she stands in front of me, on a cold day, in my favorite place in the world, I feel the urge to reach out to her. To talk to her, to get to know her.

However, Luna isn’t one of those people who welcome random conversations. And from everything that I have observed, ever, is the fact that she has a very close-knit circle of friends; although, most of them are mindless jerks that is none of my business.

I lightly scratch my forehead and fluff my hair before diving back into my book but this time, my mind is occupied by the fact that I can hear her footsteps approaching me and at the very instant, I am blown away by the sweet scent of sandalwood.

I can see her sitting down on the table beside mine, there is a two-foot distance between us as I cross my legs to refrain from bouncing my knee – a nervous trait that I picked up from my dad.

She is lowly humming to the tune of one of the latest Taylor Swift songs before stopping to sip on her frappe as her keys jingle in her hand whilst she scrolls through her social media.

Accidentally, the bookmark that I had placed on the last page of the book, slips from between the pages and lands on the floor.

As I reach down to grab it, I see another hand diving for it, quicker than my own before I am suddenly too aware of myself when her fingers brush against mine when she hands me the bookmark.

Red is already covering my cheeks as I look up and find her looking at me with a small smile, “t-thank you,” I say clearing my throat as I smile back at her.

What the hell is happening? Why is the alleged mean girl of the school being so friendly with me?

“Oh, its no problem,” Luna says with a wave of her hand. Her eyes then dart to my face and suddenly I am very conscious of myself.

She smiles when she sees my book, “I have read that one so many times, I cannot even remember anymore.” She says with a shake of her head. The action causes her red hair escaping from her bun to dance around her face.

I look down at my book, catching my breath before smiling back at her, “yes, this is one of my go-to books for a weather like this.” I say, tilting my head towards the window. It is evident from the dark clouds above that it is going to rain at any moment.

Luna chuckles and nods before her eyes stop at my face for another moment. She squints her forest green orbs thoughtfully as she tilts her head to the side as if remembering something.

I raise my hand to my mouth and furrow my brows, “is something on my face?” I ask nervously, not understanding why Luna would need to look at me in such a scrutinizing manner.

She shakes her head, “no, I just remembered that you were in my French class.”

“And Literature and Biology,” I tell her with a slightly embarrassed smile on my face. I am amazed that she remembers. It is said that she barely notices things outside her friend group but somehow, I find that hard to believe.

She bites her lip and grins sheepishly and that gesture alone sends my heart into a frenzy of panic but I try to stay calm. Luna Moore was one hell of an intimidating person.

“So, why didn’t you go out of town for the summer?” She asks, plopping her knee up on the bench she is sitting on and turning her body so that she is directly facing me now. It takes me a while to understand the fact that she is looking at me. Somehow it is a little hard to believe that she is interested in what I have to say.

But then again, it could all be because she is here when she should be in some corner of the world, enjoying the time of her life and now she is regretting not going.

“I wanted to spend some time alone and let my little brother have some bonding time with dad.” I am a little surprised at how quickly an honest answer rolled off of my tongue in front of her. She has a complicated effect on me.

She raises her perfectly plucked eyebrow and I am yet again reminded of how flawless she looks all the time. “So, is it just you at your place for the entire summer?”

I nod, sipping on my coffee.

“Why don’t you have some friends over for a prolonged sleepover or something? At least you won’t be bored then,” Luna suggests and I believe that she is trying her best to not sound harsh in any manner. I almost chuckle at the fact that she is putting in effort into this conversation, this has been a miraculous surprise for me.

I chuckle and shake my head, “nah, I’m not one for parties. Besides, the only friend I have is on a cruise right now.”

Luna looks at me with intrigue for an instant, “ah, yes, Chloe, right? Jared’s girlfriend.” She asks and this time I cannot hide the expression of surprise that envelopes my face.

“I am amazed that you know her. She is the biggest introvert in school.”

“But you aren’t,” Luna says without a beat before schooling her expressions again. For an instant, I believe that I saw something shift in her eyes but then I blink and dismiss the thought, knowing that it might be a trick played by my brain.

“I mean,” she pauses to clear her throat, “I have seen you two around. You’re the head cheerleader, right?”

I nod proudly, “yes, ma’am.” I then regret my word choice and visibly flinch making her throw her head back and laugh.

I look up and the sight of her laughing is something that I never imagined I would be the cause of. The sound of her laughter is the most beautiful chime that I have ever heard and somehow it makes me want to make her laugh more.

I mentally smack myself for letting my feelings run all over me as I smile to hide that dreamy face on my face before she can see me again.

That is how our conversation continues and I almost feel blessed to have the chance at talking to the girl of my dreams for hours at a stretch.

She tells me about her family, how she has two elder brothers and how they are always busy with her father’s business. I am heartbroken to find out that her mom walked out on their family when she was ten years old and when I reach forward to place a comforting hand on hers, she does not pull away and that makes me smile internally.

The feeling of her skin underneath mine is ethereal and I realize that I can probably sit here and listen to her talk for the rest of my life.

I tell her things about myself and how I met Chloe and then about my passion for writing and how some day I wish to publish a book that would be remembered.

I am thrilled by how she isn’t bored of this conversation and genuinely wants to know more about me.

We talk about her friends, Audrey and Skylar and I tell her how almost everyone calls them the metal barbies. She has a hearty laugh listening to that and that makes my heart skip a beat, yet again.

We lose track of time and it is almost pitch dark outside when Cassidy comes to tell us that it was time to close the café. We chuckle at how we completely forgot where we were and she seems genuinely happy as we walk out together.

However, the moment we step out of the door, a loud clap of thunder strikes the sky and I feel a sudden grip on my hand when I realize that Luna is holding my hand. I smile at her and she leaves my hand with an embarrassed smile as she bites the corner of her lip.

“Sorry, thunder spooks me.” She whispers and then there is another drum of thunder but this time I take her hand in my own and give it a gentle squeeze as I smile at her, “it’s okay, you’re safe.” I whisper and the grateful look in her eyes tells me that I did manage to comfort her.

“It was nice meeting you, Aurelia.” She whispers and the way my name sounds from her lips is enough to make my heart flutter.

I smile, “same here, I hope you have a wonderful summer.” I say before we part ways.

I watch as she walks over to where she had parked her car as I stand in my place for a few minutes before I turn around and start walking in the direction of my own house.

It was dark now and I hadn’t expected to stay out till this hour but I sigh as I think of all the beautiful moments that I spent with Luna and I realize that staying out was worth it.

However, as I take the first few steps, I feel a cold drop of water fall on my head as I look up and another falls on my cheek. Then another. And one more. Before I know it, I am in the middle of a heavy downpour and regretting my decision of not bringing a car to Mocha Beans.

My steps quicken as I decide to make it to my house through the rain before a sleek black Bentley stops beside me and the black tinted windows roll down and I see Luna sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Please don’t tell me that you are planning to walk all the way in this rain,” she shouts over the loud sound of the water all around us. I laugh sheepishly.

“Well, that was the plan, so far, love.” I tell her and she shakes her head.

“Come on, get in the car, I’ll drop you home.” She offers and I raise my eyebrow.

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

She rolls her enchanting eyes, “if you die out here, people are going to suspect that Luna Moore did something since Cassidy saw us together. Get in,” she says with a chuckle and I shake my head with a wide grin on my face as I rush towards the passenger side and get inside the car.

She immediately turns up the heat and looks at me with a suggestive smile.

“So, where to, sweetheart?”

♛♛♛

I am walking through the school corridors, making my way to lunch with a frown on my face. I haven’t seen Luna around the school all day today and I am worried about her, especially considering that she was a mess the last time I saw her.

Nathaniel is here and he looks as unaffected as ever and that has me hating him more than ever. Surely, he knows that his girlfriend is going through a tough time.

As I walk inside the cafeteria, I find out that Luna isn’t here either and all my tries to eavesdrop on Audrey and Skylar’s conversation to find out about Luna are in vain considering that the two of them are talking literally about everything but the girl I am so much in love with.

“What the hell has got your knickers in a twist?” Jared asks as I sit down in front of him and Chloe, grumbling under my breath.

I shake my head, “nothing, just the History test.” I make an excuse so that Chloe won’t start asking too many questions. She still hasn’t forgotten about my disappearance at Mocha Beans the other day.

The two of them are talking about something and I would have paid attention to them if I wasn’t so worried about what was wrong with Luna.

She hasn’t replied to any of my texts, nor has she posted anything in days. This is highly unlikely of her, especially with the basketball practice that is this evening. She never misses any of those.

Unable to put my worries to rest, I get up and my best friends look at me with confusion. “Guys, I’ve got to go.” I say before dashing out.

“What the hell is up with her?” I hear Chloe mumbling but I am already out. I know that I will have to come up with a good excuse tomorrow when I see her again.

I am glad about the fact that I decided to bring my own car today as I unlock it before hastily putting the seatbelt across my body and throwing my bag in the back seat as I put in the keys and the car purrs softly before I swiftly drive it out of the school parking lot.

As I make my way to Luna’s house that I have visited so many times, I am struck by endless thoughts and possibilities about what could have happened that was so bad that she skipped school for the third day in a row.

This is all very unlikely of her.

The car skids as I drive along the corner right before I jam on the breaks in front of the gold-plated doors of her ginormous mansion.

The doorman recognises me and lets me in as I sprint to her the entrance of her house and skip over the steps stepping inside to her foyer.

The foyer opens into a high ceiling hall that has gold and velvet furniture, a fireplace encrusted in marble and crystal chandeliers hanging above with a banister where vintage wine and a record player is placed.

I quickly look around and when I don’t fine any of the house keepers, I make my way to the stairs before climbing all the way to the first floor. I already know where her room is and just as I open the door, my feet collides with a broken vase on her floor.

That is when my gaze darts to the rest of the room. It is a mess. The bedcovers are sprawled on the floor, the lamp is broken, even the mirror of her vanity is cracked.

Fear strikes my heart right before I finally find her.

Curled up in a ball, with her back against the wall and her hands hugging her knees to her chest as she is sitting with her head on her knees. Her body is shaking as she sobs and the state of the room represents the state of her mind and I feel my heart breaking again.

She doesn’t deserve this.