Anxious

Olivia tightened her grip on her steering wheel as she peeked around the parking lot. His car wasn’t there yet.

She was literally going to die before he arrived.

Olivia forced herself to release her death grip on the steering wheel and occupied her hands with the soft fabric of her dress. It took her a considerable amount of time that morning to decide on her outfit choice. She didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard but at the same time she wanted to look like she put some sort of effort in her outfit.

After all, they were just having coffee.

She peered around again and smiled in relief when she saw his blue Honda pull up next to her. Her hands immediately flew up to her up to her face to push away the flyaway hairs. With one quick look in the mirror Olivia quickly opened her door and successfully managed to nearly hit her date with the car door.

“I-I’m sorry!”

Her hand reached out to help him but she realized she actually didn’t hit him. “It’s alright. You didn’t hit me,” he said with a soft smile. Olivia ducked her head down to hide her blush and she heard him laugh.

“You haven’t changed at all.”

Olivia looked up at him bashfully and laughed softly. It was good to know he hadn’t changed either.

 

Silence

Lily doesn’t know when the rift between them started; she can’t seem to pinpoint exactly when it was that Sebastian became distant. Perhaps it was at senior prom when he asked her as a date and she turned him down politely. Maybe even the summer before senior year started when they spent the whole summer together and they cuddled every night.

Whenever it was, Lily does not know. All she wants is answers, something that can tame her racing mind. She doesn’t want to blame him or herself, though she knows to a certain point she’s living in a false reality.

It didn’t feel real when they didn’t talk the whole summer before college started, it didn’t feel real when she saw him that fall and he walked right past her without a glance, and it definitely doesn’t feel real sitting across from him now, letting the silence control them.

Spring Rains

The sun smiled happily as soft white clouds floated in the afternoon sky. Spring rains had just graced the flowers, the air had that touch of spring rain that Sophia loved so dearly. Preston remembered this so vividly, for she always dragged him outside right after those sparse spring showers to smell the air. She always told him to close his eyes, clear his mind, and just take a deep breath. The scent was pure, as innocent as a child, and relaxation set in within the blink of an eye.

Her laughter would stir him from his relaxed daze and he would open his eyes to see her running towards her garden to gently examine each flower. It never rained hard enough for the rain droplets to weigh down the petals, yet Sophia had said that even those spring rains were more than enough to hurt the fragile petals. Preston had also said it was a result of her kind and gentle heart, Sophia always had the heart to help.

Preston kneeled down to examine the flowers, just as Sophia would have, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and repeated.

One.

Two.

Three breaths.

He stopped and paused.

His love, as fragile a petal after spring rain, couldn’t withstand it all. Thunderstorms poured and passed, snow blanketed the ground and melted to show the gorgeous greens, and the spring rains had come, but Sophia couldn’t witness the new spring with him. Had only he been there…had only he cared as much as she did…perhaps she’d see her flowers survive another spring rain.

June Writing Challenge: Crystal

I know, it’s been forever! To be honest I wrote this a while ago but I hated it so I’ve been doing some editing! But here’s the newest addition without any further delay ^.^

8. (Fri) Crystal

Another sigh left Vivienne’s lips as she slumped further in her seat. She didn’t understand why she kept putting herself in situations that had no possible positive outcome for her.

“Sorry I’m late, I had some business to take care of,” Charlotte apologized as she pulled a chair across from Vivienne. Vivienne nodded as to accept her apology and pushed a menu towards her.

June Writing Challenge: Pitter Patter

This is definitely the best entry I’ve written for this challenge thus far. Over a thousand words woohoo ^.^

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7. (Thurs) Pitter Patter

Bright light appeared behind Vivienne’s eyes and she subconsciously raised an arm to block out the light. A warm hand gently pulled her hand away from her face and she felt finger faintly linger on her skin. It seemed surreal, the touch was soft yet felt empowering at the same time. Vivienne pulled the hand closer to her face to lean into it, but the hand jerked away and let go of her hand. Her eyes fluttered open and she was surprised to see what she saw—no one there.

June Writing Challenge: Blanket

6. (Wed) Blanket

Vivienne sighed as she watched the screen. The two characters confessed their undying love for each other, typical of Lifetime movies, and were moving in for a kiss. Vivienne couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the fictional romance on the screen.

The fictional characters started out as best friends, much like Vivienne and Gabriel, and a night trapped in an abandoned building drew out their true feelings for each other. She didn’t see that happening with her and Gabriel. As far as she knew, Gabriel’s feelings for her consisted of a brotherly type.

Vivienne watched in horror as the fictional couple moved from the kitchen and towards the bedroom and she frantically searched for the remote.

“You are such a little kid when it comes to love scenes in movies.” Gabriel’s voice startled her and she felt the color rise in her cheeks. She glanced over towards his direction and noticed the popcorn resting on the blanket he was holding. He walked towards Vivienne, dropped the popcorn  on her lap, and made himself comfortable on the opposite end of the couch.

Vivienne wiggled her colorful toes and began flipping through channels as she tried to ignore Gabriel. She still felt the awkward air between them from yesterday. They dropped the conversation but it never stopped running through her mind.

She continued flipping, unaware that she had cycled through the channels twice now due to her deep thinking. Gabriel nudged her with his foot but Vivienne continued flipping.

“Vivienne.”

She continued ignoring him.

“Vivienne, your feet are cold,” Gabriel pointed out. Vivienne began to retract her feet towards her body but Gabriel threw the blanket over the two of them.

“You don’t have to crawl away from me, Vivienne.” She nodded, for she was still ignoring him, to indicate she heard him. Her feet moved slowly back to their previous position, bumped against Gabriel’s, and her breath hitched.

She wasn’t sure how all of a sudden, after four years together, she was falling for him. More than anything, she didn’t understand how Gabriel could act like he didn’t notice anything, unless he really didn’t notice anything. Did he not hear her stop breathing when he walked by, or even feel her freeze when he touched her?

Vivienne ate a piece of popcorn and looked over a Gabriel. He was dozing off slowly, but definitely surely.

“Gabriel?” she called softly. He stirred a bit and mumbled in response. At least, she assumed so.

“Do you ever….do you, I don’t know how to phrase this. I-I wonder…” she trailed off and Gabriel shifted to his side and began to snore softly.

She contemplated continuing, it was fine if he didn’t hear her.  But it wouldn’t make any sense for her to, no one would receive her feelings.

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June Writing Challenge: Bubbles

5. (Tues) Bubbles

Blonde locks of hair flowing over her shoulder, the young child ran through the hall.  Her bubbly laughter could be heard bouncing off the hollow walls and Gabriel’s low groan followed.

“Lola you need to come eat lunch,” he shouted after her. Her laughter turned into a playful shriek as Gabriel engulfed her into a hug and carried her into the kitchen.

“Look at you being a good uncle,” Vivienne pointed out as Gabriel sat Lola on a stool facing the kitchen island. Gabriel shot Vivienne a desperate look and she smiled.

When it came to children, Gabriel was quite good with them although he claimed he disliked children. It was quite easy to assume Lola was Gabriel’s daughter, instead of his niece, with the way he interacted with her.

Lola looked wide-eyed at the bottle of bubbles at the end of the island and her small hands reached across the table for the bottle. Gabriel smiled at her effort and easily reached for the bottle and slid it within her reach.

A wide grin grew on her lips as Gabriel untwisted the cap and held out the wand for her. Lola took a deep breath, filling her cheeks with air before exhaling. A large bubble separated itself from the wand and floated weightlessly through the air. Lola watched in delight as she watched the bubble drift higher and higher in the air.

Gabriel blew a few more bubbles to avoid a meltdown when the first bubble burst but Lola reached for the wand, wanting to blow more of her own bubbles. He handed the wand to her with no objections and Gabriel took the opportunity to sit in the stool next to her, seeing Lola had the bubble making under control.

“I’m sure Lola will go home and tell her dad all about the fun she had with you,” Vivienne said happily as she leaned against the island next to Gabriel. Gabriel nodded in agreement and he leaned over to rest his head against her arm.

Vivienne froze.

“Children are a handful,” he said to himself softly. Vivienne tried to continue breathing at a steady pace, the last thing she needed was to be unconscious in front of a child. She racked her mind for something they could talk about, anything that could divert her attention from him being that close to her.

“How was your date yesterday?” Vivienne asked as she reached for a piece of fruit across the table. She knew wasn’t going to eat it, she just needed something to look at.

Gabriel cleared his throat and lifted his head from Vivienne’s arm.

“It was alright. I wouldn’t consider it a date, more of just a get together between two friends,” he clarified.

Vivienne rolled the orange back across the table.

“Do you have candle get togethers with all your friends?”

Gabriel paused and looked over at her.

“Why would you say that?”

Vivienne shrugged. She suddenly didn’t want to have this conversation anymore. Lola’s bubble blowing came to a halt as the sound of a familiar knock paused the conversation between Vivienne and Gabriel.

Thank God, she thought to herself.

Gabriel and Vivienne watched as Lola jumped off the stool and ran towards her father. He waved a brief goodbye and exited the condo with Lola.

Gabriel sat back in the same stool and he sighed.

“Vivienne, I don’t understand you. And when you’re best friend is saying that, it’s a problem,” he started. Vivienne thought about interrupting him, but it seemed he wasn’t going to stop talking yet.

“Are you jealous of Charlotte? Is that why you feel the need to bring  her name up in every conversation? Are you worried she’s going to replace you?” he questioned.

Vivienne paused to think of her answer. Was she really jealous of Charlotte?

“You know what, don’t answer that. I’m going to act like this conversation never happened. Sound good to you?”

Vivienne nodded her head. There were plenty of conversations she acted like she never had.

Previous: Candlelight                                                                                      Next: Blanket

June Writing Challenge: Candlelight

4. (Mon) Candlelight 

“So like I was saying, be sure to drop hints to him but be very subtle about it. You’re his best friend so it’s more likely he won’t forget.” Vivienne stirred her straw around her iced tea as she nodded to Charlotte’s suggestions. Everything she was saying went through Vivienne’s right ear, and straight out the left without her processing any of it. She was still trying to comprehend why Charlotte had even asked her out for lunch.

Charlotte pulled her auburn hair over her shoulder and began to analyze the tips. “I’m thinking about changing my hair color. I think Gabriel is more into deep brunettes like you.”

Vivienne paused from her endless stirring and she looked up at Charlotte. She definitely comprehended the last bit she said. Charlotte’s pale blue eyes widened at her and a flush of color stained her cheeks.

“I know you probably don’t think of him that way,” she began as she clasped her hands together. “And I probably shouldn’t tell you that he does for sure, but I’m pretty positive. Gabriel feels something for you, and that’s the exact reason why we aren’t dating.”

Vivienne took a sip from her iced tea and she looked away from Charlotte. She wasn’t going to believe it. Charlotte was lying to her.

“I’m assuming you either feel something as well or you don’t believe what I’m saying.”

Vivienne didn’t respond. No smile, not a glance towards Charlotte’s face, not even a head nod.

“I don’t think it’s my place to tell you. Maybe Gabriel will tell you one day,” Charlotte said softly as Vivienne shifted in her seat. Charlotte called the waitress of to request the check quietly and Vivienne reached for her phone to distract herself.

She scrolled through her messages for no real reason, dragging her fingers up and down until she unexpectedly received a text.

Gabriel

Grab some candles for me on your way home. Thanks.

Charlotte would be happy to know Gabriel hadn’t forgotten about their date, although Charlotte claims they aren’t dating. But Vivienne didn’t want to be in the middle of their relationship.

“Gabriel just asked me to pick up some candles, do you mind just picking some up on your way home? You’ll be coming over anyway,” Vivienne asked.

Charlotte smiled.

“Sure, I don’t mind. To be honest, I don’t like candles. Gabriel is in love with them, he says the light radiating from them is just gorgeous. I’m always scared I’m going to burn myself though,” She explained.

Vivienne nodded in agreement, though it slipped her mind that Gabriel loved candles. She remembered when they first moved in together, Gabriel was determined to fill their shared condo with candles.

“I guess I’ll see you tonight? I enjoyed our outing, we should do it more often.” Charlotte waved a small goodbye and Vivienne smiled as a token of her goodbye.

Previous: Lightning                                                                                         Next: Bubbles

June Writing Challenge: Lightning

This was ironic, I wrote this during an actual thunderstorm.

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3. (Sun) Lightning 

Gabriel stared out the window in disbelief as he watched the heavy rain pelt the ground and low thunder rumble through the sky.

His garden wouldn’t survive this storm.

White light scattered through the sky, indicating the storm was indeed worsening and he sighed. Summer storms had never been his favorite.

“Gabriel, the meteorologists say the storm will probably knock out power so we should start preparing for that.”

Vivienne’s voice bounced off the walls, due to the emptiness of the halls and Gabriel took this chance to back away from the window. He contemplated going to look for her but he knew she’d come find him.

She always did.

As he expected, it wasn’t long before he heard Vivienne’s footsteps approaching him and he smiled to himself.

Vivienne held up a flashlight and shook it in front of Gabriel. “The flashlights don’t have batteries,” she pointed out. Gabriel’s smile left his face.

“Vivienne….I thought I told you about buying batteries last week.”

Vivienne bit her lower lip and looked down at her bare feet. “I forgot,” she mumbled softly.

Gabriel refrained from saying what was going through his mind exactly and ran his fingers through his dark locks.

“It’s fine, I’ll just ask Charlotte to go pick some up tomorrow for me.”

Vivienne nodded her head, as if she agreed with his decision and she looked up at Gabriel. His blue eyes darted around the dim room, avoiding her attempt to lock eyes with him.

She wanted to question Gabriel, she wanted answers from him, but it never seemed like she would get her answers.

“Is there something you want to say to me,” he asked, still not looking at her.

Vivienne opened her mouth to say something but the sudden flood of darkness in the room stopped her.  The lightning outside split the sky in two, lit the house for a few brief seconds before darkness filled the room once again.

“I don’t have to see you to know that you’re still looking at me.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, I don’t have anything to say,” she finally said. Vivienne hoped he didn’t hear the change of her tone.

A clap of thunder made Vivienne jump a few steps back and she felt Gabriel’s clammy fingers wrap around her wrist.

“It’s dark, you should be careful,” Gabriel said in a particularly interesting tone. It was one of compassion and warmness, unlike the serious and sarcastic tones he typically used with Vivienne.

Vivienne nodded her head, forgetting Gabriel could barely see her, and she went about silently analyzing him. Gabriel was usually warm to her touch, but his fingers had just been cold and sweaty.

Was he nervous? She was sure he held Charlotte’s hand on a daily basis. Had she caught him off guard? That couldn’t be it, Gabriel was on his A game always. Or perhaps was he having troubles with Charlotte? That seemed a likely cause. That would explain why he reacted oddly when she brought her up the other day. But then why would he mention her doing something for her earlier? Vivienne shook her head to dismiss her thoughts.

Those were questions for another day.

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June Writing Challenge: Sprinkler

2. (Sat) Sprinkler

“You’re wasting your time Gabriel. There are more efficient ways to do that,” Vivienne pointed out as she tied her hair back in a ponytail. She wasn’t a fan of being out in the sun, and having to be in the grass with dirt and squirming creatures was making her uncomfortable.

Gabriel shoved a pair of gloves at her with a frown and he resumed filling up the watering pot. The water slushed around as the water reached the top and Vivienne flinched as some splashed on her open toes. Gabriel ignored her and continued filling the pot to the brim and he quickly turned the faucet to turn it off as the pot overflowed.

“Great going genius,” Vivienne whispered. Gabriel shot a glance at her and she turned away. She was still griping about the previous day. By the time Vivienne came out her bedroom, Gabriel had already left the house, leaving Vivienne alone the entire day.

Gabriel struggled, though he tried not to show it as he carried the pot over to the garden and he set pot on the ground where the moist soil was dug from the earth. Vivienne held back her laughter and decided to do something more productive with her time.

She picked up the sprinkler from the grass where it was casted aside from their earlier argument and dropped it beside Gabriel. He glanced at it briefly and scoffed.

“I told you that thing doesn’t work.”

Vivienne shook her head and her head and proceed with screwing the hose from the faucet into the sprinkler.

“Vivienne don’t waste your time,” Gabriel said with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. He picked up the pot to begin water the freshly planted flowers but he was unexpectedly interrupted.

Vivienne stood by the faucet laughing as the sprinkler began spinning, shooting streams of water into the air. Droplet flew everywhere, though the main target seemed to be Gabriel. In mere seconds the droplets soaked his shirt and he made a sprint for Vivienne, or rather the faucet and Vivienne got in his way.

“Turn it off!” Gabriel shouted over Vivienne’s laughter but Vivienne guarded the faucet as if her life depended on it. Her laughter tapered off as Gabriel stood in front of her, his expression telling her all too well how he was feeling.

The faucet jabbed Vivienne in the back as she tried backing farther into the wall and Gabriel made a reach around her for the faucet. His plan didn’t include pulling Vivienne close to him as if he was going for a hug, but somehow it happened.

She froze in his hold as his hands clutched at her back, successfully turning off the sprinkler. Words escaped Vivienne as he pulled away and resumed walking towards the garden.

He called her name several times to come see the mess she had made, since it was her idea to try to sprinkler out, but Vivienne couldn’t pick her feet off the ground. Gabriel had just been mere centimeters away from her and it made her heart pound faster than she was used to.

That never happened before.

“Vivienne?” he called again. This time Vivienne turned to look at him.

“You all right there?”

Vivienne shook her head and walked past him towards the front door. “You can finish up right? I’m going to…uhm shower,” she said quickly as she rushed inside.

Gabriel watched the door close behind her and he shook his head.

She must be PMSing.

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