Vivienne
> VIV: He said I make him SOFT.
AVA: girl.
VIV: soft like SOFT. Not "you're annoying but I'll tolerate it" soft. But "I missed you and your sparkly chaos and made eye contact for too long" soft.
AVA: girl.
VIV: and he ATE THE ENTIRE SANDWICH.
AVA: OH HE'S GONE GONE.
I slam my phone face-down on my bed and scream silently into my pillow.
This is it. This is the moment. The moment every clingy, delusional girl like me waits for. When the emotionally unavailable boy finally starts showing signs of being... available.
I swear, if he blinks at me in slow motion one more time, I'm going to combust.
He said I make him soft.
SOFT.
Damien freaking Ashford. The coldest boy in school, the one who treats emotions like a foreign language, the one who never even hugs people at grad parties. That boy. Told me I make him soft.
And then, to top it off, he had the audacity to say it casually. While eating the sandwich I packed for him with fruit arranged like a rainbow. Like it wasn't the single most romantic moment of my entire existence.
And I just sat there. Like a composed human. Like I wasn't internally spinning like a washing machine on max.
I pick up my phone again.
> VIV: Ava I think I'm dying.
AVA: I KNOW. I SAW HIM STARE AT YOU TODAY. GIRL THE WAY HE LOOKED AT YOU WHEN YOU WERE LAUGHING—
VIV: shut up.
AVA: NEVER.
I flop back down and stare at the ceiling.
My cheeks are still warm. I feel like the inside of a glittery snow globe that just got violently shaken. I can't sit still. I want to twirl. I want to throw myself out the window. I want to teleport back to lunch and rewatch the moment in HD slow-mo.
Because I think…
I think he's starting to feel it too.
Maybe he doesn't know it yet. Maybe he's still pretending he doesn't.
But boys like Damien don't say "you make me soft" unless something inside them is cracking.
And if I know anything about Damien Ashford...
He doesn't crack for just anyone.