Chanyeol

The sun was yet to rise but I was awake. I had been awake for a while now, perhaps ever since I left her all those years ago. People often say that teenagers grow out of love just as quickly as they fall into it. What a joke. Trying to fall out of love was a long shot especially when I could barely keep my mind from succumbing to her thoughts.

During the nights however, I let my mind wander. To her soft skin and those large eyes that seemed to hold all my secrets so diligently. She knew me inside out. She was our neighbour’s daughter and as cliché as it sounds, I’d fallen in love with her at first sight.

She was lying on the grass, out on her back garden reading a book I didn’t care to identify. Her long hair lay sprawled on her back in effortless waves and the sun in her eyes made her squint but she didn’t dare move away from it. I was so enthralled, I fell right off of the branch of the tree I was perching on and straight into her garden. My knees were bleeding but I wasn’t paying heed to them.

Her expressions were spectacle enough for me to forget every pain ever inflicted upon me. Initially, she’d gasped upon seeing the sight of a stranger lying flat on the floor, and I figured she was scared judging from the way she was ready to sprint inside. But then her face changed and she scrutinised me. After some sort of careful analysis I saw her orbs become wide and that was when she really did make a b-line home. It made sense that she was scared, I was like a giant in front of her, almost a head and a bit taller. I’d thought I’d seen the last of her, but she had proved me wrong as always, for just as soon as I brushed myself off to leave, I saw her return with plasters and antiseptic.

As she cleaned my wounds without asking one word about who I was and why I was spying on her, I noticed her furrowed brows and that nose. It scrunched up every time I hissed as the antiseptic burned my skin. Almost as if she could feel my discomfort herself. I was whipped in every moment. She finally met my eyes for the smallest fraction of a second when she whispered that I’d been treated. Her voice not rising above a few decibels, as if she was afraid she’d hurt me with it. That was the first time we’d met and there was no stopping us after that.

We were both outcasts from our own families. However her parents wanted her to follow every instruction they gave, whereas mine didn’t care whether I lived or died. We were both devoid of any love or affection. Her parents went to their respective offices in the mornings and came back late at night, her father pulled every dirty trick he could conjure in order to become the new mayor of the county and her mother, lured by the money it bought home, helped him achieve his dreams.

They’d earned so much money and fame, but had lost their only daughter in the process. Treating her like an object, forcing her to study day in day out so they could maintain their flawless image in society. A steady income, spouses in love and a daughter with a perfect marks card was all they ever cared about. She never said a word. She lived to help others.

My mother was dead, my step mother was a , my step sister an obvious photocopy and my father was never around. Music was the only thing I could ever truly call my own. Music and Ella. But she was taken away from me just like everything else I had ever loved. I can remember even now the number of songs I’d written with her on my mind. She was my muse and I didn’t even get a chance to truly appreciate everything that was her. She was the only one who knew how much I missed my mother,