chapter 5

"Aria?"

He said it again!

I felt my nerves relax down a bit.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine," I heard my self saying. I didn't knew I still had a voice. "Um... Do I know you?"

His voice was terribly familiar. I still couldn't see his face.

"Oh, yeah sorry," He walked towards the fireplace and lit some candles. And, came back holding one.

"Remember?" he said, pointing towards himself. "I'm in your classes."

I just stared at the person in front of me. He had the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes and ginger colored hair. His hairs were soaking wet and were in front of his eyes. Boy, he was handsome.

"Ehm," He said and brought me back to reality.

"Uh... No. Sorry. I'm sure I haven't seen you before."

If I had, I would not have had forgotten.

"You sure?" He asked, bringing the candle near. "I'm... Hey! You're soaking wet!"

I looked down at my blue dress, now all wet and covered in grass and mud.

So much for a first impression.

"Wait here. I'll go get some clothes for you."

The boy handed me the candle and disappeared into a room.

I was very confused. I didn't know who he was, but knowing that he knew me, was kind of comforting.

How could I not have seen him?

After a few minutes, he appeared holding a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"I hope they fit," he said, giving them to me. "You can change in my room."

As confused as I was at the moment, I knew I had to change or else I'd end up being in bed for the next week.

I went into the room and locked it up. There was a bed, a study table, a cupboard with books and another cupboard with clothes, I think.

I examined the clothes in my hands. They were totally my size. The shirt was red with 'I Am Cute' written in black, over it. The jeans were black.

Thank God they are matching!

I changes into the dry, warm clothes.

This feels so good!

I sat down on the bed and went through everything that had happened today.

I should've just stayed home.

Now I was out, somewhere in a cottage with a gorgeous boy outside, whom I've never seen before, but apparently, he knew me and I was stuck here.

The knock at the door brought me back to reality.

"Um... Is everything Okay?" Asked the boy.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I heard myself saying. I got up and opened the door.

The boy was all dried out. He had changed his clothes and was now in red shirt and black jeans.

Wow, same as mine!

But his shirt said, 'I Am Cuter.'

"Wow. They fit you like a glove!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah. Thank you," I said.

"Well, I don't think this rain is going to end anytime soon."

The boy went towards window and looked out the curtains.

"Nope. Not until tomorrow morning."

He turned around and looked at me.

"Guess like we're stuck here for the night."

"I guess so."

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" He asked.

I smiled. "I'd love to."

I followed him to the small kitchenette. He took out two matching mugs.

"You sure, you don't remember me?" He asked, glancing up at me.

I shook my head. "No, I don't."

"Well then," He said, turning towards me. "I'm Eric."

"Hey," I said shaking his hand. "My name is Aria."

"That's a nice name."

"Thank you," I said. "May I have the honours of knowing, how you know me."

"For starters," he said, handing me my mug. "You bumped into me this morning."

Wait, what!?

"That was you!" I exclaimed.

He smiled. "Yeah."

"OMG! I'm so sorry!"

"No worries, and you already said that. I'm sorry I ruined your shirt."

"Uh... Um... Well. Apology accepted."

Eric went into the living room and sat in front of the fire place. The fire was lively and warm. I sat down next to him. The cushions were really comfy.

"And then," he continued.

I took a sip from my burning hot chocolate. It was delicious, but hot!

"I came and sat next to you in Maths."

I was dumbfounded, as I started to recall the events of the day. I remembered now. I was off mood because of Sybil.

"But you were more interested in the squirrels running outside."

"Hey! There were no squirrels outside!"

He laughed.
"And then I sat with you and Abigail in English."

'You have got to be kidding me!"

"Nope."

"And I was with you..."

"At lunch," we said together.

"Wow. If Abby got to know about this, she'll pack me up and post me to Mars."

"But, señora there's more."

I raised an eyebrow at him. Then it hit me!

The party!

"You! You saved me from Lilly!" I exclaimed.

"Well, yeah. My cousin took me there, but I'm not a party person. So I came out and sat by the fountain. That's when I saw you," he said. "I came inside looking for you, but you were with Lilly. Your expressions told me something was not right, so I thought of interfering, a bit."

"You thought right!"

"After running away from Stephani, I ran after you but you were already gone."

"Oh, yeah I heard you."

"I didn't wanted to stay there anymore, so I took my bike and decided to go home. It was raining by then. I came across your cab. He told me about you," Eric glanced up for a second. "I got worried. So I came looking for you."

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Saw you footsteps going this way. I figured you'd come across this cottage and well, naturally seek shelter here."

"Wow. You could be a detective."

Eric chuckled. "Naa..."

"Hey, wait," I just remembered something. "Why were you following me at college?"

"Oh. That," he said, looking thoughtful. "I wanted to thank you."

"Why?"

"Well... It was my first day and I was pretty nervous about everything. My nerves were killing me. That is..." He paused. "Until you bumped into me. It kinda brought me back to senses and made me realise that I was not the only one, who made mistakes. And after that, my day went way better than I had imagined. So thank you for that!"

"Well then. Your welcome!" I laughed. I didn't know I could make someone's day better. It felt good.

"So do you live here?" I asked.

"No... Yes... Kind of," he said.

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Well, yeah this cottage belongs to me. And I think I live here."

"Okays..."

"We used to live here, in Stonybrook, when I was 4. But my dad got a better job across the country, so we moved there. And never returned, until now."

"Not even for a visit?"

"Nope."

"So why now?"

"Dad got tried of working there. He wanted to relax and missed his life here. So we packed up and moved back."

"Mm. And this is...?" I asked looking all around.

"My father proposed my mother here, under the Willow tree. They got really attached to this place," he said. "So they bought it and made this cottage here."

"That is so romantic!" I exclaimed.

Eric chuckled.

I looked around with more admiration this time.

"Is that a Martin D-45!?" I exclaimed looking at the guitar hanging on the wall.

"You know guitars?" He asked.

"I love them!" I squealed. "And this is on
Eric got up and brought it to me.

I moved my fingers over its strings. It was perfect.

"Play it," he said.

As if by instinct, I held it in position and my fingers naturally danced with its strings. I played and played and unintentionally began to sing. I sung a song. a song I never knew was within me. I sang about today. I sang about us. I sang our story.

And Eric?

He listened and smiled. It was like we were stuck in the moment. Like, we had always known each other. Like, the only thing that existed in the world was, us.

It was amazing that day. Who would've thought, that the day would've end and eventually, be just a memory. How was I suppose to know, that things didn't stay forever. Everything that started, had to end someday. Whether it ended beautifully or tragically. We had no control over it. Time passed. I wish feelings passed too...