A Love Restored

“Oh my god, Flora,” She gushed, sitting down with a thump, “I just talked to Remy. His friend Jason thinks you’re cute. You should come tonight,” her eyes twinkled, “And Remy can bring lason. It will be so cute!”

I shook my head, taking out two sandwiches from my lunch bag, and handed one to Felix, who was currently looking around the room, searching for God knows whom. “I don’t even know who Jason is.” I said truthfully

Tilly raised her eyebrows. “He’s in English with us. Come on, we can both get kissed tonight.”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

The table fell silent all of a sudden. I stilled, and struggled to look sideways at Felix. He nonchalantly took a bite of his sandwich, the chewed slowly, before speaking. “Who’s Jason?” He tilted his head a little to look at me, and 1 gulped.

“Some guy in my English class, I don’t even know him.” I reached back into my lunch bag to make a peace offering to him. “I got us a clementine to share,” I said, extending the clementine to him. He took it, and kept it on the table.

“You’re not going anywhere with some strange dude.”

It was Tilly who broke the silence. “You don’t own her, Felix.” She said sourly.

He ignored her, and kept looking at me. “Alright?”

I nodded, turning away from him, mumbling. “I wasn’t planning to, anyway.”

After lunch, Tilly and I walked back to our classrooms. She had music and I had art, but the rooms were adjacent. “I hate that you let him treat you like that.” She spoke.

“Treat me how? Who?

“Felix.” She explained, “Like he owns you. You’re not his girlfriend, he can’t tell you not to see other guys. If he likes you, he needs to ask you out. I just find this whole

territorial thing very unfair.”

It was hard to answer this. I wasn’t Felix’s girlfriend. I knew that. He knew that. We both knew that. So yes, technically, he couldn’t tell me not to go out on dates with boys.

And technically, I shouldn’t be denying these dates simply because he exists.

But it was different with him and L

I knew we were friends, best friends maybe, but that seems like a stupid word to use for him. I knew we were friends, but I’m not stupid. I know there

more between us.

Love, in a way, or something resembling it. Something more than that.

“Doesn’t it annoy you? He’s stringing you along. He should ask you soon, before he leaves for college.”

it wasn’t stringing me along. We were both safe in the knowledge that something was bound to happen with us. I knew at least for me; Felix was it for me. He always had been. I knew I would marry him someday. I knew I’d have his children, And if it didn’t happen with him, it wouldn’t happen with anyone else either. So, I wasn’t in a rush to be his girlfriend, or anything. It would happen when it would happen. Till then, I would wait for him, walt with him, and keep loving him like I always have.

I shook my head at Tilly, “We have all the time in the world.”

When Felix and I drove back home, he got me ice cream on the way. He wasn’t speaking much. “Are you mad about Jason?” I asked him.

*To crazy mad, Flora. Fu-” He stopped short of sweating, and I smiled to myself, “He’s an idiot. He just wants to piss me off. Everyone in the city knows you’re off limits.”

“City?” I snorted. “You overestimate yourself.”

Felix stared at me, raising his eyebrow. “One day, Flora, you’ll have this city at your feet, and then we’ll talk about estimation.”

I giggled. “Remember what your father said about bragging, Felix?” I teased, “You need to earn the power,”

+109

Bonus

“And I will.” He said, “You deserve a man with power, Flora. I’ll do it for you.

I smiled to myself. I loved when he said things. With this conviction, that it would happen for us. That we would always be together. I would have