Her Fantasy, a Romance story

The Only Chapter

DATE STARTED: APRIL 4, 2016
DATE FINISHED: APRIL 4, 2016
DATE EDITED: PENDING
WORD COUNT: 2228

This was it. Today was the day I was going to tell Penny Rhett that I loved her.

That I’ve been in love with her ever since she shared her box of crayons with me during play time when we were five at the local preschool. Ever since we exchanged first kisses behind our tree because of a rumor that had been going around when we were twelve about upperclassmen going around and kissing kids who’ve never been kissed before.

Ever since she stayed with me when everyone thought I was the one who started the fire that had killed my entire family and burned our house down when we were sixteen.

I’ve loved her even though it’s been six months since I last saw her because we went to different colleges that were in different cities and she’s found some guy named Francis to love her too.

Penny Rhett was my rock, my best friend and the only person who knew me inside-out.

I was going to meet her today at our tree so we could spend the day walking around the city doing whatever came to mind. Something we haven’t done since our last break. I smiled at the thought of seeing her auburn hair flying in the wind while we race down the paved road of the city board walk on the way to the coveted Starbuck’s at the end of the stretch because she said she needed to do a Starbuck’s run and walking to the store defeated the purpose.

The moment I received a text from her saying that she was on her way, I changed into a pair of pants and our matching red shirt. She’d always insisted that because we were best friends, we had to have matching t-shirts on every other time we hung out because it felt right. And also because she loved laughing at people who assumed we were a couple because of the shirts.

“It’s not a couple shirt,” she would say, “it’s a matching pair,” she would add.

It took all of five minutes for me to get ready. Since Penny lived twenty minutes away from the park, I knew it would take her longer to get there so I took my time walking to the area, enjoying the scenery as I passed by.

There was Penny’s ex-boyfriend’s house. We were playing Kingdom Hearts on my console one day and she was crying when she told me she saw the guy kissing an older girl. And in the next moment, the game was paused and I was already on my way to the kitchen where we hid all of our reserve toilet paper and eggs. With the supplies in one hand, I tugged Penny out of the house and gave half of the things to her, telling her to let it all out on his treehouse. We were fourteen and the poor sap didn’t even know what hit him. He came home to a ruined tree house that smelled horrible and looked disgusting.

To my right, I passed by my old house, the one that got burned down. The community had it turned into a mini playground for kids because no one had wanted to buy the land because they thought it was haunted. Whenever I missed my parents or Andrea, I would come here and sit on the swing set. It was a much better place to pay my respects than the sorry excuse of a grave that my aunt had erected in the family crypt.

I kept walking and the memories kept pouring in. The corner of the street where Penny and I had stupidly thrown stones at a street dog and then have it come after us and almost get bitten if it weren’t for the orange tree in the Baylen household. The old elementary school that Andrea went to. Karl’s house where we used to always have water balloon fights and then Anna and Quinn’s house beside his where we would have snacks after every battle.

So many memories in such a small community. Penny didn’t even live in our area, but she grew up here because the schools near here weren’t up to her parents standards and also because she had me for a best friend.

Before I knew it, I was at the park and heading straight to the tree that knew the secrets I kept and the feelings I harbored for her. When I got there, I didn’t find her sitting on the tree trunk like she usually was. I called out her name too but there was no reply. I almost expected her to be early. Hah. That was a ridiculous notion. Penny Rhett was never early. She was almost always late, so what could have changed?

I settled under the tree and took out my phone, fumbling for the Twitter app and tweeting about my predicament.

“@IntenselyRhett where u at? It’s getting really hot.”

I sent the tweet out into the world and then opened up my Reddit app to pass the time while I waited for the idiot to arrive.

My idiot.

While I was immersed in a story about a girl who wanted to be a mermaid, I heard a thud from behind me. Thinking that it was just some stupid kid, I paid it no mind. All of a sudden my eyes were covered by a pair of soft hands that I knew could only belong to one person.

“Let go of me, Penny.” I deadpanned, dropping my phone to my lap and prying her fingers off me.

She giggled as she released me from her grip and I saw the light again. It was a beautiful sight. She moved from her place behind me so I could get a good look at her.

She was wearing a pink skirt with the red shirt that we had agree upon. I stood up to hug her, to show that I missed her. In my head I was already formulating ideas on how I was going to tell her. If it weren’t for the girl in my arms, I wouldn’t have a reason to continue living for my parents and for Andrea. She was so special to me and I knew that even if I had told her and she didn’t reciprocate my feelings, she would still be my friend. Our relationship was too deep to be broken by a confession like mine. And besides, she was happy with Francis.

“I missed you, Luigi.” She mumbled into my shirt as she deepened our hug.

When we broke apart, we looked at each other and then laughed. She had grown taller, more womanly, more beautiful in our time apart.

Her phone beeped from her bag and she took it out. Somehow, I thought it was Francis, texting her again. Telling her to be careful around me like the last time we hung out. Jealous prick.

I took a peek at her phone and saw that it was indeed Francis, only this time, it was a text that told Penny to call him.

“What up?” I asked her.

She looked up at me with teary eyes and locked her phone.

“We broke up two weeks ago and he’s been trying to get back with me ever since.” She explained.

My face crinkled in confusion. Who broke up with who and why?

As if knowing the look in my eyes, Penny answered my question. “I broke up with him because he just didn’t feel right. I don’t mean in bed or anything because we haven’t done anything like that yet but like, no matter what he did I just didn’t feel like it was enough for me, y’know? Like he wasn’t my meant to be.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, jumping suddenly, making me jump too in shock.

“Before the train ride back here, I was walking around the mall near my uni and I found this.” She said, showing me her green phone case.

It was our common favorite color. I’d liked red the most and she, orange but we both liked green as our second favorite.

“Niiiiceee,” I drawled, not really getting the point of her showing me the case.

“I didn’t just buy one, Luigi. I bought one for you too. So we can have matching shirts and matching phone cases.” She informed, opening her bag to reveal a similar case for my phone, which I slipped on the moment it was in my hands.

I marveled at the cases and how they matched as much as our t-shirts. It was amazing and frustrating at the same time how we could match everything but not our feelings for each other.

My hand reached out for her hair and ruffled it, ruining her ponytail and making her remove the hair tie. She glared at me as she smoothed her hair and left it alone. Penny then took her other phone out and opened the camera app on it, explaining that we had to Instagram the moment.

She gave me the phone and I knew what I had to do. Take a step forward and take the selfie. Because I had longer arms, Penny constantly made me into her human selfie stick, not that I had any problem with it. Within the boxed confines of the picture, I had my free hand around Penny and she was holding our phone cases and our shirts were evident.

That picture was instantly instagrammed with the caption, “Real men aren’t afraid to twin.”

As we hunched over the picture and laughed at the first comment that was made on the post, I felt tiny droplets hit the back of my neck. And then another, and another, until it started to pour.

“I think it’s time we had some coffee, Luigi, don’t you think?” She grinned, that twinkle in her eye hinting that it was time for a Starbuck’s run.

I pocketed my phone and nodded at her, urging her to start the countdown.

“Three, two, o- hey!” She yelled as I ran ahead of her like I always did.

Penny easily caught up with me as the rain poured around us.

We ran side by side for a good three minutes before stopping under a tree to take a breather.

Now felt like the perfect time to catch her off-guard and to tell her. Her hair was clinging to her face and her shirt was soaked, the outline of her bra beginning to show.

“Francis never liked to do anything like this.” She remarked.

I’d known Penny for too long to know that she was going to start an emotional soliloquy so I kept my mouth clamped, successfully keeping confession inside me for the time being.

“He took me on romantic dates, stuff that any girl would like but he never did anything without flourish. I’d want French fries from Mcdonald’s and he’d bring me fish and chips from the French restaurant two miles away. He was too much and I felt like he wasn’t the type of guy I could wake up next to with my morning breathe still present. With him, I always felt like I had to be my best.”

I wanted to tell the girl I loved that I was that someone. That when we went camping four years ago and we shared a tent, I would wake up and stare at her sleeping face, wishing I could kiss her good morning. My mouth kept itself shut, waiting for her to finish so I could have my turn.

“I wanted a guy that was ready to roll in the mud with me, not someone who was scared of getting his Italian shoes wet during a little downpour and Francis couldn’t give me that.” She added, tears starting to form.

Now. Now was the moment to say it.

“There’s something you should kno-“

“You know what my biggest fantasy is, Luigi?” Drats. This girl is impossible to confess to.

I shook my head at her, prompting her to tell me.

“It’s to be kissed by someone in the rain. What’s yours?”

She just gave me an in! Here goes nothing.

“It’s to be that someone, Penny.” I replied, hunching down to her level and kissing her.

I felt her respond to my kiss, her hands clenching my shirt as my own reached down to her waist, pulling her close. We kissed for a full minute before breaking apart.

Our eyes met and I stared at her as she bit her lip. I started to get nervous. She only bit her lip when she was confused or thinking deeply. Then she drew in closer and gave me a peck on the cheek. With a sigh of relief, I let my head sink onto her shoulder and stay there as I felt her take out her phone and snap a picture of our position.

Later that evening, after we had spent the day talking about our situation and thinking about giving a relationship a try and just drinking up each other’s presence, I checked my Instagram to see which of the pictures we’d taken today she’d posted after the twinning pic.

There was only one. My head was on her shoulder and hers was on my chest. It was a dramatic black and white with the caption, “Finally.”

Hey there folks! I know what you’re thinking. “What got into Kain’s head to write this crap?” Well, the answer is a picture I saw on Facebook on a conversation between to guy friends:

Juan: Hey bruh, what’s your biggest fantasy?
Pedro: It’s to be kissed under the rain by someone. How about you, bruh?
Juan: It’s to be that someone, bruh.

This story, I wrote in under two hours so like. SUMMER HANYAAAAAAAA <3

I hope to write more soon! XOXO