I honestly don't know what to call this, in google docs I've saved it as 'romance short story?????????'. Name suggestions will be great :) Sorry if the romance seems a little rushed, I wanted a shorter story as I don't want to devote myself to it, if I do it's likely I won't finish it. I don't think I actually like this romance, it's a little weird and abrupt, but it feels good writing again. Credit to @Magic_kid12 of the prompt
I stand in the middle of the ballroom, watching everyone twirl around me. I look down at my untouched glass of punch, and sniff. What did they say this was made of? Rose water, juice of citrons and sugar. Glancing around quickly, I realise that I’m the one of the only ones not dancing. My eyes fall on another girl who isn’t dancing either - she wears a dusty blue ballgown that complements her strawberry-blonde hair, and she holds a glass in her hand too. She meets my eyes and makes her way over to me. I momentarily panic, before I see her smiling. “Hello,” she says, “Do you want to get out of here?”. It takes me a moment to realise she’s talking to me, even though I’m the only one she could have been talking to. “Yeah,” I reply. She glances at me weirdly, and then I remember where, and when, I am. “Yes,” I quickly recover. “Brilliant,” she grabs my arm and tugs me through the crowd, with lots of “Excuse me”s. “Um, you must be mistaken. I have no clue- I don’t know who you are,” I try to tell her. “Oh, that’s fine. I just want to leave the ballroom,” she practically has to shout over all the chatter. Once we get outside, she lets go of my hand. We both stand in silence, taking in everything. She gasps, “A hedge maze!”. I follow her gaze to see a magnificent wall of greenery. We both grin and take off running. A few minutes later, we stand at a dead end. “How do we get out?” She whispers. I glance at her. Her eyes are ocean blue, and there are freckles scattered over her face. She’s beautiful, I realise, a breath-taking kind of beautiful. “Excuse me? Do you know a way?” she snaps me out of my daze, “Sorry, I don’t really know your name,”. “Oh,” I say, “I’m Calliope,”. “I’m Clara,” she holds out her hand, and I shake it. “So, Calliope,” she asks, “Do you know a way out?”. I think back to something I saw once - you’ll have to put your left hand on the wall. “Yes,” I murmur, putting my hand on the hedge, “Follow me,”. We walk for a while, but we stop when I get to a clearing. “Calliope?” Clara asks. “Look,” I breathe, “Here’s the centre,”. She gasps. In the middle, there’s a towering fountain, and surrounding it, there are benches. Apple trees bend their necks, almost to hide themselves. Clara sits by the fountain, and I follow her. I glance at the water and see coins glimmering at the bottom. “This is so much better than the ballroom,” she mutters with awe. I take in her smile, and I realise I’ve done it again. I’ve fallen for a girl who I can’t love. “Yeah,” I say. “It’s funny when you say that,” she laughs. “Is it?” I frown. “But I like it,” she inches closer, “It makes you unique,”. I look down at my fingers, and remind myself I shouldn’t have fallen for her. Last time, I had to leave her behind. Staying too long… it isn’t good for a time-traveller's body. “Loads of people say it when I’m from,” I whisper. “When?” she frowns. “I - I’m a traveller of sorts. I travel through time,” I sigh. “A time-traveller?” she realises. “I need to go soon. I can’t stay long, it’s bad for my body,” I swallow, “But before I did, I wanted to say-”. Before I can finish, she pulls me closer and kisses me. My eyes widen with surprise, but soon I relax. And for a moment, everything seems perfect. Just for a moment. We break away, and I see sadness in her eyes. “I… I’m sorry,” she blinks, “I just - you were going to leave… and I realised I really liked you, even though we barely know each other,”. I touch her hand, “I really like you too,”. She smiles up at me, “I want to get to know you. I want to spend time with you. I want all these things I can’t have,”. Tears start spilling over her eyes, and I feel tears on my cheeks too. “Remember me in your travels, yeah?” she wipes a tear away. I raise an eyebrow, and she laughs, “Am I using it right?”. I nod, “I’ll remember you, Clara. I promise,”. She starts to cry even more, and I pull her into a hug. She gives me a small peck on the lips and watches me go. “Goodbye Calliope,” she calls to me. I turn, “Goodbye Clara,”. And I leave back where we came from, thinking of her.
