737 words, I went a bit over the limit, so sorry about that! TW : has references to s3l. h@r[^]^], although none is actually present in the story. ~ The first time I saw him it was during lunch. Me and Meera had been eating lunch, me with my sandwich and she with her chapathi. It was a normal day, since Meera was worrying about my test score and I was groaning over her perfect ones, when a talkative, tall, and black haired boy walked past me with a couple of his friends.This boy was a new student, and he had stopped to say, 'Cool lunch, Emmy, right?’, and then I was in love. It took about five seconds, and I was in a daze, with Meera chattering away like a magpie and not noticing until she looked up and realized I hadn’t taken a bite of my sandwich at all. It was Cuban, and as a devout carnivore, I loved Cuban sandwiches. So when she followed my gaze to the same black haired boy, sent a friendly wave and got one back, she immediately went to the first conclusion : he was an old friend. Meera read too many books for her own good. That had been two months ago. I had quickly realized the boy's name, which was Quince, was in three out of seven of my classes, and five out of seven for Meera’s. And usually, well, nowadays, our conversations went like this : “Mee, did Quince talk about me today?” I’d ask, and then Meera, who was probably studying, would look up and shrug and say something like “Not really, you know, he’s more focused on his work.” And then that would be the end before I’d ask what type of whatever he likes. And soon, I found my whole life changing. My room, which had been previously filled with k-pop posters of Blackpink and sign language and morse code messages, had been taken down and replaced with textbooks and formulas and navy blue with white. My whole wardrobe would never be the same again. I’d go in the lunch line even if the cafeteria food was disgusting because it meant I could talk to him. You’d think it work, to make Quince Venere look at me and flash a dazzling smile of his, but nope. He’d wish me a good morning, probably compliment my sense of style, and then zwip! Gone. It was maddening, but I wish I could have predicted how maddening it would get. Four months into this whole Quince debacle, Meera had come running, black hair flying as she skidded to a stop outside my house, signed a cheery ‘hello and how are you’ to my little sister, and pulled me outside with an apologetic look. ‘You know Tina?” “The kid in acting class, the grade above us?” Tiana R. was the pretty freckled brunette in the acting club I had joined, she was in eight grade, a grade above me, and Quince. I suddenly had acquired a bad feeling about where this was going.. “Quince is well, he’s, you know, he’s a bit of an airhead, best to move on before, er, uhm..” She mumbled. “Spit it out,” I had muttered. The last of my “B.Q [Before Quince stuff]” had been put into storage, and the new Nollywood actor posters I had borrowed from him were finally going to be put up. I had never watched a Nollywood movie in my life, but if it meant Quince would actually talk to me for more than five seconds, then I was the biggest fan there was. “Tina and Quince are a couple. Her younger sister, I tutor her, she told me.” Meera finally finished. I-I don’t remember much of what had happened next. Just a lot of screaming. Some pain. And I was drowsy. My mom had told me the mind blocked out things it wished to forget. I guess my mind did a good job of that. It took a few days to recover from whatever had happened. Meera came by everyday, with flowers or chocolates or pens and paper, and one day, with Quince, who had already switched girlfriends thrice. And then I realized how… Well, I guess he was an airhead. But that’s okay. Because at least now I know someone that truly l0ved me, from the beginning. Meera and I got married five years ago, we're both thirty two with one boy, and she’s the one I should have l0ved from the start. [ plus her cooking is awesome-]
So, yes, it's terrible- gah- the prompt given by Sunset was 'unrequited l0ve', and me being terrible at romance, this is what happened.