"My dear, fear not, You live in my heart, No matter what the future wants, In our memories we will always stay together even if we fall apart."
Ew! No! Cringe—
Alethea had thrown up mentally while looking at the notepad, its worn pages filled with scribbled notes. She had never been this... poetic or creative to write such nonsense. How she wished to go back in time and slap herself out of that relationship. Maybe falling in the gutter would have been better than falling for a guy met online.
Online relationship. Three months long. Another three months of crying. No counselling because no money. Millions of dreams had been broken. Alethea had even dreamed of marrying the guy who didn't even last three months and had disappeared. Finally understood what ghosting meant. The silence of her new apartment seemed to echo with the memories she was trying to forget.
Alethea took a deep breath; everything related to the past relationship had been gotten rid of, but one page of creative nonsense remained. She flipped to the next page and started reading.
"Stars were hidden away behind the cloud.
Heart collects the pieces around.
In my heart, no one was allowed.
People said another fella had drowned."
Breakups do make people creative and poetic and, of course, very sad. The notepad was thrown on top of the unopened boxes, their cardboard smell mingling with the scent of fresh paint in the new apartment.
The notepad landed with a soft thud on the pile of boxes; Alethea had just moved into a new apartment. Shaking off the feelings that clung to the past, Alethea was determined to start a new journey, focusing on herself in Arcadia College, away from everything, in another state. Her dad's ragged gasps punctuated the thuds of bags on the stairs as he hauled them up to the third floor.
"Alice!" Dad, Rohan Reed, called out, his voice hoarse from exertion, as he put another bag next to another. All the boxes and bags made it look like the whole family was moving to this studio. Alethea didn't say anything; just looked at her dad. Both parents had been adding more baggage, hoping it might be needed. Mom had even given pickles, sweets, and snacks, which could probably be bought from the store. The tangy flavor of the pickles lingered in Alethea's memory, a small comfort in the chaos. She didn't like pickles that much, but still didn't turn her mom down.
As her dad prepared to leave, Alethea's anxiety spiked, recalling the one time she'd spent a night away from family as a child. She had been left at a relative's house and hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, crying the whole night until her dad came to pick her up. Watching him now, Alethea felt a pang of realization about how much she depended on her parents. Her dad's warm hand patted her on the shoulder, his voice low, reassuring and also strict as he said, "Focus on your studies. Don't trust anyone and... Take care of yourself. Call me if you need anything. I transferred some money. If you need more, let me know." Alethea's eyes dropped to the floor, her shoulders sagging slightly as her dad's words sank in.
No hugs or forehead kisses. Alethea's family loved her, probably more than the other siblings. She was the eldest of the three siblings. But Alethea had always wanted to hug her dad, to show him how much she cared, but she had never done so. Now, as he was leaving, she felt a surge of longing to reach out and hug him, but her arms remained at her sides. She felt out of place, not knowing what to do, which made Alethea feel like she wasn't so close to him. As she watched her dad disappear down the stairs, the sound of the door closing behind him echoed through the empty apartment, leaving Alethea feeling alone and empty.
After a few seconds of silence, Alethea dashed out of her apartment and looked down from the third floor, feeling the warm of the sunlight over her face. Her lips curled up into a big smile as she yelled, "Bye Dad!" And waved her hand. Her dad smiled and boarded the taxi. Her phone rang, the name displayed on the phone screen was 'Mom' with a heart next to it. The loud ringtone made her jump slightly.
She answered the call and enthusiastically greeted her mother to sound extra happy, "Hello mom!" Alethea chatted with her mom about the apartment and her dad's departure. Her mother asked about what she would have for dinner. Alethea hesitated before answering, "Um... I will make something light for dinner." With that the conversation ended with their goodbyes and take care. Of course no love you or anything else. They never said such things. The most caring words they ever shared was 'take care of yourself'.
Alethea's glance reached the notepad. She picked up and skimmed through the pages to find she had also written a bucket list.
1) Getting a boyfriend
2) Midnight date, walking in the park while holding hands
Her eyes widened as she read through the list, and she couldn't help but chuckle at her own naivety. She crumpled the page slightly before throwing the notepad out of the apartment. It was already evening, the house was still a mess and was getting darker as the light of sun faded away. Alethea surveyed her small room, her eyelids drooping as she thought about cleaning. The thought of cooking dinner seemed like too much effort, and her stomach growled in protest. She never planned to eat dinner to begin with but instantly lied to her mom because she didn't want them to worry about her and nag her.
After she carefully locked the door and double checked the lock, before tossing herself on the bed. Her body relaxed into the hard mattress, and her breathing slowed as her eyelids fluttered closed.
Sounds from hell woke her up. Alethea got up, drenched in sweat, hair tangled to the extent to make an excellent nest for the birds. Her heart racing hard enough to come out of her mouth.
"What the actual hell?!" She questioned herself. Wondering when she rented this apartment, no one ever mentioned anything about it being haunted.
Another ear bursting sound gave Alethea the scare of her life. She covered her ears trying to protect them from bursting from listening to whatever devil summoning chants the neighbour was shouting. Soon enough she realised it wasn't a demon summoning spell but a romantic song...
And her favourite one at that.