March 27, 2015
Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Spring has arrived, but the atmosphere in this city remains the same. It continues to be gloomy and as depressing as usual, unchanged.
WHACK!
"You're a real idiot. Consider it over! We're done!"
The girl walks away from the boy after giving him a slap on the cheek. It stings, yet the boy is unmoved as he watches his girlfriend—or rather, now his ex-girlfriend—leave him standing alone in the school hallway.
"Love was... such a selfish love." He murmur as he stroked his slightly reddened cheek as he walked to his locker to gather his belongings before leaving.
As soon as he grabbed his things, there was someone behind him calling out. "Hey! Kai, You idiot, is that a slap mark on your cheek? Another girl slapped you yet again?"
The boy, Kai, glanced at the person who called out to him. It was Daisy, a close childhood friend. She lived near his residence.
Kai, still with a straight face, simply said, "Yeah, seems like I've been left again. Already the third time in just two months."
Daisy just grinned and patted Kai on the shoulder. "Hahaha, my poor Kai, does Mama Daisy need to give you a hug? Perhaps we could have a little stroll around town... before we head home?"
Kai looked at a smiling Daisy. Deep down, he knew that Daisy had feelings for him. Nevertheless, it was never brought up between them. Kai never saw Daisy as anything more than a childhood friend, and Daisy knew that Kai only saw her as a friend, thus she never attempted to take her relationship with Kai further, fearing that it would strain their closeness.
Kai sighed, "Alright... we can stroll around town for a bit before going home."
Upon hearing this, Daisy smiled brightly and stood on tiptoes to stroke Kai's hair, "Hehehe, such a good boy."
Daisy stroked Kai's head for a little longer. Moments like this made Daisy wonder if she should hope for more. No matter how many times she tried, there was a distance between her and Kai that she couldn't bridge.
For now, she was satisfied with just a faint smile. Perhaps one day, when Kai looked back, he'd see her and realize she was still there.
"Okay, let's go." Daisy reaches for Kai's hand and holds it, like always, in return Kai holds Daisy's hand. Together the two of them walk out to the sidewalk to go for a stroll around town.
it's still only a little past 3 in the afternoon. Although the winter-to-spring transition makes the weather a bit unpleasant... being outdoors isn't too bad.
Looking to his side where Daisy was, Kai asks, "Where are we going?"
✦•✩•( - _ - ) ✩ ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )•✩•✦
In the end, they decided to go to an arcade in the mall. As usual, Daisy tugged Kai by the arm to keep walking.
The two of them played various games for a while.
Just before they left, the two played a crane game. Pointing to one of the crane games filled with dolls, Daisy said,
"Kai, may I have something as a souvenir before we go?"
Looking at Daisy, Kai said, "Haven't I given you stuffed animals quite often? Aren't they all the same?"
Daisy smiled at him, who just sighed before inserting some coins to start the crane game. Then she replied, "Of course they're different. Each stuffed animal has something that makes it unique, even if they're made of the exact same material..."
"Anything is fine, right?" Kai glanced at Daisy.
"Hmm... Why don't you choose it for me? I'm usually the one who tells you what to do, right?" She moved a bit closer and leaned her head on Kai's arm. "Whatever your choice is, that's fine with me..."
After looking at Daisy for a moment, Kai's sights turned to what was inside the glass box of the crane machine. Thinking about what doll to get for Daisy, all he could think of was one thing.
Whatever.
Those were the words a girl always said. Last time he heard those words was this mornin' and afternoon right before his ex-girlfriend slapped him on the cheek.
It was a hard phrase to understand.
Though, even if the gift he gave her was bad, it was unlikely Daisy would slap him on the cheek. she was a nice girl... unfortunately, her taste in guys like him was awful.
In the end, Kai chose the stuffed animal, a hummingbird. somehow, that stuffed animal caught his attention.
on his fourth try, Kai lucked out and got two stuffed animals. They were a hummingbird and a rabbit.
Kai crouched down to pick up the two stuffed animals that had landed at the bottom of the machine. Then he showed them to Daisy.
"You choose which one? Hummingbird or rabbit?" said Kai, looking at Daisy who was thinking about which doll to take.
At last, Daisy took the rabbit doll from Kai's left hand. "This rabbit dolly is cute, don't you think?"
Kai observed Daisy embracing the stuffed rabbit. It was nice to see Daisy happy with that stuffed animal...despite the fact that she already had a number of stuffed rabbits in her possession.
"You sure do love it, rabbits I mean..." said Kai, gazing at the hummingbird stuffed animal he still held in his hand. "That's true... Rabbits are cuter than hummingbirds."
She looked at Kai. "Hmm? Do you want to trade?"
Kai shook his head. "No, it's okay. You like bunnies more, anyway. It's time to go home."
She gave Kai's hand a little tug with her free arm as she held the bunny doll and nodded. The two of them headed home.
✦•✩•( ¬ ‿ ¬ ) ✩ ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )•✩•✦
After Kai dropped Daisy off at her house, which was across from where he lived.
With some reluctance, Daisy let go of his hand since they had to part ways. 'Yeah. Thank you for walking together with me today and... for giving me this gift.'
He watched Daisy approach him and tiptoe to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"See you again, handsome~," said Daisy, hugging him tightly for a moment, then releasing him and walking slowly away, before waving goodbye as she entered her house.
Kai stared at her house for a moment, before he turned away and touched the cheek where Daisy had kissed him.
Getting slapped and kissed on the same spot huh... what a day.
Before entering his house, Kai muttered, "Daisy's really like a rabbit. She truly loves it."