eula ☆

After that Sunday night, the five days that followed it felt like a movie. In a half good half bad way.

Me and Y/n exchanged contacts. We haven’t been texting much due to lack of time, but when we do, the conversations are so short it becomes alluring, maybe even addicting.

When I returned home last sunday, my family was unfortunately already there. My mom questioned where I went off to and I just said I went out for a smoke. She’s aware that I smoke but obviously, as a mother, she disapproves of it.

We scheduled to meet again this Saturday; this time, she promised she was gonna be more mindful with her keys. That conversation was held when we were still smoking on the curb, when everything still felt bearable.

But after our didn’t-go-to-plan but overall successful date, I snapped back to reality and started to relive those long nights again. Nights when I tried to focus on studying but was still unable to throw away that one picture of us. Nights when all I could think of was what she did and why she did that. Nights when I was begging for some kind of sign that it was going to be okay, sooner or later.

But no sign came. That’s why I resorted to smoking. Ever since my dad accidentally left a small box on the kitchen counter, I decided to give it a try. I then realized how much it put me at ease; it numbed my pain and momentarily made me forget my unbearable thoughts…

Attending that dumb party and getting to meet such a wonderful girl changed the way I see life. I started daydreaming about her, admiring her casual but comfy personality. She seemed such girlfriend material… Sigh. I guess I’m in love again.

I was thinking about Y/n again when my phone dinged. It was a special kind of ding. It was the notification sound I set just for our conversation. My face lit up and my mood immediately lifted as I scrambled to grab my phone.

It was Friday today, meaning tomorrow, we’d finally be meeting each other. And this time, we’re meeting somewhere closer to my area since she is the one with the car. Kind of embarrassing, in my opinion— like, I’m the guy. I should be the one driving her to places.

We decided to meet outside Queenside Mall, which was just a seven minute walk from my house. Much more convenient than Akebono Fields, but hey, I’d run a mile for this amazing girl. She’s just that stunning.

I opened my phone and clicked the notification I received from her.

Y/n

Hey, Sanji.

Can we meet at around half an hour til midnight?

I bit my lip, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. 11:30 PM… I’ll have to really be sneaky. My father’s work is during the night. I can’t disappoint this girl.

Me

Sure

Y/n

Cool :)

Don’t forget to bring a jacket or something btw, it’ll be cold by the time we get there

See you then <3

Me

Can I ask why we’re changing the time, though?

Y/n

The road is all ours by then. I’ll give you a ride that’ll last for a lifetime. ;)

I arrived at Akebono Fields, panting. I didn’t tell Y/n I was pretty far from the location. I was kinda entrapped in her spell or something when she asked me out. It was like, I was obligated to say yes?

I checked to see if I still smelled good. Uh, I could barely smell my perfume anymore… but luckily it was a cold night, so it didn’t really matter whether I took off my hoodie while running or not.

I walked around the bonsai-covered park. I’ve only ever been here once since I was a child, when my second eldest brother, Niji, threw a laser tag birthday party. I wasn’t allowed to go, so my mom took me here instead.

I was approaching the massive tree right in the middle of the park when I spotted a girl with (color) hair sitting on the stone tree ring.

I smiled when I saw her figure. Even from a far she looked so elegant. I walked faster.

“Hey.” I grinned, shoving my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.

Y/n turned, blinking her long eyelashes at me.

She grinned back. “Hey.”

She patted her hand on the smooth, stone surface, signaling me to sit next to her. I followed.

“You look pretty tired. Your hair’s kinda wet, too. Did you just shower, or did you run here?” She questioned. She was so witty. Her IQ must be high, no sarcasm there.

“Uhh, the latter.” I answered.

“You didn’t tell me you were far from this place, man! I was just a walk away, I didn’t know you had to run to get here.”

“It’s all good.” We exchanged looks and laughed subtly.

She stood up suddenly, placing her hands on her hips. “All right, you ready to have the ride of your life?”

I looked at her with round eyes, raising my eyebrows. For a minute, she was confused. Then she seemed to have realized what she said.

“No, no, no wait—” she said quickly, while I laughed at her.

She hit me lightly, smiling a bit. “You’re such a perv.”

Then, without warning, she sashayed away. Only then I got to fully take in what she was wearing.

She had the very same brown coat on, but this time she paired it with a black turtle neck, cream leg warmers, and black shoes that looked like they were meant for school. I couldn’t help but admire her style and cute choices of clothing.

I followed her suit to the parking lot, and surprisingly, there were only a number of cars parked there, including Y/n’s. She walked to a maroon-colored car. When we neared it, I noticed that it was a good old Toyota. Couldn’t go wrong with a car like that!

“My family owns a Toyota too,” I said, admiring the car. “Only it’s black.”

“My dad was supposed to pick the black model,” Y/n states, patting around her body for the car keys, “but I said black was too generic.”

“Maroon is generic too,” I commented playfully.

“I agree, but it’s better than neon colored cars.” She faced me with a dazzling grin. I couldn’t help but smile wider.

She looked down, continuing to search for her keys. I walked around patiently, observing some more extra features of her car. On the back window was one of those stickman family stickers. It had a dad, mom, and two girls. The labels: Dad, Mom, Y/n, Leah. So she has a sister…

The car looked so brand new and freshly washed. I wonder how long she’s had this car for… wait, how old even is this girl? I suddenly prayed to God, begging him to not make me into some pedophile. I glanced at her; she looked gorgeous, her skin soft, her hair shining slightly as the beams of the crescent moon kissed her (hair color) strands… WAIT! How old was this woman?

Y/n exhaled, sounding panicked.

“You good? Also, how old are you?” I asked, also panicking.

She took one look at me, eyebrows slightly creased, observing my figure. I looked away, cringing. Damn it, Sanji.

“I’m 20, Sanji,” she said firmly. Her voice was oddly reassuring— maybe that’s the tone she was going for? This girl is smart. Definitely not like anyone I’ve met. She sort of reminds me of Robin and Nami, a combination of Robin’s IQ and Nami’s will.

I sighed in relief. “Okay, good. I’m only a year older. Sorry, it was kinda sudden. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t, you know…”

She chuckled. “It’s alright.” She smiled only for a second before panic returned to her face.

“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned and ready to walk to her.

She didn’t reply. Instead, she looked inside the window of the driver’s seat.

“Shit!” she cursed. She sat on the curb, hand on her forehead.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I started, walking to the other side of the car to get to her. I looked to my left, the driver’s window in sight. I crouched a bit to see what she was getting anxious over.

Through the black tint was a chain of a few keys on the driver’s seat. Oh. She left her keys in the car.

“I can’t even call up my dad to unlock the car using the app, he doesn’t know I’m out.”

“I thought you owned the car now?” I asked, sitting beside her.

She wasn’t looking at me. I noticed that she was more focused on being frustrated but trying not to appear disheveled.

“I do, but we haven’t fully transferred it yet. Gosh…” she muttered the last part, evidently pressed about the situation.

There was a momentary silence. I fiddled with a loose string of my hoodie, pretending not to notice her staring at me. I glanced at her. Even when irritated she’s pretty.

“Sorry about this, Sanji,” she said, her cheeks turning into a light shade pink. “I really wanted to take you somewhere nice, too.”

“Is it too far to walk there? We can also take a vehicle.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit too far. If we went there by foot, we’d get there by midnight.” She said, looking away to sigh. “I didn’t bring my wallet, either.”

I paused to try to recall if I brought my wallet— shit. I didn’t even know where we were going and I didn’t bring my wallet? I’m kind of glad this thing happened, then. It would’ve been embarrassing if she was gonna take me to a fancy restaurant and I couldn’t pay or at least split the bill.

“Where were you planning to take us?” I asked, trying to break the silence.

“A place that not a lot of people go to,” she answered. “It brought me peace, I wanted to show it to you.”

“Why?”

Y/n turned her head to me, staring at lips, my eyes, and my lips again. It’s like I could already feel her kiss…

“I’m really sorry, Dad, Mom.” I apologized profusely, bowing.

“What are you apologizing for? As long as it’s for school, it’s a valid excuse,” my mom said compassionately, taking my hands and placing them in hers.

My dad, however, had a stony expression on his face. “Your siblings are never this busy. What’s going on in that damn school, huh? Are they handing you all the work?”

“No, Dad. Our teachers just gave us a lot of homework with the same deadlines.” I said, trying to sound respectful. My dad merely grunted.

Mom looked at him sadly. Then, she tightened her grip on my hands, smiling. “It’s alright, son. Don’t overwork yourself, okay?”

I smiled back. My mother really was such a kind human. It made me feel guilty that I was lying to them.

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you more.” She gave me one final, reassuring smile before letting me go.

“Ichiji! Call your siblings, we’re leaving now!” My father barked at my eldest brother, who was sitting on the couch. He nodded lazily and stood up, stretching.

We approached the stairs simultaneously, walking up together.

“You’re not really doing schoolwork, are you?” He asked sneakily.

“Are too.” I lied. I gotta hand it to myself, I was pretty good at lying.

My siblings, however, were good lie detectors.

“I should use that excuse next time… Tch, schoolwork my ass…” Ichiji murmured to himself as we reached the top of the stairs.

I opened the door to my room and locked myself in. Outside, I could hear my brother yelling at my siblings to go.

I took a deep breath and began fixing myself. I put on my golden hoodie over my black Levi’s shirt and changed into my good, unwrinkled variant of jeans.

I can’t fuck this up, I thought to myself, combing my hair in front of my closet mirror nervously. Why wasn’t a strand sitting still? I’ll pour the whole gel bottle on myself if it impresses the beautiful woman who invited me to go out.

After what felt like an eternity, my reflection finally gave me a nod of approval. Decent. Maybe even good.

But as I stared at myself, doubt started creeping in. What if she doesn’t show? What if this was some stupid joke? Did Zoro set this beautiful girl up or something, just to break my heart again for fun?

I shook my head, shoving my dumb thoughts away. No. Y/n didn’t seem like the type to mess with people. She was... different. Cool, confident, and way out of my league. But she had asked me. Of all the other guys in that party, she asked me. A dumb, blond smoker.

I perfumed myself then pocketed my phone, lighter, and a few cigarettes. I never go out without them. My friends tell me off a lot for that.

“You’re going to school with a cigarette and a lighter? Are you out of your mind?” Nami scolded me in an empty classroom. I tried to be sneaky with lighting my cig, too.

I merely shrugged, rocking the chair with closed eyes. “I don’t leave without ‘em. It’s like, I need them to breathe.”

“You can’t go out in public carrying those around all the time! I—give me that!” Nami snapped, snatching the cigarette from my fingers when she noticed I wasn’t listening.

“Hey, give that back! Come on, relax will you?” I said angrily, my position no longer lax.

“You can’t resort to unhealthy habits just because your bitchy ex left you,” Nami glared at me. I glared back.

“Yeah, well, you’re not some bitch on my right shoulder to tell me what and what not to do, so who gives a shit?” I rolled my eyes, getting up and leaving the classroom with calm footsteps.

Behind me, Nami made a noise of incredulity. I think I just pissed off someone I would regret pissing off.

I sighed. Peeking out my window, I checked to see whether my family’s car has left. It made me wonder what car Y/n owned. Was it a Bugatti? A Maserati? A Ferrari?

I snapped back to reality. The front driveway was empty. So they already left, I guess. I hastily scattered my books, notebooks, and pens all over my desk to make it look like I’ve been studying.

I then opened the window to my room, cool air whipping my face almost immediately. Inhaling sharply, I slipped out and carefully stood on the ledge, trying not to fall.

I tried not to look down… it wasn’t that high up, but probably high up enough to injure me. I delicately closed the window and, with a small prayer, jumped down.

Making sure the neighbours don’t see me, I crouched. I heard a distant sneeze from a house somewhere…

I sighed wearily as I climbed up the stairs to the topmost part of this building. Stupid elevator was broken. This dumb party Luffy invited— no, dragged me to is a bust. There was no one there who I actually liked.

He bribed me by saying there was gonna be a lot of hot babes... and to be honest, he was right, but... I dunno, none of them felt right. I mean yeah, they had awesome knockers and big butts, but I wanna find someone who wasn’t half as bad as my ex. Tsk.

“Just drink it off, bozo,” Zoro had yawned. “Alcohol saves problems.”

“Yeahhh, no,” I had declined his offer, my smile intoxicated with sarcasm. “Thanks, but I’d much prefer a referral, y’know what I mean?”

“I know! There’s this party my other boys are throwing, there’s gonna be lots of chicks, Sanji!”

“I don’t really—”

“You’re going! I refuse your refusal!”

I arrived at the terrace. I leaned my arms on the bar, admiring the city view dully with my blonde hair blowing in the wind.

I was so lost in my own thoughts I didn’t even hear the soft footsteps from behind me.

“Hey.”

I turned, eyebrows slightly raised. I was surprised to see a gorgeous girl—(color) hair, (color) eyes, brown coat. She had a short, black, pencil skirt on, pairing it with brown boots. Her outfit put mine to shame—I went to the party in my usual blue long-sleeved polo, with black slacks. It kind of annoyed me how there was now a white chalk stain on the side, for some unknown reason.

In between her fingers was a single cigarette.

“Light my cigarette, will you?”

I blinked. Instead of replying, I gestured my head for her to move next to me. She did.

I took out my lighter and she placed the cigarette in between her pinkish lips. It took a few lights for it to budge, but after three or four lights, it worked.

We stood in silence, the only sound being the rustling wind, the faint party music and noise, and the puffs of air from this lady’s cig.

“So, what brings you here?”

I was slightly startled to hear her speak. Curse that voice, it was so damn soft and alluring to the point it kinda gave me goosebumps.

“Got dragged. Climbed up here ‘cause I couldn’t stand the volume.”

“Hah, same. Want a cig?”

“Yeah, why not.”

She handed me a cigarette. I placed it in between my lips and lit it up.

“I didn’t quite catch your name.” I said, blowing out puffs of air.

She coughed softly. “Y/n.”

“Sanji.” I introduced myself. “All my friends get on my back for smoking all the time.”

“You smoke all the time? Shit, so do I. I smoke whenever I feel like garbage, and hell, life is garbage.”

“Which leads you to—”

“—smoke all the time—” we said simultaneously.

“—yeah.” She added. We laughed together.

“You seem pretty cool, Sanji. Wanna hang out sometime?”

I couldn’t believe this beautiful woman was actually offering me to go on a date with her. Is this whole moment even real?

I chuckled. “You’re pretty bold, asking the guy out. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

She smirked and removed the cigarette momentarily to speak. “You were taking too long.”

“Alright. When are you free?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“It’s a Sunday, aren’t you gonna be busy?” I glanced at her. She was a few inches shorter than me, just up til my nose.

She chewed the insides of her cheeks before replying. Finally, she shook her head. “Not really. Are you gonna be busy?”

I gave it some thought, just like she did. Me and my family were supposed to go to church tomorrow evening…

“Not really.”

“Then it’s settled. We meet at Akebono Fields. Tomorrow night 8 PM, you, me, and my car.” She looked at me, smiling.

She was rather… dominant? Assertive? Damn.

“You have a car?”

“Yeah, my dad handed me his old one when he got a new one.”

“I take it you must be rich?” I asked, sort of impressed. She had immense beauty and immense wealth, what else could she ask for?

“I guess you could say that.”

Wow. This girl was casually blowing my mind, just like that.

Silence. She reached inside the pocket of her jacket to pull out her phone.

“It’s nearly midnight. I should get going.” She blinked at me with those long eyelashes and gorgeous eyes.

“See you tomorrow, pretty.” I said unconsciously, lost in her gaze.