CHAPTER 5

He remembered I'm allergic to shellfish.

He remembers!

It's been five years and he remembered something as irrelevant as that.

It had been 4 days since I saw him at that grocery store and I'm still ripping my brain apart at the scenario.

My heart clenched as I threw myself onto my bed, face first. I had Mason, yet here I was; five years later and still pining over my ex. What a loser. But what irked me the most was that he was engaged to that wretched woman Krystal Jefferson. Of all the people he could have replaced me with, WHY HER?

I wondered if he remembers any of her allergies; or her refusal to eat bread that isn't whole wheat. Every organ in my body ached at the thought of that man with someone else. Someone that wasn't me. Even though it's been half a decade; it struck me now how strange it felt. It had always been Helia and Flora, right from the moment we met.

Even though I knew we were over, I can't believe it took me seeing him with someone else for me to actually accept it? And seeing him engaged to my life long nemesis or whatever proves that not only have I lost my supposed significant other; but my best friend too. And as crazy as it seems, that fact hurts a hell of a lot more.

I've known Helia since we were six, when his family moved to Gardenia. I remembered the first day he joined our school like it was yesterday. He was put in to class A like me, while Stella and Brandon were in B, something that up until that day, I envied so much.

Ms. Donna, my teacher, was talking to everyone about jobs and stuff and in walked Helia with his mum and dad. Everyone turned to look at him and he blushed crimson. That was the first thing I noticed about him; when he got shy his ears and neck turned tomato red. Ms. Donna grinned warmly and introduced him to the class. I was so excited to have a new student in class that I didn't notice when he threw himself on the carpet next to me.

Eventually I noticed the warmth on my knee from where it was touching his and I turned to him and blinked. He smiled at me before looking back at Ms. Donna. I didn't even twitch, I just sat there and took in the boy with ridiculously long blue hair sitting next to me. That was the second thing I noticed; he had blue hair.

"Your hair is blue…and it's long," I blurted out. This took him by surprise and he looked back at me and frowned.

"No it isn't? It's black." I tilted my head and examined him. No it wasn't and I was sure of it.

I shrugged before finally turning to face our teacher who had resumed on her discussion about jobs.

"Flora! What would you like to be when you grow up?" She asked, I stood up and smiled. I knew exactly what I wanted to be.

"I want to be an animal doctor!"
"That's lovely Flora! Class, another name for an animal doctor is –"
"A veterinarian!" Helia yelled from his spot on the carpet.

I nodded eagerly, "Yes but you can call it vet for short!"
Ms. Donna grinned at the both of us and nodded, "Well done you two. Thank you Flora."

I quickly sat back down, my face flushed from making my teacher pleased.

"I think that's boring and gross!" Krystal yelled from her seat in the front. "Animals have fleas."
I bit my trembling lip and looked at my lap. I was trying really hard to stop myself from crying because mum always told me that if I cried I would be using so much water that there won't be any left in the clouds for it to rain. And I loved the rain.

"Now Krystal that's not a very nice thing to say. Apologize right now!" Ms. Donna frowned at her.

"Sorry Flora," Krystal mumbled, crossing her arms and sticking her lip out.

"I think animals are great!" Helia whispered to me, nudging my shoulder and smiling. I wiped my eyes and smiled back. I turned back to the front and saw Krystal glaring at me.

"What about you Helia? What do you want to be when you grow up?" Ms. Donna asked, grabbing everyone's attention.

Helia sat there nibbling his lip and looked into space. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked like he was really thinking about it. Then he stood up and grabbed his water bottle and walked to the front.

"When I grow up, I want to be a water fountain!"

My mouth fell open and the class burst into fits of laughter. Ms. Donna looked shocked and amused as she tried to get everyone to quieten down.

"Helia how do you plan on being a water fountain?" She asked him and a smile formed on his lips.

"Easy! Like this!" He took in a large sip of water, so much so that his cheeks puffed up, and then with his other hand he pressed his cheeks and spat it out…all over Krystal Jefferson's dress.

She screamed and stood up before bursting into tears and Ms. Donna quickly stood up and went to calm her down.

Now the whole class was rolling on the floor with laughter and I was clutching my stomach as i giggled. Helia, looking quite pleased with himself, came and sat back next to me and I threw my hands around him and pulled him into a hug. His ears turned red and he smiled sheepishly at me.
"That was so funny! Do you really want to be a water fountain?" I asked him when I pulled away from him.

He did that thing again when he bit his lip and looked into space. I decided that's his thinking face and I told him exactly that.

"You've got a thinking face, did you know that?"

He looked at me bewildered, "I've got a what?" So I told him and he seemed amazed. "Do you have a thinking face?"

I shook my head sadly and bit my thumbnail, "No I don't think so, but I want one. I'm going to go home and make my thinking face."

"I don't think you can make a thinking face." He told me. I shook my head and shrugged.

"It's worth a try right?" I asked, hope in my eyes.

He stared at me for a long time, doing the lip chewing before smiling. "Yes. I could help you if you like? Do you want to come home after school? My mum and gran would be so happy!"
"I would love to! But I would have to ask my mum. We can ask her when she comes to pick me up today."
"Okay we can get my mum to talk to her too."
"Yes she would have to say yes then!"

The rest of the day Helia and I were so excited for after school that we didn't even hear the break time bell ring. I grabbed Helia's hand and directed him across the playground to meet Brandon and Stella. They liked Helia and so we made our way over to our usual spot by the swings. The rest of the day went by so slow and it frustrated us so much but eventually the bell rang for us to go home and Helia and I sprinted out the classroom door, almost forgetting to say goodbye to Ms. Donna…almost.
…

She said no.

It was heartbreaking. Helia and I both ended up going on our knees and begging if I could go to his, even if it was just for an hour. My mum laughed and shook her head.

"You've got ballet after school today Flora. Perhaps you can go over tomorrow?" She looked up at Helia's mum, silently asking if she was okay with that. Helia's mum beamed and ruffled her son's hair.

"We'd love to have you over Flora!" She said smiling at me. And that's when I noticed the third thing. Helia had the same smile as his mum. The kind of smile that reached her eyes and crinkled a slight bit towards the corners. The only difference was that she didn't have dimples.

Helia and I looked at each other and nodded.

Our mums saw this and immediately started discussing directions and pick up times.

The next day I did go to Helia's house. But Brandon and Stella also tagged along. I was a bit disappointed but I got over it once Helia's grandma made us cookies.

…

It had always been the four of us all throughout high school and a little past university too. Of course there were temporary moments when there was a slight split between the girls and boys. But we got over that phase pretty quickly.

Even when Stella and Brandon started dating in freshman year of college, we still managed to make it work between us. But sometimes those two wanted to spend some alone time together. Helia and I didn't mind, instead we started doing things just the two of us. And when 3rd year came around, we were practically head over heels for each other.

We'd been dating for about four years when he proposed; till now it was still the best day I've ever had.

Throughout our relationship we didn't have any nasty fallouts or 'breaks'. We had petty arguments here and there but every relationship had those so we were good, great. I trusted him and he trusted me. But clearly the latter was a bit doubtful.

But anyway, I had Mason now and he helped me get over Helia in so many ways. And even though I still have a slight longing to be with Helia, when I'm with Mason it hardly ever crosses my mind.

But speaking of Mason, I haven't heard from him since the day I got here. I had called him once I'd helped clear up after dinner and excused myself to go up to my room, and we'd talked briefly; exchanged ongoing events and regular banter. But ever since then it's like he's gone MIA. No calls, no messages, no e-mails. Nothing. And it so wasn't like Mason to just ghost me, even when he was away on an international golf tournament he never forgot to check in on me. But now it's been a little over a week and nothing. It's not like he had a legitimate reason to not be able to, not that I am aware of that is. He stayed back in L.A and said he'd just practice at the local shooting range. He even turned down my offer on coming out to Gardenia to meet my family with me.

"Flora I need you to come with me and Josie to Lucy's!" Myles yelled throwing me out of my daydream. I swiveled my desk chair around so I could face her and raised my eyebrow.

"I guess? What are you going to do to her?" I narrowed my eyes at my sister in suspicion. She's had a long list of horrible hairstyles and the last thing I want for Josie is for her to end up like her too.

"Well Josie is going through that whole 'revenge phase' in attempt to get her ex to come back to her. And I've tried talking her out of it but who knew teenagers could be so demanding?" Myles laughed shrugging, "Now come on,"

"Why do I have to come though?" I asked, not that I minded. I liked Iker's sister, she was fun. I mean we never really shared a 'heart – to – heart' moment or anything seeing as her and Iker came into the picture around the time I went out of it. But from our few interactions I can say we get along great, especially seeing as she's a miniature version of Myla…which isn't exactly a good thing.

"Because I need a second opinion on things. She's fifteen and one wrong haircut, courtesy of me, is enough to get me to the ER." Myla shivered and I grinned. She was right, if I let her choose Josie's haircut and it ended up horrible, Myla was dead.

We walked downstairs and gave mum a head's up on where we were going before heading down the street to Iker's house to pick his sister.

Josie came strolling down the porch steps followed by her brother, Iker. Myla grinned at her boyfriend and reached out to hug him. "Are you planning on getting haircut too Babe?" She asked him as she gently tugged at a dreadlock. Iker stuck his tongue at her and flicked her forehead with a pout.

"I thought you liked the dreads," He said with an eyebrow raised.

"Well now they just look dreadful," Myla chimed, beaming. Iker, Josie and I groaned.

"I should have seen that coming," Josie sighed, rolling her eyes but even I could tell she was trying to hide her smile.

"Hey Flora," Iker greeted as he reached in for a hug, which I willingly returned. The past week and a half I've actually bonded with him enough to understand why my sister was head over heels in love with him. Seeing him from up close, he was HELLA fine. He was tall and broad, with golden brown skin which he inherited as a mix from his interracial parents. His hair, like aforementioned, was in short dreads that on some days fell across his shoulder blades and others, tied up into a small bun at the center of his head.

"Okay can we go now? My hair is not going to dye itself!" Josie huffed, clearly getting bored from the storybook romance displayed in front of her.

"I'm sorry, did you just say dye your hair?" I choked. There was no way in HELL I was going to let that happen.

"Yeah. Myles said it would look really dope." Josie shrugged giving my sister a suspicious look.

Iker and I shared a panicked look and I could see his hesitation as well.

"Well, if you consider looking like a 80s dancing queen dope, sure. But if I was you I would definitely not change the colour of your hair. Honestly I think it looks great as it is." And I was not lying. I was so envious of her natural afro. The only way I can get my hair to somewhat reciprocate the look is if I got to sleep with it open and don't brush it in the morning. "But then again, change can be great too." I added quickly as I saw a flash of disappointment run across her face. Hearing this, she quickly beamed and then began walking down the street.

Myla quickly pecked Iker goodbye before we ran behind Josie, who I realized now was a ridiculously fast walker.
Eventually we reached Lucy's saloon and was greeted by the one and only herself. Lucy was a thirty five year old single mum who'd been running Lucy's Beauty Parlor for as long as I could remember and she'd been the victim of Myla's ridiculous hair demands over the course of her experience seeing as she was the only saloon in this town that specialized in all hair and skin types.

"Hello Ladies! Right on time?" Lucy's cheerful voice echoed throughout the store and it sent shivers down my spine as I reminisced all the memories I've had over here. "Flora! My Good Lawd look at you!"

I grinned at her and let her pull me into a hug. She smelled like shampoo and mint gum. Just like I remembered. "It's been long! How's Amy?"

"Ugh, she's in her final lap of the adolescence year and it's a complete nightmare!" She was joking. She always was. She loved her daughter as much as Kanye West loved himself. Myla, Josie and I laughed at this as Lucy directed through the doorway to the actual saloon itself.

But as soon as I walked into the room I wanted to get out because there sitting in a black leather swivel chair in all his glory was the man himself. Helia McGregor. That bastard.

"Oh." Lucy whispered as she saw me staring at her client with a scowl on my face. "I probably should have mentioned that,"

I turned to look at her before glancing back at his reflection in the mirror. I slightly shrugged, letting her know it was okay – even though it was most definitely not.

He may not have noticed his ex acting like a creep by staring at him through an echo in the mirror, but I sure as all hell noticed him and his lack thereof hair.

It was short. In the twenty two years I've known this man, never have i seen his hair anywhere above its standard spot at the bottom of his back because Helia McGregor did not cut his hair.

But here he was, sitting all cool and collected, reading a magazine about God knows what while patiently waiting for someone to come dry his hair. How dare he sit there all nonchalant and self-possessed looking like a damn Greek God.

If I'd known he'd look THIS GOOD with hair slightly below his ear, i would have tried a helluva lot more to get him to come to Lucy's.

"Okay sorry Flora, but holy sweet Jesus." Josie sighed, staring at the man a few meters in front of. Holy sweet Jesus indeed.

Fortunately for me, he hadn't yet noticed his creepy ex staring at him yet. But as if reading my thoughts, he suddenly looked up at the mirror and stared right at me. His eyes widened and the tops of his ear turned pink. Fishsticks.

i quickly averted my gaze to the rack of nail polishes beside me and much to utter dismay, yelled at the top of my voice for the entire room to hear; "SO WHICH COLOUR DO YOU WANT TO DYE YOUR HAIR JOSIE?!" As soon as i said the words, i mentally dug myself a grave and pronounce myself dead. Only a professional idiot would ask what colour nail polish one should dye their hair.

i quickly glanced in Helia's direction again and saw him shoving the magazine he was reading inside a shelf, face down so i couldn't tell what magazine it was - and the fact that his whole head was pink just engraved my curiosity on a stone. If he did notice, he didn't show because God was watching and sent a man with a hair dryer in his direction, blocking out all possible sound...i hope.

"Uhm, i know i said i wanted to dye my hair but even i know that's not what you use," Josie whispered teasingly at which i stuck my tongue out at her and followed Lucy to the other end of the room. Far from any possibility of me embarrassing myself in front of my ex again.

"So what are we doing today?" Lucy asked Josie who had made herself comfortable in a swivel chair.

Josie opened her mouth to say something but then shut it closed and looked at Myla and I.

Myla looked panicked and looked at me and i stood blankly at the both of them. Great, leave the fifteen year old's reputation in my hands, why don't you?

"Ugh, well, maybe you could put her hair up into some cornrows? With extensions that match her hair colour?"
The three girls looked satisfied with my opinion and Lucy rubbed her hands together and walked to the store room before retreating with a back of hazel brown hair extensions.

Myla and I let Lucy do her magic as we went and sat down on the waiting seats. I tried my very hardest not to look at Helia as he paid at the counter but Holy Fluttervile Lord Almighty. Whoever that man was sure knew how to work a hair dryer because he was looking inconceivably hotter with his hair spiked up at the top of his head. I looked at Myla and she bit her lip, understanding showing in her eyes. This was so not fair.

Once Helia left i let the curiosity unleash and found myself waking to where he was sitting a couple of minutes ago. Myla, sensing what i was doing, immediately got up and overtook me, practically lunging for the magazine that had been hurriedly shoved in the shelf. Once i caught up to her she flipped the magazine around so that the front cover was facing us.

Too my complete and upmost horror, there standing on the glossy Elle magazine cover; dressed in nothing more than a black halter top bikini and denim shorts, was me. How Haram.

OKAY I KNOW IT'S BEEN NEXT TO FOREVER SINCE I LAST UPDATED BUT WELL...writer's block? IGCSE'S? Laziness?
Ah you choose an excuse because i've given too many.

Anyway i hope you enjoyed and found that it was worth the wait (Hehe)

Please review!