Please Break My Heart

Chapter 8

This relationship was horrible. Ayanna could just feel it.

She did not have classes on Fridays. Apparently, neither did Lake. If they were some characters of a book, the female would have declared them as soulmates. But they weren’t so she could just be a little thankful to this little coincidence. Usually, Lake would have trainings on Fridays but that week, he was free. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Ayanna invited the male for a date.

That brings her to the problem at hand. She was so confident when she asked Lake for a date she did not even think about where they would go and what she should wear.

Hence, at five in the morning on Friday, she was all over her dorm room—much to the sleepy Lilia’s annoyance. She really did not think much about it when she decided to text him last night just a few minutes after he left. As expected, he replied late because he was driving but he immediately agreed to the idea.

She threw her stuff on her bed, trying to pick the best outfit. On the laptop that was on her desk was her browser with numerous tabs open, all about best nearby date locations. She kept walking back and forth from her outfits to her laptop.

Finally, Lilia had enough. She took one of her pillows and threw it to Ayanna’s head. She succeeded in doing so.

“Hey!” Ayanna exclaimed, glaring at her best friend. “You’re supposed to help me, not to hit me!”

“You’re being annoying, Ayanna,” Lilia simply replied. “Go wear your favorite pink shirt and then your pink plaid skirt. Pair them with your platform sneakers. Pink looks good on you.”

“Right,” Ayanna sighed in relief. “Thanks, Lilia.” Her favorite pink shirt was the loose oversized baby pink shirt that had the print “Strawberry is life” on it while the plaid skirt was three inches above her knees. “Are you sure about the skirt though? My leg is too muscular,” she told Lilia.

“Positive. And your leg is fine,” Lilia sleepily replied. She yawned. “And for the date location, how about at an trick art museum?”

Ayanna gasped. “That’s right! I have always wanted to go to an trick art museum! It will be a perfect dating spot for my future characters. It is a little cliché but we all go through that sometimes.”

“It’s for you, not for your story,” Lilia muttered.

“Not that it matters,” Ayanna laughed. “Now, go back to sleep and let me be. I have a date to prepare for.”

*****

As Ayanna expected, Lake wore a simple black shirt with the words “Brave Man” on it and a pair of black jeans. Even so, he still looked like he came out of a fashion magazine. The female secretly envied that male because she personally took so much time in choosing her outfit, doing her make-up, and taming her hair.

“So, where are we going?” Lake asked as they both buckled their seatbelts.

“To the trick art museum,” Ayanna answered.

“So, you like taking pictures?” Lake started driver the car, giving Ayanna a glance but he focused his eyes on the road once again.

“Not so much but I thought it will be fun. Are you cool with it?” the female asked, peering curiously at Lake. She realized that she should have asked him first but then again, he was a known basketball player. Of course people took pictures of him all the time!

Lake shrugged. “I’m not super fond of pictures but a few wouldn’t hurt I guess.”

“You’re basically like a celebrity. You should be used to pictures by now,” Ayanna commented, not looking very convinced by what Lake just said. “Shouldn’t you like take pictures as if it’s your priority next to breathing?”

“Just because I do it all the time does not mean I’m fond of it. Kinda like studying per se, students do it but that does not mean they like it,” Lake tried to explain patiently.

Ayanna slowly nodded her head, understanding what Lake meant. “I see what you mean. I guess it makes sense but it’s just weird. Because I see your pictures everywhere.”

“Exactly why it’s tiring,” Lake chuckled as he replied.

“But don’t you like it? Having your face posted everywhere I mean.”

“It gets tiring seeing my face too, you know,” Lake joked.

“Oh, yeah, I’m getting tired of it after dating you for like four days,” the female muttered before she could stop herself. Her eyes widened in surprise at what she just said. She could only hope that the male did not hear her. Unfortunately for her, he did hear her and he started laughing at out loud.

“I knew it, you seriously have something against me.” Lake kept on laughing.

Ayanna blushed in embarrassment as she glared at the male. “Oh, shut it. Go and drive. We don’t want to get into an accident now, do we?”

Lake did not stop laughing for full five minutes and while Ayanna looked annoyed, inside, she felt like his laughter was contagious.

*****

Since it was only around 11 am in a Friday, not many were at the illusion art museum. That made Ayanna happy as someone who was not fond of crowds. Plus, it would be fun taking pictures with only a few people inside the museum. However, it also meant being a bit awkward with one another.

It was the first ever date the female had. Of course she was awkward and she did not know how to act.

“Relax, Ayanna,” Lake suddenly said, noticing how stiff the female was. “The last thing we want is a tense date, right?” When Ayanna nodded, he continued, “Remind me again why you picked this place if you don’t want to take pictures?”

Because he asked so nicely, Ayanna found herself being truthful, “I wanted to experience going here. And maybe find a date inspiration for my next story.”

Lake nodded his head in understanding. “You’re a really dedicated writer, huh? How about let’s take a few photos for some inspiration? We can pose everywhere, seeing how there’s not a lot of people here right now.”

“Can we really do that? I thought you don’t like pictures that much. I’ll need you to pose for me.”

“On one condition,” Lake said. “Take a picture with me too.”

Smiling a little, Ayanna nodded. The couple then proceeded to take different pictures. Lake first headed to the art where a 3D painting of a man was falling off a window, he pretended to kick the a*s of the man. That made Ayanna laugh as she took his picture.

The next photo was of a white lady, Sadako, coming out of a television. Lake acted like he was pulling Sadako’s hair. Ayanna just had to laugh out loud at the scene.

The two of them also took some photos of Ayanna in funny poses. After a few shots, Lake approached Ayanna.

“Let’s take a photo together,” he told her.

“Err… who’ll take the picture?”

“We can always ask for help.” Lake winked. Then, he led Ayanna to the corner where there was a pretend mirror. “Wait here while I ask a staff for help,” he told the female before walking away to talk to a staff. He came back right away with a staff in tow.

The two of them had fun in striking different poses, acting like they were each other’s reflection. After that, they took several more photos of the two of them.

Ayanna was having so much fun! She wished the day would not have to end.

*****

The couple had lunch in a nearby restaurant, sitting across each other. As agreed, they would pay their own bills although Lake did insist on paying. Ayanna just did not think it would be fair to make Lake pay for her when she was only doing everything for her stories—not that the boy knew that though.

“You know what, smiling suits you,” Lake suddenly commented when the two of them were waiting for their order. “You don’t smile that much around me so I thought you must really do hate me.”

Ayanna could not stop the small laugh that escaped from her lips. “My face is naturally stoic, that’s why people thought I and Lilia are always angry. She isn’t into smiling either.” She sighed. “And I already told you, I like you so why are you still doubting me?”

“I don’t know. I just do. Sorry, it’s my bad. I’ll stop annoying you about it.”

“You better stop.”

“I will,” Lake murmured with a sincere smile on his face.

The couple spent the rest of the lunch time talking and laughing about their first date. It was so much fun that Ayanna hoped it would never end.