She Fakes It All!

"God save me from love!" Leah exclaimed. She was talking to Yvaine, who was in an oh-my-God-we-are-so-much-in-love sort of a relationship with Anson. Leah had cracked a hell of a joke and Yvaine just seemed to BLUSH at it. That was more than enough to make Leah roll her eyes in an I-don't-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore way.
"You don't understand," Yvaine said, still blushing.
Yeah, right. I don't understand. Leah thought.
"Maybe I'm just too good at pretending," Leah said, in her usual matter-of-fact way.
Again, Yvaine turned a bright pink. She just seemed to blush at EVERYTHING! Leah swore a tomato would feel insecure in Yvaine's presence. Yes, she was too much in love. Too much.
And so Yvaine went on and on about how Anson would turn up late for their meetings, get down at wrong stations because he's so lost in talking to his sweetheart, wouldn't wake up until Yvaine called him forty-seven times and so on.
"You never fire him, do you?" Leah asked.
"Never! Neither does he!" Yvaine replied, obviously blushing.
"That's kinda cute," Leah said, with a pretty fake smile.
Yvaine wasn't much of a 'friend'. But Leah didn't really hate her. Only sometimes Yvaine was too annoying. Especially when she talked about Anson - which was ALL THE TIME! So, to sum it up, Yvaine was annoying all the time!
"Well, I do fire him, when he doesn't take his medicines," Yvaine said.
"For God's sake go and see a doctor on the face of this earth!" Arthur's words suddenly boomed in Leah's head. That's how he would react if she wasn't feeling well, yet would refuse to see a doctor.
"Doctors annoy me, Arthur, and I hate medicines," she'd say.
"You are never going to listen to me, are you?" he'd ask, furiously.
"No!" she'd say, winking. And then Leah would spend the next two hours pacifying him. Arthur wasn't the sort of a person who got angry too often. But when he did, it was equal to thousand hells breaking loose at the same time. And for the cherry on top, Leah was the only girl who succeeded in angering him.
"You seem lost," Yvaine said, disturbing Leah's wave of thoughts.
"Oh! Umm no, nothing!" Leah said, forcing another smile.
Yvaine didn't pester her anymore. She went back to narrating other koo-chi-koo incidences while Leah submerged herself in her own thoughts.
Leah somehow seemed to hate Yvaine for being so happy in a relationship. She hated herself even more for that. Leah knew she wasn't the sort of a person who would end up in despair just because she's jealous of someone who's in a healthy relationship. But in the end, she had to accept the bitter truth. Why does Yvaine seem like an annoying person while all she does is share moments of her heavenly relationship with me? Shouldn't I be happy? Leah often found herself dwelling on these thoughts. But she never found an answer. Or maybe she did, but wasn't ready to accept it.
For the world, for her friends, Leah was a girl who had turned away from the name of 'relationships'. Someone who dreamed about her future, a bright career instead of romance, the first kiss. It was true, Leah WANTED to be an ambitious girl. A self-centered strong woman who focused more on her family, her dreams. But that really wasn't Leah Kent.
When she had fallen for Arthur, she had never expected him to love her back. But when it happened, when they did land up in a relationship, she hadn't expected him to fall out. Not in one month, at least.
"Three months! Can you believe it?" Yvaine chirped.
"Congratulations" was all Leah could utter.
Two months since the breakup, Leah reminded herself. Things were pretty normal on Arthur's side. Things seemed to be normal with Leah, too. The 'seemed' made a lot of difference.
The relationship meant a lot to Leah. It was a sign that Arthur loved her. The day he told her he loved her was the day Leah felt she owned the world. It was her everything, the reason she smiled all the time. The reason she never had to fake being happy. The reason things just seemed perfect! And when it was gone, Leah felt hollow. Like it was all an illusion, like it was just a dream, like it never happened. It wasn't meant to last, anyway. 'Cause it was too good to be true, she told herself.
"Life is all about loving yourself, Becky. A person who can't love himself can't love anyone else truly," she told Rebecca. And that's why I love him so selflessly, she thought.
Leah was trying very hard to keep herself from falling. Every smile she faked was like a dagger that went through her heart. Every laughter was a sign that she'd mustered all her strength to gulp down those tears which were on the verge of escaping her large eyes. "I hate relationships!" She'd say, while she just wanted to cry out to Arthur and plead him to come back. "Leah Kent is a strong girl." Indeed, she thought, a rather fake one.

A Little More Than Love

Under a dim table lamp, Leah sat with her head buried in books. They were to have a test the next day and Leah knew she'd be screwed if she flunked this one. Apart from the creaking noise of the old fan and Hannah's light snores, there was no sound in the room. The silence was suddenly disturbed by a buzzing noise. Leah picked up her phone. The screen displayed "Arthur Calling".

"Hey!" Leah said, a sudden smile spreading across her tired face.

"Studying?" Arthur asked.

"Do I have any other option?"

"I'm getting really bored."

"Same here!"

"Mind coming down for a walk?"

"Now?!"

Leah picked up her table clock and brought it under the lamp. It was 3 AM.

"It's okay if you can't make it. I was just.." 

"See you near the lamp-post in 5 minutes!" Leah chirped and hung up.

She still had the smile on her face as she hastily brushed her hair and plaited it into a clumsy pigtail. She grabbed her phone and the room keys and shoved them in her pocket. She silently closed the door behind her and climbed down the stairs to the entrance. She slowed down as she reached the hallway and tiptoed till she reached the main entrance. She hid behind a pillar while she searched for signs of the watchman. She heaved a heavy sigh of relief when she heard deep snores coming from the watchman's cabin. She quietly made her way to the gate and her face lit up when she saw him.

Arthur stood leaning on the lamp-post with a tiny smile on his face. He gave a brief nod when he saw Leah and Leah answered this with a vigorous waving palm and an energetic "Hey!" 

"Hush! You'll wake up the watchman!" Arthur whispered.

"Oops! Let's get out of here," Leah whispered back.

Quietly, they moved away from the hostel gate and started walking down the road. They followed the same path they took while on their evening walks. Leah loved walking, and so did Arthur. That was one thing they had in common. Leah often thought about their differences and she marveled at the fact that two people who are sharply different can be so close and never fail to understand each other. "I can actually draw a 'differentiate between Leah Kent and Arthur Black' table with at least fifty points!" Hannah used to say, whenever Leah talked about her friendship with Arthur.
"Done studying?" Arthur asked, breaking the weird silence that had crept up between them.
"You think?" Leah replied, raising an eyebrow at him.
"So, what's the plan?"
"I'll have to stay up the whole night, I guess. What about you?"
"I'll doze off. Nothing can stop me from sleeping!"
Leah shook her head and gave out a little laugh. Arthur's laziness didn't anger her anymore. Rather, she found it amusing. This guy walking next to her claimed that Leah was the only friend he had who was so close to him. And this was the same guy who had also forgotten her birthday once.
The path they had taken was a lonely one. It seemed to be passing through a wilderness. It wasn't haunted by wild animals, so it wasn't really a forest. But the tall, old trees, rusted signboards and dried leaves on the path somehow made Leah wonder if this was the same road Robert Frost had taken.
As they walked ahead, Leah shivered. It was getting cold and she realized that she had forgotten her sweatshirt. But it seems somebody was aware of her thoughts.
"Phew! It's getting hot in here, right?" Arthur suddenly exclaimed.
"Huh? It's so cold! Are you nuts?" Leah said, looking at Arthur with question marks flooding her large eyes.
"I ain't feeling cold. Here, have my sweatshirt," Arthur said, taking off his sweatshirt and handing it over to Leah.
"You sure you aren't feeling cold?" Leah asked. She still had her hands in the pocket of her pajamas and her movements didn't show she was going to grab that sweatshirt from him. Arthur looked at her and shook his head. He hastily put the sweatshirt around her and ordered her to wear it.
"You don't have to pretend like a heroine, seriously!" Arthur said with an I-know-what's-best expression.
"Look who's talking," Leah murmured, now pushing her hands through the long sleeves of the sweatshirt. The next breath she took was filled with a fresh scent. The sweatshirt had Arthur's scent on it and Leah suddenly found herself in an enchanted world. She was so lost in her fantasy world that she tripped over a pebble in her way. Arthur reflexively caught her by her shoulders and steadied her.
"Are you high?" he asked, as he hastily pulled his hands back.
"Come on, Arthur! You know how it is for me.." Leah trailed off.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You and your accident-prone nature! But please, next time you are with me, try not to fall. Your sweet little Hannah won't leave me in a single piece if she finds out you fell while you were with me." Arthur said, with a voice punctuated with fake horror.
"Hahaha! Don't worry. She doesn't know I'm with you. She was sleeping when I came out." Leah replied, laughing. Arthur let out a sigh - another fake gesture.
"Well, in that case, there are many pebbles ahead. You can fall as many times as you want to. I'll enjoy a good laugh watching you do so," Arthur said, winking at Leah.
"You'll let me fall?!" Leah said, looking at him with narrow eyes.
"You think?" Arthur replied, without looking at her.
There was a silence. Leah lowered her eyes and started counting her steps. After counting fifteen, she got bored. So she decided to do something else. She tried to synchronize her steps with Arthur's. But she didn't realize that her attempts were so clumsy that Arthur couldn't help noticing.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Arthur asked, looking at Leah who appeared to be dancing.
"Me? Uh..I'm just..well..your steps.." Leah uttered. She was so engrossed in her 'job' that she didn't bother to look up at Arthur whose face was now bearing a my-best-friend-is-on-a-heavy-dose-of-prozac expression. He stopped walking and asked again, "What are you up to, Leah?"
Leah halted. Now that Arthur wasn't walking, her 'job' was over.
"Me? Nothing! I was just trying to synchronize my steps with yours!" Leah said, sounding so embarrassed that she could actually feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.
Arthur looked at her with eyes that were yelling 'Go Kill Yourself' and then, he started laughing.
"You are impossible!" He exclaimed, still laughing.
"Yeah, well, I know that!" Leah said, now a grin spreading across her face.
They walked the rest of the path talking about random things. When Arthur would pass a stupid comment, Leah would just throw him a dirty look and then would start laughing at his idiocy. Arthur, on the other hand, wouldn't mind faking a laugh on the lamest jokes Leah cracked. Well, sometimes he did mind. Those would be the times when Leah would say, "Haw! That joke wasn't so bad!" and he would reply, "Trust me, it was." And they both would laugh on that. Sometimes, Leah would just stare at him with a smile on her face while he talked, and would quickly look down when he noticed. He was the same Arthur she'd fallen for two years back. Yet everyday she found herself falling in love with him all over again. He had the same smile, but each time it fascinated Leah in a different way. She still got butterflies every time she saw him, and even now his slightest touch took her to a different world. Yes, Leah was basically fundamentally completely entirely and officially in love with Arthur Black.
Leah knew she couldn't have him for herself. She knew they would probably never be more than "best friends". Not that she cared, anyway! She wanted Arthur by her side, and he was there. That was enough for her to last a lifetime. She didn't want Arthur to "love" her back. Because deep inside, she knew what they have is a little MORE than love...
They had reached the lamp-post. Leah became aware of the deep snores still emerging from the watchman's cabin.
"Bye! All the best for tomorrow!" Leah whispered.
"Same to you. Good night," Arthur whispered back.
Leah turned around and moved towards the main entrance. After she got past the watchman's cabin, she turned back. Arthur was still there. He mouthed a 'GO' and signaled her to move ahead quickly. She nodded and waved at him. He smiled and waved back. Leah entered the hallway and silently made her way up the stairs to her room. She carefully unlocked the door and got in. As she closed the door behind her, she closed her eyes, let out a deep sigh and smiled. She replayed the previous hour in her mind and kept smiling like an idiot.
"Where were you?"
Leah's smile faded. She opened her eyes to find Hannah sitting on the bed and looking at her with questioning eyes behind those thick-rimmed glasses.
"Umm..Well, I got bored studying. So had just gone out to take in some fresh air!" Leah said, with a wide and obviously fake grin spreading across her face. She awkwardly walked to her study table and dropped on the chair, pretending to be lost in the book that she'd hastily opened up.
"Cool!" Hannah replied, lying down on the bed and closing her eyes, "You forgot to return the sweatshirt to your 'fresh air', it seems!"
Leah suddenly realized she hadn't taken off Arthur's sweatshirt. She turned to face Hannah who had already dozed off. She smiled at her foolishness and took off the sweatshirt. She folded it neatly and brought it close to her face. "The wonderful scent.." she thought, as she breathed in. Shaking her head, she placed it on the study table, turned off the lights and lied down on her bed.
"Good night, Hannah!" she whispered.
Hannah just tossed on the bed and let out a 'hmmm', without opening her eyes.