Calendar ~ February
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy/Minor!Angst
Summary: A year following the lives of six individuals and how their lives intertwine.
[Challenge] Heart. "I don't want to be your whole life, just your favorite part."
Chapter's Author: rssj1314
-February-
Riya glanced up from her book; she slid her glasses to the tip of her nose and lowered her right leg from her left, allowing the blood to circulate once again. She could smell the sweet aroma of sugar and sweets but she could also hear the clashing and clanking of pots and spoons coming from the direction of the kitchen. She chuckled to herself and elegantly made her entrance to the kitchen island, her loosely laced blouse and skirt bouncing with her.
“Are you tearing my beautiful kitchen down, Lyn?” Riya teased, leaning on the counter with her elbows propped on the top of the island, upon the sight of a young girl wallowing in guilt as she tried to save the dying, blackened, batter of chocolate. The girl glared at Riya briefly before smiling apologetically.
She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and fumed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make such a mess.” Lyn grabbed a towel off of the counter and started cleaning the mess of flour and chocolate chips on the table top, “But you try baking a batch of cookies and making your own chocolate!”
Riya laughed as she watched Lyn’s dramatic change of expressions, it was as though her emotions came through a whirlwind - coming and going at the snap of a finger in a matter of seconds.
“You know, it’s long past Valentine’s, why are you still trying to learn how to bake?”
“Long story,” Lyn groaned. She scanned over her set of clothes that were now wrinkled and dirtied with the ingredients she used from hours ago and probably hours still. “I hate cooking,” she grumbled as she made her way to the refrigerator and extracted two bottles of water, handing one to Riya.
“Make a long story short then,” Riya insisted, a playful smile protruding her lightly glossed lips.
Lyn shook her head and frowned at the sight of the ever-so-messy kitchen, “It’s better that you don’t know for the time being.”
-----
Leaning against the back of the bench, Riya let out a long breath of air as she tilted her head back lazily. The snow had long been gone, but the winds were still chilly against her reddened skin. Someone came up and ran their fingers through her long, raven black hair.
“Damn,” the girl sighed at the silky texture of Riya’s hair, “I know I’m always jealous of how beautiful you are, but it’s just not fair that you also have amazing hair.”
Riya smiled at the voice of her friends; it’s been a while since the last time they saw each other because they attended different colleges. “Devi, I don’t know why you always say that. You’re gorgeous,” Riya said, shaking her head. Devi took a seat beside Riya and leaned her head on her shoulder.
“I miss going to school with you and Lyn,” she smiled weakly, “those were the best days.” Riya nodded in agreement. “Is Lyn coming today?”
“Yeah, she’ll be here in a bit,” Riya replied. “How’s school?”
Devi scowled, “Sucks! School always sucks and my lame cousin just makes it ten times worse.”
“You always complain about your cousin,” Riya laughed, “Do you go to college with him now?” Devi nodded with a hint of disappointment.
“He’s so depressing! So cold, so quiet, such a loner that it makes me mad!” Devi exclaimed.
Lyn approached them, tripping over herself somewhere along the way. “Ouch,” she hissed, dusting her hands together, “Who is?” Devi immediately sprinted over to Lyn and gave her the biggest bear hug.
“You’re still as clumsy as always!” Devi teased.
“Shut up!” Lyn pouted, “Who were you two talking about?”
“Devi’s cousin,” Riya replied, making room for her friends on the bench, “Seems like he’s giving our Devi a hard time by being a loner.” Lyn blinked. Was it possible to be a bother when you’re just never around?
“Don’t give me that look!” Devi frowned, “I know what you’re thinking!”
Lyn grinned, “Do you?”
“You’re thinking about chocolate,” Devi smirked.
“How did you-”
Riya reached over and cleaned off a corner of Lyn’s lip with some tissue, “It’s because you’re such a klutz,” Riya mocked. Lyn snatched the tissue from Riya and wiped her own lips. “You never did tell me why you spend hours at my house every week trying to learn how to bake sweets.”
“But Valentine’s Day was so long ago...” Devi remarked, her voice trailing off in thought. “Love interest? You have a love interest? Lyn and a love interest... I never thought I would live to see that day!”
Lyn rolled her eyes, “Yes, well... if you keep at it, you really won’t live to see the day.” Riya laughed heartily, “And neither will you! You have to shut that big mouth of yours!”
“Actually, the last time I checked my mouth’s pretty small,” Riya corrected, her expression extremely serious. “But let me guess, someone confessed to you recently,” Riya evaluated, her eyes looking Lyn up and down. The blush on Lyn’s face totally gave it away. “Who was it?” Riya continued to prompt with a mischievous grin.
“N-no one,” Lyn stuttered. Riya slipped back onto the bench and pursed her lips in thought. Devi attempted to help Riya with the questioning, but Lyn wouldn’t budge for anything. Riya tapped Devi on the shoulder and pointed at Lyn’s handbag. Devi nodded with an evil grin and quickly snatched it from Lyn, throwing it to Riya.
“Ahah! A card!” Riya smiled triumphantly, “Oh, it’s anonymous.”
“For all we know,” Devi added.
Riya nodded, “That’s true. It’s been forever since Valentine’s Day. They could have already met up and what not.”
“Give it back!” Lyn protested, her ears starting to turn red. Devi laughed at how easily and entirely red Lyn became; she was just too cute.
“Aww, it’s heart shaped!” Devi smiled, still trying to keep Lyn far away from Riya. Lyn tripped over herself against and fell flat against the ground. Devi immediately helped her to her feet, giving Lyn an opening to dash at Riya. Too bad she was clumsy and just fell again, causing Devi and Riya to roar in laughter.
Riya shook her head, “This would have been so much easier if you just told us everything in the beginning, wouldn’t it?” Devi nodded in agreement. “You like to make things hard, Lyn!” Lyn blushed even harder, if it was possible, and hid her face in her palm.
“What do you expect?” Devi asked, “She’s a Blondie!”
“Hey! No racist comments!” Lyn scolded, despite the fact she was laughing along with the two girls. “Ah, I feel so embarrassed right now! Do you two HAVE to do this to me?!” Riya and Devi nodded simultaneously.
“Open it~” Devi urged as she held on tightly to Lyn’s wrists, “See what it says!”
Riya hesitated for a moment, not wanting to intrude too much into Lyn’s privacy, but swept the thought away. Hell, it affects Lyn’s future happiness! She had to do it! She adjusted her glasses and flipped the card open, discovering an interesting portrait of a... no, she had no idea what it was, and her eyes continued to venture the card until it landed on a neatly written set of words:
“I don’t want to be your whole life - just your favorite part of it.”
Devi blinked twice before she returned her gaze to Lyn. “That’s... that’s very sweet,” she nodded, trying to pry Lyn’s hands away from her face. “Who is it?” Riya glanced at her two best friends, who were almost ten feet away from herself, waiting for Lyn’s reply.
“Argh, I... I don’t know,” Lyn fumed, kicking her feet onto the ground nervously, “I really don’t know.” Riya stood and joined her friends, stuffing the card back into Lyn’s handbag and returning it to her.
Devi pouted, “Do you believe her?”
Riya shook her head, “Not one bit.”
-
Lyn jumped onto the couch and watched as Riya ignored her and continued reading out of her book. She never dared to make any comments while Riya was reading. For one, she would always be insulted for her lack of knowledge. Secondly, she always feared Riya for no specific reason. It was just her aura.
“Stop that,” Riya said without tearing her eyes off of her novel.
Lyn blinked, “Stop what?”
“Stop staring at me,” Riya replied, “And stop thinking to yourself.”
“I’m not!” Lyn defended. Riya stared into Lyn’s eyes, causing a shiver to run down Lyn’s spine. “Fine, I was staring.” Riya set her book in her lap and continued staring, “FINE! I was thinking to myself, too.” Riya nodded with a smile of victory and returned to reading.
“Do you need something?” Riya asked.
“Why didn’t you keep asking about my card?” Lyn asked curiously, sitting up in her seat.
Riya took a deep breath, “You didn’t want to talk about it.”
“That never stopped you before,” Lyn rolled her eyes.
Riya hesitated for a moment before setting her book down, again, and turning to face Lyn. “I saw the drawing on it,” she paused, “ever since we were young, you’ve never liked to talk about anything that had to do with arts. It’s kind of like a landmine of yours, once we start going off about it eventually you just explode.”
“You noticed,” Lyn laughed awkwardly, “Of course you did. You always notice everything.”
“Well, are you going to tell me about it?” Riya attempted. Lyn shook her head. “Figures,” Riya chuckled. She lifted her book and began reading again, allowing a comfortable silence to fall between them. “Can you at least tell me if the card is the reason behind you trying to burn my house down every day for the past two weeks?”
Lyn couldn’t stifle her laughter even though she definitely felt insulted, “I’m not THAT bad, am I?” She asked, trying to suppress her laughter by covering her mouth with her right hand. “But yes, that’s the reason you’ve been risking the safety of your house for my sad attempts at cooking and baking the past two weeks.”
“Have you improved at all?” Riya asked, she didn’t intend for it to sound like a negative comment but it somehow turned out that way any how.
“I think so,” Lyn nodded, understanding what Riya meant, “or, at least I hope so.”
Riya smiled at Lyn, “I’m sure you have. At least you don’t sound like your tearing down my kitchen anymore. Neither do I smell that weird, rusty, burnt smell while you’re baking the chocolate.”
Lyn slumped and lowered her head, “I really was bad.”
“No one is born with the ability to cook,” Riya encouraged lightly, flipping a page in her novel. Sometimes Lyn wondered how Riya could manage to read, think and speak all at the same time without any difficulties. She made it seem so easy.
“Chocolate Kisses,” Lyn whispered under her breath.
Riya glanced up from her novel, “What?”
“I’m trying to make Chocolate Kisses,” Lyn repeated lazily, her chin resting on her palm. Riya un-crossed her legs and propped her elbows on her knees, the book still in hand. “Wow, you’re already six hundred pages into the book. Didn’t you just start it yesterday?”
“Don’t change the subject!” Riya scolded, bookmarking her page before closing it. She lifted a brow curiously and pursed her lips in imitation of a kiss, “Why Chocolate Kisses?”
Lyn shrugged at her, “Cause they’re sweet?”
“Sometimes I think you’re insane,” Riya laughed, “A kiss, huh? That’s pretty straightforward of you.” Riya lifted her brows teasingly, smacking her lips together. “You want a kiss from your secret admirer? That’s wild.”
Lyn rolled her eyes, “Whatever makes you happy, Riya. Whatever makes you happy.”
- January | March -
Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy/Minor!Angst
Summary: A year following the lives of six individuals and how their lives intertwine.
[Challenge] Heart. "I don't want to be your whole life, just your favorite part."
Chapter's Author: rssj1314
-February-
Riya glanced up from her book; she slid her glasses to the tip of her nose and lowered her right leg from her left, allowing the blood to circulate once again. She could smell the sweet aroma of sugar and sweets but she could also hear the clashing and clanking of pots and spoons coming from the direction of the kitchen. She chuckled to herself and elegantly made her entrance to the kitchen island, her loosely laced blouse and skirt bouncing with her.
“Are you tearing my beautiful kitchen down, Lyn?” Riya teased, leaning on the counter with her elbows propped on the top of the island, upon the sight of a young girl wallowing in guilt as she tried to save the dying, blackened, batter of chocolate. The girl glared at Riya briefly before smiling apologetically.
She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and fumed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make such a mess.” Lyn grabbed a towel off of the counter and started cleaning the mess of flour and chocolate chips on the table top, “But you try baking a batch of cookies and making your own chocolate!”
Riya laughed as she watched Lyn’s dramatic change of expressions, it was as though her emotions came through a whirlwind - coming and going at the snap of a finger in a matter of seconds.
“You know, it’s long past Valentine’s, why are you still trying to learn how to bake?”
“Long story,” Lyn groaned. She scanned over her set of clothes that were now wrinkled and dirtied with the ingredients she used from hours ago and probably hours still. “I hate cooking,” she grumbled as she made her way to the refrigerator and extracted two bottles of water, handing one to Riya.
“Make a long story short then,” Riya insisted, a playful smile protruding her lightly glossed lips.
Lyn shook her head and frowned at the sight of the ever-so-messy kitchen, “It’s better that you don’t know for the time being.”
-----
Leaning against the back of the bench, Riya let out a long breath of air as she tilted her head back lazily. The snow had long been gone, but the winds were still chilly against her reddened skin. Someone came up and ran their fingers through her long, raven black hair.
“Damn,” the girl sighed at the silky texture of Riya’s hair, “I know I’m always jealous of how beautiful you are, but it’s just not fair that you also have amazing hair.”
Riya smiled at the voice of her friends; it’s been a while since the last time they saw each other because they attended different colleges. “Devi, I don’t know why you always say that. You’re gorgeous,” Riya said, shaking her head. Devi took a seat beside Riya and leaned her head on her shoulder.
“I miss going to school with you and Lyn,” she smiled weakly, “those were the best days.” Riya nodded in agreement. “Is Lyn coming today?”
“Yeah, she’ll be here in a bit,” Riya replied. “How’s school?”
Devi scowled, “Sucks! School always sucks and my lame cousin just makes it ten times worse.”
“You always complain about your cousin,” Riya laughed, “Do you go to college with him now?” Devi nodded with a hint of disappointment.
“He’s so depressing! So cold, so quiet, such a loner that it makes me mad!” Devi exclaimed.
Lyn approached them, tripping over herself somewhere along the way. “Ouch,” she hissed, dusting her hands together, “Who is?” Devi immediately sprinted over to Lyn and gave her the biggest bear hug.
“You’re still as clumsy as always!” Devi teased.
“Shut up!” Lyn pouted, “Who were you two talking about?”
“Devi’s cousin,” Riya replied, making room for her friends on the bench, “Seems like he’s giving our Devi a hard time by being a loner.” Lyn blinked. Was it possible to be a bother when you’re just never around?
“Don’t give me that look!” Devi frowned, “I know what you’re thinking!”
Lyn grinned, “Do you?”
“You’re thinking about chocolate,” Devi smirked.
“How did you-”
Riya reached over and cleaned off a corner of Lyn’s lip with some tissue, “It’s because you’re such a klutz,” Riya mocked. Lyn snatched the tissue from Riya and wiped her own lips. “You never did tell me why you spend hours at my house every week trying to learn how to bake sweets.”
“But Valentine’s Day was so long ago...” Devi remarked, her voice trailing off in thought. “Love interest? You have a love interest? Lyn and a love interest... I never thought I would live to see that day!”
Lyn rolled her eyes, “Yes, well... if you keep at it, you really won’t live to see the day.” Riya laughed heartily, “And neither will you! You have to shut that big mouth of yours!”
“Actually, the last time I checked my mouth’s pretty small,” Riya corrected, her expression extremely serious. “But let me guess, someone confessed to you recently,” Riya evaluated, her eyes looking Lyn up and down. The blush on Lyn’s face totally gave it away. “Who was it?” Riya continued to prompt with a mischievous grin.
“N-no one,” Lyn stuttered. Riya slipped back onto the bench and pursed her lips in thought. Devi attempted to help Riya with the questioning, but Lyn wouldn’t budge for anything. Riya tapped Devi on the shoulder and pointed at Lyn’s handbag. Devi nodded with an evil grin and quickly snatched it from Lyn, throwing it to Riya.
“Ahah! A card!” Riya smiled triumphantly, “Oh, it’s anonymous.”
“For all we know,” Devi added.
Riya nodded, “That’s true. It’s been forever since Valentine’s Day. They could have already met up and what not.”
“Give it back!” Lyn protested, her ears starting to turn red. Devi laughed at how easily and entirely red Lyn became; she was just too cute.
“Aww, it’s heart shaped!” Devi smiled, still trying to keep Lyn far away from Riya. Lyn tripped over herself against and fell flat against the ground. Devi immediately helped her to her feet, giving Lyn an opening to dash at Riya. Too bad she was clumsy and just fell again, causing Devi and Riya to roar in laughter.
Riya shook her head, “This would have been so much easier if you just told us everything in the beginning, wouldn’t it?” Devi nodded in agreement. “You like to make things hard, Lyn!” Lyn blushed even harder, if it was possible, and hid her face in her palm.
“What do you expect?” Devi asked, “She’s a Blondie!”
“Hey! No racist comments!” Lyn scolded, despite the fact she was laughing along with the two girls. “Ah, I feel so embarrassed right now! Do you two HAVE to do this to me?!” Riya and Devi nodded simultaneously.
“Open it~” Devi urged as she held on tightly to Lyn’s wrists, “See what it says!”
Riya hesitated for a moment, not wanting to intrude too much into Lyn’s privacy, but swept the thought away. Hell, it affects Lyn’s future happiness! She had to do it! She adjusted her glasses and flipped the card open, discovering an interesting portrait of a... no, she had no idea what it was, and her eyes continued to venture the card until it landed on a neatly written set of words:
“I don’t want to be your whole life - just your favorite part of it.”
Devi blinked twice before she returned her gaze to Lyn. “That’s... that’s very sweet,” she nodded, trying to pry Lyn’s hands away from her face. “Who is it?” Riya glanced at her two best friends, who were almost ten feet away from herself, waiting for Lyn’s reply.
“Argh, I... I don’t know,” Lyn fumed, kicking her feet onto the ground nervously, “I really don’t know.” Riya stood and joined her friends, stuffing the card back into Lyn’s handbag and returning it to her.
Devi pouted, “Do you believe her?”
Riya shook her head, “Not one bit.”
-
Lyn jumped onto the couch and watched as Riya ignored her and continued reading out of her book. She never dared to make any comments while Riya was reading. For one, she would always be insulted for her lack of knowledge. Secondly, she always feared Riya for no specific reason. It was just her aura.
“Stop that,” Riya said without tearing her eyes off of her novel.
Lyn blinked, “Stop what?”
“Stop staring at me,” Riya replied, “And stop thinking to yourself.”
“I’m not!” Lyn defended. Riya stared into Lyn’s eyes, causing a shiver to run down Lyn’s spine. “Fine, I was staring.” Riya set her book in her lap and continued staring, “FINE! I was thinking to myself, too.” Riya nodded with a smile of victory and returned to reading.
“Do you need something?” Riya asked.
“Why didn’t you keep asking about my card?” Lyn asked curiously, sitting up in her seat.
Riya took a deep breath, “You didn’t want to talk about it.”
“That never stopped you before,” Lyn rolled her eyes.
Riya hesitated for a moment before setting her book down, again, and turning to face Lyn. “I saw the drawing on it,” she paused, “ever since we were young, you’ve never liked to talk about anything that had to do with arts. It’s kind of like a landmine of yours, once we start going off about it eventually you just explode.”
“You noticed,” Lyn laughed awkwardly, “Of course you did. You always notice everything.”
“Well, are you going to tell me about it?” Riya attempted. Lyn shook her head. “Figures,” Riya chuckled. She lifted her book and began reading again, allowing a comfortable silence to fall between them. “Can you at least tell me if the card is the reason behind you trying to burn my house down every day for the past two weeks?”
Lyn couldn’t stifle her laughter even though she definitely felt insulted, “I’m not THAT bad, am I?” She asked, trying to suppress her laughter by covering her mouth with her right hand. “But yes, that’s the reason you’ve been risking the safety of your house for my sad attempts at cooking and baking the past two weeks.”
“Have you improved at all?” Riya asked, she didn’t intend for it to sound like a negative comment but it somehow turned out that way any how.
“I think so,” Lyn nodded, understanding what Riya meant, “or, at least I hope so.”
Riya smiled at Lyn, “I’m sure you have. At least you don’t sound like your tearing down my kitchen anymore. Neither do I smell that weird, rusty, burnt smell while you’re baking the chocolate.”
Lyn slumped and lowered her head, “I really was bad.”
“No one is born with the ability to cook,” Riya encouraged lightly, flipping a page in her novel. Sometimes Lyn wondered how Riya could manage to read, think and speak all at the same time without any difficulties. She made it seem so easy.
“Chocolate Kisses,” Lyn whispered under her breath.
Riya glanced up from her novel, “What?”
“I’m trying to make Chocolate Kisses,” Lyn repeated lazily, her chin resting on her palm. Riya un-crossed her legs and propped her elbows on her knees, the book still in hand. “Wow, you’re already six hundred pages into the book. Didn’t you just start it yesterday?”
“Don’t change the subject!” Riya scolded, bookmarking her page before closing it. She lifted a brow curiously and pursed her lips in imitation of a kiss, “Why Chocolate Kisses?”
Lyn shrugged at her, “Cause they’re sweet?”
“Sometimes I think you’re insane,” Riya laughed, “A kiss, huh? That’s pretty straightforward of you.” Riya lifted her brows teasingly, smacking her lips together. “You want a kiss from your secret admirer? That’s wild.”
Lyn rolled her eyes, “Whatever makes you happy, Riya. Whatever makes you happy.”
- January | March -