Cliched happy endings were never Gwen Reiling’s cup of tea. Neither was magical love, or the ever mystical destiny. As a matter of fact, she scorned at those who dared to dream about them. She never meant any harm; she just thought that people who wasted their time dwelling in something as absurd as a happy ending do not know anything about the cruel and harsh reality of life. The only person known to be able to tolerate her long lectures on logic and science was her best friend and next door neighbor, William Lyndon. One would think the two would have been siblings to be able to put up with each other so well, au contraire. Will was a firm believer of most things which were illogical, whatever Gwen refused to believe in. He believed in the cliched happy endings, the magical love, mystical destiny and more.

They were even opposites on the outside. Gwen was a short, pale brunette with dark, ebony black eyes. Will, on the other hand was tall, tan and blonde with the brightest blue eyes one could have ever imagined. Yet, for some odd reason, a reason that Will said was fate and Gwen said that it was because they grew up with each other and learnt to accept each others’ differences, the two were firm friends. Some even said that they might have been more than just friends. At the mention of this, they would both disagree.

“Will! No! Give It Back!” Gwen shrieked at the top of her lungs as Will ran to the other side of her room, holding her favourite and most expensive book on etymology.

“Not until you say unicorns exist!” He hollered back to her, even though he was merely on the other side of her room.

“Argh! They don’t!” she screamed back. Anyone could tell that she was on the verge of pulling all her hair out.

“Which is why you won’t be getting your book on words back anytime soon.” He finished his last remark with a smug smile.

“It’s not just a book on words. It’s about their origin and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history!” She crossed her arms and glared at him furiously, all the while, feeling like her 10-year old self instead of the 16-year old she was meant to be.

“Who even reads stuff like that?” He stopped his daring escapade to open the book and see why she liked it so much. Not a minute later of staring blankly at the book, he closed it, still not giving it back to her. “You sure are boring.” He mumbled, hoping that he had actually taken something that he, too, could enjoy and not be bored to tears by.

“Give it back!” She tried one last time through gritted teeth.

“Make me. Yaaaah!” Will expected her to let it go, ignoring his childish ways. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it resulted into verbal sparring, he had the wits for that. But what he did not expect was Gwen pouncing on him and both of them falling over.

“You’re so immature, give me back my book!” Gwen ordered. She was lying on top of him now, faces inches apart. “I’m immature? Who just pounced on me?” Will calmly replied. He liked the way she felt on him, the weight of her on him, the way their bodies fitted perfectly.

“You wouldn’t give me back my book,” she hissed, moving her face closer to his for what she thought would be dramatic effect. He stopped thinking altogether when his gaze shifted from her eyes to her lips, full and luscious.

“I...” He couldn’t manage anymore.

“Ahah!” She exclaimed triumphantly as she plucked the book from his unmoving fingers. She got off him and inspected the book for any serious damage, perfectionist that she was. He sat up and stared at her. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, she frowned every now and then when she thought that one of the pages of her book was torn. Freckles lightly dusted her cheeks and she pursed her lips every now and again out of habit. How could he have gone through 16 years of knowing her without noticing how beautiful she looked when she was in a state of utter annoyance? How did he go about 16 years without properly looking at those scrutinizing eyes. He had the sudden urge to taste her lips. He was contemplating how he would kiss her when she opened her mouth to speak again.

“Well, it seems that you’ve done nothing serious to my book, so I’ll let you off with a…” He held the back of her neck and his lips came crashing down onto hers. The moment their lips parted, all Gwen could do was stare at him. Speechless.

“That was... unexpected,” she finally managed.

“Ouch.” He said, looking more crushed than he let on. For the second time that day, she threw herself on him. For the first time ever, she kissed him.

“And don’t you dare tell me that it’s fate that brought us together.” She gave him a stern look when their lips parted. He was shocked that she would even think about such things at this time.

“No no, it’s not fate.” She smirked.

“So you agree with me?”

“Nope.” Now she was perplexed.

“While you were scrutinizing your book, I was scrutinizing you, and you know, I can’t understand why I’ve never realised how beautiful you look when you are annoyed.”

“What? That is of complete irrelevance to the topic at hand!” The tone of her voice was piqued, but the visible redness spreading across her face showed otherwise.

“Ssh. Don’t say anything. It’s much more pleasant that way.”

“Are you implying that I’m annoying?”
He ignored her last statement and silenced her with his lips. After all, it was much more pleasant that way.