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Separated Paradise: Chapter 4
Gale and I texted each other for a little while until he told me that Clara was back and he didn’t want her to start anything so he would text me later.
I was a little sad that he couldn’t text anymore, but I was more than happy that I actually had someone to talk to.
I was so riled up that I didn’t even want to sleep, so I got on my favorite art website on my phone until I felt tired enough to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to a text at 6:43 AM. Confused that a text woke me up earlier than my alarm, I looked at it and I was instantly awake at Gale’s name over a message that said, “Good morning! Sorry if I woke you I just got back from my morning run and was wondering if I could stop by and say hey ”
I immediately jumped out of bed and looked at myself in my small mirror. In the faint light of the rising sun peeking through my window blinds, I looked good enough, so I rushed to my front door.
After I opened it, I looked to my right down the hallway to see if Gale was coming toward me, but I nearly jumped out of my black pajama pants when I realized Gale was leaning against the door frame of my front door looking at his phone.
He looked up from his phone when I let out a startled yelp, and he chuckled a bit, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to say hi before Clara woke up and kept me inside.”
I took in a deep breath, regaining my senses, “It’s fine, I saw your text… I was just about to wake up anyway; I have to go take a shower for school.” I stated, trying to wake myself up so I wouldn’t sound so sleepy.
He chuckled, “I’ll let you get rest then. Did you need a ride to school?”
I stared at him with awe and disbelief. “Wait, what?”
“You take the bus, don’t you? I always see you take off on the bus after I get home from my morning runs. If you wanted a ride, I can give you one. I’ll just tell Clara that I have to go give a coworker a ride to work. I’m sure she won’t notice anyway.”
I struggled at what to say to him, but all I ended up doing was just nodding like an idiot.
“Cool, text me when you’re ready to go. I’ll let you take a shower and get ready.” He chuckled as he turned around toward his door.
I closed my door, then immediately rushed to the bathroom. I had never taken a quicker shower before, and I was so excited that I almost forgot to brush my teeth when I was done showering.
I got dressed in my “school” clothes that consisted of my black “Killswitch Engage” black hoodie and black jeans that were comfortably tucked into my black leather boots. Then I grabbed my backpack after making sure all of my school supplies- along with my charcoal drawing supplies- were in it.
I locked my front door behind me and texted Gale.
Though, as soon as I sent the text to him, I heard his door open, and I looked up with a smile starting to form. But my smile instantly shattered when I saw Clara come out instead of Gale like I was expecting.
I stood there, frozen as her blue eyes coldly glanced at me, and then she turned around, walking down the hallway as if I didn’t exist. Though that was the first time I was actually glad someone ignored me. The last thing I wanted was for Clara to turn her anger on me just because I was talking to her husband.
Wait…
What the fuck was I doing? I had a crush on a married man, I was looking forward to just getting a ride to school from him. This was exactly the reason why I distanced myself from people in the first place- to keep myself from getting attached. I had never had any experience with relationships, but I had heard enough of the horror stories from my parents and seen enough of the drama from school to know to avoid relationships so I wouldn’t get hurt.
Just because I finally allowed myself to have a crush did not mean I should have involved myself in any way. I was terrified. Not only of his wife, but also of being the one he ends up tossing away.
I looked down at my hands and bit my lip. I really didn’t want to get myself mixed up in bullshit… but… I could have at least one friend… right?
“Hey, you all right?”
My head snapped back up, realizing that I hadn’t even heard Gale coming until he was right in front of me. I swallowed hard, and I decided to just act calm. He was my friend, and nothing more.
I tried to give him my best smile, but I felt so weak, and all I could say was, “Yeah, let’s go.”
The whole drive to school, I listened to him talk about his favorite bands, and I tried my best to respond to him, but my emotions had just dropped to an uncontrollable level.
The entire day of school was the complete opposite from the day before. I really didn’t feel motivated to do any kind of work, so the entire day I sat in my desks from class to class basically staring at my pencils.
It was days like these that I was glad that I didn’t have any friends to ask me what was wrong. I wasn’t sure if I could handle having to explain why I was feeling the way I did.
As soon as school was over, I just wanted it to rain so I could walk home by myself. But the sun was shining brightly, and I rode the bus like I always did.
After texting my mom to let her know that I got home from school alright, I sat on my bed and took off my boots. I grunted in frustration as I fell back on my bed. I didn’t even feel like turning on my music because I just wanted my existence to wipe clean from Gale’s mind. I should have just stuck to watching him smoke his e-cigs out in front of the apartments.
I heard my phone go off, and I looked at it to see my mom had texted me back. She told me that her and my dad were about to go watch the football game and that she wished I was there with them.
She knew I didn’t like football, so I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as they would, but I still replied with a “Me too love you” and left it at that, hoping she would be too busy to text me back.
I pulled off my hoodie and dropped it onto my floor. There was no point in trying to ask Gale about Saturday, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go anymore. I was just torturing myself every time I thought about him. Why did I do that to myself? Why couldn’t I just think about him without getting the feelings that I got from him? I wanted to at least be his friend, but my stomach fluttered every time he came to my mind. Even though I was nervous around him, I still felt more comfortable around him more than anyone else.
How did he do that to me?
Suddenly, my phone vibrated and scared me away from my thoughts. I looked at the screen, and saw Gale’s name above a message that read, “Hey did you get home alright?”
I gulped, and I couldn’t help but text back, “Yea don’t worry”.
Within the next two minutes after I had sent it, he texted me back, “That’s good I’ll be at work until 6 tonight but I’m pretty excited for tomorrow ”.
I laid my head back on my pillow. I wanted to see him again, especially since this would be the first time I ever got invited somewhere on a weekend, but I had to keep my feelings under control. I took in a deep breath to try and relax, and then replied, “Me too ”.
I had to suck it up. I mean, Gale seemed perfectly fine with being friends with me. I just had to accept that and make sure my stupid emotions didn’t get in the way of a friendship.
He texted back, “And don’t worry about my friends they’re not a mean bunch just a little loud lol”.
I replied, “It doesn’t bother me I like my music loud so I’m sure I can handle it”.
I started to feel a bit better knowing that he was just as excited as I had been. I convinced myself that this wasn’t going to be as hard as I thought.
Looking over at the painting I had finished yesterday, I decided to make a frame for it. I grabbed it along with some paint, and after I changed into my painting clothes, I started to paint a colorful border around Gale’s face and dark background.
Painting always relaxed me, and the more I painted around this piece that I was so proud of, the more at-ease I became at the thought of just being Gale’s friend.
Once I was done, I had convinced myself that I was more than lucky to be able to talk to Gale and that I couldn’t ask for a better friend.
I smiled at my painting, feeling excited again at the thought of hanging out with Gale and his friends.
While I texted Gale back, I warmed up the chicken from yesterday and got on my computer as I ate and texted Gale. I texted him right up until six o’ clock, and then I could hear the faint sounds of Clara’s and Gale’s voices on the other side of my room’s wall. They weren’t loud enough for me to make out what they were saying, but I decided to turn on my music finally to drown them out.
I wanted to stay uplifted for tomorrow, and I fell asleep with calmness in my heart and anxiety in my brain.

:) (Smile) — Description
Separated Paradise: Chapter 4
Gale and I texted each other for a little while until he told me that Clara was back and he didn’t want her to start anything so he would text me later.
I was a little sad that he couldn’t text anymore, but I was more than happy that I actually had someone to talk to.
I was so riled up that I didn’t even want to sleep, so I got on my favorite art website on my phone until I felt tired enough to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to a text at 6:43 AM. Confused that a text woke me up earlier than my alarm, I looked at it and I was instantly awake at Gale’s name over a message that said, “Good morning! Sorry if I woke you I just got back from my morning run and was wondering if I could stop by and say hey ”
I immediately jumped out of bed and looked at myself in my small mirror. In the faint light of the rising sun peeking through my window blinds, I looked good enough, so I rushed to my front door.
After I opened it, I looked to my right down the hallway to see if Gale was coming toward me, but I nearly jumped out of my black pajama pants when I realized Gale was leaning against the door frame of my front door looking at his phone.
He looked up from his phone when I let out a startled yelp, and he chuckled a bit, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to say hi before Clara woke up and kept me inside.”
I took in a deep breath, regaining my senses, “It’s fine, I saw your text… I was just about to wake up anyway; I have to go take a shower for school.” I stated, trying to wake myself up so I wouldn’t sound so sleepy.
He chuckled, “I’ll let you get rest then. Did you need a ride to school?”
I stared at him with awe and disbelief. “Wait, what?”
“You take the bus, don’t you? I always see you take off on the bus after I get home from my morning runs. If you wanted a ride, I can give you one. I’ll just tell Clara that I have to go give a coworker a ride to work. I’m sure she won’t notice anyway.”
I struggled at what to say to him, but all I ended up doing was just nodding like an idiot.
“Cool, text me when you’re ready to go. I’ll let you take a shower and get ready.” He chuckled as he turned around toward his door.
I closed my door, then immediately rushed to the bathroom. I had never taken a quicker shower before, and I was so excited that I almost forgot to brush my teeth when I was done showering.
I got dressed in my “school” clothes that consisted of my black “Killswitch Engage” black hoodie and black jeans that were comfortably tucked into my black leather boots. Then I grabbed my backpack after making sure all of my school supplies- along with my charcoal drawing supplies- were in it.
I locked my front door behind me and texted Gale.
Though, as soon as I sent the text to him, I heard his door open, and I looked up with a smile starting to form. But my smile instantly shattered when I saw Clara come out instead of Gale like I was expecting.
I stood there, frozen as her blue eyes coldly glanced at me, and then she turned around, walking down the hallway as if I didn’t exist. Though that was the first time I was actually glad someone ignored me. The last thing I wanted was for Clara to turn her anger on me just because I was talking to her husband.
Wait…
What the fuck was I doing? I had a crush on a married man, I was looking forward to just getting a ride to school from him. This was exactly the reason why I distanced myself from people in the first place- to keep myself from getting attached. I had never had any experience with relationships, but I had heard enough of the horror stories from my parents and seen enough of the drama from school to know to avoid relationships so I wouldn’t get hurt.
Just because I finally allowed myself to have a crush did not mean I should have involved myself in any way. I was terrified. Not only of his wife, but also of being the one he ends up tossing away.
I looked down at my hands and bit my lip. I really didn’t want to get myself mixed up in bullshit… but… I could have at least one friend… right?
“Hey, you all right?”
My head snapped back up, realizing that I hadn’t even heard Gale coming until he was right in front of me. I swallowed hard, and I decided to just act calm. He was my friend, and nothing more.
I tried to give him my best smile, but I felt so weak, and all I could say was, “Yeah, let’s go.”
The whole drive to school, I listened to him talk about his favorite bands, and I tried my best to respond to him, but my emotions had just dropped to an uncontrollable level.
The entire day of school was the complete opposite from the day before. I really didn’t feel motivated to do any kind of work, so the entire day I sat in my desks from class to class basically staring at my pencils.
It was days like these that I was glad that I didn’t have any friends to ask me what was wrong. I wasn’t sure if I could handle having to explain why I was feeling the way I did.
As soon as school was over, I just wanted it to rain so I could walk home by myself. But the sun was shining brightly, and I rode the bus like I always did.
After texting my mom to let her know that I got home from school alright, I sat on my bed and took off my boots. I grunted in frustration as I fell back on my bed. I didn’t even feel like turning on my music because I just wanted my existence to wipe clean from Gale’s mind. I should have just stuck to watching him smoke his e-cigs out in front of the apartments.
I heard my phone go off, and I looked at it to see my mom had texted me back. She told me that her and my dad were about to go watch the football game and that she wished I was there with them.
She knew I didn’t like football, so I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as they would, but I still replied with a “Me too love you” and left it at that, hoping she would be too busy to text me back.
I pulled off my hoodie and dropped it onto my floor. There was no point in trying to ask Gale about Saturday, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go anymore. I was just torturing myself every time I thought about him. Why did I do that to myself? Why couldn’t I just think about him without getting the feelings that I got from him? I wanted to at least be his friend, but my stomach fluttered every time he came to my mind. Even though I was nervous around him, I still felt more comfortable around him more than anyone else.
How did he do that to me?
Suddenly, my phone vibrated and scared me away from my thoughts. I looked at the screen, and saw Gale’s name above a message that read, “Hey did you get home alright?”
I gulped, and I couldn’t help but text back, “Yea don’t worry”.
Within the next two minutes after I had sent it, he texted me back, “That’s good I’ll be at work until 6 tonight but I’m pretty excited for tomorrow ”.
I laid my head back on my pillow. I wanted to see him again, especially since this would be the first time I ever got invited somewhere on a weekend, but I had to keep my feelings under control. I took in a deep breath to try and relax, and then replied, “Me too ”.
I had to suck it up. I mean, Gale seemed perfectly fine with being friends with me. I just had to accept that and make sure my stupid emotions didn’t get in the way of a friendship.
He texted back, “And don’t worry about my friends they’re not a mean bunch just a little loud lol”.
I replied, “It doesn’t bother me I like my music loud so I’m sure I can handle it”.
I started to feel a bit better knowing that he was just as excited as I had been. I convinced myself that this wasn’t going to be as hard as I thought.
Looking over at the painting I had finished yesterday, I decided to make a frame for it. I grabbed it along with some paint, and after I changed into my painting clothes, I started to paint a colorful border around Gale’s face and dark background.
Painting always relaxed me, and the more I painted around this piece that I was so proud of, the more at-ease I became at the thought of just being Gale’s friend.
Once I was done, I had convinced myself that I was more than lucky to be able to talk to Gale and that I couldn’t ask for a better friend.
I smiled at my painting, feeling excited again at the thought of hanging out with Gale and his friends.
While I texted Gale back, I warmed up the chicken from yesterday and got on my computer as I ate and texted Gale. I texted him right up until six o’ clock, and then I could hear the faint sounds of Clara’s and Gale’s voices on the other side of my room’s wall. They weren’t loud enough for me to make out what they were saying, but I decided to turn on my music finally to drown them out.
I wanted to stay uplifted for tomorrow, and I fell asleep with calmness in my heart and anxiety in my brain.