His back was so warm as she laid against it, and her face resting against the back of his neck. The ginger had no problem carrying her, he wasn’t huge or muscular, but he was tall, and in comparison to her petite height, it must have been easy for him. It was a nice moment.
She honestly wished they’d never make it to her house, she just wanted to live in that moment forever.
It had been a wonderful day, their club group had gone out to take photos of the city for an upcoming photography contest, and it had been a lot of fun to go around the city. They had been broken up in groups of two as a safety precaution, she and Matt paired up together.
They had taken photos of shops, cafes, wall art and a lot of other things, and just had a good time.
It would be the last time after all.
Matt was a senior and would be graduating soon. While Amanda on the other roll of film, she was three years younger than him, and would have to stand on the sidelines and watch as he stepped out of the small world of school life created for it’s students.
She really didn’t want this moment to end.
Her tiny hands curled into the material of the light purple flannel he was always fond of, he smelled of the usual generic soap and shampoo, but the small brunette still liked it, and it distracted from the pain in her ankle.
The sun was setting, bathing their walk home in shades of voiler, amber and gold, stretching their shadows against the scenery beside them. She wished she could take a picture of it. But her camera was packed away now, so instead she took in as much as she could.
"How's your ankle feeling?" He asked carefully, shifting due to the tiredness his arms and hands were feeling, "I can get down if you're getting tired." Amanda answered blushing, but the ginger just huffed, "That's not what I asked."
"I'm ok, it doesn't hurt as much as before…"
When they were walking around, she had gotten excited while they were going down a set of iron stairs and she stepped wrong, making her foot slip from under her and twisting her ankle, though if Matt hadn't grabbed her, she probably would have gotten a lot more than a twisted ankle.
The ginger nodded slightly and kept walking, "That's good…"
The walk went quiet again, and it would be ending soon.
Just like her time with Matt.
She had overheard the boys talking about college and moving out of their parents' places.
It hurt to think she wouldn't see him at school or club meetings, at lunch, or even while walking home. He was going to move on and she would no doubt be left behind.
Their walk ended not too long after and Matt dropped her off at her house so her parents could ice and compress her ankle before it swelled. They said their goodbyes.
And sooner yet graduation day came in the blink of an eye.
Amanda sat in the stands with the friends who had driven her there, when her parents refused, holding a small bouquet of flowers gently in her small hands. The bouquet, which held all of her feelings and her unspoken words, had been made with care to give to the one she longed for. White daisies, and forget me nots, tied with a periwinkle ribbon. She watched as one by one the seniors walked onto the stage, got their diplomas and left the stage just as quickly as they entered. But when Matt walked onto the stage time seemed to slow down compared to the others.
When she first met him 2 years prior, he seemed like any other teenage boy, who she thought was cool and handsome because he was 3 years older and knew more than her. But now he seemed so much more mature.
He was wearing the same cap and gown as everyone else, but he was so much more handsome and glowed with the excitement of leaving one world for another.
Matt Harves was both her first and only highschool crush, and Amanda Miles had to swallow her sobs and hold back her tears to keep her heart from exploding as he left the stage.
When the ceremony was over Amanda had to squeeze and slip between people to catch up to where Matt and his friends were hanging around with their families.
"Matt!" The petite brunette shouted with a thick melancholy excitement as she trotted over to the tall ginger.
Matt whipped his head around and gave Amanda a small smile as she went up to him with less of a skip in her step than usual. "Congratulations!" The perky girl chirped as she thrusted the small bouquet of flowers into his hands, a smile spread across the young man's freckled face as he accepted the flowers. "Oh, thanks Amanda."
Amanda rocked bashfully on the balls of her heels as Matt looked over his gift,"What kind of flowers are these?" He asked as his fingers gently ran over the blue flower petals, the bouquet was made up of daisies and little blue flowers he had seen before but didn’t know the name of. The girl's cheeks tinted a rosy pink as she blushed.
"Their Forget-Me-Nots." Matt paused at that and looked at the blushing freshman, he could see she wanted to talk more, she was so honest even with facial expressions, he could read her like a book. So with a sigh, he excused himself and took Amanda for a walk, still holding the flowers.
"They symbolize the hope of the gifter not being forgotten by the one who receives them…" he started after walking a bit away from the large group of people, heading to a lakeside park not far from the school. And he listened earnestly, even though she wouldn't look at him as she talked.
"They also mean 'True Love' because of their true blue color…." He could hear her voice crack. "Kinda self explanatory hu..? Though there are a lot of legends and stuff about them so-" just like how there was a lot she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words, so they both fell silent.
Amanda was wearing a simple but nice white dress with a periwinkle colored ribbon sash around the waist that ended at her knees and a small periwinkle jacket over it. Her long brown hair was slightly curled but was out of her usual pigtail style, instead held back by pearl styled hair clips on each side of her head.
She looked like a little doll usually, small and childlike, but now her lips were painted a gentle red with rosey cheeks. Roxxi had taught her how to use makeup, so that she didn;t make the mistake of caking it on. She looked more mature, and natural with the makeup, but the roundness of her face betrayed her easily. Still she had done her best to look nice for this day and this moment. If she didn't say it now, she'd lose her chance forever.
"I love you." She whispered, her voice soft but still clear enough for him to hear her confession.
Matt turned to her as she just kept her gaze on the ground. "Yea I know…" like mentioned, he could read her like a book, he had known for a long time. But it was still nice to hear it.
That day ended years ago.
Her parents had sent her away after that. Sending her to the countryside to live with her grandparents, to be away from “Bad Influences.” Not without deleting all her old contacts from her phone aside from theirs. Her parents were passive aggressive when active protective or what they say as her best interest, but they couldn’t stop her completely.
Even when being away for the rest of her highschool days, she still remembered it like it had just happened, almost every day he was on her mind.
Amanda was 23 now, and she kept those memories locked in her heart as she worked to become a photographer like she had always wanted. She never stopped being Matt's fan either, so she hadn't changed much since highschool.
When her parents tried to discourage her passion, Matt encouraged it in his own way, even if he didn't remember it.
When she returned home after highschool ended, she was reunited with her friend, Roxxi, and a few others from her earlier school days. She moved in with them right away. It was only a few more years before she saw Matt again.
It had been a bittersweet reunion for the two. While one had no memory of one, memories were cherished of the other.
Amanda had been a little hurt, and sadly knowing Matt had his memories erased, stung just as much, because now the memories only belonged to her. Almost like she had made them up, like the Matt she had fallen in love with had been a figment of her young imagination.
But she still couldn't stay away from the ginger no matter how hard she tried, hoping the sting would fade if she kept her distance from him.
Matt wouldn't let her though.
He kept going back to her throughout a couple of months to get his picture taken by her. In fact that's how they met for the first time and how they met again, what a twist of fate.
Matt was different though. He was no longer the person she met in highschool, he seemed to shine brighter than ever before. Amanda found herself adoring that though. He was so energetic and giggly, beaming with self confidence, it was an infectious kind of personality.
Still, even as she recited her clear memory, the fog in his mind didn't seem to clear.
Even so, as time went on, Amanda noticed there were things that didn't change about him.
He loved cookies, and baked goods, but hated ice cream and cold foods because they hurt his teeth. He liked dogs even though they made him sneeze to the point he thought he'd die. He loved that terrible series of movies and would watch them whenever he got the chance. He absolutely loved taking pictures, and still had a good eye for them.
Even if he was louder, and a bit more silly, at the core of it, he was still Matt Harves, so Amanda had hoped he'd remember her someday, until then they could make new memories together.
So when he asked her to meet him at the park they reunited at, Amanda didn't hesitate. When she saw him come into her line of vision, she nearly ran up to him. He had a warm look on his face and a tender glow in his seafoam green eyes, it made her weak at the knees.
But when he showed her the bouquet of flowers he had gotten her, she nearly cried.
"Forget-Me-Nots…."
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