The love letter and the suicide note

1:50pm

"I made some good strawberry shortcake cookies." Astra held up the container of cookies she made earlier that day with a huge smile on her face. "Try one, they're my friends favorite. They always beg me to tell them the recipe so they can sell them at the bakery."

"That good huh?" Orson said as he grabbed one of the cookies.

"They're really good." Astra took a bite out of the cookie she grabbed, and she sighed as she chewed it, the sweet taste of strawberry filling her mouth.

Orson took a small bite, and Astra smiled as he chewed it.

"It's disgusting." Orson said as he made a face.

"Excuse you?" Astra punched his shoulder and he laughed.

"I'm just kidding, it's really good."

"That's what I thought." Astra stuck her tongue out at him childishly and then turned to the grapes and plopped one in her mouth.

"It's so cute when you do that."

"Do what?"

"When you scowl or just take something I said personally. When you get upset. It's cute."

"Well, you're mean." Astra looked up at him.

"And you're cute."

Astra looked away from him as she felt her face heat up. She could feel his eyes on her as she tried to hide her face by grabbing a few more grapes and putting them in her mouth.

"Stop watching me." She said when she swallowed them.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?" Orson leaned forward a bit, and Astra hid her face as she turned to look at a couple butterflies flying around the tulips.

"Because I said so." Was all she said.

"Star."

Oh god.

The way he said her name made her stomach jolt, and she pursed her lips as she tried to concentrate on the butterflies, but when he gently slid a finger down her arm, she gasped.

His touch felt nice.

When he pulled his hand away, her head snapped to look at him a little too quickly, and he smiled as he leaned back in his seat. He knew. He knew what he had just done.

His brown eyes stared into hers as she finally made eye contact. They were pulling her in again, and she let herself get pulled in, not wanting to break the eye contact.

They didn't say another word. They stared at each other for what felt like hours, not even touching anymore food.

They didn't look away.

Astra didn't notice anything else around them. For the first time ever, she noticed him. She only noticed him. Even though they hung out a lot, and they talked a lot and looked at each other a lot, she never truly noticed him.

She noticed him as another person. Another friend. Someone she can hangout with and talk to and have fun with, but she never noticed him for him.

For the first time ever, she noticed him.

She truly noticed him.

And she felt words get caught in her throat as she did. She couldn't say anything, his eyes were too mesmerizing, and she got lost in them.

She didn't want to be found. She wanted to stay lost in them forever.

For the first time ever, Astra felt something she had never felt before.

She felt her heart racing in panic. Butterflies in her stomach. She didn't know why she was suddenly afraid, but as she stared into his eyes, the feeling of panic got worse the longer she didn't look away.

She couldn't look away. She was stuck.

For the first ever, she noticed she was falling.

She was falling in love.