Pearl Black || Seth Clearwater

Chapter Three

When Pearl woke up in the early morning, the first thing she noticed was the shirtless boy that laid next to her.

The next thing she remembered is what the shirtless boy sleeping next to her had said the previous night.

Goodnight my Pearl.

It was late and they were both tired. Perhaps he hadn't meant to say it like that. Or maybe she had just dreamt he had said it.

Lately Pearl had been getting funny feelings exploding in her stomach whenever she was around her best friend, but she chose to ignore it.

Except today, she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Seth had been feeling a similar way.

Or maybe she just hoped he had been feeling a similar way.

Pearl was snapped out of her thoughts when Seth started lowly groaning next to her as he started to wake.

"Oh, you're awake." He noted as his eyes fluttered open, although Pearl's heart was doing most of the fluttering at the sound of his morning voice.

"Um, yeah. Yeah I am." She nodded, still trying to shake the unwanted thoughts from her mind.

"You alright?" He asked noticing her off behavior. "I didn't keep you up last night did I, I know I snore a bit." He chuckled nervously.

"No, no, not at all. You're fine, really." Pearl assured him and awkwardly patted his shoulder but regretted it as her breath slightly hitched from the skin on skin contact.

"I'm just gonna go ask your mum for more food." She excused herself and left the room as quickly as possible.

"You're troubled." A voice frightened Pearl in the hall. It was Leah.

"Oh, no I'm fine. Just hungry." She tried to laugh normally but it didn't fool the older girl.

"What'd my sweet, little brother do." Leah asked knowing how Seth had felt about Pearl. "He didn't . . . try anything did he? Cause if he did I swear to god I'll –"

"NO! No, Leah, he didn't do anything." Pearl assured her. "He just said something he wasn't supposed to say and I don't know how to respond."

"Of course he did." Leah shook her head in disappointment.

"Look, I know you two have some super sweet teenage thing going on, but I'm only gonna say this once. It won't last forever." She said with utmost sincerity.

"What do you mean?" Pearl asked, half trying to brush off the first half of the sentence.

"I can't say much, but what I can say is that Sam and I aren't together for a reason, and one day the same thing will happen to Seth and you'll live your life as lonely and as sad as me." Leah said in a single breath before racing off to her room.

Pearl didn't know how to react or respond to this. Was Leah saying she wasn't good enough for Seth? Or was she saying Seth isn't good enough for her?

Pearl and Seth sat in an awkward silence as they both picked at their morning pancakes, each knowing something was up with the other but not knowing how to say it.

"Seth," Pearl broke the silence. "What ever really happened between Sam and Leah?" She asked as casually as she could.

"Well, Leah refuses to share all the details, but all I know is that they were really in love. Like really, really in love. Until one day Sam abruptly left her high and dry with no explanation for some other girl as if Leah wasn't the most important thing anymore." Seth explained shrugging his shoulders.