Your Lips, Your Eyes

She haunts me.

Always with the same outfit.

The same hair.

The same everything.

She wears one and only one color.

White.

Her favorite color. But there’s one thing standing out the most;

Her lips.

Her bloody-red lips. As red as fresh blood.

Every night I try to sleep, she’s there. She’s always there.

Watching.

Observing.

I feel like, everywhere I go, she follows. Because . . .

She watches.

Again. I’ve woken from another dream. Yet another dream, but always the same scene. Always her. God, why? Just . . . Why?

Do I have anything related to her?

Is she related to me? Just why do I always dream of her?

ring . . . ring . . . ring . . .

My phone rang and vibrated at the same time at the side of my night table.

It was Luka. Might as well answer him, then.

Luka: Hey, bruv, are you gonna attend later?

Alexei: Yeah, I’m bored as heck at home. Might as well get out of here.

Luka: Dress well . . . Remember, this is a seniors’ party, not a church sermon. Might as well impress some girls while you’re at it—he snickered through the phone

Alexei: Yeah, yeah, whatever . . . not funny, bruv

Luka: I’ll catch up later, I still have a date with Maya . . .

The call ended.

I should probably look for clothes now if I want to look good later. I opened my closet.

Definitely a no. Yeah, I’m buying clothes.

These are all checkered and tight jeans. I’m not embarrassing myself tonight.

On the way home, I picked up food for lunch. I’d probably eat something light so I’d have room for more later.

As night arrives, I started to dress myself up.

Not bad for myself, I actually look good in different clothing. I just need to figure out what to do with my hair now.

Should I just let them be? Or do I put them at the side like I always do?

Nah, let’s slick it back, might look good on me.

Nice.

After dressing up, I picked up Luka with my car since he lives pretty near from me. Might as well give him a ride.

“Woah, bruv. Is that really you? You look great. You’re finally looking human for once” Luka teased,

“I never even knew you had these”—he kept poking my pecs—“until you wore this. Oh no, I might have my rival born when we go through those doors” He spoke squinting his eyes at me.

“Do I actually look that good? Or are you just teasing me to not make me feel bad?” I spoke to him, checking out my fit for the hundredth time.

“Bruv, I’m telling you. You’re good to go. Girls might even ask for your number at this rate” he said lightly punching my pecs.

I chuckled a little and went back to driving. Not even saying anything to him in return because I know for a fact he’d keep going on with his nonsense

After parking my car, we proceeded inside the venue. Not gonna lie, it’s huge. It’s definitely not just any bar—

It’s a mansion.

In a room where there are a lot of people, one stood out the most.

It’s not because she’s the tallest, nor was she an attention-seeker.

She stood out because of her unmatched beauty.

Yeah, she’s wearing make-up, but behind those powder and paint, she still looked pretty.

thud. . . thud . . . thud . . .

Is this what love feels like? It makes me feel like I’m in a circus.

It’s a mix of emotions. She looks so pretty. I want to hold her. I want to stay with her forever.

Who is she?

I need to get to know her as soon as possible.

My friend, Luka, nudged me, then.

“What are you staring at?—No, to correct that, Who are you staring at?” He, too, started scanning the direction I was looking at.

He talked after sipping from his can of beer. “Isn’t she the weird girl everyone was talking about?” He already smelled like alcohol.

Poor guy, must’ve had a lot already.

I spoke “I don’t care. She looks pretty. Do you know her? Or do I have to ask her? God, she’s beautiful” My eyes never left her beautiful figure.

Then, she turned. Our eyes met, then locked.

It felt as if she was looking through my soul. She tilted her head then smiled in my direction.

I do hope she’s smiling at me.

I looked around. No one else was looking at her but me.

I turned to her again. She was still looking.

Now, this . . .

I don’t know. I don’t want to assume anything.

Y’know? Just playing safe. I may have never been in a relationship before, but, trust me, majority of my friends have been through break ups and they always say the same phrase.

“Why did she leave?”

Me, who learns from others, didn’t want that to happen to me, too.

She’s walking towards me now. Still with the smile she put earlier when she turned to me.

“Hi, what’s your name? I’ve seen you multiple times at the campus, but I never caught your name” she extended her fair-skinned hand towards my direction.

It looks so soft. I extended a nervous hand in return of her gesture.

“I’m Alexei Ivanov, pleased to meet you” my hand gripped hers and it was actually so soft.

“I’m Maria Ekaterina Morozova, pleased to meet you too” Even her name’s beautiful.

So, going back, she was the one to let go. “Woah, bruv, now there’s three of us? How nice!” my friend, Luka, went back to my spot.

Probably got bored of whatever he was doing.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, just sit there, something else might happen to you” I said leading him to sit on the sofa and going back to Ekaterina after settling Luka down.

“So, you’re also Russian? Какое счастливое совпадение! (What a lucky coincidence!)” she said lively, not knowing what worse she has done to my heart.

And that Russian accent mixing with her English?

Perfect.

“Hello? Are you here?” she again asked, waving a hand in front of my face bringing me back to my senses.

“You’re so beautiful” I unconsciously spoke out.

“Oh? Uh . . . I don’t know what to say” she says, the littlest smile appearing on her face.

But, her eyes said so otherwise. She smiled yet her eyes was the same.

Observant.

Analytic.

“Oh, sorry . . . It’s just that . . . You’re really beautiful” I admitted to her.

And while I say that, my heart kept knocking loudly on my chest, almost as if it wants to break free from it.

Now that I’ve looked at her more carefully, I noticed something. She was wearing this beautiful white dress.

Where have I seen it?

It looks familiar.

Let’s focus on her. No, let’s focus on our surroundings. But— “You look handsome”

A beat

“You’ve just thought about that, haven’t you?”

She added.

Huh?

Did she just compliment me?

I looked at her carefully once more.

How did she say that compliment while keeping a straight face?

Her eyes locked with mine again.

Watching.

Observing.

What is this?

Even with the neutral temperature inside the room, I still managed to have a shiver run down my spine.

One last thing by looking at her, there’s one thing keeping me from saying anything back to her.

Her lips.

Her oddly familiar red lips.

Where have I seen it?

Seriously, it’s creeping me out with an unknown reason.

I tried turning to Luka but he was already passed out from the alcohol he was drinking.

Seriously, you don’t even know if the guy’s alive or not.

“Uh, you must be going somewhere else. I might be getting in the way” Change of topic.

Last resort.

“Oh, not at all, I’m actually glad to meet and get to know you because I know almost no one but my friend” she spoke in that sweet yet icy tone of a voice.

Does she actually talk like that?

“Uh, may I know who that friend is?” I asked, actually quite interested and curious for once since talking with her.

“You . . . ” she tilted a head, the corners of her lips lifting a little.

Me? What does she mean me?

“Me?” I pointed to myself with a baffled face. She nodded her face briefly before finally shooting a smile at me.

I’ve never seen her smile like that.

She looks so beautiful. “No one wanted to be friends with me because they think I’m weird” She smiled.

A little.

Her eyes were never bright. Her tone was like dry ice on the skin.

Cold.

Steady.

Calculated.

“Actually, throughout the whole semester, this is my first time seeing you. Either I’m just not observant or I don’t really care about my surroundings.” I retorted back to her, trying to sound nice with the way I deliver my “sharp” wordings to her.

Suddenly, I’m interested in actually observing the mansion.

Ever since we entered, I’ve never really noticed the difference in smell from outside and inside. I only now noticed the smell—the alcohol and sweat mixing together

She stepped closer. Even if I try backing out, I can’t.

My body won’t let me!

My heart ponds not because she’s here—

but because it’s her.

“Do you know about a place? It’s a dark place. Misty. Like the ones you see in horror movies? I don’t know if it’s only me or what. I keep dreaming about it” she turned her head a little to the side, looking down.

Her arms rested over her chest, a finger lightly tapping on her chin.

Almost as if she was thinking.

I stared at her—For a long time trying to make sense of what she just mentioned.

Suddenly, it hit me.

She was the one who’s been appearing in my dreams!

The white dress.

The uncanny atmosphere she gives.

Her red lips.

Oh, just how did I miss those details?

Suddenly, a corner of her lips twitched.

Maybe it wasn’t actually just a twitch of the lip.

A knowing smirk? It can’t be unseen.

She knows about the dreams.

“Uh, no. I’ve never seen a place like that before” I shifted my weight to the other leg. Suddenly, my lungs feel tight. The loud music was just like my drumming heart. Everything surrounding us feels fuzzy.

I glanced at Luka. Lifelessly passed out. Although I can still see his chest heaving, I still get this feeling of taking Luka and running out of this place. Should I leave? Or should I face her?

I look back at Ekaterina. She was no longer smiling nor smirking. She was staring right at me with her dark, blackhole eyes.

“Uh, I’ll just go to the bathroom . . . ” I excused. I wanted to be out of here but I can’t ’cause Luka’s passed out to sleep. I can’t just leave him here.

She said nothing but gestured a nod. I quickened my steps to the bathroom.

Upon reaching, I locked the door to make sure no one could come in.

I looked in the mirror.

There I saw my reflection.

I looked terrified.I splashed my face with water to calm my nerves down.

I turned off the faucet.

Silence filled the room.

When I finally looked up, her reflection stood behind me.

But when I looked behind me, there was no one.

When I spun my head back, words were written in smeared red lipstick on the mirror.

“Where are you? Aren’t you supposed to see me in your dreams?”

There was this faint chill running down my spine.