One Wish Away

“When there is kindness, there is goodness. When there is goodness, there is magic.”

Snow White once sang the infamous words “Someday my prince will come” and as much as she wanted to believe in them, as she sat on a cheep white garden chair looking inside at all the strangers grinding against each other, sipping on fruity cocktails and exchanging meaningless banter, Bethany couldn’t help but doubt those words.

How was she ever supposed to find a guy at a place like this ? Now to say she didn’t like parties would be a complete lie. She liked parties, hanging out with friends, having a cider or two and just enjoying the night. But this, this was different. This was big and crowded and the air inside was so humid it made her hair go curly.

She knew none of those people and despite the fact that she liked to make new friends, she also knew that most of these people, most of these guys, were there for one reason and one reason only, and she was so not about that.

Snow White surely never had to deal with drunk guys groping her butt or girls judging her outfit and telling her that her skirt was too short or too modest. Granted Snow White had an evil stepmother that wanted her dead, which sounds kinda inconvenient, but still. Snow White had it quite easy when it came to relationships and she was adamant on marrying a prince so one can’t say Bethany’s expectations were too high.

“ Beth, I don’t like to say it but maybe going out, somewhere other than the library, would do you some good. I know you want to find your prince charming and live happily ever after but honey, don’t be that girl. The girl who dreams her life away and ends up getting disappointed."
It wasn’t the first time her friends voiced their opinion on her outlook on life she was used to it by now and to a certain extend she could understand their worry. But Bethany was that kind of girl.

She liked to believe that somewhere along the way there was going to be a guy that would sweep her off her feet and make her fall helplessly in love with him just as much as he fell for her. She knew that she would be granted a happy ending when the time would come. All those things she never even questioned, not once. Obviously she wasn’t naive or stupid either, wishing only got you so far, she knew that. That’s why she was at this party in the first place.

Her friend had promised her to stay with her all night, see if they could find some nice guy for her to talk to. That plan went out the window when some messy haired bloke crossed their path and claimed all of her friend’s attention.
So there went her company for the night and with her, her ride home. So the bus it was, and the last one would leave just a few minutes after midnight which gave her an apology to leave this party early if it would drag on like this. Success … kinda.

” You do know that the party is happening inside, right ? “ a teasing voice spoke up from beside her pulling her out of her thoughts.

The owner of the voice was another unfamiliar face. Some guy with obnoxious blue hair and a grey beanie. His pants, Bethany decided, were just a tad to tight and the One Direction tank top confused her further. This guy did not look like he was into British boy bands, then again, who was she to judge.

” I do, I’m just not much of a party person. Or rather not much of a fan of that particular party.“

” Aw what ? You don’t like strangers grinding against you to Drake’s music ? Isn’t that like the dream ? “

Bethany couldn’t suppress a laugh to leave her lips and, now that she thought about it, it was the first time she had properly laughed that night.

Smurf hair sat down next to her, a bottle of corona still gripped tightly in his hand and a friendly almost boyish smile present on his face.

” Oh it’s my absolute dream, how’d you know ? “

” Ah, good guess. Seriously though, if you don’t enjoy it here why are you staying ? I’m Alex, by the way.“

Why was she staying ? Partly because she had promised her friend that she would try to enjoy herself and partly because, despite how much she liked to deny it, the words were slowly getting to her. Constantly being told that what you believed in with all your heart was absolute bullshit did get to you after a while.

” My name’s Bethany and uh—honestly ? I don’t know , I sure as hell ain’t gonna find a prince charming in there. “

” Oh are you one of those girls ? “

There it was again. One of those girls. People always said it with a teasing tone in their voice. Always sounding condescending in some way, like they were talking to a child.
So what if she liked to believe in cheesy cliché fairy tale plot lines ? So what if she wanted to keep a little magic in her heart ? What’s the big issue ? Heaven knows if she didn’t, she had to face the actual truth of being alone and feeling disconnected to basically everyone in this god damn place.

” I am. I am one of those girls. Who exactly are those girls though ?“

Alex raised his eyebrows a little and a tiny smirk tugged on the corner of his thin lips.

” The one’s that think prince charming actually exists. I mean, come on you can’t really believe there’s a guy made solely for you, just waiting to sweep you off your feet and keep you happy for the rest of your life.“

” No, obviously not. I’m not stupid, Alex. I do however like to hold onto the thought that there’s a guy somewhere that’s perfect for me and that one day we’ll meet and fall in love and have each other’s back and all that stuff. I’m not stupid, I’m just hopeful.“

She could see it in his eyes, he thought this was completely idiotic. People would look at her like that all the time.

” Okay fair enough but what if you meet this one guy and you fall in love and everything is happy and wonderful and daisy chains and sunshine and then one day it isn’t anymore ? One day they just wake up and don’t feel the same. What happens if they are your person but you’re not theirs ? What then ? “

” Then they weren’t the one. “

He shook his head in amusement.

” You know, this is far too deep to be discussed at a lame party. So I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. “

” I guess. Soooo Alex, no that we’ve figured out why I am out here all by myself. Why are you ? “

Alex took a long sip from the beer bottle before he pointed towards the glass doors leading into the house.

” See that guy with the weird ass hair making out with the girl on the couch ? That’s my friend Jack, he dragged me here saying they’d have great food. There’s not even snacks here. “

Funny how he described his friend and his "weird hair” seeing as his hair was literally blue.

“ Oh, the girl he’s making out with is my friend. Would you look at that. What a small world it is. ”

“ You think they’re destined for each other ? ” Alex teasingly asked, nudging his shoulder against hers.

“ I mean he’s got messy hair and he’s wearing a leather jacket. Knowing her she’s already planning the wedding. ”

“ How romantic, ” Alex exclaimed and mockingly fluttered his lashes looking at Bethany, “ I bet they’re gonna live happily ever after.”

“ Dude, now you’re just taking the piss. ”

“ I’m not I’m just worried and I know that one day life will fuck you over and you’ll be disappointed when you find out that all the wishing and hoping was worth nothing.”

“ Alex, I sincerely hope that one day you’ll wake up, turn around in bed and look at a beautiful girl, or boy whatever you’re into, and remember this weird chick that tried to convince you that true love exists, and how right she was. ”

Secretly Alex hoped she was right. Hoped that one day he’d be able to actually let himself fall in love deeply and irrevocably and with everything he had. But so far life had proven to him that fairytales where just stupid imaginary stories, and true love was nothing but a myth.

“ Is there any way I can convince you that this mentality is ridiculous ? I mean you’re cute and all and I don’t want you to get fucked over.”

It would be a lie to say her cheeks didn’t feel a little warm when he called her cute. Though despite making her blush, she was still astounded by how exceptionally bitter this guy was when it came to the topic of love.

“ Is there anything I can do to make you feel a little more positive about love ? ”

“ Doubt it.”

“ Same.”

Alex didn’t answer her, he just started grinning as his eyes settled on something behind her.

“ Why are you grinning ? ”

“ Our friends are leaving together. Aw, young love. ”

Of course she was leaving with a guy, she was never one to be hesitant. If there was something or someone she wanted, she’d reach out and grab it. Sometimes,Bethany thought, sometimes being a bit more like that certain friend didn’t seem too bad. It seemed easy and fun. Then again, it wasn’t Bethany at all.

Oh, wait.

“ Oh fuck, she’s leaving ? ”

“ Yup.”

“ Fuck fuck fuck, what time is it ? ”

“ Almost midnight.”

“Oh no, oh no. I gotta go. It was nice talking to you Alex, hope you find your dream girl.”

In a hurry she got up from the bench, grabbing her purse and making sure her phone and keys were all still there.

“ Wait, what ? You can’t … ”

“ I have to. Gotta catch the last bus home.”

“ Wait you forgot … ”

“ Bye Alex.”

And with that she rushed through the house and out the front door, dodging sweaty bodies left and right.

There was a little nagging part in her brain though. A little voice that was so terribly curious about what Alex wanted to tell her.

Forgot what ? To leave her number ?

Did he want to see her again ?

Why would he ? All they’ve been talking about was how incredibly different their views on life were, why would he want to see her again ?

Then again, maybe he was there for the same reason as all the other guys, and she wasn’t about that.



It was around noon the next day, a grey thick wall of clouds covering the sky. Little to no light fell through the curtains and into her apartment and as she opened her eyes, Bethany already knew this was not going to be a good day.

It was cold and cloudy and just an all around unpleasant day and the fact that the stranger’s words still rang through her head didn’t make her feel any better either.

“…all the wishing and hoping was worth nothing.” oh really ? She would show him. She wouldn’t let Mr Grumpy pants ruin her and turn her into another of those bitter, constantly moody individuals.

A quick knock on the door pulled her out of her daydream. Great, a visitor before she even got to have “breakfast”. Then again it was after noon, couldn’t one really call it breakfast ?

“ It’s okay, calm down I’m …. here ”

Out of anyone, this was the last face she expected to see. In fact, she thought she would never ever see this guy again.

“ Alex ? ”

“ Hey there princess. ”

And just like that, a blush settled on her cheeks … again. I mean come on, princess ? No one ever called her that and as much as she wanted to deny it, she was a sucker for cute nicknames.

“ What are you doing here ? ”

Instead of answering her with words, Alex lifted his hand holding something out to her.

“ What’s that ? ”

“ Your jacket. You left it on the bench when you left all of a sudden. I tried to tell you but you just ran away. ”

Ooooh so that was what she had forgotten. He came here though. Alex came here, to her place, to give the jacket to her. It was like some kind of modern Cinderella story. Bethany wondered just how long it took him to find out where she lived. See ? Romance wasn’t dead it was very much alive, and despite not knowing Alex for long he seemed to be a wonderful guy. Maybe he could turn out the be a prince charming, blue hair and all.

“ Aw you brought it back? That’s so sweet. Did it take long for you to find me ? I bet it took you a while. How did you find out my address ? ”

Alex just chuckled and shook his head.

“ No, didn’t take long at all. I merely asked your friend who had breakfast with me and Jack this morning. By the way did you just wake up ? Your hair is a mess. ”

Or maybe he wasn’t that charming after all.