We were the kind of couple they talked about. From beginning, middle, to end they talked incessantly as if we were a story, like all relationships are, and came with plot twists and characters commanding attention which were us. The ways they gossiped varied. Sometimes they let us off clemently, referring to us as "cute together" or gushing over how good we looked… together. We were always spoken of jointly –as if we were nothing when apart- when we were in their good graces. If they weren't particularly delighted with our actions though, they spoke in critiques. "They met over photos and had their first date in a small coffee-reeking café. Overrated much?" Or, "He saves only the best of smiles for her. That's so stupid," were some of the things, in my words, I've been told they'd say.

I guess I should explain since that's all I'm supposed to do really: clarify things people have always wanted to know the truth about.

The reality is that I'm obsessed with my cameras and using them to capture everything everywhere. There's one in my bag right now. It's the same one I used to take that first shot of him and it got me my first shot with him.

At the time I had to work on my subtlety skills since I was in need of practice. It's pretty obvious when the sandy-haired tanned specimen you're trying to candidly snap walks over when you're done and asks to see what you've got. I was afraid he was mad until he astonished me with this out-of-nowhere glistening grin.

His grins are unique from his smiles. They show a lot more teeth but cannot compare to the way his eyes twinkle when he smiles. His right eye twitches if he grins too long in a cute, quirky manner and becomes distracting if you notice it; there are no twitches when he smiles at me all day.

He doesn't usually smile all day. Apparently he goes hours without smiling actually. It's all because of me.

One day I told him how much I loved his smile, how rewarding it felt when his face lit up and I knew it was only I that could put it there. That smile, my smile. Different from the victorious grin or his shy smile kept for meeting new people. In return for my endearing comment, he told me only I'd have it. He'd save it for when he was with me.

I'd had plenty of boyfriends (which was why I had a spark of skepticism) but none had ever pledged something so sweet, so astonishing to me before.

I glowed.

Eventually he proved to me not to question his commitment, as I never saw him give the smile or any one close to it to another girl, friend or relative. His friends and parents confirmed this.

I felt bad, guilty for a while. How could I take away that piece of happiness from everyone else? Especially from his mother and grandma; they adored him as much as I. I asked them if they were mad when we were watching him play at his lacrosse game once. They insisted they weren't. They thought it was cute and were proud of him committing to a girl. His mom said she felt that "as long as I get to see the smile still on his face when he gives it to you, I am happy." That's when I realized his smile isn't really mine; it could be stolen and kept ransom in the memory of any onlooker. Actually, no, that was when I came to that conclusion subconsciously. I only acknowledged it when it happened.

I saw it, that smile. No longer my sweet face-caressing smile. I was shocked but not surprised. I'd known it would happen; we'd been having fights for weeks and I'd rarely gotten a glimpse of it, only a curve of the lips.

The reason I'd only seen the twitch of the corner of his mouth, and sparingly too, instead of my equivalent of Gollum's precious ring is because of friends. Both of ours. They'd been subtly arguing until we'd caught on.

He found out after prodding that his groups of friends were fed up with our "ridiculous antics". They thought he was a tool for saving for me his smile. My own friends countered that it was sweeter stuff than any relationship they'd seen; we were top.

It doesn't really matter now, does it? He'd given his acorn kiss away. There was no more need to worry over our friends' quarrels because now they would be bickering about something else and it doesn't concern me anymore. Yeah, the only need now is to move on and let the talking be about him, and the girl that'd pilfered my smile and my three-year boyfriend.

I know now's the time to care… 'cept I don't. I think I'm numb to my pain. Maybe there's something wrong with me but I don't care about that either.

My only thought is that there's a new It couple to be gossiped about and their story to be written.

I hope the writer puts them through Hell.

_______________

Extended End

"Don't you agree Angela?" I asked, finally finished.

Her darkly coloured hand stops copying down my words and her eyes sparkle –like his but in a chocolate version- as she grins mischievously.

"That's a hell-of-a good tale there, girl. My editor's gonna love it and same with the girls that read the column; they'll eat it up. You sure you want to go through with this though? He might read it… or even better, she will."

When she mentioned that, my mouth mimicked hers.