ஃ✿ Chapter 15 ✿ஃ

ஃ✿ Chapter 15 ✿ஃ

I found myself hitting my self in the head, slamming it against the wall for what I did… I mean, if Cedrick finds out he’d be so disappointed in me… and might eventually strangle me till death. I tried to figure why was I feeling so mad at Dominique…? Am I mad because he’s in contact with Cedrick…?! … No, that can’t be it… after all, he belonged to Cedrick way before I came in the picture…

As I was trying to call my friends Serena, who I haven’t talked to in centuries… I spotted Dominique’s name in my contact list. I felt kinda scared to call him all of a sudden… I thought, what if he’s still grousing over that incident…? What if he’s still not over it…? Maybe he doesn’t wanna hear from me anymore… though I haven’t heard from him in days so I had to push the green ‘call’ button. I waited for him to answer… then I heard a tune. I looked at my mobile’s screen, a message popped out saying that the number is busy. So I jumped to conclusion… either he rejected my call, or he was on the phone with somebody else…

I called Serene and asked her if she’s free to hang out with me, but she rejected me as well. I had no other option but to phone Cedrick and ask him to join me. I called him and waited for him to pick up… but I heard that same familiar tune again. I looked at my screen to find the same message saying that the number is busy… I figured that I was indeed missing something. If Dominique’s number was busy… and Cedrick’s number’s busy… could they be chatting on the phone with each other…?

I got the same feeling I got yesterday when I saw Dominique’s name light up on Cedrick’s cellphone. Anger… jealously… unconsciously I marched to Cedrick’s house, which was a couple of blocks away from mine. I remember I see him walking out of his house almost every morning… that explains the many time he caught me going to school. I wasn’t sure what I was doing at his front door… should I knock it?!

I could hear small voices coming from the other side of the door. I pressed my ear against the door hoping I’d hear whatever’s behind it… sounded like two guys fussing about something. I was sure one of them was Cedrick, since it’s his house and all… could the other one be Dominique…?

Suddenly, a strong sorta sound came out, sounded like clout… a really loud and strong clout, it made my heart pound out of place. I saw the door’s handle move, someone was opening the door. It happened too fast that I hadn’t had the time to run, as I changed my mind about the visit. The door was wide open before me… and I came face to face with Dominique… I was surprised to see him just as much as he was surprised to see me! His expressions though was most shocking… he appeared to be crying. He had his palm rested on his left reddish cheek. I was speechless… he pushed me out of his way and rushed to flee the scene… and there I saw Cedrick at the back.

He looked seriously angry. I was speechless and confused… though I figured that the sound I’ve heard earlier… was a slap. Dominique received a slap from Cedrick… I looked at Cedrick in fear and confusion. He just gulped and calmed himself down.

“You came in a really bad timing…” he looked away, probably embarrassed that I’ve witnessed the scene.

I couldn’t say anything to him. I rushed to chase after Dominique… I wondered what happened between them… how unusual to see Cedrick looking so angry with Dominique. I was afraid I lost track of Dominique, he disappeared in that small kindergarten playground nearby the school… where I first heard his confession. My heart was still racing from the scene… from seeing Cedrick so dead angry. I heard sobbing not further away, it seemed to be coming from somewhere above me. I looked above and there he was… Dominique up on a tree… crying his heart out.

“Dominique…?” I softly called him.

“Leave me alone” he sobbed. “I don’t need you to show me how disgusting and foolish I am”

I wasn’t sure I understood the situation, so I just gulped… not knowing how to calm him down or comfort him. I looked at him… since I haven’t seen him in a while. His hair was still as beautiful as I remember…

“Um… I don’t really get what happened back there… so I’m just gonna stay here until you come down…” I said, and he continued to cry.

I laid down by the tree, waiting for him to shed his last tear… his sobs sounded so heart-breaking, and his tears were falling down on me like rain. I felt his cold icy tears on my shoulders and I could feel him looking at me in annoyance… but I didn’t care. I thought if he’s done crying, he’d come down and tell me what happened… so in the meantime, I tried putting up the pieces together…

“It was hysterical…” he giggled while sobbing, completely shocking me so I looked above to look at him. I was surprised that he decided to talk. “I always thought he knew… but he never knew” he idiotically laughed then stopped. “Cedrick never knew…”

I paused to sort my mind out. “Is that what happened…?” I asked. “You told Cedrick you were in love with him…?!”

He wiped his runny nose. “But I never thought he’d react that way ‘cause I always thought he knew… that was harsh” he sobbed… and I could see a slight smile on his face… a very sad smile. “I didn’t show up at his house to tell him, but I ended up telling him all about my stupid girly heart… he shouldn’t have slapped me”

There was a pause. The he started crying again even harder… I couldn’t climb up to comfort him, so I just waited… and waited for his tears to run out… I waited for almost eternity… his heart was really broken, and the fact that I couldn’t do anything about it really hurts me… I looked at him again…

“Dominique…” I gulped, holding my tears back. “Could this be your first heartbreak…?”

He did not answer me. I knew he wasn’t gonna give me an answer anyway… but I waited. All I could hear was his sobbing above me…

“Jadrien broke my heart the day he died too…” I muttered. “I think I understand how you feel…”

He didn’t respond… but that was OK ‘cause I wasn’t waiting for an answer.

He was like, ignoring me… probably hearing my nonsense and thinking of replying but don’t know what to say. I only had to wait for him… and all he did was cry. I didn’t want him to cry because I knew I’d cry too… I laid on my back and stretched out my legs. Silence took over and neither one of us was talking… all that was heard was Dominique’s sobbing. I closed my eyes… hoping time would pass by so quick… but I felt him looking down at me minutes later.

“Are you asleep down there?” he sniffed.

“Nope” I answered him. “I’m not sleeping and I’m not going anywhere till you come down here”

“Come on, LEAVE already” he whined in such annoyance. “I wanna go home”

I stood up. There was a pause and I was just looking at him… deeply looking at him. “How long has it been since I last saw you…?” I smiled at him. “A week…?”

“Does it matter?” he groused ashamedly. “I haven’t changed”

I sighed happily. “Well… it was great seeing you again, Dominique…” I added. “We should get together more often…”

He wiped him eyes, desperately trying to dry his tears. “I know I’m gonna stab myself to death later on for saying this but… I kinda missed you”

His words somehow made me disappear to heaven. I couldn’t believe how happy I was to have heard that from Dominique!

“It’s getting dark, so I have to go home” I said, looking at the sky. “If we’re not so lucky, it’s gonna rain as well…”

He finally decided to come down from the tree. I didn’t wanna ask him about Cedrick at all. I thought for now, let’s just be me and Dominique for a while… but he left. Looked like he wanted to avoid the conversation more than I did. I didn’t bother to run after him… knowing Dominique, he’s gonna go cry some place else… I left the other way, heading for my house.

“Leela” Dominique grabbed my shoulder as I was walking away, he pulled me into his chest. I was speechless… but mostly shocked!

“Dominique…!” I gasped so lightly in a shock. He didn’t let go of me for several minutes… and I was beginning to think he’d continue to keep me in his arms forever. He was so warm, I could have disappeared inside him… and he smelled so good.

He whispered few minutes later. “Mind telling me who’s Jadrien?”

I was still paralyzed between his arms… I didn’t know how to answer him. Should I tell him about you…? Or should I sprint away…?

“You know what?” he muttered. “I don’t wanna know”

ஃ✿ Chapter 14 ✿ஃ

ஃ✿ Chapter 14 ✿ஃ

It wasn’t true… yesterday’s fairytale with Angel seemed like a dream… a really heavenly dream. I wondered… does he always wear his cap like that…? Is that his original hair color…? Before I knew it, he was all over my head! I tried to deny myself for finally accepting and surrendering to his cuteness, so I thought ‘what if he happens to be a really pretty boy…? That doesn’t mean I should like him… right…?

Though I was bummed to find out he bullied poor Dominique. Yeah… that’s what Dominique turned out to be… such a miserable lonely misunderstood boy… I was blinded by his image. His red EMO hair… his up-to-no-good smile… I couldn’t see him for what he really is… now I wanna see him again. It just doesn’t feel right to hang out with Cedrick, knowing that he once was loved by Dominique… that once he belonged to Dominique…

I hated Angel for not considering Dominique’s feelings and bullying me ever since I met him… but yesterday I did not feel like I hate him at all… neither this morning when he demanded a sandwich.

“Why the blank stares…? Don’t fall for me, I’m warning ya” he sniggered jokingly. I blushed.

“This is not worth a sandwich everyday” I sighed. “I was just thinking about Dominique and how you’ve been bullying him actually…”

“Bullied him…?” he said. “I never bullied that girlie, I just made fun of him and stuff… and some days I’d hit him but I don’t know if you’d consider that as bullying”

“You hurt his feelings… it’s bullying alright” I pointed out. “Dominique is a really sensitive guy, you know”

“You make it sound like a bad thing” he rolled his eyes.

I worried about Dominique for I haven’t seen him or heard of him since he told me his disturbing secret. Cedrick doesn’t talk about Dominique at all nowadays… and Angel just happens to be in the picture somehow. Yesterday he mentioned that he was Cedrick’s best buddy back when they were little but somehow lost him to Dominique…

Dominique… where are you now…?

A hand was waved before my eyes. “Hello…?” Cedrick said.

I totally forgot that I was walking home with Cedrick after school. “Oh I’m sorry… I blanked”

“You’re really spaced out… wanna get some ice-cream?” he suggested so nicely.

I don’t wanna sound weird… but Cedrick’s been acting really nice to me, maybe it’s because he wouldn’t want me to worry about such characters like Dominique… whenever I bring his name, Cedrick gives me short answers and changes the subject instantly… I’m worried… but maybe I shouldn’t worry. I accepted Cedrick’s offer to go for some ice-cream, it’s almost like  a fairytale. I’ve been waiting for a moment like this to happen.

He ordered Vanilla flavor, which totally suited him, making him much more beautiful as I blinked. I ordered Strawberry flavor and he looked at me.

“That really goes with your green eyes” he let out a laugh. “Come to think of it, you’re all pink and green it’s annoying”

I giggled. “Wow this is nice, you’re teasing me and eating ice-cream with me… I don’t wanna say it and scare you… but its like we’re on a date”

He looked at me blankly and we paused. His lips curved up a little and it showed a very VERY angelic smile on his beautiful face. I was surprised he’s not all pissed off… I was excited, waiting for him to give me a respond or something.

He suddenly gave me a soft fake punch. “Whatever stops the tears”

His actions… his laugh… just made me fall for him even harder I thought I might flip. I was beginning to believe that I became his girlfriend… which will be the best thing that ever happened to me. He was adorable, he didn’t even bother to ask me why I ditched him yesterday when I was with Angel, which by the way I’ll never tell him about it. I guess the angry Cedrick was gone for good.

An old woman approached Cedrick and warmly patted on his back. “What a nice looking boy you are, mind helping an old lady with her bags?” she said in such a sweet tune, how could anyone refuse to help this lovely old lady…? I knew Cedrick wouldn’t be able to refuse.

“Um sure” he smiled at her, then he looked back at me. “Hold my stuff for a sec?”

He handed me his wallet, cellphone and ice-cream and went to follow the old lady. I thought it was so sweet of him to be helpful. I waited and waited, and kinda felt like an idiot standing alone with two ice-creams… I felt a sudden fright when his cellphone started ringing. I looked at his cellphone and was immediately traumatized when I saw Dominique’s name light up on Cedrick’s cellphone. I knew I’m not allowed to answer any calls for Cedrick, it’s his cellphone after all… but I felt a bit pain in my chest. It’s silly… it’s like I’m jealous that Dominique’s calling Cedrick… but I managed to ignore the call till it went silent.

I sighed so heavily wondering would Cedrick answer Dominique’s call…? what would he say and stuff… it was really frustrating for some reason. I waited for Cedrick’s return but I got another fright when his cellphone rang again. Thankfully it was just a message ring. I pressed ‘read’ blankly drown by curiosity… but I wish I didn’t.

‘Sure ignore me, but that won’t change anything’

I scrolled down to see Dominique’s name. This txt was kinda shocking to read cause I don’t know what’s going on between them right now. Dominique even added a sad smiley face in his txt… it was heartbreaking for some reason…

I deleted Dominique’s txt and pretended like nothing’s happened till Cedrick came back. “I didn’t take long did I? I hope my ice-cream didn’t melt” he said, looking all clueless. I smiled at him like nothing’s wrong.

I admit, my action was wrong and I have no right to read Cedrick’s messages or delete any of them… and I felt kinda silly and stupid. I felt terribly uncomfortable when I handed Cedrick his cellphone and wallet back… I wished I could somehow undo what I did… what if he never finds out…?

Am I acting this stupidly because I’m mad at Dominique…?

… I believe so…

ஃ✿ Chapter 13 ✿ஃ

ஃ✿ Chapter 13 ✿ஃ

Is it really OK…?! He began to feel like you… so much that I almost called him by your name the other day. I was happy with the attention I’m getting from him, but I couldn’t help but notice that there’s something missing… I thought it was you at first… but then, it came clear that it wasn’t you that’s missing… it’s Dominique…

Ever since Dominique revealed his true self to me… I don’t see him anymore… I asked Cedrick if he’d seen him, but he just nods and says that he sees him sometimes. It didn’t feel so good knowing that Dominique’s not around to annoy me anymore… not even the other annoying dude could fill the void. I spotted Angel that afternoon when I was walking home, he was serenely sitting on a branch of a tree. It was one of the many few times I’ve seen him so calm and mysterious… he looked peaceful… I guess…

“Stop staring, you’re gonna fall for me” he said, completely shocking me. He let out that evil giggle… that sounded similar to Dominique’s evil giggle. He opened his eyes to look at me, I blushed by looking at his smile.

“I’m sorry to bother you” I gulped. “I hope I didn’t get you mad or anything”

He bursted out laughing. “Why? You’re afraid of me…?”

“I’m not afraid of you…” I muttered. “I just don’t like to be around you when you’re angry…”

“I’m not angry now” he smiled. “Care to join me on the swings?”

He was acting weirdly nice. Come to think about it… he’s been acting weird all along. He’s not as rude to me as before, he doesn’t get angry as much too. His attitude reminded me of Cedrick, how I first knew him as a masculine serious guy… but turned out to be sweet and tender. Maybe I don’t know people as much as I think I do… I couldn’t reject Angel’s offer to join him on the swings, I was afraid he’d get angry with me as usual.

“So, Leela…” he cleared his throat and slid his fingers smoothly through his hair. “I see you talking with that Cedrick guy a lot lately…”

I gulped nervously, knowing that they don’t like each other… why is he asking me about him?

“So what’s your relationship with him?” he asked.

I took awhile to answer him. “It’s complicated… I like him, he doesn’t know… or maybe he knows but don’t know what to do with me…” I giggled. “Why are you asking…?”

“I don’t know… I thought I might face trouble bullying a girl who’s dating Cedrick…” he sighed. “You know once, he wasn’t all cool and tough…”

He started to get me all curious, “Now that we’re talking about Cedrick… how did you two end up being enemies?”

He sighed again so heavily. “Enemies is such a strong word… makes it hard to believe that once we were brothers…” I looked at him in shock. “Why’re you looking at me like that? I didn’t mean ‘brothers’ like actual brothers… I meant like best friends ‘brothers’… does that makes sense?” he tittered.

I continued to look at him in shock. First ‘Dominique’s condition’ and now this?! This is just too much… I saw sorrow in Angel’s eyes though.

“What happened to you two?” I asked, hoping to hear a story or something… but he didn’t give it to me.

“Let’s just say he found somebody else to play with” he sighed and smiled at me. “He had more toys that I did…”

Somebody else…? Could it be Dominique…?!

“It’s not Dominique, is it?” I curiously asked, he raised his eyebrow at me.

“You know that imbecile?!” he inquired me in a shocked tune, I was afraid to answer… yet I was surprised my guess was correct.

“Red hair, blue eyes, carries headphones on his shoulder, about 5 and a half feet tall…? Yeah I know him…” I remarked. “I’m surprised you know him as well…”

“That gay princess” he said abusively, referring to Dominique. I was in disturbance to hear him say that about Dominique… but I was also surprised.

“You know about his condition…?!” I gulped.

“Heh… it’s not a condition…” he let out a small laugh. “We all knew about his little gayish affair with Cedrick back in elementary and junior high”

I reminisced Dominique’s sentences… where he said he was being laughed at for loving Cedrick… and that he never used to care. I thought about Dominique’s feelings for a bit… but my phone started ringing, thus interrupting my thoughts. I saw Cedrick’s name light up, so I rushed to leave.

“It’s Cedrick, isn’t it?” Angel guessed.

I looked at Angel’s face. “Yeah…”

He smiled. “Ditch him for the day and stay with me…”

I was surprised! That was really an unexpected offer… but I don’t know why, I hanged up the phone and returned to my position on the swing… next to Angel…

What’s happening to me…?!

ஃ✿ Chapter 12 ✿ஃ

ஃ✿ Chapter 12 ✿ஃ

I didn’t wanna go to school today. I didn’t sleep at all last night and I’m sad about it. I skipped breakfast and I’m sad about it. I guess I was sad at everything that morning. I was even more sad to have heard Dominique’s story. I didn’t know how to face him today… stupid me, I shouldn’t be concerned about how I’d face him… I should be concerned on how he’d face me after letting out the truth… will he be too ashamed to come to my school from now on…? I hope not…

How about I cheer him up? That sounded like a nice idea! Will he be Ok if I brought him one of my homemade sandwiches…? I wondered what kind of sandwiches does he like… Tuna…? Bologna…? Maybe I’d make him some tomato cheese sandwich in case he’s a vegetarian. I unconsciously noticed that I was actually filled with joy and excitement making some sandwiches for Dominique! I couldn’t wait to give him some, so I excitedly rushed to school.

I was even thrilled when I reached the school’s gate. I stood there waiting for Dominique to arrive, hoping he’d show up… appear from nowhere, like he always did… but soon my excitement turned into misery as I watch dozens of people walking in and none of them were Dominique. I was devastated… though I didn’t wanna give up… any time soon at least. Few seconds later, I felt a hand rested gently on my shoulder, I was surprised and excited all over again!

“Dominique!” I excitingly called as I turned around, but I was shocked to find out that it wasn’t Dominique’s hand I felt on my shoulder… its Angel’s.

“Do I look like a ‘Dominique’ to you?!” he pissed off, poking my forehead. “And who the hell is Dominique?”

“Oh I’m sorry… I thought you were somebody else” I gulped embarrassedly.

He interrupted me calmly. “I didn’t receive any sandwich yesterday… but I’ll spare your life this time”

He seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood today. I wished he’d be in this mood every day… though at that moment, he looked like he was impatiently waiting for me to do something… perhaps he was waiting for me to hand over a sandwich…

“Oh breakfast! Wait a sec…” I said as I searched through my lunch box. I saw the two sandwiches I made specially for Dominique, arranged perfectly on the side… I didn’t feel like handing them over to Angel, that’ll be a total waste of my effort. I gave him my caesar salad instead, which was supposed to be my lunch. “I hope you like salads…”

He gave me a deep long stare as soon as I handed him my lunch… it was like, the world was on pause for some reason. I felt uncomfortable looking at his eyes, which were looking straight at me… his gorgeous eyes should never be used to terrorize innocent cute girls, meaning myself. They should be used in sunglasses commercials or something.

“Leela, is it?” he said suddenly after the pause, scaring the hell out of me.

“Huh? Is it what…?” I confusingly and frighteningly asked.

“Your name,I made sure I memorize it correctly… Leela?” he said, strangely not showing any emotions on that unfairly angelic face of his, though his eyebrows always showed a dash of anger going on. He was staring at my eyes again… probably thinking of a way to comment on them like last time when he called me a frog.

“Yeah, that’s my name” I giggled and nodded, trying to look away from his eyes. It felt like I was almost hypnotized by those golden pair of jewels.

“Hey” I heard somebody calling from a distance. I so wished it was Dominique… but I can’t say I’m disappointed to see Cedrick coming my way. “Is he bothering you? Angel, Why can’t you find a less lamer job?”

I gulped. “Um… well…” I was rudely interrupted when I was trying to come up with an ending to my sentence.

“None of your business, Cinderella” Angel declared. “What are you, trying to be a hero or something?!”

“What did you say, punk?” Cedrick shoved me aside to invade Angel’s personal space.

I hate it when boys do that, putting chest to chest to see who’s tougher. “Break it up please, we wouldn’t wanna go see the principle again…” I tried to squeeze in between them to put them apart.

“I have no problem seeing my dad…” said Angel proudly.

“Daddy’s boy…” whispered Cedrick, making sure Angel would hear and piss off.

“Hey” I calmed Angel down, “Don’t be the troublemakers, it’s not as cool as you think”

“What do you know about cool?” he yelled at me, I was afraid he’d pull me up like he did in the cafeteria, but he just took deep breaths and lowered his fist. He sighed angrily, “I can't stand your face, I'm getting out of here…”

We stood in silence as Angel left the scene, looking all pissed off. Cedrick was looking at me, I was ashamed to look back… he hasn’t talked to me in awhile, ever since Dominique told him to stay away from me… I wasn’t all sure, but from the edge of my eye I could see Cedrick’s sweet warm smile… I’d never got used to the idea that he still smiles sometimes… the sweetest smile in the world…

“Leela” he called me, waking me up and giving me a fright. I gulped as my face turned red, but he laughed for some reason. “I thought he was gonna hit you, I was getting ready to jump in the middle” he continued to laugh out loud.

I blushed even more, never thought I’d be shy from Cedrick’s company. “You’re talking to me… that’s nice…” I giggled.

“Oh yeah… sorry about that” he sighed. “It was nothing… just had some trouble with Dominique, he’s acting all weird”

I knew Cedrick never knew about Dominique’s condition… I began wondering what will his reaction be if he knew…? Will he end his relationship with poor Dominique… or will he accept him just the way he is and be with him for the rest of his life…? Soon enough, I began to feel awkwardly stupid… what was I saying?! Dominique is a guy! The idea of them being together is insane… it’s abnormal and unusual. Besides, Dominique made it clear for me yesterday that he just happens to have feelings, he’s not fully acting like a girl… just his heart, it’s acting like a girl… but seriously, he can’t have Cedrick… right?

“Why’re you so spaced out today?” Cedrick asked me, waking me up twice today. I felt silly watching him looking at me so utterly confused. “Is there something wrong…?”

“No no…” I tried backing away the trouble. “It’s just… I’m glad you’re talking to me again…”

He smiled. I smile. I sillily walked forward to walk by Cedrick’s side, but thinking about angelic smile made me feel so clumsy, I found my self feeling so uncoordinated. I even missed my steps and unluckily fell into Cedrick’s back. My nose almost cracked as my face was completely hugging his back, my arms felt unbalanced so I grabbed Cedrick by his tummy.

“Sorry” I yelled in shame, “I had bad footing…”

He’s gonna push me away like always, that’s what I thought… but instead, he laughed at me. “Be careful, clumsy” he didn’t even bother to turn around to help me up, he just knew I was gonna help myself up grabbing ahold of his informally worn uniform… I think he’s turning sweet, not the Cedrick I used to know… maybe he was the Cedrick I always dreamed of… other than you, he began to feel like the man of my dreams… only smaller and blonder…

I don’t think I’ll be missing you anymore, Jadrien…

ஃ✿ Chapter 11 ✿ஃ

Cedrick was completely avoiding me. I only saw him on his way to school by accident yesterday when I was being chased down by Angel… but then, there wasn’t any sign of him… not even in his usual spots, the tennis court or the gym. I guess Cedrick is really devoted to Dominique’s promise after all… that was a bit upsetting… actually that was extremely upsetting… I spent all night tossing and turning in misery…

I wanted to have a talk with Dominique, see what’s he’s fussing about. He could at least make Cedrick talk to me again. I saw him sneaking through the front gate of my school this morning, probably had a date with Cedrick. I couldn’t leave him alone ungrounded…

“Dominique, long time no see” I walked up to him, smirking and looking all cool.

“Get away, freak, you’re gonna get me captured” he hissed angrily at me. I was offended as usual, but that moment was the last straw. I grabbed his ridiculous headphones that’s been hanging on his shoulders since the first day I met him.

“Listen here buddy, I may need to talk with you” I irritatedly said, pinning him on the nearby wall.

“Ah let go of my headphones and get off!!!” he struggled me off. “The wall is so dirty, I can’t believe you just pinned me on it, look what have you done to my uniform!” he groused in a temper.

“I don’t care, we need to talk” I insisted angrily. The bell gave us a mini heart attack as it rang so suddenly, Dominique looked shockingly enraged.

“Ah the bell! I was supposed to meet Cedrick 10 minutes before the bell” he said in a high-pitched complaining cry. “I hope you’re happy, goofball… oh how I hate you so much…”

He kept complaining and giving me dirty looks. I was annoyed, but happy to ruin his date with Cedrick. “Oh how pity… looks like you’ll be leaving… off to your school” I happily said, mocking him… and hoping to slightly insult him.

“I’m not going to school… I’m gonna wait till he’s over” he groused a decision.

“Lucky for you, I’ll be skipping my first class too, so we have plenty of time to sort things out” I suggested in a happy tune.

“I have nothing to sort with you, you’re stupid and I hate you, that’s all I need to sort” he said to me in a terribly rude tune, I couldn’t believe how rude he was! He even walked away as he burned me alive. I followed him to continue my talk with him, still insisting to sort things out…

“Can we talk about Cedrick for a minute?” I pulled his arm to stop him from walking. “Dominique…”

“What do you want from Cedrick?” he turned back to face me. “Why are you always up in his business anyway? Can’t you see that he doesn’t want you?”

“You’re the one who don’t want me… in fact, you’re the one who’s keeping him away from me…” I said, he froze. “I’ll give Cedrick my heart, whether you like it or not”

“He doesn’t need your stupid heart, he’s got mine” his echo went through my ears, but I was confused. Dominique gasped in a shock, he shoved me away to proceed with his walk. His phrase caused me serious confusion, I couldn’t let him flee after causing it.

“Cedrick’s got your heart…?!” I confusedly asked. “How on earth did he accept your heart but not mine?”

He walked away in silence, so on… I continued to follow him. I caught a glimpse of his face, it appeared to be a bit reddish… what was he blushing from…?

“Dominique… is there something I’m missing here…?” I shoved his shoulder lightly, so he’d reply. “What’s wrong, Dominique? Why are you quiet all of a sudden?”

I even giggled cluelessly, trying to go through what he just said and what he meant when he said it, then he decided to speak. “As if you didn’t get it” he murmured ashamedly.

“Get what…? Am I supposed to get something?” I was even more confused.

“Don’t make me say it out loud…” he let out a sigh, I could have sworn I heard a giggle come out too. “Man, you’re so stupid!”

“Say what out loud…?” I asked in confusion. “And why am I stupid?!”

He turned around again to look at me, I heard him gulp before saying anything else.

“I have unconditional feelings for Cedrick, OK? I like him, I adore him, I $@*!ing love him, happy?” he looked me straight in the eyes and somewhat looked like he was confessing. I wasn’t sure I was confused anymore, my confusion turned into a great long shock… I paused to put up the pieces together…

“You love Cedrick?!” I said out loud in a shock, my jaws dropping and my eyes opened wide. He instantly rushed over to cover my mouth.

“Don’t say it out loud, dork” he hissed, with his hands over my mouth.

I thought for sure Dominique was playing with my head… though every time I blink, I see his face getting even more reddish. He looked ashamed and just kept on hushing me, silently sighing with embarrassment. I shoved away his hands.

“Unconditional feelings…? Is that even possible?!” I was still in shock, trying to go through with the fact he gave me, though I was in a silly mood so I felt the urge to make silly jokes and laugh at him. “Is that even legal?” I giggled.

“………” he gulped in shame, “Don’t say that…”

My silly mood was gone. He sounded like he was serious… DEAD serious. He was blushing and a slightly upsetting atmosphere soon took place.

“You were serious…?” I gulped nervously, I was waiting for him to nod or something, anything that could take my confusion away… but I soon came to believe that he wasn’t lying. “Dominique… I had no idea, I’m sorry…”

He took awhile to reply, as if he didn’t want to reply. “Shut up, what are you sorry for?” he pissed off. “I don’t need your pity”

“You’re in no stage to be rude, brother” I said. I wondered if it was ok to call him ‘brother’… I hope it didn’t offend him in any way. I looked at his pitiful expressions, looking below and biting his lips in shame. “You wanna tell me how it happened?”

Dominique decided to go out the school and he was expecting me to follow him, so I had no other option. We went to the kindergarten’s playground nearby, he sat on one of those small swings and slowly started rocking back and forward. I just stood there… waiting for him to sort out his thoughts. It was a moment of silence…

“So… I can see that you’re embarrassed about it, dude” I said unconsciously. “Oh! Is that Ok…?”

“Huh?” he looked at me in confusion.

“I just called you ‘dude’… I’m sorry… was that Ok…?” I said, covering my mouth and hoping I didn’t offend him.

“Shut up… I’m not gay… or anything like it” he clicked his tongue and looked below. “I’m fully a male and everything… I just happened to be attracted to another male… I’m just… I’m just confused…”

He looked extremely sad and depressed, I sadly thought I could cheer him up. “There’s nothing wrong with being… confused…” I gulped, smiling. “These things happen… I guess…”

“It was never supposed to happen… I don’t even know how it happened… Cedrick and I were like brothers since we were kids and we did everything together… I just kinda brought myself to like him in an unusual way during that time” he let out a little giggle. “And the best part is, others started laughing at me for it… and I never used to care… as long as I had Cedrick, nothing mattered actually…”

“Does Cedrick know about your feelings for him…?” I asked, but he shook his head. “I can’t say I understand how you feel…”

He didn’t reply instantly, he just took his time to think.

“Nobody does…” he sighed in depression and smiled at me.

I was brave enough to not let my tears fall. Hearing his half of the story was heart-breaking and majorly sad. He let his hair cover most of his face, so he looked more EMOish than ever. He didn’t cry, so I couldn’t cry either… but if he did cry that day… I know I’d be crying twice as hard. I can’t deny my depression either. I never seen him so quiet and innocent… it’s Dominique we’re talking about… that moment, his devilish image was completely erased…

My discovery about Dominique was still shocking… I refused to go to sleep that night. I wondered how he felt, being so close to the one he loved and not being able to do anything about it… not even confess. I think I was placed in that position long before I met them all… I was there in your background all the time… isn’t that right, Jadrien…?

Wow… look at that… I haven’t talked to you nor mentioned your name in ages!

………I’m sorry………

If I could recall anything from that night… I cried myself to sleep…

ஃ✿ Chapter 10 ✿ஃ

ஃ✿ Chapter 10 ✿ஃ

This morning, I glimpsed from a distance, a guy standing near the school gates. As I approached slowly, I realized that it was Angel. He had some sorta long bat in his hand. I quickly rushed the other way, escaping the demon’s frightening punishment… and its solid bat. I couldn’t resist looking back to see if he notices me, unfortunately he did see my great escape, and decided to run after me.

He began chasing me, so I got more terrified. “Come back here, Peasant!!!” he yelled as he increased his speed, and I increased mine. “You can’t escape me!!!”

I began yelling in terror, I could see the neighbors complaining from their windows and shouting “Keep it down, you kids” but I couldn’t stop myself from yelling in fear. He chased me all the way backwards, I even passed my house. I was too scared to get tired, I kept turning my head back to see if he’d given up the chase already, but he looked all fired up, making me fear for my life even more. “I’m gonna kill you” he yelled at me, almost catching my backpack.

On the way, I was surprised when I saw Cedrick cluelessly walking to school, “Cedrick, HELP ME!” I yelped as I went pass him, he certainly got confused when he saw Angel running after me. I proceeded with my yelling and running, hoping that Cedrick would come to my rescue. We went so far with the running and chasing, that I tripped on what seemed to be a small anthill. My face reached the ground first, and so, I was flat on the ground. My right knee was scratched, though it didn’t hurt much… but I decided to freeze on the ground, hoping that Angel would take pity on me, and eventually… won’t harm me.

He approached me. “What are you doing?” he said while catching his breath, sounding exhausted.

“Pretending to be dead so that you’d leave me alone…” I murmured in hesitation, really hoping that he’d leave me alone.

“Pretending to be dead…?” he laughed. “I’m not a bear, you know”

I was surprised by his intelligence, he must be familiar with bears. He continued to laugh at me, I still didn’t dare to budge. “Come on, hit me already… get it over with” I depressingly said, hiding most of my face between my arms.

I heard his footsteps approaching… and my heartbeats racing. “I can take the pain…” I squeaked as I curved up, I shifted my body and hugged my knees… getting ready to bear the pain. I waited for a fist or a kick… at least something painful… but he didn’t give it to me. He just stood next to my curved up body without making a single move, for a couple of minutes. I was beginning to think he left or something… but I could hear his exhausted breathing. I thought about checking up on him to see if he was Ok or something.

“You Ok?” he softly kicked my backpack, probably feeling responsible for my injuries. “Get up, you’re beginning to look pathetic…”

“I’ll get up when you leave” I said, my head was still hidden between my two great towers… my arms. I was afraid he’d get more angry and step on me, but I thought I’d be more stubborn with him. He’s not the boss of me… is he?

“I’m not leaving till you get up” he insisted, sounding all impatient.

“You leave, I get up” I insisted, making him super furious.

“You’re gonna get up right now, or I’ll kill you” he roared furiously and impatiently, he started pulling me up by grabbing my wobbly thin arms and causing me pain. “ON YOUR FEET, COME ON” he continued to bellow.

“Ow! You're hurting me, let go” I whined in pain, struggling and refusing to stand on my feet. He soon got tired and released my arms, causing me to fall again flat on the ground, back to my old position. He, on the other hand, fell backwards and landed on his butt.

“You are freakishly stubborn” he hissed angrily at me. “Fine, you won’t get up… I’ll sit on you” he sat comfortably on my back, all his weight was painfully heavy for a skinny freshman.

“Ow ow ow…” I cried out in pain. “Get off me, your weight is crushing me”

He let out his evil victory laugh and made himself comfortable, “Sorry peasant, I tried dieting…” he smirked. I pushed him off to the side and he fell on his back, I took deep breaths and was relieved from the pain. “OUCH, you loser” he yelled at me. “Look at my shirt, it’s ruined!”

“Get your legs off me, I’m late for school” I pushed away his legs and got up on my feet, at last. “You crazy mad man, you shouldn’t have chased me all the way here, now we’re both late for school”

“HA, you’re the crazy lunatic… you left me with an empty stomach yesterday, after I specifically told you that I was broke and needed your money” he pointed his finger angrily at me. “You’re lucky I lost my bat on the way, I would’ve skinned you alive”

“Is that all you do…? Think about your personal benefits and completely ignoring the fact that I’m a human being and I have a life too?” I gave him a pitiful look. “Do you even know my name?”

“Your name…?” he looked confused and shocked. “Your name…?” he repeated his phrase while scratching his head. “That’s weird… I thought I knew your name since I’ve been bullying you for a week now… Fatima? no, no that’s not it…”

“See… because you’re not treating me like a person” I raised my eyebrow at him and crossed my arms. “Being the heir of the school and having all that power must really got into your head, I don’t mind if you’re gonna keep making my life miserable… but you could at least spare the humiliation and remember your victim’s name”

“Shut up and give me your stinking name” he angrily blushed. I bent down and picked up his customary white cap, it got a bit dirty so I patted it gently to get rid of the dust. I looked at his unfairly handsome face, his cheeks were strawberry pink and his eyes were golden. He was looking directly at me, exploring every inch of my face. I don’t think I ever got a better view of his face… than that moment. Same thing goes to him, he looked like he was looking at me for the first time.

“Leela” I said as I gave him a friendly smile.

“What did you call me?” he said in a little temper.

“Leela… that’s my name” I gave him another friendly smile. He was in mute mode, he didn’t reply and was looking deeply in my eyes. He started to make me feel utterly uncomfortable… We both paused, looking at each other…

“You have big green eyes… like a frog” he muttered in amazement, I was shockingly insulted. He immediately added “Take it as a compliment”. To tell you the truth, his compliment totally insulted me, but I thought it was nice of him that he noticed.

“Thank you, Angel…” I faked a smile.

I got over his annoying comment about my eyes when we ended walking to school in silence. I earned a great complimentary and angry long lecture from the head teacher, but Angel told him to let me off the hook this time. I was grateful… yet surprised. Is it me… or is Angel beginning to act like an angel…?

… Does that mean I’m off Angel’s hook too…?

“Bring me a sandwich tomorrow” he said, before he left the head teacher’s room. I guess he’s not an ‘angel’ after all…

ஃ✿ Chapter 9 ✿ஃ

ஃ✿ Chapter 9 ✿ஃ

I didn’t give a damn about Dominique anymore, you wanna know why?! Because Cedrick started treating me like a girl! As crazy as it sounds, he even started laughing on my lame jokes! I was so happy and thrilled to go to school this morning, forgetting about the crucial fate that has been awaiting for my arrival.

“Peasant, I want my sandwich” said hell’s most favorite demon, Angel. He has been bullying for a while now, not that I care… I actually started to enjoy making extra sandwiches every morning, ‘cause I get to spit on the ones I give him. “Oh wow peasant, what a pleasant smile you got there! Somebody’s in a good mood today” he gave me an evil smile as usual, I was forced to wipe off my pleasant smile.

I handed him his sandwich. “Here’s your bologna sandwich, no mayo” I huffed, he pulled it out of my hand and began chewing it down… along with my spit. “Anything else?”

“Yeah… I'm broke today” he said with his mouth full. “I might need you to buy me lunch from the cafeteria today, I don’t want you disappearing during recess. Do I make myself clear?”

I really wanted to punch him, pound his unfairly handsome face with a good smack. He was bossy and evil… he’s more evil than Dominique! I hated his guts. Being the principle’s son and the school’s heir must be one heck of a job. He snapped his fingers, waking me up from my daydreams. I immediately nodded as usual. The bell soon rang, so I was heading to my classroom, but something stopped me halfway there. Outside the window on my left, I glanced at a red-haired guy, he looked like Dominique! As soon as I approached the window, I confirmed that it was the one and only red-haired guy I know, Dominique. I noticed that he was having a loud conversation with Cedrick. I peeked quietly trying to hear what they were saying. Dominique looked angry, unlike Cedrick, who was strangely cool and calm…

“I can’t believe you… being all cool with that hideous girl…” groused Dominique so angrily, looking like a mad man. I knew that he was grousing about none other than the only hideous girl he knows… that is me.

“Calm down, Dominique… I can’t see where’s the problem in making new friends” Cedrick replied, scratching his lovely hair, and making me feel so special… hearing him defending me. I was happy!

“Dear Cedrick… WE HATE HER, remember?” Dominique yelled back at Cedrick, furiously approaching him. “She’s no friend… she’s a girl, she could make you fall for her… do you want a girlfriend… Cedrick?” he gulped, slowly lowering his voice tune.

Cedrick didn’t reply… I was rolling on the floor with happiness. Cedrick didn’t say ‘No’ or even defended himself… I was filled with gratefulness and joyfulness. Oh sweet, sweet Cedrick! I loved him twice as hard…

After a few seconds of rolling with joy, I felt the atmosphere changing outside the window… I peeked again, Dominique had a very shocking expression on his face. He looked terrified. “… Cedrick?” he gulped… in terror. Looking at him gave me a uncomfortably scary feeling for some reason.

Cedrick paused. He looked all hesitated to respond to Dominique’s serious tune. “It’s just… you been keeping me away from people, especially girls, for as long as I remember…” Cedrick looked away, giving Dominique his back. Dominique looked even more terrified. “I-I’m sorry… I’m just thinking too much…” Cedrick said immediately.

For some reason, I wasn’t happy anymore… I couldn’t be. Cedrick looked awfully sad, and Dominique let out a little laugh. I stared at Dominique’s face… I saw tears running down his cheeks. He was crying.

“So it’s all my fault now, eh?” he muttered. “I’m the one who’s keeping you inside a box…”

Cedrick turned back to Dominique, gently trying to grab his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Dominique… I didn’t mean to upset you…” he said, but Dominique quickly stepped back, avoiding Cedrick’s hands. He wiped his face with his arms, crying even louder. Cedrick got ahold of Dominique’s wrists, making Dominique struggle to wipe his tears. “Dominique… stop it…”

I paused… they paused… everything else just paused. In that moment, it felt like everything in the world just stopped moving, except for Dominique’s tears… he almost stopped crying, but couldn’t resist making that enchanting sad face… the saddest face I’ve ever seen.

“I don’t want you to fall in love with Leela…” he weeped.

I was left in astonishment, feeling the urge to cry as well. The outlook of Cedrick grasping Dominique’s wrists in silent and Dominique in pain… was so magically sorrowful. I never seen Dominique so miserable, I wished he’d stop making me feel so horrible with his miserable face. In that moment, I felt like I was the bad guy in this whole situation. I wondered how Cedrick’s gonna respond…?

He took deep breaths, he started showing a little sad smile. “Anything for you Dominique… if it’ll make you happy, I’ll stop seeing Leela” he gently started rubbing Dominique’s hair, the same way he rubbed mine once before.

I wondered was I still jealous of Dominique…? This conversation made it clear that he was jealous of me too. I always knew that… but I never used to care. We both wanted to keep Cedrick all for ourselves, not caring about each other’s feelings. We were selfish… I was selfish. Still, I wonder why would Dominique want to keep Cedrick all for himself…? Can’t we share?

I was traumatized when I got back home that day. I was absent-minded for the whole day. Better yet, that night, right before I closed my eyes to count sheep in bed to sleep, I remembered my dreadful date with Angel. I felt a sudden fear that I might die tomorrow… I started crying and praying that I’d die in my sleep, so I won’t get to face Angel’s consequences.