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…