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❝Boy in Love❞

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【Ulysses】 

As soon as we exited the coffee shop, all of us separated to different paths. 

Well, some of us.

Maigo and Ash attended summer school, so they already left the cafe around 3 PM. Pink and I—being cousins and all—lived together. Our house is on the same street as Cole's. Pink said she wanted to walk Adelaide home and also because they haven't exactly spent much time together recently.

That left Cole and I to walk together. Jesus.

As we turned a corner, Cole let out a cough. "So.. You and Ade, huh?"

I frowned. "Ade?"

"Adelaide."

I've heard him call her that nickname many times, but it still doesn't sit right to me. I ignored his question. "How long have you known her?"

"Two years," he answered.

"Huh." I brushed my hair back with my hand. The sunset radiated with colors of blood and tangerine. Under the slight illumination of the area, Cole's usual striking blue eyes looked more of the abyss of  the ocean. Dark and still.

"She was mine once." He said.

I stopped on my tracks and so did he. I lost the light in my silver eyes and I could feel a storm brewing in them. I gritted my teeth and let out a spurious laugh. "You're joking."

"We dated before."

I could feel heat travel to my face and my cheeks started feeling warm. Cole may have been taller than me but that didn't intimidate me. I took a step forward at him but he didn't budge. I scanned him up and down. "So what if you did?"

He let out a laugh. "Why? Are you jealous?" 

Me. Jealous? Of that stupid girl?

The color drained from my face and I pushed past him. "Like hell I am."

He laughed again. "You look like an angry pink mushroom when you're mad."

What the hell.

We didn't talk for the rest of the walk, and I didn't bother looking back to say goodbye when we reached my house. I shut the door behind me immediately.

I didn't want to admit it to myself;

 He pissed me off, and I knew why.

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It was past midnight. Everyone was asleep (especially Pink who grew tired from walking and was snoring louder than her alarm clock) except for me.

I decided to head out to this nearby food store to go grab a midnight snack.

"Thanks, man," I handed a couple of bucks to John, the cashier, as he put my food in a paper bag.

He shook his head and smiled. "It's on me."

I smiled back. "Thanks." I placed a dollar for his service. When he protested, I insisted. "You've done a lot for me. Just take it."

He took it. John is 18 years old. Even though he goes to a hectic university, he still finds time to work part-time in this store. I kept coming to this store and so we would start talking, and eventually he became a friend of mine.

I thanked him again as I exited the place.

The midnight's cold breeze sent a shiver down my spine. The sky was engulfed with the crevasse of darkness, painted with bits and pieces of twinkling ivories. Dead leaves fell from the branches of old trees as life was sucked away from their petioles.

I walked along the roadway of the arched bridge and leaned against the parapet, admiring the view as I opened my canned coke.

Then I heard whimpering.

That night, I saw her curled up like a ball right there on the bridge, rocking herself back and forth. She was dressed all in black and had a backpack that looked loaded strapped on her shoulders. I frowned and went closer to her. "Adelaide? What are you—"

She flinched at the touch of my hand on her shoulder. She was trembling.

That night, I saw a vulnerable side of her I've never seen before.

"Adelaide..?"

That night, I felt my heart drop at the sight of endless tears racing down her flushed cheeks and at the sound of her voice breaking as she choked out one word,

"Don't."

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