Hug
1872 Words
My feet just led me straight back to Eli's door. “Eli!” I knock on her door. “Eli?” Why isn't she answering? She's this deep in her sadness...
The doorknob clicks and the door is being opened. I barge in and put my arms around her, my chin on her shoulder as I whisper, “It's gonna be alright.” The smell of her perfume and hair go well with each other. My shoulder is dampening because of her tears.
She's not doing anything nor says a thing and just let me hold her like this until she raises her hands, touching my back. Then roars, “Let go of me, you weirdo!” and pushes against my shoulders.
I let go, almost tripping back but my back hits the wall of the hallway. From here, her face looks fresh from weeping. Her panting is accompanied by sobbing. She turns back to her room with a frown and closes the door with a bang. I scratch my head, realizing what I did was indeed weird. Why did I do that? Anyways, let's just go home... I gotta be prepared for the afternoon. Also, I gotta grind primogems. Ugh! So cringe!
When I arrived at my dorm, I'm supposed to be feeling happy that I could play my game all I want because it's the weekend and I finished the school works I have planned to do. I didn't finish them all at once because it would be torture for my mind.
After playing for hours with a feeling of uneasiness, I give up and close my game. I keep thinking about the cringy thing I did earlier! Ugh! F*ck, I'm the worst! I acted without thinking! Now, she's gonna be weird around me. But I'm sure I can still fix this. If we meet again, I'll act as if nothing happened. She will do the same and that will just fade until we forget about it. Everything will return to normal... hopefully. Maybe I'll send a message to her to know if she's fine. But that would also be weird! I'm acting as if I care too much. I do care but not to point that I can't get it out of my head. The fact is... I can't get it out of my head? What's with me today?!! Argh!! I wanna die!
With no idea left in how to spend this time alone, I open my phone to talk to Irene. She's online.
“How's it going, Irene?” I sent.
“Just fine, you?”
“I feel worn out after doing all of my tasks over again.”
“What? Why?”
I can't tell her about Eli and me spending time together or she will misunderstand. “My old phone was broken when dropped it on the stairs.”
“LOL. Did you get a new one?”
“Yeah, my parents sent money for me to buy.”—another lie.
“Woah, rich kid.”
“Not really, it's just my choice to rely on phone rather than a laptop to save money hehe. You can hardly call that being a rich kid.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. So, are you available this afternoon?”
“I am. I just finished on some things I needed to do so I'm ready to go out anytime. BTW, how's Liz?”
It's not my place to tell her that Eli just cried so, “She's fine. She's preparing too.”
“That's good! I going to take a bath now. See ya.”
Bath...
With how Irene looks, I think she would look so enticing when- Wait, wait, wait, wait... Stop it. You respect her so no dirty thoughts, okay? Okay. Good.
Meanwhile, we gotta prepare at our end too. We don't wanna be late nor looking like a total heathen. Everything has to be perfect. But I don't even know what's perfect. Let's just do everything normally and dress normally. It's time to wear the clothes Eli bought for me—the oversized white t-shirt and a jogger. They're the best ones I have, after all. I pair it up with my simple good-enough knapsack as... I don't know, accessory?
Eli said that we will meet at the ticket booth of the mall before 6. I have to be early so that I'll be the one who's gonna wait for them. I'm a man so I should be the one who's waiting. But when I got there, Eli is already there.
She's wearing a denim jacket with a tucked-in black and white striped t-shirt, skinny jeans, and white sneakers. On her left shoulder is a white handbag—a new one. The way she looks at her phone is by tilting her head to her right, letting her silky hair fall on one side. Her shiny diamond earring is going along well with her fair skin. As always, she looks just like a normal pretty girl. Boys steal glances at her, wondering why she's there alone.
Is being that pretty, normal? What am I thinking about? I don't make any sense. Anyways, I'll walk to her side now. As I approach, she glares at me then looks at her phone. I feel worried and wonder if she's mad at me.
At her right, I stand, hesitating to say something. But I must, so, “Hello,” I greet. She's not answering and just frowns while scrolling down on Acebook. “I'm sorry about earlier.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know...”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“When I hugged-”
“Just shut up and leave me be. I have dysmenorrhea. You don't want me to punch your face,” she threatens.
Scary! Are girls like this when they get- Wait, as far as I know, her period should be over by now. Or maybe I'm just mistaken. Women have different cycles after all. Is she just pretending? Does she really hate me? I don't want that. Not this time when she's in a hard time. I've got to be a good friend to her but how? I don't have a f*ckin' idea!
“Kev, Liz!” someone calls from the distance.
It's Irene waving and smiling at us! She's wearing floral off-shoulder, shorts, and strapped sandals. She's carrying a brown leather bag that goes well with her outfit.
Woah... she looks as pretty as Eli... No, no, no, why am I comparing her with-
“You look so beautiful, Irene nee-san!” Eli compliments, giving her a friendly hug. What's with her tone that suddenly becomes cheerful without a trace of contempt?
“Thank you! You look dazzling too, Liz!” They chuckle together and look at me. Eli's gesturing with a tilt of her head, probably meaning that I must say something too.
After clearing my throat, I utter, “You look pretty..., Irene.” J had to look away though. Otherwise, I wouldn't have finished that short sentence.
“Thank you,” she smiles, looking away like I'm doing.
“Hey, what about me?” asks this tomboy all of a sudden, looking interested for my answer.
What's with her, suddenly? Acting like she needs my attention after clearly saying that she doesn't want to be bothered. I don't want Irene to think that I find this tomboy is prettier than her so I simply say, “You look... fine, I guess...”
“That's it?!!” she reacts, disappointed.
“*Tsk* What do you want me to say?!!”
“You guys get along so well,” Irene remarks.
“We don't!” Eli and I deny at the same time.
“See?” Irene giggles.
“Well then, get to the ticket booth,” says Eli, changing the subject. She's good...
We line up, Eli leads us with Irene after her, then me as the last one. A lot of people are lining up. This movie must be good. Irene was about to pay when Eli suddenly pulls her from the line.
“What?” Irene exclaims.
Eli shows the three tickets in her hand. “It's my treat.”
“No,” I argue. “I'll pay for both of us.”
Then Irene speaks out, “No, I'll pay for mysel-”
“Don't worry, you guys, ” Eli cuts. “let me be generous.”
You're being too generous—I should say but I can't speak it out.
“Are you sure?” Irene asks.
“Yeah, so you can spend your money on snacks! Let's go!”
“Oh, that's fair,” I remark.
Right after we bought popcorn, drinks, and stuff, we head inside the cinema. It is cold and dark here with minimal murmuring. The projection screen is just white, still being prepped for the moment.
“Shall we go to the nearest or farthest?” Eli asks.
“I'll go with what both of you prefer,” I tell them.
“Irene?” she asks.
“The middle, maybe?”
“Okay, let's go.”
We walk on the pathway between the columns of chairs until we got to the middle. I don't know what's the deal with these people who sit right at where the lines of chairs start and also the only way for anybody to go to the empty chairs deeper in the columns. They're disappointingly inconsiderate. Why not just scooch a little farther? The chairs in the middle are unoccupied.
It's hard to walk while keeping in mind not to trip on their feet because it's very dark. I have it the hardest since I carry all the snacks for them. They carry with them their drinks. They are drinking already even though the movie hasn't started yet. I sigh in relief as soon as I finally sat right next to Irene. She's at my left and Eli is right next to her.
“It's starting,” I remark when the large screen is now playing the first scene and the speakers play the audio.
“Gimme snack,” Eli whispers, reaching out her hands in front of Irene like a little child. “Hurry!”
“Calm down,” I tell her as I give her the popcorn from the huge plastic bag.
Both of them share it while I search into the plastic bag, trying to find that spicy chicharron. I like this snack so I bought it myself. There it is... hehe. You're mine to devour. *Crunch* Oh... that tastes so good! The saltiness, spiciness, and sourness are just right! Oh, yes... Then this pineapple juice is so refreshing. Things couldn't be this better. I'm relaxing and the girl I like is right next to me.
I'm used to reading subtitles so this K-drama movie is easy to understand. I can see that Irene is enjoying this so much. I wish the lights are a little brighter so that I could see her face clearly as she smiles. I can't focus on the movie although it's the reason why we came here. I can't because her smile... is... Eli's smile... is...
What?
- Writer
