Pain
2204 Words
“You met her?” I ask Eli and I'm utterly surprised.
“Yeah,” she nods. “I had a word with her while we watched the basketball game.” She smugs at me. “Now I know why you're in love with her. Not only that she's nice, but she's got a nice face, bewbs, and azz.”
“You sound like a perverted old man. Stop that. That's not the reason why I like her. I like her because she's smart and nice.”
“Lies,” she scoffs, looking ahead with her chin up.
“I'm not lying!”
“Your excuse of liking her is just so that you can hide that you also like her body. No one just likes someone for who they are. You like their body because it's theirs. Their body is what houses the person inside and you have to embrace it too. Just be honest when you're around me.” The way she said the last sentence, her face is sincere, contrasting the smug face she's supposed to make. “You're the only one who knows me for I truly am. We can keep it a secret—about who we truly are, even down to what we like although other people might deem them disgusting.” She looks straight ahead, deep in thought. “Throughout the years, I have no real friends. All of them are liars and couldn't keep a secret. And I know that you're different from them. If someone shares their secret with you, you'll keep it to yourself forever.” Sighing, she says, “Well, if you don't want to share it, then it's okay. It's your private life, after all.”
Her face is barren of emotions as the pale streetlight is shining on her face. I feel like we have fallen off a cliff after a long and bumpy ride. Everything was full of energy but now, nothing. The joyride has ended so suddenly without warning.
Should I share it with her? Okay... here I go...
“I like her... waist.” There I said it! Then she looks at me, waiting for me to tell her the reason. “I imagine holding her waist while... you know~”
Like damp charcoal suddenly blazing with fire, she smugs, and giggles. “That's nice. I can imagine that view.” I swallow when she bites her lip. “I guess we're on the same page, bro.” I regret telling her. She puts her arm over and around my shoulder. “Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll experience it. In exchange, let me borrow her sometimes.”
“What the- No! Stop treating girls like that!”
She laughs at the sky. “I'm kidding!” Waiting for her laugh to pass, she wipes her tear from the corner of her eye. “A nud3 would do just fine then?”
“Absolutely no!”
“Oh, come on!”
“Besides, we're not even sure if I can really make her my girlfriend. There are a lot of better guys who are interested in her. I can't compete with them.”
“Hey, as long as you have your bro, everything's gonna be fine.” She presses her first against my chest.
Smiling, she looks at me and shows her fist. She's telling me to give her a fist bump so I did. She does that grin with her closed eyes. Somehow, I find it so... mesmerizing.
After minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the mall. The place is full of people. The air is cool and fresh. Shops here and there, each proudly showcasing their products. The space is huge since it's a mall. I feel comfortable. Eli keeps talking to me about anything that comes to her mind. They're mostly about girls, though. Then it hit me when I noticed that I'm getting used to her talk that I don't find it weird anymore. It's just been days and this happened. Incredible. Or maybe I've gone odd too.
I know where the arcade is, so I take her there. This arcade has a lot of games and machines. The ones that I like are Tekken and Streetfighter—they're my childhood. Also, my favorite is Metal Slug. God, I love this game!
Upon arriving, we line up at the booth and she buys a handful of tokens. She gives half of it to me. I've never had so much of this in my life!! I could play the games I love to my heart's content with these! The other people behind us are impressed but she didn't make a big deal out of it and we just step out of the line.
“Are you cool giving me this much?” I ask her while trying to hide my excitement.
“Yes, of course,” she nods a few times. “Let's go shoot some hoops first.” To the basketball machine-thingy, she points, so we went there.
There's a row of these machines. Some are occupied by other people but there are two that are available and right next to each other. I'm at the left while she is at the right.
“Let's make a bet on who gets the higher score,” she says, holding a ball. I feel this will be something bad. “If I win, you'll let me borrow Irene.” She raises her eyebrows a lot of times.
“I'm not gonna make a bet with that. That's ridiculous. We're just here to have fun.”
“Well, it wouldn't be fun if we don't make it interesting by making a bet.”
“I'm fine without a bet.”
“Then give me back all of my tokens!” She shows her palm while her other hand is on her waist. “You're no fun.”
“Okay, okay! I'll play your game but leave Irene out of this.”
Rubbing her chin and looking at the side, she thinks of something. Alas, she already thought of something. “How about doing the homework of the winner?”
“Wait, I'll think about it.”
“Take your time,” she says, holding the ball and shooting it upwards.
Clearly, she doesn't know how to shoot a ball. The way she holds the ball is not firm. She's holding it with both hands as any normal girl does. I've played this game before and I can say that I'm average but I can beat her. And about the homework. If I was to lose, it'll be hard studying her subjects since we're not in the same course. But before anything else, I think it'll be easier than physics and math. And if I was to win, I'll have more free time to play my games. I can grind more primogems in Genshin Impact for the new character banner. I guess it would be fair.
“Okay,” I agree. “Let's bet on it.”
“Much obliged,” she half-smiles, shaking my hand. We put our bags on the floor and ready ourselves to insert the tokens at the same time. “Okay,” she says. “Go!”
We insert it and our machines start. As soon as the timers turn on, we shoot the balls to our respective baskets. I miss like 33 percent of my shots—that means I'm doing good. I can win this!
The time limit is over and my arms are tired. “What?!!” I exclaim, comparing her score to mine! I didn't notice until now that she got 544 while I only got 416!! “How is this possible?!!”
“I guess I'm too good,” she boasts, stretching he shoulders.
“How?!!”
“A bet's a bet.”
“Ugh...,” I groan, covering my face. I can't believe I lost to a girl!! I'm so full of shame! Now, I won't have a chance to get the new 5-star character! I doomed myself!
“Hey, are you okay?” she asks. I can't even imagine that she's caring about my loss.
“Yes,” I sigh when I stand straight, accepting my loss then she goes dancing like a wild monkey.
“I win!” she laughs at my face and makes ridiculous faces at me.
I pull out my phone, open the camera, and took a picture of her face in just a short time. And the shot is hilarious!! “Haha!” I laugh at her, showing it to her. In this picture, her eyes are rolled up, her teeth are showing, and her cheeks are full of folds. She's so ugly in this picture.
“Hey!” she yells, trying to grab my phone. I put it inside my pocket. “Delete that!”
“Nope, I'll post it when your birthday comes.”
She narrows her eyes while resisting herself from smiling. “Delete that or I'll kill you!”
“I won't.” I look to the side, feeling victorious after a loss.
“Do you seriously want war?”
“What?” I ask suspiciously.
Pulling out her phone, she shows me her gallery and my face!!! She took a picture of me sleeping on her sofa! I knew it! And I look ugly! But hehe... not as much as ugly as what I took from her!!
“So be it!” I dictate. “Your face is much uglier!” I laugh at her.
“Argh!!!” she screams trying to reach my pocket where my phone is. I just hold her shoulders so she can't reach me with her short arms.
“Ugh!!” My balls!! She kicked my nuts!!
Kneeling, I feel the pain coursing from my crotch up to my stomach... I wheeze, trying to endure the pain while she already grabbed my phone from my pocket. I can't move to stop her. But it's fine... It's locked so she will never be able to delete it unless-
*Crash* My phone gets shattered on the floor in front of me. “What the f*ck did you just do?!!” I cry. Other people are looking at us so I cover my mouth and calmed down instantly.
She's panting when she says, “I'll buy you a new one if you leave that alone.”
“I have files for my homework in that phone!!” My knees become weak, thinking about how much I lost and feeling the pain in my balls. It's over! I'm done! I'm gonna fail this semester... and I'm not gonna have any children.
Grabbing my arm, she pulls me up with her left hand and grabs our bags with her right hand. She takes me somewhere that I don't care where. I'm just thinking about how will I explain to my teachers that my outputs are gone? How will I explain to my group mates that their hard work has been snapped into nothingness? How will I explain to my parents that I failed? The deadline for the outputs is this week and I... don't know what to do.
“It was your fault for refusing to delete it,” she mutters when we sit on a bench facing the children playing in the indoor mini playground.
Wiping my tears, I sob, “You didn't have to go so far kicking my balls and... destroying my phone.”
“I'm sorry, okay? I just... overreacted. Indeed it was too far and I-”
“How am I gonna explain this to everyone?” Sh*t I can't stop sobbing. I'm a man! I mustn't cry! But the pain is too much—in my balls that is.
“You know what? I'll help you do your homework instead. I take back that bet. We'll continue it after you're done with yours.”
“That won't make me feel better. I still feel the pain...”
“Down there?”
“Where else would it be?!!” I grunt.
Slowly, she leans to reach my ear, close enough to whisper, “If it'll make you feel better, I could give you a ‘ball massage’.”
Gulping, I wrinkle my nose and shake my head. “Anything but that!!” I don't know why I'm refusing. That was a good deal but my conscience tells me otherwise. “Just buy me a new phone! A better one of my own choosing. That will make me feel better!”
“Okay, okay... let's go.”
“Not yet. Just give me a few more minutes ro relieve the pain.”
“I could help you relieve the pain,” she smugs, open and closing her hands.
“Stop it, you perverted sh*t!!” I couldn't help myself but curse at her.
She giggles, looking at the floor. “I'm kidding, I would never do that. That's disgusting.”
“Then why are you suggesting it, huh?!!”
Her eyes smile from her cheek when she says, “I knew you'd refuse.” Then she looks at the playing children. “That's why I like you, Kev.”
- Writer
