Amidst The Reverie (boyxboy)

Chapter 26 : Fuck It All

In the following week, Mateo only exists in glimpses. 

As soon as Eli went home that night Mateo sent him a text that admittedly kept Eli awake until the sky cast a soft light into his curtain. 

'Whether in this reality or the next, I'm thankful that I know you Eli.'  He stared at his phone screen confused and flushed all at the same time. 

They never really talked at school. Their interactions consist of small smiles as they pass each other in the hallways, knowing looks exchanged while standing by their lockers, and stolen glances while they sit together in English. 

There was a certain air that shifted that night, whatever it is, Eli doesn't know. But ever since then, Mateo has been a constant conscious thought within him. In everything that he does, he's there. 

Lingering glances, smiles etched into his mind, skin that's too close to touch. And it's fucking unbearable. 

It doesn't help that Mateo, as confusing as he is then, is even more confusing now. He texts Eli at random times of the day. At odd hours of the night, while he's having lunch with Olivia, just before he woke up, while in their fucking class. 

And his texts is so fucking random that Eli wanted nothing more but to whack his phone into Mateo's head just to knock some sense into him. 

On Monday at 3:00 in the morning, while Eli was wrapped up in his blanket and was scrolling through his phone, a text came up. 

'It will be winter and we will light a fire. The poor beasts will be trembling with the cold. You will recall that you are an inventor of marvelous things and we will live together with a portrait machine.  - Salvador Dali to Frederico Garcia Lorca' 

Eli frowned deeply, his eyebrows knitting. He muttered the words over and over again trying to make sense of them. He flipped towards his back and googled Salvador Dali and Fredrico Garcia Lorca but nothing of significance came up. 

His fingers hovered on his keypad. 'The hell?' he typed, then deleted again. 'What?'  He opted to type, and send the text. He never got a reply. 

On Wednesday afternoon, while he and Olivia were eating their sandwiches in the cafeteria the text came again. 

'The Gods envy us because we're mortals, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again. - Homer'

Once again, he was dumbfounded. He craned his neck and searched the cafeteria hall, looking for him. After a while he stopped. He copied and pasted one of the quotes he saved on his phone. 'When we are asleep in this world, we are awake in another. - Salvador Dali'  He tapped his phone in anticipation waiting for a reply. 

"What is it?" Olivia asked, her perfectly plucked eyebrows raised. Eli tucked his phone in his pocket and shook his head. "Nothing." She then proceeded to talk about a new series that she has been watching. 

Eli lie awake every night waiting for a reply. He reads Mateo's texts over and over again, almost willing him to reply but it never comes.

It always came, however, whenever he least expected it. Like when he was in class. Thankfully he put his phone on silent.

The moment it vibrated he instantly knew that it's from him. No one really texts him. 

He excused himself to the bathroom and opened the text. 

'Dearest Hephaestion!'  It read. 'How recounts of your death bring tears to still eyes, After these many many centuries. Do you know how Alexander wept, how Alexander mourned? How Alexander followed you into death? -Mary James Canfield'

Eli waited until he was at home staring at his cellphone while sitting on his queen-sized bed to reply. The sun is just setting from his window. He could hear the faint noise of the television in their living room downstairs. There were kids still playing outside and from here he could see them running around. 

He has a lot of homework, a lot of distractions, a lot of things to do. But all he could think about is to find the perfect response. To be as confusing and possibly, maybe, sound as smart as Mateo. 

He, of course, googled his reply. 'There are so many worlds and I have not yet conquered even one. - Alexander the Great'

He set his phone down, not expecting a reply. But it vibrated again. His hand moved quickly, not a second too long he was already opening the message. 

'Someday. Maybe someday, like Alexander the Great, we will conquer each and every possible reality' 

He didn't reply after that. Contented that Mateo even replied back. 

Eli's still confuse on whatever is going on but he's just glad that even through this little thing, these crumble of text messages and stolen glances, there is still a connection between them. A tether that them and only them knows about. And Eli would take a crumble, a trickle, a droplet of attention from Mateo. Even just a little bit. He would take it and he would receive it as long and as many as Mateo would give him - could give him. 

On Friday night, his phone vibrated yet again. He checked the time, it's 2 in the morning. 

'The choice is ours to make whether the stars in the night sky shine upon us as headlights of an approaching paradise or as tail-lights of receding fortunes. - Agona Apell'

Eli reads and re-reads the quote. He decided to google the name in the morning, so he could properly create an appropriate reply. He sets his phone on his night stand and sleeps. 

It vibrated again. He reaches for his phone. 

'Do you want to make the night ours? The choice is yours.'

Eli furrowed his brows. There's no name below so obviously it's not a quotation. What the fuck does he mean?

'What do you mean?' 

After a minute there was another reply. 'Look out the window.' 

Eli hurriedly stumbled into his bedroom window, and sure enough, he could see Mateo, through his white billowy curtains, leaning in his car. 

So many thoughts and emotions rush through Eli but mostly it was just confusion. 

'What the fuck are you doing here?' He typed. He could see Mateo typing on his phone too. 

'Making memories.' Mateo simply replied. He gestured his hands as if to say 'come on' and goes inside his car. 

Eli contemplates on what he's about to do. And fuck it all. He did say that he would take whatever Mateo would give him. 

He wants to make memories. He wants to conquer the world one by one. He wants it all. And he wants it with Mateo by his side. 

So fuck it all.