Joey Avery appears to have everything. Happiness. Loving parents. A life all mapped out. But it's all a lie. An entire life based on a lie. First of all, she's a her, not a him, though it gets people confused all the time, since her name is typicall...
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I fucked up.
I'm so in my head right now, that I don't see his right hook come and it hits me right on the side of the head. Sebastian keeps hopping around the ring as I get back up. But as soon as I'm on my two feet, I can't stop thinking about Joey and about how she's been ignoring me for the past few days. When I'm around, it's like I'm not even there. When we come across each other on campus or in the dorms, she changes her path. At this point, I'm not even sure who's pushing who away. She's been trying to be friends and I've shut her out and then, I realized that maybe it wasn't a bad idea to give it a shot, since Joey is probably the best and coolest person I've ever met, but it was too late.
"What has gotten into you? You have no problem with beating me up usually," Bash declares, punching me in the stomach. "Girl problems?"
"How do you know?"
"Instinct. I've never seen you like this, so I just thought about what unusual thing could be affecting you and I thought... it must be a girl. Who is she?"
"No one," I lie. Joey is everything. She isn't no one, she's the girl you'd wish to introduce to your parents and make your friends jealous about your relationship with her. She's the kind of girl anyone, even those who don't do relationships, would like to date.
"It's Joey, isn't it?"
How does he know Joey?
"Jeez, don't act so surprise, I'm her roommate's brother, I had to meet her one way or another. Oh, by the way, I invited her to the match tonight," he announces, and I see red.
"You what? What the fuck, Bash! This isn't a place for her. Now, I won't be fully focused on my fight since I'll have to worry about her safety. What were you thinking?"
"Oh my... You actually care. That cold heart of yours is finally warming up."
"I... Hum..." there is no explanation. I do care about her. There's just this light in her that I never want to see die. She's precious and I would protect her with my life if I ever had to. I know that we've met less than a month ago, and that we aren't much to each other, but there's definitely something out there, that I am sure she has noticed too, and that could explain why she's ignoring me, if it isn't that she's totally mad at me. "Fine, I care. She's just... I don't know how to explain it, it's just..."
"I get it. She's pretty, intelligent, funny," he smiles innocently as I stare at him. A death stare. "Bro, don't look at me like that, I'm not interested in her, I'm just stating facts. I'm a taken man, remember? She's all yours. But I'll give you a piece of advice. Don't let her slip away. I know what you're feeling might be confusing and scary, but don't throw it all away because you fear what could happen because the outcome could also be good, not only bad. Now, beat the shit out of me."
I scoff at his last comment, thinking about his advice a little bit. He's right. I mean, I've known it for a while now, but I just wouldn't admit it. Joey is one of the good things that happened to me, I have this feeling of comfort when she's around, like I don't have to be afraid to be myself, she makes me want to be the better version of myself. I can't let that go. It might be a once in a lifetime chance, I have to take it. I have to prove to Joey that I deserve her friendship, that I didn't mean anything I might have said or do that could have offended her or insulted her or pushed her away, because there's only one thing I'm certain about right now, and it's that I want Joey in my life.
