Teen Romance Fantasy

Act 3 (Ty)

"Isn't Christian coming today?" Kadir asked, once he noticed that Christian was missing. He entered the classroom and walked towards us, as he was still tying his long dark hair into a ponytail. I noticed how a few of the girls secretly turned around. They gazed at Kadir as if he was a golden price that they could win but the moment Kadir looked at them, they pretended to not notice him.

"Non, he actually came today. We got a new math teacher and apparently no one has told him about Christian. This morning Christian got in trouble for skipping school and now they are arguing." Anthony explained. It did not seem to bother him at all. He and Eric were in the middle of a game and it seemed as if they were going to lose and I gave Anthony the fault for it. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw what set he was using.

"Shouldn't you get the other set for Cherry? And why are your controls mirrored?" I asked calmly.

"Didn't you see Siren's stream yesterday? She used this set and she always uses those controls."

"Well yeah but the enemy team had a Carl. She only got this helmet to protect herself from him. This is an absolute waste of ATP. Besides, she uses those controls because she's left handed."

Before Anthony could even argue back, Eric interrupted him, who was not too pleased to lose another game with his favourite hero. He gently slicked his golden hair back just so it could fall back to the front and cover his eyes.

"Come on now Anthony, you know you shouldn't argue with Tyson, when it comes to Siren. Tyson probably didn't sleep the entire night just so he could rewatch the stream at least twice."

"As if I would do anything like this." I mumbled.

"With the junior tournament coming up in Seeker, you definitely would do this. Wanna bet? I bid five bucks."

"Moi aussi." Anthony added.

"Really you guys? Kadir, help me out here." I begged but Kadir tried to avoid eye contact.

"Sorry Tyson but after you spent hours on analysing that random yellow doodle Siren drew in the corner of her notebook, I believe you're capable of everything. I bid ten bucks and lunch is on me tomorrow."

"I hope you step on a Lego piece."

"What are you guys up to again? Don't tell me you're bullying Tyson." Alexy suddenly appeared from behind me and quite literally threw herself onto me. I almost broke down under her weight. Even worse, I noticed how Anthony had been smiling. Sometimes I wished I had not told him about my feelings for Alexy.

Alexy decided to sit down on the table next to me. She joked about how all the girls were looking at Kadir and asked Eric where Christian was as well. For a moment it felt as if she had forgotten about me, until she figured that it would be a good idea to blow into my ear. I was taken by surprise and barely managed to keep my cool. Alexy however just giggled. Did she really have no clue what kind of an effect her attitude had on me?

Christian did not come for chemistry and neither did he come for physical education, which was not actually much of a surprise. For once not even Eric knew what was going on. He called Christian at least a thousand times but Christian did not pick up. Clearly Eric was worried. He did not say a single word for the rest of the day. Only when Christian finally messaged him that he had not been feeling too well and went home, Eric relaxed a bit.

"You worry too much about him." I pointed out to Eric, as we were on our way home. He did not like hearing me say it but even he knew that the time had come to let go of the past.

"How could I not worry about him? You know what happened just as well as I do."

"Eric, it was an accident-"

"It was not an accident!" I was startled by his sudden outburst. Eric was usually a calm person but when it came to Christian, he would turn into a monster. While his deep green eyes seemed innocent, they actually hid his surly demeanour that he was more afraid of than anything else in this world.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you like this. I guess I'm just a little tired because of everything. Tell the others that I'm going to sit out on Seeker tonight."

Eric disappeared behind the next corner. I felt as if he was stuck in his own bubble. He could not see the world around him and thus he did not notice how he stepped on a gentle and lovely white daisy that was, despite the circumstances, growing between the rocks that we were walking on.

When I got home, I was all alone. David was staying over at a friend's place and the old man was still at work. Therefore I did what I had to do. I vacuumed the hallway, I made pasta for dinner and I changed the sheets in my bedroom, before eventually I collapsed.

I do not know for how long I had been laying in bed but when I was woken up, it had already gotten dark outside. My phone was ringing excessively. At first I could not think of anyone that would call me but then I saw that it was Alexy. When I picked up the phone, Alexy had been heavily and unsteadily breathing.

"Alexy? What's wrong?"

"Tyson... I'm outside... I'm sorry but I think someone is following me."

It took me only a second to come back to my sense. A second was a second too long.

"Alexy, where are you right now?"

Silence. Absolute silence. Heavy breathing. Did I hear a voice in the background?

"I'm at the old station... Tyson, I'm scared."

"Listen, the station is not too far away from my place. Try to keep your distance. I'm coming to get you!"

Silence again.

"Please hurry..."

I grabbed the closest jacket I could find and ran outside. If I ran as fast as I could, I would make it to the old station in five minutes. I hoped that Alexy could wait until then. If only it had not gotten dark already. I needed to make sure that I would not run past the street.

I think my heart had never beaten as fast before as it did on that day. All I could think about was that Alexy was in danger and that I needed to protect her. Question after question was running through my mind. Every last one worse than the one before.

Would I make it in time?

Did the person, that was following her, have a weapon with them?

What if I cannot protect her?

At some point I ran without actually looking. I followed the path to my destination and did not care if I almost tripped over a random flowerpot. Every corner harboured a dark secret and I was hoping that one them would show me the light that I was longing for. After the third corner however I was starting to lose hope until I suddenly collided with someone. I opened my eyes and was overjoyed to see Alexy. Her dark skin was sparkling underneath the light of a street lamp. I noticed those salty tears that ran down her round cheeks, until they fell to the ground. I realised how tightly she was holding me, when she realised that I had found her amidst the darkness of this unpleasant night.