I Wish We Met Sooner (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 13

Daniel

YOU HAVE GOT TO be kidding me right now.

It's been four hours, and Oliver's still behind the door. This kid had been pacing for the last hour, and now he's on the ground, humming to some random music with earphones fastened. My plans are foiled once again because of him, and it looks like grandpa, and I will not have rabbit meat for dinner.

Simply picturing an image of cooked rabbit meat decorated with barbeque sauce and having sausages and lettuce surrounding it makes my mouth water and stomach rumble. I soon realize that I'm actually hungry. I made my way to the fridge and found nothing I could eat or heat up. There are only many ingredients, but I know nothing about cooking. We also ran out of milk... or cereal, for that matter.

I checked in the oven, microwave, the dining table, and nothing. It seems that I'm in charge of my own food today and grandpa with dinner.

The more I stare at the door, the more acid I felt gliding through my stomach. The alarm clock in the oven shows grandpa will not be home for another five hours. He usually gets off work by six in the evening and arrives home by eight. There are only a few public buses that take him to our neighbourhood, and most of the time, they'd be off duty by six. This leads gramps to walk home and often feels exhausted. No matter how wide he smiles or fakes a laugh, I can see the exhaustion in his eyes.

I gave in as I fastened my mask on and made my way to the door, opening it to see Oliver's face lit up as he stood to his feet. He looked relatively fresh with those denim jeans and a basketball jersey paired up with a stone necklace. It's a natural gemstone from the way it glistens from the light, forming a luminescence of blue and green. Apatite perhaps? I don't know.

"It's about time!" He chirped. "You opening the door means I could come in, right?"

"What is wrong with you?" I sighed. "You waited out here when I specifically told you to leave."

"The people who know me know that I could be stubborn," he smiled guiltily. "Sometimes."

"You sure are," I scoot out of the way. "Get your ass in."

"Yes!" He bounced before walking past me.

I stuck my head out to ensure no one else was close by, and once that was confirmed, I shut the door and headed on to the dining table where he so courageously made himself at home by grabbing a few plates and utensils with him.

He pulled out two burgers, four large fries, two boxes of nuggets, and two large drinks from the paper bag. Judging by the black liquid, I'm guessing they're coke? Or Dr Pepper?

"So, you brought a meal of diabetes?" I took a seat next to him, which is awfully weird considering how I'm now sitting with my victim who's treating me.

"I like to think of it as a meal from heaven," he puts all the fries into one big bowl and season them with salt and black pepper packets. Even with the mask on, I could smell the food, and my stomach growled even more.

Though I can't eat with my mask on, I can't take it off because he's here.

"Come on, feed that growling stomach," he picked up a nugget and tossed it in his mouth. "I can literally hear it from here, dude."

"One problem," I said. "I don't trust you enough to take off my mask, which means I can't eat."

"Ouch, that wasn't hurtful at all," he chuckled as he unwrapped his burger. It looked mighty tasty. "I respect your wishes, nevertheless. Just saying... the food is delicious, and you need to try it."

He's exaggerating by circling the burger in front of my face—mask, tempting me, and it's working.

"But for real, I meant what I said earlier," he took a bite. "You can trust me. I'm your friend now, whether you like it or not."

"I learned from having allies is that they'll always betray you when there's a better opportunity for them," I cross my arms against my chest. "How can you guarantee that you're not like them?"

He shrugged his shoulders with a thin lip smile. There was a smudge of ketchup at the corner of his mouth. "In life, we got to take some risk, you know?" He notices the ketchup and licks it off. "Nothing is guaranteed, but we can always try. If we fall? Well, just get back up and try again without repeating the same mistake, and this time, you'll know what to avoid."

His parents are counsellors or something? Because he spoke like one. The colour of his ocean eyes turned navy when he said that, which made me wonder if he's been through an experience that made him who he is today.

He blinked a couple of times and shook his head before meeting the eyes of my mask. His ocean blue eyes returned. I've met no one closer to my age, so I couldn't tell if his behaviour was normal or just plain sad.

Am I seriously considering his words and unravelling my face to him? Aside from grandpa, no one has seen my face since I left high school. After so many years, will I break that curse and reveal myself to my victim?

The food is awfully tempting, I must say.