Stubborn and the Mutt

ten | forest

"You mean to tell me, he is the guy? The guy you were talking about? New Years... the bathroom?" Andrea shrieks behind me. "Him? He's an—"

"Yes, him. Yes the annoying, silly, little white boy who can't seem to leave me alone." I eye her for a moment. "Not that him being white is a problem."

"I get you. I get you." She waves her hand to disregard it. "I'm just saying, you should have told me it was him! This changes everything."

"What does it change, Andrea? The only thing that's changed is he found the audacity to tell me what to do. Tell me what to do. Can you even believe him? He is literally nineteen years old and he's telling a twenty-two-year-old who is to turn twenty-three, what to do. All in the name of mates and wolves and all of that Little Red Riding Hood nonsense. Do I look like Little Red? Do I look like Little Red wanting to ride Hood?" I blink at her, watching as she tilts her head in confusion. "Or something."

"That's not even appropriate, Gert."

"My point, Andrea, is that I feel like I am trapped. I'm not trapped but I feel like I'm trapped. Why? All because of this boy and his imagination. It's one thing hitting on me or whatever, but it's another thing going at the approach he is. That's dizzy behaviour. I don't want this. Does that make sense?"

She sighs, running her hands through her hair as she hums. She then nods as she sits at the bench. I stand with my arms crossed over my chest. I pout, biting the inside of my cheek. My eyes wander around the garden. Lunch hour will end soon, and many have already upped and left to prepare for their next session. I then glance back down at Andrea who chuckles.

"I can't believe it's him. Of all people?"

"What; do you know him?" I raise an eyebrow.

"He's a... family friend. Distant family friend. We don't even talk much but I know of him." She waves her hand as though it's irrelevant information. "His name is Micah. He's not nineteen, he's twenty-one. Well, he turned twenty-one in January. As far as I know, he started school late because of family traditions and... other... stuff, that kind of affected it, but it's normal for stuff like that to happen. I mean, I also started university late."

"As did I. I thought you started late because you were taking a break?"

She blinks in thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "I mean, yeah. I was. It's a family tradition to take breaks before you start tertiary."

"But he took a break for two years?"

"There were a lot of things that delayed that." She pauses before smiling. "I'm only assuming. I don't know him like that to even ask."

I sigh, scratching my head once again before patting the relaxed strands rooted to my scalp. "So he is two years younger than me. That's still a lot. You know what?" I glare at her. "Whatever. I'm not even interested in him, to begin with, so honestly, it's whatever. But I like the fact that he's a family friend. You can now mingle your way through that relationship and tell him to back off."

Andrea's lips kiss her teeth as she stiffly shakes her head. "Not my place. Look, I say, give him a chance."

"I thought you were an advocate of hating men?"

"No. I hate men in general. Doesn't mean I don't think there are moderately good ones out there. Not saying he's good, but I am saying... give him a try."

The dizziness in her suggestion. Why would I give him a chance? Him? He's literally crazy, and manipulative. He's like Banele. Except Banele was honest and told me straight up how he felt; this boy — silly boy Micah — thinks he can just force his way into my life and demand to have me? Let's not forget his silly fictional story. And then he held me by the throat and demanded I leave my ex alone.