Love and Food

xxxviii: trouble's abrewing

The next week when Cecilia, she felt a little more uneasy.

She stared at a text that Kyle sent her.

"I had a screaming match with this dude that came and volunteered. You might remember him."

"What? What happened?"

"I'll tell you when I get a chance."

She walked into the girls locker room, and all of the girls were in a talking frenzy.

"I still can't believe what happened."

"Kyle acted very out of line, and he did that for no reason."

"Wait? What happened?" Cecilia asked.

"You don't know?"

Cecilia shook her head.

"Kyle got into a screaming match with Evan."

Cecilia suddenly turned pale and faint.

"Backtrack. WHAT?"

"So, Evan came in to volunteer this morning, and he was across the lab from Kyle. He was playing some trap music and Kyle made fun of his music."

"And Evan told him "You want me to suck your dick and take you out to dinner with it?", now Evan hasn't acted like that in a while, and it was very out of line in that way."

"The whole room went silent. Chef was in shock. He's probably seen worse but you know what they say: if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Cecilia by then was in a near intense state of shock.

"Kyle told me that he got into a screaming match, but he didn't go into detail."

"So, you knew?"

Cecilia nodded.

"Why are you so shocked?"

She was about to cry.

"I think I caused it."

"Hold up, what?"

"It's a long story, and it's complicated. I don't want to get into it, but I'll talk to him, Kyle."

She changed into her chef clothes and couldn't fully express everything that she was feeling in that moment. This was not good, not a good feeling at all.

Kyle was being a waiter again and Cecilia decided to be a detective on this situation. All afternoon, she was talking to certain people about the situation.

One guy wasn't afraid to let out a lot of details.

"It was scary hearing about it. I wasn't there but I saw him leave banquet early, grumbling and being in a bad mood. He wasn't like this last year. Believe it or not, he used to be a happy go lucky person and seeing him crumble as a friend is heartbreaking."

"I get that. I've had my fair share of experiences about that."

"If it worries you, you should talk to him."

Cecilia bit her lips nervously.

"We're not on good terms, our situation is complicated though."

"If you don't want to talk about, no pressure."

"It's not bad, we used to be in a "talking" phase? It got kind of serious, but it wouldn't really work between us."

"Got it."

"I shouldn't really admit it to anybody, but I had and still have feelings for him. I really shouldn't, but the more I push him away, the more I want him."

He nodded.

"He's very complicated, and you are valid for having those feelings."

The dude was summoned.

"I'd be careful if I were you talking about your personal life to others. There are people here who will use that against you."

"Will you?"

"No, I'm better than that. I was in that situation though."

She went back to her little mission and it all seemed the same, everybody said the same thing.

Kyle was like the lighter and Evan was the fuse.

Her head started to spin and she could barely remember anything that happened for the rest of the day. However, she remembered the stares all around her near the end, and when she walked in the girls locker room, she overheard two girls talking about her, but they changed the conversation just as she walked in.

That was when her head started to get back together. All of this felt like deja vu to her.

She quietly changed and made small talk with the girls and walked out as quick as she could.

To her car she went and she didn't bother looking at her phone at all. She knew that Kyle wouldn't be there to pick up, not like it mattered, and she slowly started to care less and less about him.

By the time she got home, her sister and her sister's boyfriend were in the living room, watching a random netflix documentary.

Her phone buzzed and she checked the notification.

Snapchat: Evan Va Pirse just joined!

Evan Va Pirse added you!

Evan Va Pirse sent a chat.

All in the span of a minute.

"What's wrong?" Cecilia's sister asked.

Cecilia was looking down at her phone in shock.

"This can't be real."

"What can't be real?"

"It's just... ugh! Look!"

She showed her phone notifications to her sister, who cringed.

"Is this Mister Red Flag?"

"Which one?" The boyfriend replied.

"Number 2." Cecilia was defeated.

"Well, what did he say?"

Cecilia quickly checked the chat that he sent.

"Yo cosmo, it's Evan. You on campus today? I'm tryna get my dick sucked."

"The usual." She looked up.

"Damn." The boyfriend reacted.

"And that's why he's a red flag, he's not good for you. He never was. He's only using you."

"I know that, he just leaves me conflicted." Cecilia sprawled out on a couch.

"Why is that?" The boyfriend asked.

"The hot and cold treatment. He treats me like trash one day and then like his true love the next. But, he knows right from wrong. Despite his asshole ways, he has some respect. I don't know." She grabbed a pillow. "I'm just so used to being used but not used to being repected."

The sister and the boyfriend were silent.

"It's hard because I don't know how he feels and yet.... I don't know how I feel. I dealt with a guy like this before. It's the Scorpio men. Normally, I know how I feel.... but now... I can't think straight."

"What happened this time?" Cecilia's sister cut to the chase.

"Evan and Kyle got into a fight."

Both of them were in a quiet shock.

"Kyle started it, of course. I'm not in his view and he starts doing stuff like this. He of course decides to go for Evan, like he thinks that he's in a drama film."

"You know, I thought that being chased and adored this whole year was going to be fun and exciting, and now I realize that this is getting way too out of hand. I'm not too sure I can really take this anymore." Cecilia added.