Mystery of Love

21

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘣 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵? It wasn't after the summer vacation, because as long as Theo could remember, they were still dwelling around first base at that point.

What felt like summer vacation was their relationship, because it fell apart before Theo could hold onto it.

That day, the sky remained a vast, clear blue. The trees were swaying and the birds were still chirping.

The only things out of the ordinary were students clothed in graduation outfits. 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

They were about to receive certificates and bid farewell to high school - putting all of it behind them.

And from that fateful day onwards, the relationship only went downhill. To backtrack a little, the relationship between Theo and Kaleb had already jaded at the point of graduation.

They were so focused on their own endeavours, especially with the final year exams coming up. They also stopped going to band as it was obligatory to commit themselves to academic revision months before the major exams. In a way, they had "graduated" from band as well.

With so few touchpoints where they got to be around each other, it was only normal that they drifted apart. Even texting had become a rare occurrence between them.

That was not to say that they had fallen out of love with each other. They just didn't know how to adapt and communicate the changes in their lives with one another.

In particular, Theo blamed himself for the poor state of the relationship that they landed themselves in. He would stay awake in bed till past midnight, pondering about what went wrong or what else he could've done.

He could've reached out to Kaleb, but decided to keep him at arm's length. If only he had continued texting him, maybe they would've worked out in the end.

But each time he thought of blaming himself, he was reminded of the fact that Kaleb had never been the first to text him either. Although, he remembered Kaleb warning him that texting is a bad idea at the beginning of their relationship. He was more of a "physically present" kind of person.

Hopeless nights paired with an insomniac like Theo made him want to bawl his eyes out and cry until there were no tears left in him. As odd as it may sound, there was a unique sense of comfort in crying, as though the body finally admitted that it failed and that nothing else could've been done to salvage the situation.

He would reminisce about all the memorable times they spent together. On a certain occasion, he had been with Kaleb, Anna, and himself.

As Anna had known Kaleb through being in the same clarinet section, she randomly questioned his saliva consciousness issue.

"I don't share my drinks with anyone because I'm saliva conscious." He remembered Kaleb saying.

"But what about your future wedding? Are you not going to kiss your wife?" Anna questioned.

"I mean, if it's someone I like then I won't mind kissing her." He replied.

Theo, who heard the whole conversation between the two, felt incredibly touched at his bold display of affection.

More tears were shed as he thought of the moments that could never be replayed ever again. As time passes, so will the good memories he had. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯... 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵...

He browsed on his playlist in the dark and settled on a song that could hopefully provide him with some relief.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘦 𝘢 𝘔𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨...

He didn't want it to be another night where he cried himself to sleep. It had happened way too many times and he decided not to beat himself up for once.

𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. He had understood that through the heartbreak caused by Jovan. Those sleepless and melancholic nights had amounted to nothing. Nothing more than a huge waste of time and energy.

He then considered the possibility that Kaleb and him were just not compatible as a couple. Even if he forced Kaleb out on a date, what were they going to talk about? And how long could they sustain that way?

It takes two hands to clap, and rightly so. It took Theo two failed relationships to fully realize that.

On his part, he was never willing to show his vulnerable side, often choosing to stay within his comfort zone.

Jovan had made a bold effort, but it was too much for him to handle. At that time, he was too innocent and inexperienced to satisfy his requests. But when it came to Kaleb, he never seemed to pursue Theo as desperately as he did.

But he wasn't going to blame it on Kaleb, because he knew that he played the dominant role in the relationship. He also promised himself to protect Kaleb and shield him from the same kind of hurt that Jovan inflicted on him - which he thought he failed in doing so. In that moment, it appeared as though they had all been hurt by the consequences of their own actions.

At one point, Theo also begun to doubt if he'd even been in a relationship with the two of them. He'd gotten skeptical and were more convinced that they were in a "situationship" that failed to work out.

And just like that, they left high school without properly reconciling with each other - leaving the highs and lows of high school in the past.