PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

33. The Condition

Iris sits down in my living room. Raylan had already left.

"Semester break?" I ask her.

"No. I just needed to grab a few things from home. So, what was that all about?" she says.

Although I don't tell her the entire story, since that would involve her as well, I give her a gist of the situation between me and Frank.

"Seems like you two don't trust each other very much. You talked to him after?" she says, leaning back on the couch and crossing her legs.

"I've been ignoring his calls and texts. I don't know what to say."

"You two should meet and talk properly. If one or both of you can compromise, then good, otherwise you should end things with each other amicably."

"I can't believe this could end," I say.

"I'm afraid that's part of growing up, Ellie. Sometimes you meet the wrong person for you and sometimes you meet the right one at the wrong time."

"Which one's Frank?"

"Only you can decide that," she says.

---

The quiet library where I've taken the refuge to finish my math workbook is disturbed like a stoned pond when Raylan sits down next to me.

"Are you still mad at me?" He says.

I ignore him and continue to work on the problems.

"Ellie, come on, I told you I'm sorry. If you want just swear at me like you usually do, but enough with the silent treatment."

"Hey, Raylan," says one of the girls who had just appeared at our desk. The girl twists her hair and invites Raylan to a party at her house.

"I'm busy," Raylan curtly says.

The girls look upset, probably thinking this guy is a jerk. Which he is. But I don't have sympathy for anyone who doesn't invite me to their party.

After the girls leave, Raylan says, "Just tell me. Tell me what I have to do."

Is he afraid I'm gonna send those photos to Tony because of this? Is that why he seems so keen on gaining my forgiveness?

"You haven't even come and seen the kittens yet. They miss you," Raylan says, leaning down towards me, trying to look at my face.

Just then his phone rings. He's summoned by his coach.

Raylan stands up and tells me, "Sugar keeps crying for you, you know."

After he leaves, I breathe out. Damn, the guy knows how to bait someone. Oh, my poor babies, I wanna see them very much.

But I should really first talk to Frank and sort this out. I won't forgive myself if I let my first ever relationship end like it didn't even matter in the first place.

Later in the day, I ask Frank to come over to the park near my house so we could talk.

At the park, I see the sun begin to set beautifully in the sky. Somehow the setting doesn't suit a situation like this, but it's better than the thunderstorms that seem to grace our locality from time to time.

When I think about the first time I met Frank, at an early morning train, and how he treated me to a cup of coffee to help me stay awake, I feel like I want to run away and not face this conversation we're about to have.

We used to not care about each other's past or who we hung out with when we are not together. We just focused on each other.

But then again, he wasn't my boyfriend and I wasn't his girlfriend at that time.

Things change once it's official, I suppose.

"Finally, ready to talk?" Frank says when he arrives.

I open my mouth to start my speech but he speaks first. "First off, I'm sorry for... you know, behaving like that with you. There's no excuse for that. I'm really sorry."

I nod. I believe he is sorry. Then why can't I believe him with his ex as well?

"Look, Ellie, I don't want this to end. I like you, a lot! I know we have our own lives and everything, but let's just try this," he says, "Let's take one week. You don't hangout with the guys and I don't hangout with Bianca. And after a week, let's say how we still feel about letting go of our friends who the other one doesn't like."

I'm not sure about the idea, but I'm already not talking to Raylan, so heck why not?

As I agree to Frank, I notice Jeremy at the back of the park, the younger boy from my row of houses in Mueller Avenue. He's standing next to a motorbike and talking to its rider.

Every neighborhood has those delinquents who cause trouble. For us, that's the Weltrope bike gang. Assault, burglary, drugs are some of the notable achievements in their portfolio.

What is Jeremy doing talking to one of them?

I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

End of chapter

A/N - See you tomorrow :)