HIS FANTASY

4-MY CONNECTION WITH PETE

"Get out of here, you miserable wretches. Scram!"

A boy pushed a woman who was crying. She looks so dumb and broke.

"Please, let me talk to my husband. I know he will listen to me," a woman said.

"No, he will not, because he is not here." The boy replied.

"Please, I know he was in there. I am begging you for the sake of our child." The woman spoke in a soft voice as tears flowed from her eyes.

STOP!

I stopped typing the words. Then I clicked three dots instead of words. I was too emotional to take this chance. My heartache is arising. Why is this the scenario I thought of?  a dramatic scene for a family makes me feel lonely.

Pete go home in Santa Lucia every week ends from his dorm, two municipalities before he arrive and almost one hour for a regular jeep to run. I hope this is the first possibility. Pete is one of those sweet guys destined for heartbreak—too nice to be sexy. We chatted for at least an hour a day. Usually, he is not online on his messenger account and other social media accounts, sometimes he calls suddenly, then wanders around our classroom, just to talk to me, of course with my long-time friends, I don't want to be a topic of discussion in the campus every time we talk. This is the easiest part of my day. I get heartburn about it sometimes. I felt like I was stealing from someone else because of the many people who liked him. I get it and I know my place when it comes to her, if I don't want to chat, she'll find another way, someone who can accept the gifts she always asks me for, and sometimes she always sends flowers. He talks about his past relationships. He still had feelings for that person.

It feels lonely at home. The pictures he sends me of Pete are what he eats, his basketball with his friends, including his white dog, and a lumbered teddy bear that is soft and big that is the only one next to him sleeping in his bed. Out of the hundreds of photos he sent me, I got few pictures of him. Two to be exact. Both are pictures that hid his looks. In one, he had a hooded jacket with thick fur around the edges, pulled tightly closed, only his eyes and part of his nose visible.

I even got a second photo of him. It was taken with a canon camera, a vague outline of a man, barely noticed behind a wall of white flurries. Maybe he's deformed. Whatever he looked like, he was kind, very kind. It's too kind for me to love him back. I don't fall for the good ones. We talked about everything, the real thing and I didn't hide anything about my family especially my parents. The downside to Pete is that he wants to know everything about me, all about my day. Keeping the façade at that level is tedious. And he's not just asking; He really listened to my answers. I have a calendar just for Pete. I'm doing this to remind myself that I have someone who inspiring me at the same time.

I wish I had a pet. I need something to comfort me sometimes. I know I'm 20, but I'm feeling sad sometimes. Not love but a presence that I wish I could grow up with our family living in this home, from my childhood. I want them to rub my back every time I take a shower, play with me and tell me everything will be okay too. Simple touches go a long way in providing comfort. I've tried to look at a variety of beautiful things that can be taken care of at home through online but haven't found a way to do that yet. I can order dogs via the Internet and send them home, but I always have to feed them right and it needs proper care especially with vitamins and regular injections. I was in a budget crisis, so I decided to stop looking for it and put the costs of the house first.

I take a deep breath. I decided to take a nap, but my cell phone suddenly vibrated and rang. An unknown contact number flashed on the screen.

"Hello..."

"Sheila..." said a male voice from the other line.

"Who is this?"

"Hmm... you forgot it; you gave me your number last night." I knew it. It's Pete calling me.