Eternal Love

Chap 6.

      Days go by and Sebastien doesn't even offer an excuse. I give him the cold shoulder, turning away when he walks towards me, ignoring him when he calls my name. Instead, I take Kai's hand and walks to my classes with him. Kai senses the tension between us and tries to pry out information from me. He succeeds.

    "Like, seriously? He just stands me up and doesn't even care!" I complain, and he rubs my shoulder soothingly. We are seated on a bench in the field at our school, and I'm just complaining to him.

       A small frown sits on Kai's face, and I wonder what thoughts are running through his mind right now. 

     "Have you given him a chance to explain?" Kai inquires. Blast his maturity. Sometimes I really hate it when he's logical.

      Just then, a close friend of mine, Natasha (Nat), runs up to me, panting. Concerned, Kai and I ask at the same time, "Are you okay?" at the shell-shocked expression on her face.

     Nat nods grimly. "I am, but you probably won't be." I stare at her in confusion, Kai's face mirroring mine.

     "I... follow this influencer... And five days ago, she posted this... I'm sorry." Nat's head is bowed.

     When I see the boomerang on her Instagram, I feel like I just got punched in the stomach. A gorgeous brunette is kissing Sebastien's smiling face on the cheek. My eyes flicker to the date and time of this post. It's the day Sebastien ditched me. Apparently, for her. 

      Kai and Nat's pitying stares are too much to handle when I feel Kai's eyes zero in on the post too. "I'm sorry, babe." Kai hugs me, his warmth enfolding mine, but my heart is breaking, piece by piece. I brush him off, saying "I need to go to the washroom," holding back tears and running to the safe solace of the womens' toilet.

*** 

     That night, I am snuggled into the couch watching another rom-com while sobbing. The doorbell rings, startling me for a moment. Hope flares in me, a pesky little fly I want to scream at yet hug at the same time. Could it be Sebastien? Here to grovel for my forgiveness? Will I forgive him? I don't really want to know the answer to that question.

    However, when I open the door, the face that awaits me isn't Sebastien's. It's Kai's. He holds a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream, looking really uncertain.

     "I'm not really sure what to do in these kinds of scenarios, but... er... this is what my sis told me to do..." He trails off at my laugh. He looks like a fish out of water, uncertainty etched onto his face. Upon seeing the tears that flow out of my eyes, his face falls.

    "Babe, don't cry. Did I do something wrong?" He asks worriedly, his thumb brushing away the tears flowing down my cheeks. Through the tears, I smile up at him, grateful for him. Where to find a boy as great as Kai?

    "It's not you. If only Sebastien was as thoughtful as you..." My face crumples at the thought of him and Kai hugs me again.

    We spend the night together, watching rom-coms, Kai's running commentary never failing to make me laugh. 

    In the morning, I find us on my bed, legs twisted up with each other's. Kai and I are NOT sleeping together, but like, having a sleepover-kind-of-thing. We have a platonic relationship, I assure you. Even if he doesn't see me that way. 

     I am woken up by a phone call at 7.30 sharp in the morning. Having stayed up late watching Crazy Rich Asians, (which is basically the best movie ever,) my body is aching from being in the same position. "Yes?" My voice is hoarse with dis-use.

    His voice jolts me right out of my sleepy haze. "I'm sorry, Elle. Nat told me that you saw Lessie's Insta photo." Bitterly, I can't help but focus on 'Lessie'. All her followers call her Alessia, but he's no ordinary fan, is he? Also, from what I'm hearing, he's sorry that I saw their photo, not he's sorry because he stood me up for another girl. 

    Sebastien's voice is loud enough to stir Kai from dreamland.  "Who's that? Why is he calling so early in the morninggg..." Kai's voice trails off and he falls right back to sleep with a groan. 

     Sebastien's -- who was saying something along the lines of "Sorry to wake you up. I thought you usually woke up at 5 to do your early morning workout?", voice cuts off. I can hear the hurt in his voice when he says, "Well, you work fast. No doubt about that."

     Numbly, I realize the implication of a man sleeping beside me in the early morning. Oh no. He thinks I'm sleeping with someone else. Fumbling for words, I try to explain myself. "No-- it's not what you think. He's just a friend who's just comforting me." I emphasize the 'just'.

     Sebastien scoffs in disgust. "That should be what I'm telling you, shouldn't it?" With that, he hangs up. I scream in frustration, as loud as I can without waking Kai up. 

   Oh, you know what? F him. Who needs men, right? Also, shouldn't I be the one who's angry? Not him? Tears sting the back of my eyes and I banish them away as I snuggle back with Kai, soaking in his warmth. I'm entirely conscious of his soapy, clean scent. Sebastien smells like cologne, which sometimes, is just so, overwhelming. In a nice way most of the time. When I cannot stand it any longer, I give in to the irresistible compulsion and turn to stare at Kai, ignoring whatever common sense warned me not to. 

     In sleep, Kai looks so at peace, so vulnerable. The jokes, the laughter is gone, replaced with a child-like demeanor. He will never admit it, but his charm, his jokes, is a mask for him. A safety net. When he was younger, his mother left them. Three years later, she came back, telling them how much she regretted her decision. His dad told Kai that they had married young, so his mom had just wanted to see the outside world. His younger sister had been too young to remember much, and had welcomed their mom with open arms.

        My mind wandered back down the memory lane of that starry night in which Kai had confided in me. The both of us were incredible drunk, which made it truly miraculous that the sole thing I managed to remember were his words. Guess my mind had sensed its importance and stored it somewhere hang-overs could not reach. 

      "Sometimes I just feel like I can't fully trust my mom, you know? She left us once, so what's stopping her from doing it again?" Kai had slurred. I nodded, squeezing his hand.

      "Akiko is too young to remember much. Only I seem to remember Dad drinking himself past oblivion. I was the one cleaning up empty beer bottles and heating up convenience store food for Akiko and I." Kai's body is racked with sobs. My heart goes out to this beautiful, scarred boy even as it breaks upon hearing his story.

      "Only I seem remember coming home to an empty home. Did you know it was me that found my mom's letter saying that she needed space? Me who dialed each of my parents' phones relentlessly, lost and confused. Me who realized that like all the unanswered phone calls, Mom was never coming back. And yet when she came back with mascara streaming down her face, everyone else welcomed her back. Like in that singular moment, everyone else forgot the pain she caused. Her and Dad expected me to instantly forget all the nights of cold dinners. As if that could happen." The tears flow out like the dam that has been holding it all in has been broken. He sobs into my shoulder. I hug him, trying to offer what meager comfort I can. And as his heart bleeds, mine bleeds with his. 

      That night, while nothing exactly changed changed between us, we reached a new height in our friendship.