SOMETHING (en) √

Twenty-Six

“Sit,” he said.

“I’m sleepy.”

“No, you’re running.”

“I am! What do you know about me?”

“Sit,” Allan said again in a more serious way.

Daniel sat back down feeling a bit resigned. He just can’t deny Allan sometimes. Allan pulled him even closer to himself. Only now did he realize that Daniel had a smaller body than him.

“What’s so hard about telling me anything about you?”, he asked.

“I don’t know. It feels unimportant.”

“Everything about you is important. Not only you but everyone.”

Daniel feels touched by his words. He feels like something crawling inside him.

“What am I supposed to do?”, he asked.

“You did good when you told me about you and Mike. You just need to do that again but make it about you this time.”

“About me?”

“Yes, about you. I’m listening.”

Daniel feels so nervous about it. He overthinks about everything. Like, what if Allan finds him annoying and leaves him behind when their friendship is doing better?

“Erm…”

Allan is listening. He ensures that he’s listening.

“When… I was in middle school, I’m a loud kid,” Daniel glared at Allan, making sure that he was listening.

“Go on,” Allan said.

Daniel looks down again and continues his story.

“I love talking and expressing my feelings. Everyone knows me. And they accept me and love me and cherish me. And I did well in my studies. But, everything changed when I entered high school.”

The thought of remembering high school hurt him so much.

“And?”, Allan asked.

“And… I was still out loud as ever until some students found it annoying, and irritating. They got triggered by the fact that I’m the golden student. Well, I did have a few good friends but nothing stayed the same after I got bullied for the first time.”

Allan actually can guest everything already. Something that happens in high school will continuously haunt our life and that’s what he suffered before. Before Maya came into his life and helped her get through everything. Maybe this time, he can do that for someone else.

“Ngh… hukk,” Daniel suddenly hyperventilated and Allan didn’t even realize that he started crying since his head was down all the time, with his head covered by his shoulder-length hair.

“Hey, hey! It’s fine, it’s okay they’re not here,” Allan said, bringing him into his hug.

Daniel is shaking so badly that made Allan want him to stop telling him anything but if he stops, Daniel will continue to hide his feelings.

“They… they…”

“It’s okay, I’m here.”

“They happen to have… some pictures of me. Pictures of-”

“You don’t have to say it.”

“They use it to blackmail me every chance they get. They use me to do their assignments and everything. My… My old friend turned their backs on me after they bullied him. From time to time, I lost my good grades, making me no longer the golden student. I did bad in everything.”