A Million Sunsets With You (A Boys Love Story)

CHAPTER 8

After the vacation, Alex and his teammates went home.

Without Alex knowing, Claire was at his house, waiting for him to arrive. It was at this moment that Alex opened the door. Claire was sitting on the couch with a vexed face. Alex was shocked. "Oh, babe! Why are you here? You scared me." He was walking towards Claire's place, but then Claire said, "How many times do I need to tell you, Alex, to always prioritize school? Why are you so hardheaded? How many times do I need to let you remember to leave that fucking basketball?" Alex was standing in front of Claire with an annoyed aura. "Claire, can you please also give me time to decide for myself? You're always controlling me in every decision I make and in every action I take. You are trying to jail me." Alex sat down on the couch and tried to calm the situation, but Claire pointed her finger to Alex, "Is that what you want? Okay, I will give that to you. I will give you the freedom you deserve. I'm just trying to fix you, but here you are complaining. I'll set you free, and please don't ever try to come back in my life." Alex tried to hold Claire's hand, "No. What are you trying to say? Are you breaking up on me?" Claire was sobbing while fastly going outside of Alex's house. He tried to stop her, but Claire insisted on letting her go. Alex was also crying while standing in front of the door, watching Claire leave.

The days after that strong confrontation, Alex tried to contact Claire every now and then, but Claire didn't answer his calls.

It was Monday, and Alex had to go to school since classes had resumed. He was expecting to meet Claire during class hours and try to win her back and explain everything to her. While walking on the pathway going towards their classroom for the first period subject, he saw Claire. He ran after her and tried to call her name, but then Claire snobbed him. "Claire, babe, can we talk about what happened last time?" He grabbed her hand. Claire stared at him and said, "What for? For you to hurt me again? Just stop acting like a kid, Alex. Oh, maybe you forgot; you wanted freedom, right? Then, it will be done." Claire went to her place while leaving Alex standing at the door. They were usually seatmates, but Claire transferred to the other chair, far from Alex.

Alex was so bothered and didn't even know what to do. He was really shocked that Claire broke up with him. He couldn't figure out everything. While sitting in his chair, their teacher came. It was at this moment that his teacher asked him about the research paper. Alex stood up from his place and said, "Yes, sir. It's already done, and it was proofread already. Maybe you could have time to check this paper, sir." He went in front to lend the research paper to his teacher. "Very good, Alex. You really are someone to trust with when it comes to paper works. Okay, no worries. I still have to review this."

On the other chair, Brent applauded Alex and said, "Let's clap our hands for Alex, everyone." Everyone clapped their hands as well as Claire. Alex was staring at Claire, and he was still hoping that Claire would give him another chance.

"Okay, class, thank you, and it's already time." The bell rang for the next subject. Alex went to Claire and tried to talk to her. "Babe, can we please talk or just give me 1 minute to explain? Just 1 minute, please." Claire gave Alex the time to explain. "I'm sorry for what I uttered last time we fought. I was just carried away by my emotions. I didn't mean to hurt you. I love you so much, and it would hurt me if you left me." Alex grabbed her hand, trying to win her back. Claire held his right hand and said, "I'm sorry, Alex. Maybe we should spend time with ourselves first to realize everything. It would be okay to create space between us for a moment. These past days of our relationship, it's toxic." She walked away and left Alex alone. Brent, who was just in the room, tried to comfort Alex. "It's okay, bro. Time can only tell. Oh, before I forget, we have practice tonight. See yah."

After attending all their subjects, Alex went home and came back to school for their practice. He was called by his coach, "Alex, I thought you'd not be present tonight." Alex replied, "No, coach. I'm still on." He then grabbed the ball after putting his bag on the bench.

"Three points for Alex," Brent shouted.

After their practice, they all went home while Alex was still sitting on the bench. "Bro, aren't you going home?" Brent asked. "I'm still chilling here, bro, for a moment." All left, and Alex was just alone by himself. It was at this moment, when he stood up after a minute of sitting, that he accidentally spilled water on someone while trying to drink. "Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry. Sorry." He tried to wipe the shirt of someone who was so wet. "Oh, it's okay. It's okay. You don't have to. It's okay."

"I'm really sorry." Alex tried to stop at the moment when he saw this person's face. "Oh, are you...?"

"I'm Joshua Santos," Alex chortled. "Oh, I see. Are you that guy with whom I encountered because of the handkerchief?"

"Yes, that's me. What a coincidence." They laughed at each other, and Joshua awkwardly said, "Oh, I go now." Alex tried to stop Joshua, "Are you going home? Let's go."

They both went home. Alex was in his room and went to the bathroom to take a bath. He could still remember the face of Joshua and what had happened to them several times. He cackled and showered himself.

After taking a shower, he toweled himself and went to his bed to fall asleep. "Thank you, Lord."