Teen Romance Fantasy

Act 35 (Ch)

The spring fair. I hated going there. I would have stayed home but my mom wanted me to look after May. Honestly, I lost sight of May the moment we arrived. She probably sneaked away together with her friends.

Why did this have to happen? It was dark. It was loud. The people scared me. What was even so enjoyable about this event? Most people were just getting drunk and started dancing. God, inhaling all this smoke had been awful enough already.

"I didn't expect to run into you here of all places."

Neither did I expect to meet Nikola. His black hair was perfectly combed as always and even his clothes made it seem as if he was going to some important business meeting. Nikola looked even more out of place than I did, even though I figured that wasn't possible.

"I was supposed to look after my sister. What brings you here?"

"It might not look that way but my father funds this nonsense."

"Right, you mentioned something like this before. So you're just here as decoration?"

"You could say so."

We didn't talk much more. Instead we stood there and continued to watch the people around us. I could tell just how much Nikola was judging every last one of them. Nikola was the kind of person that thought of himself as holy. He could never imagine himself associating with normal, or as he called them uncivilised, people like these.

If I had not been second in our grade, Nikola probably would have never bat an eye at me. I was a misfit after all. A simple mistake that was frightened by imaginary black mist that had been covering the faces of those that I wished forsaken. In the end, Nikola and I were not that different.

"I heard what happened the other day. Did Aisha do anything to you that made you collapse?" Nikola suddenly asked absentmindedly. It took me a second to properly think about what to say, since I hadn't expected that question at all.

"Actually, it was quite the opposite. She was being rather friendly. Apparently she even came to visit me in the hospital..."

"Oh... is that so? Why are you upset then?"

I was upset? Me? Why should I have been upset? It was nice to know that she got worried about me. She and Eric and Kadir and Anthony. Wasn't I happy?

No, not really. I really was upset. Somehow I had been hoping that someone else could have been more worried about me. I had been waiting for a call or at least a massage but nothing like this ever arrived. I actually thought that Sarah could have been a little more worried about me.

"By any chance, do you know Sarah Archer?"

"You mean the freak?" Nikola raised an eyebrow.

"She's not- ugh, whatever. We're not really that close but I was kind of hoping she had cared about me instead of Aisha."

For the first time in a long while I saw Nikola's eyes lighten up. Something I said, got him excited. I didn't know what it was but suddenly he grabbed my shoulders and looked me directly in the eyes. He was different from a second ago. He was... glad?

"You were upset about Aisha visiting you in the hospital?"

"What the hell Nikola?! I didn't say that! I meant, I was upset that Sarah didn't even message me."

Finally Nikola let go of me. He turned around and cleared his throat before apologising for acting pushy. What had gotten into him? He wasn't usually like this. For a moment neither one of said another word until Nikola finally turned toward me.

"Honestly, I don't know anything about it but the other day I saw her talk to Eric. She handed him something that looked like pudding and well, she might have mentioned your name."

"Pudding?" I asked in disbelief.

"I think so. She said something about buying it for you..."

Wait a second, I thought Eric got me the pudding. He always got me pudding. He was the only one that knew that I did not have that much of an unhealthy relationship to pudding. So why? Why had Sarah been the one to get me the pudding, allegedly? Furthermore, why didn't Eric tell me about it. No matter how much I tried, I really couldn't wrap my head around it.

"You alright?" Nikola asked, as he it checked me out from the bottom to the top, like a tiger waiting for its prey. 

"Sorry Nikola, I just have to make a quick call."

I ran away to find a quiet place for myself. In the end I had to leave the spring fair and find some peace at the road. At this time, barely any cars were driving by. It was dark and scary. If this were a horror movie, I'd already be dead. From every corner someone could have sneaked up on me.

I wasn't actually expecting Eric to pick up his phone. He wasn't the kind of person that stayed awake for long. Basically, Eric was the reason why Anthony couldn't force us to stay awake until two in the morning, even if we were on a losing streak.

My phone rang once. My phone rang twice. Suddenly, Eric did pick up. He sounded as if he had just gotten up, still being drunk on sleep. Now I regretted calling him for something as minor as this.

"No, no, it's fine... I'm awake now anyways so just tell me what's going on..."

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something about the pudding you brought me."

Silence. Did he just fall asleep again? 

"It was from Sarah."

"What?" I asked confused, since I had not expected that answer just yet.

"That's what you wanted to know, wasn't it? She came up to me the other day and asked if she could do anything for you. Sorry for keeping that from you..."

I hadn't expected this outcome. In the end Sarah didn't actually forget about me. She was worried. Thank goodness. But why did Eric keep that from me? Was it supposed to be a secret? Now I had been even more perplexed than before.

"She really did that? That's a surprise." I noticed how suddenly I had been smiling. My entire expression had changed from one second to the other. I felt as though I had won the lottery. I was glad.

"Christian, you and I are friends. You'd be honest to me no matter what, right?"

"Eric, what's wrong?" I asked calmly.

Again, he didn't say anything. All I could hear was his cool breath. I stood right under moon. The night was still young and yet it felt as if time had been stretching eternally. Every second felt like an hour. Despite being rather close to the spring fair, I barely even noticed the fireworks as they exploded in the sky. 

"Are you perhaps in love with Sarah Archer?"