To Eternity and Back

Chapter 11

I'm leaving Singapore today.

And I didn't tell anyone. I figured I shouldn't disturb Aurelio or Yuki for something so minor.

Belladonna is coming with me since she also has to come back to Juilliard. Though she's taking rather long to arrive at the Singapore Changi Airport.

Well, there's still a few hours until our plane starts boarding. I'm sure she's on her way now.

I decided to rest in the butterfly garden of the airport as I waited for my plane. I was silently strolling, admiring the beautiful flowers with the butterflies fluttering around. I noticed a particular blue morpho butterfly flying around a pink flower and stretched my hand towards it. The butterfly got scared by my hand momentarily before flying back to it, sitting on my forefinger like I was the flower instead. I raised it slowly to my eyes and stared at its beautiful color.

It reminds me of Yuki's eyes.

If you look at her at one angle, you would see that her eyes would resemble a blue universe with brilliant galaxies shining in it. On the other angle, it would look like a relaxing blue ocean that is being sparkled by the sun's light. Just like this butterfly.

I stayed still for a moment before the blue morpho butterfly flew away from my sudden movements of covering my blushing face.

This is the second time I've thought about Yuki when looking at my surroundings. The first time was when I saw a holographic waterfall at one of the terminals, because it evidently reminded me of Yuki's long and diaphanous hair.

Lately, she's the only thing that's been preoccupying my mind. I blame Aurelio for that when he asked me if I liked her as a woman or as a friend.

Obviously, I like her as a friend.

It's only been a few days since I met her. There's no way I could've fallen in love within such a short time period.

Or could there?

Life has a habit to prove me wrong.

Ugh, I don't know. Why is everything complicated? I asked myself as I continued to discreetly watch the blue butterfly.

The beautiful insect kept flying from one flower to another, continuously sucking the nectar out of the centers of the flowers over and over.

I sighed before I sat down on a nearby bench and decided to get lost in my thoughts.

I wonder if it was a good idea to leave without saying anything. Aurelio is most likely busy, and Yuki as well, so maybe it was? However, I can't stop thinking it was rude and selfish of me to not inform them of my departure. Rude, because they're my friends and I'll be disappearing on them, selfish because I'm too cowardly to face either of them at the moment and decided to run away instead of confronting the conflict. My internal conflict.

I hate it, but I'm scared.

In the end, I'm who my mother says I am.

Coward. Stupid. Broken. A boy with endless disappointments.

My lips slightly thinned and exhaled deeply.

I sank down and laid my head back on the backside of the bench, closing my eyes and letting my other senses heighten from the disappearance of my vision and focused on my surroundings.

The slight rustle of flowers and leaves. The fluttering beats of the butterflies and their wings. The soft breeze brushing against my cold skin and black hair. The sweet and beautiful smell of the flowers and their pollen.

You can always count on Mother Nature to help you distant yourself from your mind and its chaos.

I took in a deep breath and slowly started relaxing... that is until, my phone started ringing and made my heart jump.