Until I Met Her

Chapter 31

April.

Matias burst inside my room, singing at the top of his lungs a song by J Balvin that he didn't know the lyrics to.

"Matias," I groaned when he started to pull on my sheets, "What do you want?"

"It's 2 in the afternoon, get up, we're going out," He said, I shook my head and tried to get back to sleep but I felt him sitting next to me. "Ty, I need a haircut. Come on, you're not staying home alone, come on."

I groaned and turned around to face him. His hair was getting longer, even his facial hair was starting to grow more and more by the minute. I told him to shave but he didn't listen and now look, he looks like a hairy dude with a nasty first-time moustache. Thank God I was born a girl.

As I watched him, I couldn't help but ask myself when did he start growing so much? He looked... older. The shape of his face was changing, there was no more baby fat, his jaw was more marked now without his double chin. He was taller than me and his body was also changing, he had muscles... he was no longer walking around with spaghetti arms.

I got out of bed and told Matias to get out, he shouted at me to hurry up. I had a quick shower and got ready, I put on an old hat and the same old clothes, with the same old shoes and made my way out of my room with my cute little cane.

Walking down the stairs still made me feel a little sore but it was easier. I was also back to driving again, granted, I drove at 20 at all times but I was good with that because I wasn't expending money on Ubers and minicabs. Jeremiah said I was doing fine, we were moving onto swimming, he said it was good for me and I liked swimming. So that was nice.

"I need a haircut but like... now."

I rolled my eyes at Matias and tried to park the car close to the barber shop. While we walked there, Matias told me all about this girl he liked. Her name was Rebecca and she was a year older than him. I wanted to point out that all his girlfriends had been older than him but I stayed quiet, listening to him talk about her and where he was going to take her on a date.

"Tyler," Matias stopped right before we went inside the barber shop, his eyes, Mum's eyes, were serious and honest. "I know this is probably a bit random but— I'm glad you're here, yeah? You might walk funny and you're annoying as hell and I know I don't say it but— te quiero mucho."

I swallowed hard and pushed him with my cane, "I know, I love you too."

⚢

After I got back home with Matias, the girls, Gio and Nick came over for a BBQ. The weather was getting warmer but as soon as we stepped in the garden it started raining so we ordered Chinese instead.

Lexi came with her girlfriend, Fae. They were cute together.

"So you guys have been friends since childhood?" Fae asked. We all nodded.

"Except for me," Nick said, "I moved here about two years ago."

"I remember the first day you showed up at sixth form," Gio smiled, holding Nick's hand and resting his head on his chest. "Tyler and Freddie said you looked like you were at least 22."

"Can you blame us? You're really tall and you looked old," Freddie laughed and looked over at me for backup. I nodded.

Truth was, in moments like these, I couldn't keep Eleanor out of my mind. It had been almost a month and I was still waiting for her to reply to the letter or to call, or to message. Anything at all.

"By the way, Tyler," Nick's deep voice brought me back from my thoughts. I swallowed hard and looked at him. "What are your plans for next year?"

"Back to uni," I cleared my throat and sat up.