My Fictional Boyfriend

Chapter 2 ~ My Best Friend

Before sprinting to the canteen for lunch, I arranged my notebooks and stuffed them in my bag. Since textbooks weren't as exciting as novels, I regularly putted them back in my locker.

I wasn't expecting Liam to wait for me—even when he normally did. I decided to leave the classroom alone. To my surprise, approached with a little reservation. This manner of his is quite foreign in our friendship. Yesterday's quarrel must have affected him real bad. "Hey," he greeted me first.

"Hey," I reply indifferently, carrying several books to my locker.

"Need help?"

I shook my head, but he retrieved them from my folded arms anyway.

"Uhm... how are you?" he asked tentatively. Now, I felt like a mental patient under scrutiny. He was being overly gentle with me. It was guilt thing, I supposed. Liam always assessed people by talking to them. After giving them a preliminary psychiatric diagnosis—a Freudian wannabe in his own right, he would then try to figure out his next course of action.

I ignored his question and proceeded to my original plan. "I am sorry," I apologized in all honesty.

"You're sorry?" His eyes widened with disbelief. "No, I should be the one to say sorry... I'm sorry, Ella." He paused before continuing with his next words, "I didn't mean to say those words. I was just... upset... that you would rather spend most of your time in your fictional word than the real world."

I should have acknowledged his apology. Instead, curiosity got the best of me. "Who were you talking about earlier?"

"The question card?" he asked, somewhat apprehensive of my bombshell. But he knew there was no turning back, he either had to lie or just go straight to the point with it. "Of course, it was you... Who else would that be?" Both sarcasm and ragged truth filled his voice.

"I wasn't expecting you to say sorry to me. You were right; I was wrong." I opened my locker, and he inserted my books in the empty space between one side of wall and few of my boredom emergency book stash.

"You deserve more. Spend time with the people around you. Go to parties. Do teen stuff. You know, things like that!" For a brief moment there, Liam sounded like my parents. "I read, too. Remember? We just have to find a balance between fiction and reality." Now, he was in his guru-mode. What's this guy up to, anyway? Was his original intention to lecture me? "Fiction will fade while reality remains. It sucks, but we got to deal with it."

"But fiction is my life. Books take us places we've never even dared imagining. We've met thousands of wonderful characters thanks to fiction," I reasoned out, feeling like a child defending fairytales. "I'm not doing drugs nor am I skipping classes. What's wrong with being addicted to reading?"

"Nothing! I'm just saying that reality is more important." He countered submissively. "We had a deadline, and I thought we were on the same page with that especially with your planner."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. It's a good thing we finished it on time, right?"

He nodded. "You're my best friend, Ella. I'll always be here for you."

Sometimes, Liam just blew me away with his spontaneity. He made me feel like the prodigal best friend! I hugged him. "I know, Yamie." I haven't used his childhood petname for a long time. "I'm sorry, too."

He hugged me back before slowly dropping his arms to his side. "I told you. Enough with the apologies!"

"Yeah! Sorry." I laughed lightly. "Sorry. I was apologizing for being sorry." I often forget to appreciate having Liam as my best friend. He'd always been nice and patient with me. I should give him more credit for being the mature one in our friendship.