Short Story: Don't Go

Where It All Started

Everybody has somebody. A best friend, a family and a lover. But me? I have them all in one person. Not a day goes by I don't think of him. He may be gone but the memories of him still lies within the memory lane fresh. It all started when I signed up into a dating app. 

I was bored so I figure why not make some friends online. Pretty weird right? I know, like, wow what a way to socialise. I mean I can talk to them but I won't see them. I preferred that way. I did make some cool friends but mostly I just feel like blocking them as they are very inappropriate.

Then that's when I started to know him. He started the conversation and introduced himself as Jackson. At first his quite flirtatious which I didn't like because that's lame for trying to get girls so I always make the conversation short. But somehow, he will always tend to try to keep the conversation going. As days goes by, I manage to know him more and more. Apparently, he's not as cheery as he sounds like. He does have a few issues of his own but he always finds a way to distract his mind off of things. His parent is always overseas and barely spent time with him. I felt bad for him. Every child always wanted the mother's love, young or old. Jackson makes many friends especially girls. 

Others would think he's a playboy but to me I knew he's not that kind of guy, he longs for a companion aka a girlfriend and that broke me because he is a nice guy. So, if he has any problems or needed someone, he can always talk to me and he knows it. He's been very skeptical of himself and he thinks that the world is against him. It pains me that I have to hear that when actually he is a good person inside. He's funny and always like to make these lame jokes and weird pick-up lines but I don't stop him from being himself. 

As months went by, we still chat and I started to develop feelings for him. He is not as bad as he seems. He just doesn't know how to approach people the right way. One day, he wanted to meet up but I was too nervous like I literally don't want to but he seems patience enough as he understands. One day, I was ready to meet up. So, we set up a time and place. I remember how excited I was that I could feel butterflies in my stomach thinking that anytime I would throw up. When the day finally came, I was nervous yet excited to meet him. I wait by the coffee shop as we plan and 10 minutes to 2pm. I always keep on a look out for him and constantly checking the clock. 

All of the sudden, someone 'boo' me from the back. I jumped and was surprised, turn to see who is it and guess who? Yep, it's him, Jackson, I recognized him from his photos. He laughed at my reaction and so did I. He offered a coffee but I was never a fan of coffee so he offered a cup of chocolate and I happily agree. We sat at one of the tables and we have these weird conversations that somehow came up. It was funny and we laughed and enjoyed each other's company. We even took a walk around the neighborhood and Jackson intended to like criticize anything he sees but he make it into a funny joke. He is hilarious and always has this smile on his face like there's no tomorrow and that put a smile on my face too.