His Chase

05 | His Chase

"You could have just said thanks and that would have been more than enough." Mabel sighed.

His laugh fills with a smug, "You have changed so much--"

"Obviously, we aren't any more in seventh grade!"

He smiles, "Isn't it strange that we are still beside each other?"

She ignores his remark, "So what's with this your girl name Kristina....?"

"Call her ex," He affirms calmly, "I dated her... long back."

"You are still into her, aren't you?"

He studies the empty coffee cup of his then looks into her eyes, deeply. She feels uncomfortable looking into his crystal-clear eyes. She should not have asked him anything.

"Now I don't." He replies.

For the next few minutes, they sit ideally beside each other's presence without even uttering a word. The creamy smoothie spreads melting over the buds of her tongue and eventually, Mabel's mind draws back to that seventh-grade lunch break when she offered her orange juice to Skyler Foster which he refused to take but she accepted his request to sit beside her for the lunch.

He looked dull, so broken but at the same time, he was also calmed. He used to have a stuffed veggies sandwiches for his lunches although he never finished it completely. Mabel was the one who talked all the time but she wasn't sure if he ever listened to her or not. She used to share her lunch bag with him but he always rewarded her with, "No thanks." And continued with his own lunch. He was quiet before all the time whereas she didn't even bother to pause her chattering for even a minute. And as the seasons changed their shade of colors, he left one day after saying, "See you tomorrow."

Tomorrow never comes and henceforth it never did and it was her last chance to hear his sweet boyish voice. Skyler Foster stopped having lunch with her or she can say he stopped sitting beside her.

Their ways parted, Mabel met Zoe. Skyler made new friends. She was so busy in her tensed world, she never saw him growing apart. They used to catch each other's glimpse sometimes and looking him in her sight, she felt if life could be simpler, she'd be telling him everything how's her everyday boring life was going, what she was going to do after school but things were changed now. They just kept breaking the stares along with the loosened fragile thread which held them together before.

Besides, Dylan Rodriguez came into Skyler's life. Mabel's thoughts altered towards Skyler because he became just like him. Even though Mabel never caught him red-handed but people used to say, "He has become badass!!" And since here she started erasing her memories shared with him.

However, it's an irony that he is sitting beside her today. She stares at him for a while and eventually, he is too busy playing with his ring. She swallows the last sip of her smoothie and says, "I'll walk and go..."

He tilts his face towards her with an intended look. She speaks again but this time she stands and smiles, "I hope you don't force anyone to be together."

He is still sitting leisurely but as she completes her sentence, he stands, "Your bag is still in my car." His words don't come out as a threat but an affirmation.

She follows him towards his car. He hands her bag. She slings it and turns to continue her pace towards the street. She holds the straps with a grip and then she sees him walking along with her besides. Stopping over her feet, "You don't have to Skyler!"

"But I want to..." She knows he isn't going to listen to her.

They keep walking aside the rough street. Before he brings his intentionally built topic, "You have to convince Zoe to at least go on a single date with Dylan!"