Cocoa Under The Sky

Chapter 3: Wiseman

There are thoughts that make you wonder what you were just thinking about after forgetting them seconds later, and then there are thoughts that haunt you and make you toss and turn in your bed. That make you groan under your breath, or smack your head as you stare into space deep in a memory that keeps repeating itself.

This was Jude's case.

He was sitting on the shoe storage sofa by his home's entrance. Staring through his dog as his mind wandered over every choice he had made the last few days, along with the words he kept hearing from everyone.

'Live a little.'

He could swear the word was tattooed on his brain, in his ears, and in every sense his body held. He groaned and let his body fall onto the couch.

His dog, who wore her leash staring at him, tilted her ears back anxious.

"Sorry, Aludra," he mumbled and sighed when the dog sniffed at his face and licked his nose nervously. He reached out petting her head. "What do they know? Who said that to live life you have to make friends?"

I'm your friend. He imagined her saying.

"That's right, I don't need any others."

And this is why you will die alone, his impulsive thoughts added along as the dog.

He groaned again and wrapped his fingers around his dog's neck, nuzzling it and whining.
He felt her throat rumble, and let go when she barked in irritation.

"You're right, I should prove them wrong, right?"

The dog barked again and turned in a circle. She headed to the door and scratched at the corner before looking back at the male.

"I can live little," he spoke out, but more so trying to convince himself rather than anyone else, not that he would admit this to himself. "I'm pretty normal."

Aludra grew impatient and barked again going on her hind legs and scratching more at the door.

"Alright, I get, I get it. You gotta go out." He stood up and headed for the door, as soon as he opened it the dog shot out yanking at his arm. He let out a warning tone as he turned to lock his door.

He walked his usual path, at the same unusual time he had developed, allowing his dog to explore and his mind to wonder.

"I can live a little," he mumbled underneath his breath, "Just live a little. It doesn't hurt to talk to the guy."

If he shows up, he added with a frown.

"Okay Aludra," he spoke to the dog who crouched down and pooped. She glanced at him, "Let's play the destiny game. If he's there it's meant for us to be friends, if he's not then it means I'm not supposed to be his friend. Let's leave it up to fate." He looked up at the stars, "You hear that? I'm leaving it up to you."

His cheeks tingled, and he blamed it on the cool wind as goosebumps rose up his arms. They walked down the sidewalk until he reached the light post right on time. Looking at his phone he read the time as 9:01, and right on the dot as the one became a two, the light to the streetlight flickered and turned off.

Jude looked around he walked over to the bench that sat between the sidewalk and the lake, sitting before patting the space beside him. Aludra's tail wagged and she jumped up sitting beside the teen.

"I guess we wait now." His hand reached out for his friend's fur and he gently played with it. His heart pounding in his chest and lungs seeming to forget how to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen.

******

Jude doodled in his notebook, his mind not really on the shapes he was randomly placing on his paper, nor on that of his cousin and childhood friend. The voices were distant, there but at the same time not as they faded into the background.

That is until slowly they grew snapping him out of his daydream.

"Earth to Jude!"

"What?" The boy asked perplexed.

His cousin glared, "Si los pajaritos andan en el aire pintando?"

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm." The teen rolled his eyes at the curly haired girl and reached for his sandwich taking a bite.

"What's got you with your head in the clouds?"

Jude's gaze turned to the third member of the group, but instead of answering he shrugged. He had repeated the story about the stranger-boy so much that he didn't feel like saying it one last time.

"What happened," Auri rang out in a whine.

"Why does there have to be something? I said it was nothing."

"Your face doesn't say nothing though," Jamie added not really helping Jude's annoyance or the incoming headache.

The boy took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, "I went out last night to see if I saw the guy."

"The guy?" Jamie questioned confused.

"The guy?" Auri whispered with wide eyes.

"The guy," Jude stated ignoring both of them as he found his sandwich much more interesting.

"Well don't just sit there, what happened?"

Jude groaned and slouched into his seat, "Nothing, he didn't' show."

Jamie leaned forward on the lunch table, "I am so confused, can someone please tell me what guy?"

Without a second thought, Auri did the honors of updating the third-party member. Jaimie seemed as intrigued as he could be. The dark hair and light skinned male always came out as the collected one out of the three. If Jude could describe him in a short sentence it would be, 'El Savio.'

Jaimie's grey eyes turned to Jude, "And he didn't show?"

Jude shook his head.

Jaimie sighed, and shrugged, "Well then maybe it wasn't really meant for you two to be friends."

"I didn't really wanna be his friend," Jude stole a wavy fry from Jaimie's plate, and watched as Auri, brought her tray closer to avoid hers getting picked from.

Jaimie chuckled at the fellow teen's comment, "Well then what do you want, 'cause for someone who doesn't want to be friends, or flirt with this guy you sure seem upset about something." He dipped his fry in sweet and sour sauce before taking a bite.

The male mimicked his friend's actions and shrugged as well.

"There's nothing wrong with following your curiosity, Jude. Being cautious of your own shadow doesn't mean you're being sheltered from harm. You have to-"

"Live a little," Jude finished the sentence and was taken aback when his friend laughed.

"Feel pain a little to be able to know what hurts. You can do that without doing crazy things. Ask yourself if merely talking to a guy is crazy, or just plain normal. Having a fourth man in the group wouldn't hurt either."

And this is why he was Jaimie the wise.