Cold Hearted

•Too Far•

{•edited•}
                           ~Ida's POV~

     "What happened to you and Santi?" Eliza asks, bouncing up and down with her arms around her. She has a terrible cold, but she refused to say home. "You guys seemed like you were getting closer, then nothing." Do I really want to give her an explanation and embarrass myself?
    "He's just going through a hard time," I tell her. It's not a complete lie. I know who Santi is and this, how he's been, isn't him. He's a warm-hearted man who loves harder than he hates. The constant blows life has been throwing at him recently is just taking their toll on him.
    "Hey!" Junior shoots as he runs in our direction. I automatically jump at how loud he is. I've never been able to am handle loud noises; they scare the hell out of me. "Have one of you seen Santi this morning?" He asks. Eliza and I glance at each other while shaking our heads. He sighs, running his hand through his hair.
    He hasn't been the same recently either. He and Santi have been best friends for as long as I can remember and he hardly has him anymore with the new changes. He was practically apart of the Florencio family and he's lost them too. It always seemed like Junior depended on Santi to himself from breaking down because of stress and now it's taking him under.
     "Why?" Eliza asks.
      "Amor texted me twice this morning asking if I had talked him. He wasn't answering his phone, so I tried and nothing. I don't know how much longer I can take this side of him," he says, his arms limp at his sides. When he's upset his body always looks like it's a deflated bag of muscle.
    "I'm sure he's fine," I tell him. "You know him, he never misses a class." This seems to relax him a little because he knows I'm right. That boy will come to school with a seriously ill if he has to.
     •••••••
     
      For some reason, even though I knew it was going to happen, I'm shocked when Santi walks into class, his hoodie pulled up and his head down. I'm expecting him to find another seat, but he returns to the one beside me, his braid shoulder brushing against mine. He doesn't look my way. If things were different he would be annoying me. Please annoy me again.
     "Hey," I say, trying to make him look at me. It's like he's a statue.
    "Mr.Florencio, hoodie off," our teacher tells us. He hesitantly removes it, the purple and blue bruises on his face and neck, and cuts are clear as day. A small gasp escapes my lips.
   "What happened?" I whisper. He doesn't answer. "Santi, please-"
    "Would you shut up?" He snaps, his voice low and demanding. "It's nothing, just drop it, Ida." The way he says my name isn't the same. A poet would probably describe how he used to say it as honey dripping from his lips, but now it's pure venom.
    "O-okay." He lets out a deep breath and puts his head on his arms on top of the desk. I want so badly to reach out and touch him, give him some sort of comfort. It's obvious he's struggling and it's paining me to watch.
    ••••••
    
    "Have you talked to Amor?" Junior asks Santi as soon as the bell rings. He just nods. "What the hell happened to your face?"
    "Got in a fight," he answers simply. Eliza looks down at me with sympathy. If I hadn't snapped at him that day would he be opening up to me? Would he let me in to help? That's all I want right now from this broken boy. "She just wanted to talk about funeral plans."
    "I thought both your parents didn't want one."
    "My dad's idea of a funeral was to barbecue in the backyard and act like nothing ever happened," he explains. His voice seems lighter when he talks about his dad. "That what he said he wanted incase anything ever happened and...something happened, so we're doing it."
     "Can I come?" Junior asks. He nods, shrugging.
    "He was your dad too." Junior looks like a million bricks have been lifted from his shoulders when that's said, letting him know that in some way or another his best friend is still intact. The Santi we've been around lately would have said no.
     "There's a party tonight," he says, hope oozing from his voice. "You should come with us. You could use some time away from everything." Santi glances around at me, his strong jaw ticking.
    "Sure."
    •••••••
                           ~Santi's POV~