My Ex-Boyfriend From Kindergarten

Chapter 11: Bracelet Number Two

This is yet to be edited.

“How about a coffee break before Dune and I sing our song?” Sunny asked everybody.

“Sounds good to me,” Nai answered.

“Great. What do you guys want?” he asked.

“Just a caffe latte for me,” Nai smiled at him.

“Half-caf,” Cai said.

“Dune?” Sunny asked.

I was getting ready to get up from my seat, “White chocolate mocha. But I think I’ll—”

“Go with you,” Cai cut me off. Then he stood up and walked towards Sunny. “Guys should be the ones getting the girls drinks,” he smiled at me.

“He’s right Dune. Let’s just wait here,” Nairobi said.

Sunny and Cai left us. I settled back into my seat. Nairobi combed her hair and then applied lip balm. I couldn’t help but think about Cai. I didn’t like that he kept sending mixed signals to me. What I didn’t like even more was that I kept trying to decode his mixed signals. Sure, I was starting to be less concerned about him. But then he went and did what he does best.

There was a coffee shop near our school. Even the slowest of walkers could get there within ten minutes. It would be a twenty-minute trip to buy coffee and get back to the music room. So when 45 minutes had passed without Sunny and Cai coming back to the room, Nairobi and I decided to look for them.

My initial idea was to walk to the coffee shop. It was Saturday. I thought that maybe there was a long line at the counter. But Nairobi had a different idea. She pulled me towards the auditorium.

We opened one of the doors and instantly heard “Hate That I Love You” playing. Then we saw Fifer and the other junior girls rehearsing on the stage. Nairobi nudged me and gestured for me to look at the first row in the middle section.

Sunny kept looking at his wristwatch. Our coffee orders were on the chair beside him. Some coffee cups were on the edge of the stage. Cairo was watching the junior girls. Then Fifer came down and pulled Cairo to the stage. They were all joking around. Cai seemed to have picked up the steps right away. Another one of the junior girls tried to get Sunny up on the stage, too, but he politely refused.

I watched Cairo dance with Fifer. Sure, there were like four other people onstage, but at that moment, it felt like they were the only two people in the whole auditorium. At least, that’s what I could tell from the way Cai was looking and smiling at Fifer.

What was I even thinking? He sang one song to me and I suddenly thought he felt something for me.

It’s right in front of you, Dune. Look at him. Look at them. He’s happy. You can’t make him that happy. Sure, you can make him laugh when you mess up and say things like ‘ain’t no thing but a chicken wing.’ But her? She can make him happy just by existing. You can’t compete with that.