Shortcomings | Alejandro Rosario

Chapter 5: Text message

I fiddled with my shirt, pacing outside of Alejandro's house. My heart was beating, knowing my best friend was inside there angry at me.

I needed to go inside and talk to him, there was no way that could I work with him while he was mad.

Building up my confidence, I grabbed the spare key he gave me, unlocking the door.

The delicious smell of food wafting into my nose, the cosy warm feeling I was familiar with bringing me comfort. Ale's dog sat it the corner, his tail wagging at my sight, as he waddled over to be pet.

"Hey pup." I cooed, rubbing his head. I crouched down, scratching behind his ears. "Ale's mad at me right now," I murmured softly, as the dog watchdd me happily. "Let's hope I can convince him other wise."

"I'm not mad at you Iz." A voice sounded. I stood up, facing Ale on the stairs. He was wearing a white cut off tank top and grey sweatpants, his hands shoved in his pockets.

He stepped down, grabbing my bag off the floor, before extending his arm towards the stairs.

"Come on." He spoke, as I walked in front of him. The tension in the air was thick, but weirdly comfortable. 

The sound of his footsteps behind mine pushed me forward, as I went straight to his room, not even bothering to say to his brother as I usually did.

Alejandro set his back in the floor, shutting the door behind him, as I took my phone out, setting it on the ground. We were still quiet, but I could tell one of us wanted to speak.

"I'm sorry. I know I overreacted a little back there, I just got angry." He mumbled, breaking the silence. I sat down on his floor, pulling out my books, letting him sit next to me. "It's fine, I don't really want to talk about it anyways." I muttered, giving him a weak smile.

He nodded, pulling out his own books. The next hour went by in silence, we only exchanged a few words about the assignment. The silence was comfortable but awkward at the same time, I would glance up at ever so often to look at him.

His dimples popped up ever so often, when he would focus on a subject. He would twirl his pen in his hands when he would pause to think about what he wanted to write, before jotting it down in his messy writing.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I spoke suddenly, standing up.

Alejandro watched me leave, going back to his work. He let out a small sigh, leaning back, putting his head on his bed.

My phone buzzed, catching his attention. Normally, he wouldn't dare to read whatever was on it, but, something drew him. The contact name.

Mattia Polibio: You should come over tmr. We can finish where we left off in the closet? :D
Mattia Polibio: Hey

Alejandro felt anger bubble up in his chest, as he grabbed the phone, glancing at the door. After waiting for a second, he unlocked it, opening the message.

He began typing, unconscious about what he was doing.

You: I don't want to hang out with you, sorry.
Mattia Polibio is typing...
Mattia Polibio: Why?
Mattia Polibio: Did I do anything wrong?
Mattia Polibio is typing...
You: Please stop messaging me. I don't care about what you have to say.

Alejandro waited for a second for his reply, giving a satisfied smile when none came. He set the phone down exactly as it was before, as I walked back into the room.

"Sorry, that took a little long I went to say hi to your brother." I smiled, feelong a little happier than before. Alejandro returned my smile, his dimples carving into his cheeks, his eyes lighting up.