Blue's Rose

Chapter 8 Boys Will Be Shook

Blue

Stiff as a board. Funny expression that, Blue idiotically thought as he stood there with a smile still on his face. He had heard it before but never experienced it himself until this moment. Every muscle in his body felt locked. The only thing moving was inside his mind. The word 'fiancé' was ricocheting a zillion miles a minute against the inside of his skull.

Calling on every ounce of mental fortitude he could draw upon Blue finally managed to blink his eyelids one time and a heartbeat later a second. After that his body slowly but surely started coming back to life. He heard himself murmur 'congratulations' to the two people staring up at him and succeeded in sticking his hand out to Kool for the mandatory congratulatory handshake. He even managed to take another sweeping glance at the girl's, Mia's he corrected himself, hand still confirming she wasn't wearing a ring. It was something Blue had already looked for when the two had walked over to him after exiting the elevator earlier. Out of curiosity he had peeked as they had walked towards him but he had seen no ring on her finger so he had assumed... Blue didn't complete his last thought. The crude expression about making assumptions popped into his thoughts. Something about making an ass out of himself...

'Get your shit together,' Blue silently ordered himself. He really didn't understand why he was reacting so strongly to the news of their engagement. This was good news for his friend so why wasn't he happier for him? Shouldn't he be glad that Kool had obviously moved on from his unrequited love? Didn't this kind of answer some of Blue's questions? Wasn't this what he'd hoped for? 'What the hell is your problem?' he silently grumbled to himself.

Thankfully the internal struggle raging within didn't appear to be obvious to either Mia or Kool. Blue figured he must be reacting appropriately but for the life of him he really couldn't remember much about the last few moments. Mere minutes altogether, he marveled. Since Mia and Kool had walked up to him from the elevator only a few minutes had passed but it felt much longer. It felt as if so, much had happened in such a short space of time that he could fill up an entire chapter in a book if he tried to write it all out.

Brought up short by his last thought, Blue realized he really would make an ass of himself if he didn't quickly pull himself together. With concentrated effort he turned back to Kool and forced himself to ask, "So when's the big day?" Maybe, he thought, if he got more details it would start to feel real to him.

Instead of Kool answering, Mia piped up. "Oh, no date has been set yet," she said with a wave of her hand as if saying, 'no rush.'

Surprised by her offhand answer, Blue just nodded and smiled in response. He thought most engaged girls were all about the wedding but she didn't seem to be most girls. Would explain the lack of ring, too, Blue mused.

He looked over at Kool and smiled. "I can't believe you're getting married, Kool," Blue said feeling as if he was making the understatement of the year.

"Kulap," Kool corrected.

While at the same time Mia giggled and said, "That is so cute. Kool!"

Confused Blue arched a brow and looked at both of them in confusion. "Excuse me?" he asked, his head turning from one to the other.

Blue watched as Mia frowned over at Kulap and gently nudged him with her elbow in reproof. It was clear she was annoyed with him. In turn, Blue could tell Kool was surprised by Mia's less than discreet elbow jab. Blue had the feeling Kool preferred Blue hadn't witnessed the unladylike dig so he pretended he hadn't and instead looked to Kool for an explanation.

"Please call me, Kulap," he clarified. "Not Kool."

Blue could see Mia from the corner of his eye. Her pursed lips signaled her continued disproval. Blue himself felt a bit embarrassed at being corrected. He had called Kulap, Kool ever since that horrible night years ago when Kool... Kulap had saved his bacon. Koo... Kulap he mentally stressed to himself again had never indicated he hated the nickname nor asked Blue to stop addressing him as such. What was the big deal now?