At a young age of eighteen, New was living the life of a teenage boy diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. With his life hanging by a thread, he realized that it was too short to be spent on memories that will only result in melancholy, and so he chose...
After what happened that night, Tawan and I had not talked with each other. Come Monday morning, I expected he'd board the same bus as I was in, but his usual seat remained unoccupied. Even at school, there seemed to be no presence of him at all. His two friends who he plays ball with and I assume were also the two names on his contacts had no idea where he is or what he's up too, and they seem to have already grown accustomed with Tawan's frequent absence.
I have given it some thought too, the issue with the shirt. Maybe I acted a little too sensitive and my anger got the best of me, so I went a little overboard with my words. Afterall, it was my fault for putting the shirt on the kitchen counter that he had easily thought it was a rag.
I hate being sentimental.
Friday came and I had no idea about Tawan's whereabouts. Even if he's absent four times out of five, he makes sure to attend school at least once a week. My worry grew bigger that my mind was not at our lesson, and I was called out a few times by our teacher for being absent minded.
By the time classes ended, everyone had their own agendas to attend to. As most of us had already turned 18, bar hopping has entered the list of after school activities my classmates usually do. As for me, The weekend meant two days of slouching on my bed as I tuck myself in and watch netflix all day long.
As I made my way out of the school, I saw Tawan on the shed just outside the school, carrying a brown paperbag that said Lookcatme store.
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He was wearing a black pullover and ripped jeans with a pair of converse sneakers. I knew it was just his usual style to wear black and sneakers, but seeing him like that when I literally worried for a whole week had me gasping for air. He was just nonchalantly standing there, opposite to where I am, watching cars busily go along the highway. When his eyes met mine, I couldn't help but smile.
"Where have you been this whole week? I've been looking for you!"
As usual, he acted like I didn't say anything. Rather than answering the question, he handed me the paper bag.
"I had to search through Chiang Mai for a week. Sorry it took me a little long to find it." , he said, awkwardly looking at the cars behind me.
Is he acting shy?
I looked through the paper bag and saw a shirt exactly the same as the one I have. I took it out and gave a better glance at the shirt. I blocked his face on purpose to see if he'd be curious of my expression, and he really was! He kept on pushing my arms to the side and checking my expressions. I couldn't help but laugh at what he was doing.
Still, a part of me felt guilty of what my anger had caused him. There was only a single Lookcatme store in Chiang Mai, and it's located at the other end of the city. And besides, he didn't really know the brand, all he knew was it was a shirt with a cat in it. Did he really search through the whole city just for a shirt?
My heart felt so warm at the thought of him going through such lengths just so he could make up for what he did. Who knew someone like him, who acts so cold on the outside, actually possesses a heart brimming with warmth?
"If you're done admiring the shirt, I'll be heading out now. ", he said as he walked out and made his way home. A few steps away from me, I ran quickly and held the sleeve of his pullover.
