Lethal Ways Not To Kill Yourself

Tragedy 2: Elikai

I hate Alex, fucking rat who can't shut his mouth up.

He went back to the counter, asking the barista to make Kal's macchiato. He would always take the order of my tea in the end. I didn't mind it, not right now. I was baffled by Kal's presence in the coffee place at this time of the day. He never comes to the shop at this time. I would have noticed, now I hope he doesn't notice me.

His face was devoid of any emotions, just like how we used to be during those quizzes. It reminded me of the eighth grade, the shy, gullible boy who quizzed for the first time and took the quizzing community by storm. He spat answers like bar and I would stare at him in awe and satisfaction that I had met my match.

I couldn't help but stare at him, he had changed a lot in the past couple of months. I had heard he wasn't talking to Leni that often, she would divert the conversation whenever Kal's name would pop out. It was a weird place, I had befriended Leni to get close to Kal but now it seems like Leni is getting close to me to stay away from Kal.

I think he hates me right now. Leilani never let anyone call her Leni except Kal. Things changed when I came into the picture. I would have paid a million bucks to change whatever happened between us, how I called Leni by her special nickname when she was breaking things with Kal. It was the salt that I rubbed in the wound I didn't know existed. I would definitely pay a million bucks for it.

Right now, I can't even pay for cat food.

Earlene has a habit of feeding random street animals. Mum would leave for work, leaving a casserole full of bread and biscuits for Earlene. She would never share her food with me, even for an 11-year-old, she was a penny pincher just like my dad. Then bring in a furry four-legged animal with attitude problems as severe as hers, voila! Brethren could drown in the River Styx and her furry gatekeeper of the hell and the demon herself would relish the sight.

She met her partner in crime near the coffee place itself. Her cat was being bullied and pelted stones by some meddlesome middle school kids. Then out wonder woman, with her makeshift speaker, she made for her science project, blasted the sounds of sirens of the police car. She made the kids flee the site of crime without shedding a drop of blood. We had our very own supergirl, Earlene Nazadze on the front page of the daily newspaper.

Founder of the Pets R Us club(such a creative name, I know) and the leader of all animal rights marches in and out of the city, we had our very own Greta Thunberg, who actually knew what she was doing.

Definitely, she brought home the little fluffball of scratching angel, with whom she shared the front page of the newspaper.

"What is she called?" Enquired one of the local journalists while she posed near the coffee place.

The charming little sister of mine caressed the lustrous mane(thanks to the expensive pet grooming shop who sponsored her for thr clout).

"Bathsheba."

Now, even if we can't afford to keep Cleo(no, I won't call her Bathsheba, I call her Cleo), Earlene would enunciate the benefits of having a cat as a pet until she'd run out of elementary school vocabulary.

"Cat owners have a higher IQ."

"It'll tarnish my public reputation."

"I love Bathsheba, Eli, please buy her food for me."

So here I am, trying to find the perfect victim to mob and buy Cleo her food. The ends justify the means, right?

The buzz of the phone in my pocket startled me. I jerked right off, then check if the weapon for my mobbing fiasco hadn't fallen down in this process.
It was safe, so I checked the message I received.