The Other Side Of Friendship

Epilogue

"Are you coming for lunch?"  Chad, my benchmate asked grabbing his laptop from the desk as he moved out of his seat.

"Later" I said curving up the side of my lips uneasily.

"Well, ever since summer you're acting really weird." he nonchalantly told me and walked away.

If only he had been with me in the summer, life would have been better, I thought. But he was busy touring Europe.

I shrugged the thoughts off. Days had gone,  summer had past and it was now a life of "after apocalypse".

It had been three weeks since Alexis left me in dismay and a week had gone since classes had resumed from summer break. And it felt like ages since Gulf and I last talked.

Surprisingly, during lunch, I have been busy drooling at Gulf who have decided to live as though I never existed. We would cross one another but without a word. He never even tried to gaze upon me. He successfully ignored me and it hurt much more than I anticipated.

I have been visiting the football ground  whenever I had free time just to catch a glimpse of Gulf. It felt surreal but his words slowly began to make sense to me.

Perhaps, I just struggled to accept that a guy like Gulf could like me.

Alexis' statement, "Gulf's just being a normal seventeen year old boy" played in repeats and it hit me hard.

Alexis was helpless, Gulf was normal and I loved them equally. But I lost them and they lost me as well. I know things were never going to be the same.

But on another thought, life was never been about falling down or sucking in depressed air but it had always been about picking oneself up. I needed to make choices that would make me happy. I needed to take risk in life and be responsible for my own action or else life would actually lose its meaning.

Besides, I was tired of being vulnerable. I wanted better things in life and to successfully have that, I needed to fix some things first, even if it put my image at risk.

My thoughts became more motivated when I saw Gulf's sweaty face, I could not help but notice his breathtaking good looks everyday in the ground.

I had been watching him run while he practiced for the big game. Slowly, his bright eyes turned prettier than it used to while his tanned skin that glimmered under the sunlight, made my heart skip its beat.

I enjoyed staring at his cute red lips and the narrow nose that looked amazing. I liked the way his hair stood at the edge, the way he ran, the way he walked and most importantly the way he exposed his packed abs as he pulled his shirt above his head to wipe away his sweats.

I could do nothing but swear to myself that Gulf was beautiful.

And the idea of asking him out kicked in hard which made me nervous but quite excited as well.

I know I was not alone who had been admiring Gulf because everyday, Mandy cheered for Gulf. I figured she loved keeping him around or following him around and Gulf seemed okay with it. However, I could look right into Gulf's eyes and guarantee that Mandy never stood another chance with him.

I did not have the tiniest notion of I and Gulf becoming a couple earlier but his confession that fateful night screamed loud in my head. He had been pushing me away because he wanted to keep me save. And that's when I realized Alexis role. Gulf was jealous of the closeness Alexis and I shared, which meant, she was aware about Gulf's feelings. And perhaps, that allowed her to stick closer with me, making Gulf deliberately jealous.

But did I still have that chance with him? I feared. I did not like wearing my heart on the sleeve anymore. I could no longer afford to lose him like I lost Alexis.

Alexis was taken from the start while Gulf was available now. Alexis left but Gulf was right in front of my eyes; just a little too far away. Apart from all of it, my heart swelled at  his sight. I missed him more than I did before.

"Mew?" The familiar voice of Mandy  interrupted my reverie from behind and I turned at her.  She looked pale and  distress; absolute love sick, I figured. "What are you doing?" She bewildered and followed my gaze to Gulf.

"Gulf...." I said pretending as though Gulf and I were still in good terms.

"Oh.." She retracted and added, " Can you tell him I miss him?"

A lot of emotions raise in my head when Mandy started talking. It was blatant she still liked Gulf a lot.

"Does he sometimes still talk about me?" She asked and as much as I pitied her, this time, I decided to be selfish.

"Not really." I lied. " He has been doing better but it's not easy. " I added.

"I don't know what went wrong with him all of a sudden."

"There's always something about that guy." I laughed half heartedly and Mandy giggled slowly along with me.

"He sure does. No wonder he has best friends like you. Just tell him I miss him."

"Alright"

Mandy bade me bye and walked away making me realise how matured she really was. The way she handled the breakup impressed me more than expected.

"Mandy" I stopped her and she turned at me, " you deserve better." I said which made her laugh aloud.

When I turned my head to the ground, I noticed that Gulf had been watching I and Mandy from the ground. Although distant, I could see right through his widened eyes that he was confused.

Grabbing the opportunity, I hesitantly slighted a smile and waved my hands at him hoping  things will settle down between us. He smiled back at me, nodded his head and rushed down to the stairs disappearing from the ground, together with his teammates.

I figured I have nothing to lose if I forced myself to get what I want. Hence, I ran down from the gallery, hit to the ground and chased after him.

I did not care about anything but Gulf alone whose backside was visible in the corridor that was leading to men's locker room.

"Gulf" I called him aloud which made him turn his heavenly handsome face.
Without another word and not wasting much time, I headed towards him, my heart pounding heavily.

"Gulf..." I gasped again as he stand surprised.

"What's going on?" He perplexed twisting his neck around, observing the rest of his teammates have stopped just behind him.

I heard giggles and faint teases from his teammates but that did not stop me from getting what I wanted. I know I would either lose everything or gain everything but I wanted to risk it desperately. I wanted my fight to be black and white.

"I want you to feel me." I said engulfing his neck gently and pulled him closer toward me and pressed my lips on his. The moment my lips crashed on his, I felt his soft tender skin and I completely lost myself at his touch. The world stopped for a second and I heard nothing except his lips that stayed intact.

I realised Gulf have exceptionally went point black and his reaction turned blank.

I quickly pulled myself back from him and gazed at him while he stared at me, stunned.

"I like you" I amitted boldly locking eyes with him and his eyeballs simply dilated.

Note:

Well, that's the end 😜
Thank you very much for reading and engaging.

If you're interested, kindly check out my other MewGulf fiction:

Strangers to Us

Strangers to Us: Vol. 2

One week, he said: a game of marriage

Four hearts, one home.

❤❤❤