ILY

ILY With Full Hope

Jethro found himself in another awkward situation with Topaz. She was eating together with the guy who pushed her wheelchair yesterday. He heard his name was Michael. While he was carrying a tray with his lunch, Jessica appeared out of nowhere, carrying her own food tray.

"Hey, stranger!" She said. "Where were you yesterday? You missed the movie with the guys. Mark was even looking for you." Jessica had practically no idea about who Topaz was, so she said that loudly, not minding or caring if anyone would hear her. In short, she had no idea that she was creating tension in the canteen that day.

"I need to go, I'll probably eat this later," Jethro said, grabbing his sandwich, apple, and fruit juice with two of his hands as he placed the tray at the edge of the table where the trays were kept. He hurriedly placed it inside his bag, but his books fell down.

"Hey, you seem to be in a hurry? Is there something wrong?" Jessica felt that Jethro was being so flimsy today. She helped her grab his books to return them to his backpack.

Jethro noticed Topaz's book on the floor. He was about to pick it up but Jessica beat him to it. "Hey, didn't know you read." She said, still teasing Jethro, unaware of the tension building in the room.

Topaz was silently eating her lunch. She did not dare lift her head from his food. But she was listening. She missed Jethro's voice a lot. But after hearing the word book, she could not help but look in their direction, which happened to be a few meters away from where she sat with Michael.

She caught Jethro's eyes before he turned his face away, grabbing the book from Jessica.

"Wait, I want to see it." Jessica stood up and pulled the book away from Jethro's hand.

"Come on Jes, just give it to me, OK."Jethro was persistent.

It was the book that he borrowed from Topaz, the first and last time that he was invited to her home. He always brought it around hoping that Topaz would come back. He plans on using the book as an excuse to start a conversation with her. A conversation that he never had the courage to start ever since he saw her with that guy.

"What is this? Ravissant? An Elf Love Story? This is so lame. Where did you get this?" Jessica was never into reading books and is very vocal when it comes to the things that she dislikes, regardless of the feelings of others.

"Just give it back. I need to be somewhere else." Jethro wanted to make Jessica shut up but she was being playful as always." He managed to grab the book by its cover and a few pages, but Jessica was quick to pull it back again.

He almost closed his eyes when he heard the ripping sound of the cover being torn apart from the rest of the pages.

"Oops, sorry," Jessica said. She sounded sorry but was not that sincere. "It was your fault, you kept pulling it. I just wanted to see it." She defended her actions.

From the corners of his eyes, Jethro saw Topaz being wheeled away from the table. He was certain that her heart broke seeing her book being torn like that.

"Why can't you mind your own business!" Jethro shouted at Jessica.

"And why do you have to shout? It is just a stupid book. I can buy you two if you want." Jessica said. She was definitely not allowing Jethro to shout at her in public. They were already getting the eyes of the people inside the cafeteria.

"It was special, it came from someone special. It was never for you to see or even take." He said it out loud but he was unsure if Topaz was listening. He hoped he was.

He grabbed the book and walked out of the canteen. He was almost running towards the exit, so he managed to leave first before Topaz and Michael could even leave the area.

Jessica was left there, mouth wide open, surprised at how Jethro had reacted. She grabbed her food and went to the table where the rest of her friends were waiting.

Outside, Jethro headed to the back wall of the school. He wanted to go home, be someplace else besides here.

He looked at the book in his hand. This is one of his best memories with Topaz. And now it was torn into two. The worst part was that Topaz saw it being torn.

He was hurt that Topaz left without saying goodbye.

Jethro even felt more hurt when she came back, as if nothing happened, now with someone else to take care of her, help her with her situation.

But why does it even hurt more right now? Jethro felt devastated knowing that he allowed Topaz's book to be torn like that.

He stepped on one of the garbage bins at the back and managed to get over the wall to leave school. He knew Clyde would cover for him for skipping.

Instead of going home, he found himself headed to The Note Nest. He needs to replace the book as soon as possible.

It has been weeks since he last came here. After Topaz left, he was constantly going to the place, hoping she would find her there. He kept going because he could still see her in between the shelves, browsing for books while he looked at her from afar.

It felt the same coming inside. But this time, instead of the CDs, he was in the book section, looking for another copy of Ravissant.

His heart dropped when he did not see the book on the shelves. It was not a popular book, but Topaz was so into it. That was the main reason why she offered him to borrow the book. She said that Jethro would definitely enjoy it.

And Jethro did enjoy reading the book. He even imagined going through the highlights of the story with Topaz once she gets back, once he returned the book.

Feeling defeated, he walked towards the exit. Maybe he can find the book online.

"Hey man, didn't see you here for quite some time." It was the cashier, Piedro, calling back at him.

"Been busy with school." He replied, half smiling.

"You seemed to be looking for something?" He called. Jethro was about to pull the door open to leave when he looked back.

"Yeah, I was looking for this book." He showed Piedro the torn cover of the book he was looking for.

"Stay here, I'll take a look at the back. We just pulled out books from last season to replace them with the latest releases for this month. I'll check if I still have something there."

Jethro felt his heart skip a beat. There was a glimpse of hope in his eyes.

He waited by the cashier's register for Piedro to come back. When he did, Jethro's face lit up to see a fresh copy of Ravissant, still sealed in plastic in Piedro's hand.

"Here you go man, this is the last copy." Piedro handed him the book smiling.

"I owe you, man," Jethro told Piedro, offering him a firm handshake.

"If you need anything, man, just let me know. I try to help as much as I can." Piedro replied, smiling.

"Thanks really, you have no idea how important this is to me," he said. Jethro felt elated. It felt as if he had been given new hope.

Jethro paid for the book and left. "See you next week," he told Piedro before leaving the store.

He was just a few steps away from the store, looking at the book in his hand. When he looked at the street, he saw a familiar face walking towards him.

It was too late to turn around. She already saw her. She was waving at him.

It was Mrs. Layton, Topaz's mother.