In Another Life

Best Friends?

*the bell rings

Yey! It’s lunch time! My calculus class finally ended. Ughhh I hate this subject pretty much.

I saw my best friend, Karl, standing outside the classroom. Waving his hand on me. 

I winked at him and walked towards him. 

"Where'd you wanna go?" Karl asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Anywhere.....as long as you’re with me." I said with a serious tone, looking directly into his eyes.

He stared at me with the same intensity.

And we both bursted into laughter. My eyes were watery.

"Hey, don’t you ever joke like that again." he said, putting his arm on my shoulders.

"I might believe that."

"Yuck that’s so gross! Do you want me pluck out your eyes and suck the fluid out of them?" I said, harshly removing his arm on my shoulders and hitting his stomach with my knee.

"That’s so brutal, babe." he said with a flirty tone.

I glared at him. This man is a pain in the ass.

"I’m hungry. Calculus drains my energy. I wanna have a heavy meal for today!" I smiled widely at him.

He smirked. "Yesterday, you said you wanna go on a diet. You little liar." He said, pinching my cheeks.

"You’re imagining things. I didn’t say that. I don’t remember saying that." I said defensively. 

"You have such a terrible memory." I said, tapping his shoulder. His eyes formed into slits.

"Let’s go! I’m super hungry!" I said, dragging him towards the food court.

He let out an annoyed growl.

"Don’t you think your holding my hand a bit too tight?" he complained.

I laughed at him.

"And don’t you think you’re too old to whine like that?" I said and held his hand tighter.

"Hey, I just remembered that I forgot to bring my wallet so you’ll pay for me." I smiled widely at him, with arms crossed in front of my chest.

"Hey, for your information, I’m not a f*****g ATM machine." he frowned at me and pushed my forehead using his forefinger.

I glared at him.

"Well, it’s not my fault. And don’t forget that I paid your meal last week." I said, raising my eyebrow at him.

"It’s payback time!" I said before rushing to the counter and ordered my food. 

His jaw dropped upon seeing the amount of food on my tray. 

"You’ll eat that much? What the f**k I just have to say goodbye to my allowance." he said before standing up to order his own food.

I smiled widely at him.

"Thanks! You’re the best!" I gave him a thumbs up.

He turned around and raised his middle finger at me. I just laughed at him and devoured my food.

"We’re both vacant till 3:00. Uhm, did you bring your car?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him. I’ve got a brilliant idea.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" I just smirked at him and dragged him towards his car.

I pushed him on the passenger’s seat and sat on the driver’s seat.

"I’ll drive." I said and winked at him.

"Are you f*****g serious? The last time I let you drive, you almost got both of us killed! Let’s exchange seats now." he said, trying to open the door and glared at me when he realized it’s locked.

"Hey, I took driving lessons for a month! I promise we’ll make it there alive!" I chuckled and fastened my seatbelt.

"What f*****g choice do I have?" he said, finally giving up.

We ordered food and drinks on fast food and drove towards a cliff.

He threw a questioning look at me when I stopped the car.

"What are we doing here?" he asked while scanning the place.

"You’ll know once see the whole place." I said and motioned him to get out and follow me.

He stood beside me and looked at the view with dreamy eyes. We’re in an elevated area where the whole city unfolds before our eyes. The rays of the blazing sun peeking through the trees and the cold air blowing on us made the place so much better. It feels refreshing.

"So, why are we here?" he finally broke the silence after etching the whole place on his mind.

"Next week is gonna be hectic, it’s midterms and I know we’ll not see each other for quite some time. And also, to relax ourselves before the battle." I said, looking at the view in front of us, not throwing a single glance at him.

He held my chin and forced me to look at him. 

"Hey, I know you better than everyone else. You’re lying. Tell me the real reason. I’m all ears." he said, looking straight into my eyes, as if reading my mind.

Sometimes, I hate the fact that he can always see through me. That my woven lies fall into deaf ears coz he knew me so well and could instantly know if I’m hiding something from him.

I heaved a deep sigh.

"It’s about Mom and Dad. They’ve been constantly fighting about something these past few days but they try to act normal in front of me. And the fact that they really try to hide it from me just convinces me that it’s not a petty fight, it’s something big." I said, kicking the pebbles on the ground.

"Maybe they have reasons for hiding it from you. They’ll eventually spill that on the perfect time. You should focus on the upcoming exam. We’re graduating so we need to strive harder." He said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Woah 'strive harder'? Says the one who has 75’s on his report card." I laughed mockingly at him, trying to shift the topic.

"I’m trying my best. And at least, I never cheat. I worked for those grades!" He said, desperately trying to convince me.

"Whatever, you still flopped!" I said, teasing him more. 

I ran back to the car and took out the foods we ordered. I sat on his car’s roof and motioned him to do the same. 

We filled our stomachs while savoring the ambiance of the place. 

"I wish I could be here, every time I feel anxious. It’s so beautiful here." I said, closing my eyes, feeling the cold breeze.

"Yeah, you’re beautiful." I can feel him staring at me. I tried to resist the urge of looking at him, to ignore what he said—but I failed. 

I found myself staring straight into his mesmerizing eyes. My insides panicked when his face slowly closed the gap between us. 

He stopped halfway, realizing what he’s doing. He pulled away and jumped on the ground.

"Let’s go back to school." he said, smiling as if nothing happened. 

I don’t know why we keep holding ourselves back. Is it an act of cowardice? 

Or the uncertainty of our feelings?