Beneath The Surface

Echoes Of Love

Two days before Wendy and Mrs Winston were due to return, Iris returned to the Bach residence after living with me for two weeks.

Within that two weeks, we became very close.

It was as if we had known each other for a long time because everything just seemed to connect. We shared so many things in common and the most notable is our birthday. Everything felt good because Iris was more of a “Me” than anybody else. She knew and understood me and that was what made what we shared different. But still I decide to play it safe and kept a safe boundary.

Soon, the semester rolled over with only two weeks break before the next semester.

But before the semester ended, somewhere in the middle of it, I started noticing a lot more things about Iris. Or rather, she started making sure I noticed. The lingering glances, the casual touches, the way she’d always find a way to sit next to me during group hangouts—it was all there.

But I wasn’t interested.

It wasn’t that I didn’t find her attractive. Oh hell who wouldn’t? I did find her attractive. She was beautiful, intelligent, caring, soft spoken.

Everything any guy with functioning eyes and brain would want. But I had made a promise to myself, and I wasn’t about to break it. Relationships would be a distraction right now, and I wasn’t ready for it or ready to let anything derail my plans or worse take me through the hell I came out from again.

Yes, my previous relationship took me to hell. Hell? F*ck I even came face to face with the devil at some point.

So I ignored all the signs.

Still, Iris persisted. She started visiting me on weekends and on days when she didn’t have lectures. We’d hang out, watch movies, and talk about everything from school to life goals. And that was okay because I loved her company and she also enjoyed mine. I just wasn’t ready to take it to a different level.

Our mutual friends, however, saw things differently. By the time the vacation rolled over, they were convinced we were more than friends. We denied it every time, but their teasing never stopped.