Curving His Straight Line

“I love you, Celine.” He said while a bittersweet smile was engraved on his face.   I heard this come out of his soft mouth a thousand times now but never got to felt what that phrase really meant.   “Go now, you’re going to be late.” I tried to put on the best smile I could.   He once again gave me a tight hug before proceeding to his flight.   “Take care of yourself!” He said in a dominant tone while breaking off the hug.   “I will.” I swiftly answered. Farewell, my Pears. Bit by bit I came into the acceptance, no, the reality that my best friend whom I fall in love with, is f*cking straight.   -or so I thought.   Our story started way back in years, I lost track of it. But all of those journeys were better, because I had him, Ivan Pears Xavier.   The guy who took my heart and trashed it, literally.   Let me take y’all back to the beginning – of when I thought love was a beautiful flower, until you reached its thorns.   I am Dion James Zaleski, my families and friends call me “DJ”, and because of that I liked music, or was it the other way around? Regardless, putting in my earphones and listening to a song that perfectly captures my current emotions have been my easy escape – for all times. Moving on, I live in Brooklyn Eastwood with my mother and big sister. My father uh, he left us to be with a younger woman, so I’m not a fan of those, no, nope.   I met Pears in my Elementary days, we were classmates by then and we had so many good times together, like really, life was worth it because of him.   Back then… back when we were only kids…   “Let’s go, Dion!!!” He shouted right at my face while grabbing my hands after our class ended. And uh, he’s the only one who calls me Dion, well, he insisted.   I remember asking him why he wanted to call me Dion instead of my typical nickname DJ, and he told me that if I won’t let him call me by that, he will call me as Celine, that’s a nod to the famous singer, yeah, I know, it’s corny. Of course, being called Dion is better than Celine for a boy like me, so… that’s the whole story of why he calls me Dion.   “Alright, alright!” He literally pulled me as we reached the park. I did not know why he’s so eager to go to the park today, he wasn’t usually like this.   “Okay, rock, paper, scissors, go!” He initiated our traditional startup before going to our actual game.   I was a paper – and he was a rock.   “Oh, you win. I guess I’m going to have to catch you! In ten, nine, eight… seven.”   I ran as fast as I could, never knowing one day, I would be running away from him again, but at that time, he won’t be there to catch me.   I hid behind a tree and just stood incredibly still.   “Dion!” I heard him from afar.   Seconds later…   “Found you!” He chased me so I dashed away from him but he was quick. Yeah, he was always so quick. Going back, he pounced me so we fell to the ground.   “Hahaha, I got you!” He shouted while still hugging me, not letting me go.   “Wai- ouch.” I felt an ache in my left knee.   “Hey, are you okay?” He immediately assessed himself and helped me sit up.   I checked my knee where it hurts and yup, I got bruises. At least, these bruises are manageable compare to, well, we will get on that.   “You’re wounded I’m so sorry!” He examined my knee carefully.   “It’s nothing serious, Pears.” I assured him.   “Do you want to get better right away?” He asked me cheerfully.   “Huh?” I was confused when suddenly he wiped the small amount of blood using his shirt then kiss my knee.   “What!?” I was uncomfortable at that time.   “You’ll see, it won’t hurt anymore. My aunt taught me this trick, she used to kiss me when I’m hurt so it’ll heal faster every time.” He brightly explained to me.   If it was only that easy – that a single touch of his lips would make the pain go away. I never believed that, at least not until…   Anyway, back to the story…   “I don’t believe you.” I claimed my stand.   “Why!?” He exclaimed.   “Because it still hurts.” I said to his face, but really does it still?   “Maybe I should kiss it again?” He was seriously considering.   “Nah! Forget it! Let’s just go.” We both stood up as he assisted me, we were on our way home because our houses are just near each other.   “Do you want to eat at my house? Since I’m the one to blame for your knee?” He asked me.   “What are we going to eat?” I followed up.   “Our favorite!!!” He was widely smiling.   “Chocolate drink!” We shouted in unison.   “And play some video games!” He added.   “Alright then, I’m in. I’ll go home first though so I can tell my mother and change my clothes.”   “Okay be quick!” He emphasized.   Once I got home my mother was talking on the phone with someone…   “Please Sir, I really need this job.” I heard my mother but I couldn’t quite understand the voice on the other line.   “Thank you, I’ll wait for your reply Sir, have a good day.” My mother exhaled after dropping the call. It seemed like she was looking for another job because, yeah, my father left us a month ago. I’m only in elementary while my sister Chloe is in college, so my mother really has to work hard in order for our family to survive.   “Ma, I’m home.” I slowly peeked into her in the kitchen.   “Oh, little DJ, are you hungry?” She was fast to hide the gloominess on her face. At that time, I couldn’t really fully understand what our family is going through, especially my mother.   “No ma, I’m going at Pears, is that okay?” I asked her.   “Sure, just be home by dinner.”   I knew she’s going to permit me because she and the aunt of Pears are close. So then, I headed quickly into my room to change.   I rang the doorbell as soon I got onto Xavier’s residence.   “You’re so slow!’ Pears welcomed me.   He let me into their house as we came across his aunt.   “Aunt Gina, Dion is here, we’re going to play upstairs and have some chocolate drinks.”   “Sure, go ahead.” His aunt was nice, as always.   He is currently living with his aunt along with his cousin Duke, about the same age as my sister, and his Duke’s younger brother Drake, about one year older than us. Duke and Drake are children of Gina, and Pears has been living with them because… his real parents died in a tragic train accident, so Gina, his mother’s sister, took him in.   I only know this because uhm, Pears told me? Lol. Anyways, Mrs. Xavier’s husband is working abroad to sustain their needs, and to be honest, they are pretty much a wealthy family, I mean Pears even had his own room because their house is big enough.   He took two packs of chocolate drinks and pulled me towards his room.   “Where’s Drake?” I asked him.   “Probably gone home early and is now sleeping in his room.” He answered. We are not really in vibes with Drake even if we go to the same school with him but on some occasions, he would play with us. Drake is one school year ahead of us, and he got that bad boy attitude, that’s why Pears and I don’t really like him much.   Duke on the other side, is a very cool brother to both Pears and Drake. He’s also a varsity of their university and is really someone to look up to.   As we were about to choose our video game characters, we wanted the same protagonist.   “I want Lili!” He claimed.   “I want to use her too! She was already your character yesterday!” I backed up.   “Yeah? That’s because I’m loyal.” He smirked, gross.   “Then there’s only one way to settle this.” I sighed.   “Yup!” He fixed his stance into another rock, paper, scissors. We always used to do this when we used to both like the same thing, I wished that didn’t change though.   I was paper again – he was rock again, because yes, he’s very loyal.   This symbolism has become a perfect illustration of our future relationship. I was a paper – a cleaned piece of paper, always ready to crumple myself just that I can hold him, but he, like a rock, will never let me in. I know in this game, paper wins over rock, but really no, nothing can beat the hardness of a rock.   We played multiplayer games the whole afternoon until I was about to leave but decided to pee first.   Their bathroom was slightly opened so I figured nobody was in there so I let myself in when –   Drake was in there taking a piss.