FOREVER IS NOT A EVER AFTER

FRIENDS ?

Oh just so f****g great! I get the message he doesn’t like me, on all of the classes he just gives me side glance and returns to bother Monica. And now he has to be here too, aren’t there enough optional classes for him to choose from!

I walk all the way to the back of the room to my usual spot, near the window and next to the sinks, so if I had to wash something I didn’t had to move much. 

“Gian right?” He asked with an evil grin. 

“Yeah”

“Antony” that’s when I realized that Monica wasn’t in this class, no she was all sports and not that much brains. 

“I know” 

“Is anyone working here?” He asked pointing to the drawing table next to mine.

“Actually no, no one sits there” why did I just say that? I mentally smack myself. 

“Were do you live?” He is looking at me with curiosity

“In some apartments nearby, but my family owns a horse ranch an hour and a half from here, so every Friday I go back to help out, my dad, he works on traumatized horses or gets our colts ready for sale.” Why am I telling him this? “How about you?”

“Well my dad is a doctor so we move quite a bit, you must be wondering why I chose art, apparently I’m the only guy, I don’t like any sport that has to do with a ball, I suck at it, I do not dance and hate to sing, so this was the only logical option, but now that I see it, guess it was the best decision I could have made” and he flashes a mischievous grin my way. 

We talk a lot through the 2 hour class he actually isn’t that bad. He likes to be mean but not in a bad way, it’s like he is joking all the time even though he might say something mean. When the teacher asked us to draw something to evaluate our artistic skills he ended up asking me to draw it for him, I think he also sucks at art, but I won’t be telling him that, I like his company.

It’s time to go home as I’m walking to my car Antony rushes up to me and asked where I was going, I tell him to get some groceries and he asked to tag along, why can’t I just say no to this guy. 

“So how do you know Alejandro and Serch?”

“Serch and I were classmates on the last school his dad and mine are working together so we usually end up at the same place, he became my best friend, Alejandro just happens to be Serch’s friend from the football team and he tags along sometimes, but between you and me, I don’t like him” 

“You do like Monica”. What’s with my word vomit around this guy? 

“Jealous?” He looks at me in the eyes and gives a side grin. 

“No, just curious, doesn’t look like your type, and obviously she likes to bother you a lot” I lie. 

“Yeah, she even calls me names already, but it doesn’t bother”. I let out a breath I didn’t knew I was holding. And I’m great full he didn’t notice. 

We get to the apartment and he helps me up with the groceries, I invite him in and we chat a bit more. Then he tells me he should got it was getting late and still had to do some school work. 

Next morning I’m jumpy all of the sudden, I’m not like this I usually always keep my cool. When I get to homeroom I try to look for Antony, but he is already taken by Monica again. And he doesn’t even look my way, but Alejandro is very eager to keep on his questions. So I sit down and answer everything. 

At lunch time I go looking for Clark and Moore, oh god, they are already seating with Antony, Alejandro and Serch. I go take a seat and surprisingly we have a very good connection and the bonding between the six starts to shape. 

For the rest of the week we have a lot of fun. Art class is just the best art class I could ever have, Antony makes me laugh a lot, and I mean really laugh. But every time Monica is around he just ignores me. I’m starting to find a pattern here, he likes her as something else and I’m just his friend, so he pays more attention to her so that she won’t feel threatened by me. At least that’s my reasoning and it works for me, for now. 

Antony hasn’t called since Monday on the art class, and he does have my number he asked it before he left my apartment that night. 

I’ll have to let him know that he doesn’t have to worry about it. 

It’s Friday and I’m leaving to the ranch so I already have everything on the trunk so I won’t have to go back to the apartment and I’m in a bit of a hurry and as I walk out of school Antony is already standing by my car. 

“Hey, is everything ok” I ask him as I throw my back pack in the car. 

“Remember we talked about Monica last time, and you said it wasn’t my type?” He asks, but he doesn’t look at me, I guess he doesn’t want to get my hopes up so I interrupt him to avoid the shame of being turned down. 

“Yeah, well I’ve seen the way she looks at you, and I guess you are absolutely her type, you should give it a try, she seems like a really nice girl, it’s just a point of view from a really caring Friend” I try to emphasize the word Friend. 

“So you care for me, as a Friend?”

“Of course you silly! In this very short time I have come to really like you, hey if we keep up like this soon you could be my Best Friend and replace Clark and Moore, and let me tell you that is something to say” I say with the best fake smile I can give, and try to sound convincing on the just friends part. 

“Wow, well if you put it that way then maybe I should take your advice and give Monica a chance” he said but he never looked at me in the eyes, when he looked up I saw regret in his eyes? Was it true or was my head playing games with me. 

“I better go, still have a long drive a head, and I don’t like driving at night” I say opening the car door, he holds it up for me. I get inside, start the engine and pull down the window. He leans in to say something, but changes his mind and all he says is “Yeah, please take care, see you on Monday”

“See you Monday!” And I drive of before I get the word vomit again. And I turn on the radio to Brooks and Dunn’s “My Next Broken Heart” starts blasting through the speakers. 

And I start to sing along...

“I found myself a brand new friend

I'm headed down that road again

I'm working' on my next broken heart

Happy or sad, it's hard to tell

You taught me how to hurt so well

When it comes to love I know my part

And I play this game that I can't win

And I'll be somebody's fool again

Workin' on my next broken heart...”