Between Dreams And Distance

Chapter 5: The Distance Begins

The knocking continued and Anthony told the person to come in but the door didn't open. He groaned and walked up to the door ,he opened it but no one was standing outside. He looked both ways if he would see the person but the corridor was silent as if every one was asleep.

He hissed and as he was about to close the door,he found a letter lying on the floor. He squatted and picked it, but he didn't open it immediately. He was scared and he didn't know why but the letter made him feel that way.

After much hesitation he took it inside and locked his door,he stared at it one more time and he summoned courage and opened the letter with his sweaty hands.

“Hello again,I'm sorry for the silly joke I said to you,I shouldn't have called you clumsy,no one is above mistakes and I want us to be friends.” A huge sigh of relief came from his mouth,he smiled a little before tearing the letter.

He killed the lights and slept.

The disturbing tone of Anthony's phone arose him out of sleep. He groaned and stretched lazily and he finally picked it up. Andrew's impatient voice blasted through the speaker.

“Bro!,what the f**k have you been doing?

Where have you been?”

Anthony blinked hard and confused. “Andy,chill man, what's the rush?”

“Class Anthony! We have class today , ring a bell?,also you are dead late.”

His heart skipped.

“Oh no,damn it must have slipped my mind.

Thanks bro. I'll be there in a minute.”

In a flash, Anthony was on his feet,he showered, clothes on,combed his fluffy hair, locked his door before sprinting down the campus pedestrian ways like a fugitive being chased by the police. But his effort was wasted ,when he finally arrived, every seat was already taken and it left him no choice but to stand at the back throughout the session silently cursing himself.

And that was when she noticed him.

Amanda.

She was surprised,she hadn't seen him before,but the sight of him standing tall while struggling to balance his notes and textbooks as he kept jotting down points,tugged at her heart and she fell in love with him immediately. There was something in his quiet focus that drew her in. She tried to listen to the lecturer but her eyes kept straying back to Anthony. He was obviously completely unaware of the gaze locked on him by Amanda.

When the class finally ended, Anthony's legs screamed in pain. He sat on a bench by the roadside,he was massaging his sore feet when Amanda walked up to him.

“Hi,” she said softly.

He looked up, startled,a stranger,she was pretty and intent.

“Hello. I'm sorry, do I know you?”

“No,” she admitted, almost shyly. “Well I just…,I mean I saw you standing throughout the lecture and I felt pity and thought I should say sorry on behalf of the school.”

Anthony chuckled,half amused and half confused. She also introduced herself and waved goodbye and left him sitting there alone, wondering what that was about.

But Amanda wasn't the only one noticing Anthony these past days.

Back at his hostel,a slight knock came at his door. It was the second time since he had arrived.

When he opened it, Jennifer stood there smiling faintly,her beautiful shape caught Anthony's eyes.

“Hey.., remember me?”

“Jennifer, right?” he guessed.

“Yeah, look ,I wanted to apologize for the way I snapped and mocked you the other day. I also left you an apology letter. So..”

She held out a small food container. “I made this for you just in case you didn't see the letter I left you and please don't say no.”

Anthony hesitated. An “apology gift”?

Strange,but refusing it would seem rude so he accepted and offered her a seat inside his room. She didn't hesitate,she quickly entered and Anthony closed the door.

He took off his shirt and his body builded chest and abs caught Jennifer's eyes. It left her biting her lips sexually,she wanted Anthony so bad that moment but he didn't have the same mindset as hers.

“Coffee,” he asked.

She accepted and drank while discussing with him. Anthony ate the food she made for him and he thanked her. Amanda was already horny for Anthony and she deliberately pulled her shirt, leaving her bra to hold her boobs . Anthony didn't see it as a wrong motive,he quickly offered her a shower if she was feeling hot.

She accepted and asked for a spare towel. Anthony handed it to her and he gazed at her body ,she was hot.

Amanda teased him,

“What are you staring at?”

Hearing her ,he quickly got back to his normal self and went back to his bed . She had a nice warm bath and opted to start leaving. He escorted her to the door and she gave him her phone number before going and he watched her walk away with a smile.

Jennifer waited by her phone as soon as she got to her dorm, her heart was racing every time her phone buzzed but his message never came.

And yet, while girls around him were reaching for Anthony’s attention, the one girl who held his heart the most was falling apart.

Sophia.

At high school, she buried her face in her books, but the distraction of assignments wasn’t enough. Every couple she saw where either holding hands or kissing in the hallway and it felt like a blade cutting into her chest. Her best friend Jane pushed her to confess her feelings for Anthony, but Sophia denied it each time.

“He’s just my friend,” she said, though her voice shook. But when night came, and she lay staring at the ceiling, the truth pressed down harder.

Does he still think about me? Has he met someone else?

The questions stucked at her head.

One month had passed since their last letter,one month without hearing his voice and her phone was still broken. Her family's finances couldn't cover the damages. She couldn't bring herself to ask Anthony for aid,she felt she would be a burden to him even though she knew she would never see her as a burden. Her silly mindset kept her silent while loneliness ate her alive.

Meanwhile, Anthony sat on his bed ,he didn't see the paper where Jennifer's number was on it. He sighed, picked up his phone and tried calling Sophia again only to hear the same dead response from the network. He became frustrated as he lay back and stared at the ceiling.

The moon was absent that night,their moon to be precise.The one they had promised under.

He closed his eyes, letting exhaustion drag him under.

Sophia whispered into the dark night “Anthony, don’t forget me… please.”

And as silence stretched across the distance between them, one truth grew clearer than ever:

Love wasn’t the enemy.

Distance was.