The Tears Devourer

XXV

     A bicycle crossed her path and stopped her abruptly, just before a painful collision. The girl in the helmet didn't flinch and continued her journey without further ado, giving her a mocking smile before leaving, but that little moment gave Rachel a few seconds to locate herself on her mental map. She was in unfamiliar territory and didn't quite remember how many blocks she had already run. All the houses were alike, and she hadn't noticed a local reference to return the same way she decided to take.

     "s**t," she sighed. "Where am I?" She wondered, catching her lost breath. Rachel checked her phone. She had already run for thirty-seven minutes. She didn't feel tired yet, but her notion of orientation and survival advised her not to run anymore until she knew for sure where she was.

     "1402... Where's 1402?" She queried, reading the sign on a nearby corner. She started running backward through her memories, hoping to find something that would pop into her head and remind her of the location of her home.

     Suddenly, a familiar car appeared in the distance. "No way..." She was thinking about him the whole time, and out of nowhere, she seemed to have summoned him. It was Michael, or at least his car. She lowered the volume on the music, and trotted, and looked straight ahead, trying to avoid eye contact with the boy at any cost. She was sweaty and smelly, and there was no way Rachel would let Michael Patton see her, and smell her, in this embarrassing situation. Running in the opposite direction would only make him think that she was running away, and it was more difficult to explain in the short possible future, so she followed her plan to the letter, and continued jogging without looking to the side.

     It failed miserably.

     "Rachel?" A voice from the car called to her. "Rachel?! It's Michael!"

     "Oh... hi," she feigned surprise, stopping her stride, but keeping her light trot in her static position.

     "What are you doing here?" Patton asked awkwardly, blushing immediately, and laughing at himself a second later, a laugh Rachel shared openly. "Ok, yeah... What an i***t. I mean, I've never seen you around here. Your house is not that close."

     "Oh, for real?" She replied, with an ignorance more alive than ever, since in essence, she had no idea where she was.

     "Yes. Your house is about four blocks away.” He pointed to the path behind the car.

     "I don't think I have noticed that," she blurted out and laughed to hide her embarrassment.

     "Why did you go running in such small clothes? You're going to freeze your lungs in this weather." Michael unbuckled his seat belt, stripped off his jet-black leather coat, got out of the car, and offered it to Rachel, in an act of obvious care.

     "Thanks." Rachel took it and put it on right away. She had been so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed how cold her arms and throat were.

     "Can I take you back home? That's if you have already finished."

     "OK, yes, it's fine. I already feel a little dizzy. I shouldn't have left the house so uncovered in this weather."

     Patton opened the passenger door and let her in. He walked around the front of the car and got into it. He put the key in the cigarette lighter, but when he wanted to start the car, it just huffed. The engine roared, but it wasn't enough to bring it to life, although Rachel noticed that Michael was doing it on purpose and that it wasn't an internal car malfunction.

     "Shit... It's the tire."

     "What are you talking about? Doesn't start because of the tire?"

     "No..." the boy giggled. "I mean, I can't start... Or in other words, I shouldn't start the engine if the tire is flat."

     "Is the tire flat?

     "Yes, take a look." Patton crossed his entire body in front of Rachel to reach for the door handle, and lower the window to show Rachel the right mirror. The quick proximity of the boy's breath gave Sweet goosebumps in seconds. "Are you okay? Why do you breathe like this?"

     "Like what?" The brunette was trying to slow down her breathing, but couldn't do it right away. Michael was staying too close for that to happen.

     "You're hyperventilating."

     "I'm more tired than I thought," she excused herself quickly.

     "Wait for me a moment. I'll go see what happens."

     "No, wait!" Suddenly, Rachel found herself holding Patton's arm, preventing him from leaving the car.

     "What's going on?"

     "Michael... If I breathe like that, it's because..." She didn't feel prepared for something like that, something she had never dared to do before, but now she was in a different place, in a totally different environment, with a person who was worth it, a person who doesn't open up so easily, therefore, it was she, and she was convinced of that, who should take the initiative. "It's because I like you."

     Michael's eyes shone all around, and his brows and mouth followed suit, but less than a second later, a wide, confused smile was tracing his skin.

     'She's the one,' he heard within himself. 'Let the curtain rise.' Thinking that Michael Patton activated his automatic mode, and let out those strange exclamations that even he didn't remember well how they were going.

     "Tell me you love me. Could you do it?.... At least once, say that you love me." Suddenly Rachel saw an intense melancholy on the boy's face when he said it.

     "I..." Sweet hesitated for a few seconds without end. "I love you, Michael, but I still don't know if it's intense enough to say it in 'that' way, do you get me?"

     "Say you love me now that you have me in front of you, not when there's a visitor, not when there are strangers around."

     "Uh..." Rachel's face now showed a confusing amalgamation of signs, fully expressing her bewilderment. "I don't know if I let myself understand well. Michael, I don't think we should rush like that, maybe with time already..."

     "I knew it. You have never loved me and you will never love me."

     "Don't get so dramatic either... I said I do love you." Rachel raised her hand and reached out to touch Patton's palm, but she couldn't get the boy to show enthusiasm on his face, instead, she kept noticing a deep sadness.

     "I'm sorry, let me take you home."

     "Michael... are you okay? Because what I said was serious, I was serious..."

     Patton only managed to turn his back on him and leave the Civic. He walked over to the low tire, bent down, and felt it with two forefingers. He pressed, and the fingers did not sink, but Michael twisted them slightly, giving the impression that the tire needed to breathe life into it. Rachel watched everything from her seat, but when Michael looked up, she hid hers, the idea embedded in her head about his recent behavior. She thought she had screwed up tremendously.

     Michael got up and opened the trunk. It was when Rachel seized the moment and did what seemed like the smartest and most productive thing she could do in such an awkward moment: pull out the phone.

     Michael took out his light blue handkerchief with those beautiful floral decorations on the corners and soaked it with that mysterious foamy substance that he always carried in his backpack. He c****d his head, noticing that Rachel was entertained, her face lit up by the addictive cell phone, and he took the opportunity. Without closing his cloak, he crept slowly toward the girl.

     Rachel smiled sheepishly, trying to distract herself from what had just happened. She was talking to her mother. She was giving her the beautiful news about her optimism going for a run after so long. Who would say that this was one of the last times she spoke to her.