Array
(
[text] =>

Chapter 14

Angelo's P.O.V

"Dear, please cheer up. We don't wanna see you like that." Aunt Lisa cooed as she was gently brushing my back with her hands. She was sitting next to my right side, Aunt Carol on the other side together with Aunt Anna.

We were at my room, sitting on my hand-made bamboo chair while I was balling my eyes out from crying.

"Shush hijo. Everything is gonna be alright. We are still here..." Aunt Anna said before she was cut off by Aunt Carol.

"And we love you so much." Aunt Carol cut in.

I was sobbing so hard to the point that I needed to drink to relieve my irregular breathing.

"Nobody wants me." I gazed at my three worried aunties. "I never know my father, mother visits me but she leaves soon enough, I have no friends, and the only friend I have just broke my heart." I said between sobs.

"Oh darling. Don't think like that." Aunt Carol frowned. Her usual cheerful face was shifted by pure concern and sadness "Remember this dear Angelo, there are ten things you probably didn't know or thought about." She lifted my face, and cupped her hands on my cheeks. "First, at least five people in this world love you so much they would die for you."

"Second..." Aunt Lisa jumped in. "At least fifteen people in the world love you in some way." She held my hands. Her curly hair was bouncing on her forehead.

"Thirdly..." it was Aunt Anna's turn. Her bangs were covering her dark brown eyes but somehow; she can manage to see me through it. "If you haven't done anything to someone who hates you, it's because they want to be like you."

"Fourth..." Aunt Anna smiled a bit as she lifted my chin up. "Your smile can bring happiness to even stranger." She wiped the tear away from my puffed eyes.

"There is the fifth..."Aunt Carol added. She was brushing my hair with her hand as she knows it always makes me feel calm. "You mean the world to someone." She smiled.

"Let's not forget the sixth." Aunt Lisa cooed. "If it wasn't for you, someone might not be living." The three of them nodded.

"There is seventh..." Aunt Lisa added. "If you tell someone how you feel about them, you'll feel much better and relieved."

"But..." I sobbed. "It was the exact opposite of it that happened to me. I feel so broken rather than relieved." I was starting to cry again.

"Lisa!" Aunt Carol and Aunt Anna scolded.

Aunt Anna patted my head. "But here is a good advice from number eight dear." she wiped away the tear that build up on my eyes. "When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a good look; you most likely turned your back on the world."

"Wow. That was a good advice Anna." Aunt Lisa agreed.

"I know right." she said with pride. "Because I'm pretty." That earned a gasped from Aunt Lisa.

"You're not." She complained.

"I to." snapped Aunt Anna. And that's where they started to argue until Aunt Carol silenced them.

"There are two more things remaining." She said to the two ladies. "The ninth thing is this..." she said before pausing and looking straight into my eyes. "From every mistake you make, something good comes out of it." Everybody agreed by nodding their head.

"And lastly..." Aunt Lisa started.

"How come do you get the last one?" Aunt Anna complained.

"'Cause I'm prettier than you." She slurred. Aunt Anna was about to disagree when Aunt Carol silenced them once again and asked Aunt Lisa to continue.

"Lastly, our dear sweet Angelo..." she paused, then smiled. "Someone you don't know exists is going to love you."

The dream faded and I was woken up by the blazing sound of minions singing the banana song on my phone's alarm. I pulled the phone out under my pillow and slide the screen to turn off the alarm.

I kept my eyes close while I recall my dream was about. Usually, I tend to forget what my dream was about in just a matter of seconds after I woke up. But this time it's different. It's been a couple of nights that I was dreaming about the day I badly want to forget; the day that I had the first taste of bitterness of heartbreak.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday passed on really quick just like always. During that day, Sebastian was helping me to control my emotion that triggers my solid black eye to appear. Apparently, I was getting good in mastering and controlling it and if I could control it very well, I wouldn't have to wear an eye-hurting-massacre-cesarean-painful contact lenses; though I don't know how painful cesarean surgery is.

It was near July and the temperature had seemed to dropped off several degrees low.

I wiped off my eyes and stretch away the sleep. I really wanted to stay in bed for a while and cuddle up in my soft comfy mattress but the clock on my wall was saying that I'm about to get late in a matter of hour.

It was already 8:00 a.m when I went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. My class won't start until 9:30 a.m and that gave me enough time to eat my breakfast and pack some rice in a lunch box. I always bring extra rice with me since it's hard to find a meal with rice around the area.

The wind outside was blowing icy cold and most of the passengers in the train were dressed with thick jumpers partnered with a scarf. I, on the other hand, was wearing two thick jumpers, a beanie, a scarf and a pair of leather gloves and a handkerchief on my hand with an extra one inside my bag. I wasn't used to wintry cold of Australia and I tend to catch cold easily. Though, Brisbane doesn't have snow, the frosty wind biting your cheek was enough to give chilly goose bumps on your spine.

Speaking of handkerchief, that reminded me about my precious hanky that I thought I lost- turned out that Daniel had found it when I clumsily tripped down when I was on my way to my class. I made a mental note to ask Daniel to return it to me today when we meet for the class.

I had 10 more minutes to spare before my class when I came into the university campus. People around me were drinking hot coffees, probably fighting the winter cold or drugging themselves up to stay awake during the early class of snuggle-on-the bed-for-all-day season. Some other were smoking and others are rushing to the campus while riding their skateboards.

It didn't take me too long to get into my class building where my first subject was held. I took the elevator- alone, as the building seemed abandoned. "Perhaps I'm a little bit early for my class today." I thought.

When I heard the DING of elevator, signalling that I was on my designated floor, my nose suddenly turned itchy and I felt that there was gonna be a sneezing effect to be followed. And so it did. I quickly fished out my hanky on my pocket, covered my nose and mouth, and tilted my head upward for a bit.

Just as when I was about to blow up the sneeze, the elevator door opened up; revealing a masculine body of a guy standing in front of it.

When I'm sneezing, my body tend to exaggeratedly move by itself and slam forward; and that's what happened to me right there on the spot- good news: I didn't slammed myself on the floor, awkward news: I was facing a hard masculine chest of a guy and it smelled so intoxicating and manly and... and... and....

"Why bless you, Angelo" said the talking chest with somehow a familiar voice. A voice that was so sweet how I could I even forget.

"What?" I slowly looked up to confirm my suspicion. "Da-Daniel?" I stuttered, probably blushing as I felt my ear started get hot from either embarrassment or to the fact that he was embracing me with his strong arms to support the both of us.

"That's what you say after someone sneezed." He paused for a second. "Such a cold day eh?" he murmured, his tone was sweet and comfortable.

"Y-Yes it is..." I awkwardly answered. To make things worse, I was stuttering like I never been before, perhaps giving him a sign that I was kind of feeling something for him.

"I-I..I'm okay now." I mumbled under my breath. "You can let me go." I tried to muster, but deep inside, it feel so good to have him embracing me and I don't want it to last.

"You know..." he was still embracing me, his voice was calm and I can feel his breathing as his chest was rising up and down. "We should stop meeting like this." He snickered.

I leaned off of him and looked around the place. Somehow, the whole floor was abandoned considering that there were only 7 more minutes to spare before the first class started. He must have sense my confusion and he sniggered.

"People are crowding this place almost 1 minute before the class starts. Then another couple of minute before the teacher come in. They won't be here until then." He explained, a slight smirked on his lips.

I sniffed.

"The elevator is dusty." I whispered, while covering my red nose from itchy and from a possible trace of clear snot. "And why are you standing in front of the lift?"

"Huh?" he asked confused. We were still standing in front of a close elevator door.

"I'm allergy to dust. And I usually sneeze like maniac when a place is dusty." I explained.

"Ohh." he said. "And I was waiting for Alex; he went downstairs to get us a coffee." After a few seconds, he spoke again. "Come, let's have a seat at the lounge area." He turned towards the lounge's direction and marched to it.

I followed him and seated at the far left corner of the lounge.

There was a minute of awkward silence fell between us before he broke the ice. "I...ah... I want to tell you...something." He stuttered. He was fidgeting his fingers all of a sudden.

"Are you alright?" I asked, cocking my head to his direction to get a clear view of his nervous face.

"Yeah.." he answered. "It's just I'm kinda nervous... you know..."

"So what is it that you want to tell me?" I asked, rather confuse by his sudden edginess.

"I...uh....I....uh...."

"ANGELO!!!!!!" he was cut off by a high pitched booming sound of a girl running towards our direction.

Daniel's P.O.V

I woke up early in the freezing temperature of Wednesday. I could hear my mother cooking and from the smell of it, I was sure that she was preparing a bacon and a toast, judging the sweet scent coming from the kitchen, I was sure that she's baking muffins.

I came in to the room and greeted her a good morning. Jared was still fast asleep and comfortably snuggling up with his stuff toys in his room.

Strangely, I woke up with a slight excitement swimming in my gut. Its university day and I'm supposed to be depressed by thinking about the workloads from the class- but I wasn't. And judging by my mum's interesting glares towards me, I supposed sleepiness didn't hide the excitement that was brewing up within me.

"Someone's excited today." she deadpanned, she was placing the freshly cooked bacon the plate in front of me.

"Do I know this someone?" I asked, with a slight sarcasm in my tone.

"Oh don't be silly dear. I know what those twinkle in your eyes mean." She playfully slapped my left arm when I tried to steal a piece of bacon from the plate.

"So, what's your verdict?" I playful quirked my eyebrow towards her.

"Hmmm. I say, you found someone interesting and I think you like her." she guessed.

I swallowed hard when I heard the word her. How am I supposed to say that the 'her' was in fact a 'him'?

My mother was a religious person- the kind of I'm gonna die for my God just to prove my faith in Him level. However, I never heard her saying anything against homosexuals or being homophobe in general, in fact, all of the member of the church for that matter.

But that doesn't mean she wants a gay son- though I highly believe that I am straight and that I am just Anj-sexual. I am not afraid for myself; rather I'm afraid on what society would throw against my mother and specially my son.

That's what society do, if they couldn't take you down, they will try to destroy the ones who give you strength and turned them to your weakness. I can bear all the humility and pain the world can give to me but I would surely fall if my mother and my son were hurt in the process.

That scares me a lot.

But she was my mother. She gives the perfect advice in world and she deserves to know. She never showed any hatred and resentment to me, rather she supported me and never left my side. She was my greatest strength ever since I was a boy until I have a boy of my own.

"About that mum.." I started. My voice shook a bit from my gut.

I gulped. Like the water fall type of gulped.

She noticed my sudden uneasiness. She stopped whatever she was doing and pulled out a chair next to me. Her blue sparky eyes were full of concern and I could see that she was activating her super mother mode. He blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing her "how do you like your eggs in the morning" apron.

"Is... there any problem son?" she asked concern.

"No... Nothing at all. Actually..." I hesitated for a while. "I didn't found a girl, what I found was a guy."

It became silent for a minute and the only sound that I can hear was my thumping heartbeat. My mum was looking at me; her face was calm and expressionless.

The she sighed.

"I never thought that you would be gay." She said, but I couldn't sense any resentment in her tone.

"I actually am not." I started. "I am still straight and other guys gross me out if we're putting it in the idea of sexual matter." I straightened my seat. "He is different. I like the way he say my name, his smile, the way he smells so sweet like a rose, and...." I paused. "...his eyes." I said, dreamily.

"I've seen you acting like that before. When you met...." She didn't finish her sentence as she doesn't want to remind herself about the women who nearly destroyed my life.

"Yes mum. I know." I heaved a sigh, looking down at my lap.

"What I want to say is that I don't want to see you hurting again. And you have to remind yourself that Jared can be affected if this thing didn't turned up according to your plan." She said, deeply concern.

"This is new to me more than anyone else mum. And to be honest, I am scared. Scared of what would be the effect of this to you and to my son."

"Don't be." She held my hand. "If you think this guy can make you happy, then go for it." She looked my into my eyes; my mouth was gaping from what she said. "You have been through a lot- better and worst, and I am so proud of you. You deserve to be happy." She said, with a slight tear in her eyes.

"You don't hate me?" I asked.

"How could I hate you? You are capable to love and who I am to hate that. Everything that happens has a reason. I don't know, but somehow, I don't feel any doubt about it this time. I feel like whoever this guy you like, he is capable to handle you in your worst, and sure he deserves you at your best."

I hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, mum. I know I can trust you. You never failed me." I mumbled softly.

"Make a move boy. And if he happens to fall for you, make sure that you'll catch him." she said. "Oh...what is his name?"

"He's name is..." I blushed. "Angelo."

[text_hash] => c0ed6f28
)