Not made for each other - 24. Boys And Friends But Not Boyfriends

Chapter 24: Boys And Friends But Not Boyfriends.

“We’re out of milk,” I announced pulling out a chilled water bottle from the refrigerator. I closed the refrigerator door as I peeked in Ed’s direction; he was wiping the kitchen counter with a rag. “I reminded you yesterday about it, and yet you somehow managed to forget to get it. I don’t understand how someone could even forget that?” I continued my charade while walking towards him, carrying the water bottle in my right hand.

“The same way someone could forget about locking the doors,” Ed retorted while raising his left brow suggestively.

It took me not more than a moment to hide that sheepish look which could have proved me guilty. I slithered the water bottle across the counter. “It was so not my fault.” I was getting better at lying with each passing day. I made a mental note to thank Carol later for that.

“I get it.” Ed smiled, dumped the rag on the counter and headed towards the living room with the water bottle.

I followed him furrowing by brows. “What do you mean by that?”

In response he smiled further. “I mean you never accept your mistakes.”

“Because it’s never my mistake,” I shamelessly defended myself.

Ed put down the water bottle on the coffee table and folded his arms against his body. “So you wanna say I’m the one who’s always wrong?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Oh, really! You probably forgot a few days ago how you accused me of misplacing some novel of yours named, The Winner Dances Alone, and after searching my room for a whole fucking day we finally found it in your room under your damn pillow.” Ed’s smirk was quite evident. I huffed and tried to look appalled.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and gave an exasperated sigh. “First, the name of that novel was, The Winner Stands Alone, second, never ever damn my pillow again, and third, it happened a month ago.”

“It doesn’t mean it never happened.”

“It happened once.”

“Because after that I lined up all your novels on the shelf next to your night table, in alphabetical order.”

I snorted. He laughed. I rolled my eyes. He grinned. “I so want to wipe that stupid smirk off your smug face right now,” I admitted faking a cordial smile.

“And exactly how are you planning to do that?” I curved my lips and lifted my hands and wriggled my fingers mischievously. “Don’t you dare!” Ed unfolded his hands and began moving back gauging my dangerous intentions. “Zune. No!” Ed croaked and I laughed devilishly.

Ed began running around the living room, and I wasn’t far behind. “I’m gonna get you!” I yelled while chasing him.

“No way!” he yelled back. And, he was right; he was damn fast. I was never going to catch him like this, so I decided to play dirty.

“Oww, shit!” I hurriedly sat down on the floor and grabbed my sprained ankle with both hands.

Ed halted abruptly and turned back. As he saw me on the floor hurt, he came running to me and knelt down beside me. “Hey, hey, what happened?”

He tried to touch my ankle and I dramatically cried in fake pain. “Ahh…it hurts.” My plan was working just fine.

“Crap! You are too careless. Who the hell told you to—” I didn’t let him complete his series of complaints as I started tickling him mercilessly. “You smartass!” He was guffawing with all those twitching movements. He was lying on the floor in no time, and I was all over him. “Zune…no…please…stop…no…Zune!” Ed pleaded among his laughs and ragged breaths, but I continued to torture him with my talented fingers. “Zune…please!” I was laughing too.

It appeared like Ed was about to pee in his pants. His eyes were wet with tears. He was breathing hard. He was begging me to stop. And then, all of a sudden, he circled his arms around me, and in the blink of an eye, I was on the floor on my back, and Ed was on top of me facing me with his demonic smile. “Ed, No!” It was Ed’s turn to avenge me. His fingers made me hysterical, and I was giggling uncontrollably. I was squirming in his light grip around me. “Ed!”

“OH-MY-GOD!” Ed and I stopped right away, and we looked to our left to find the last person I wanted to see at the moment. “I didn’t think I would ever see the day when my son and my future son-in-law would be making love in the middle of the living room.” Yeah, it was my mom back from her night shift with a full-fledged, thousand-watt smile on her face, ready as ever to embarrass me.

Ed quickly got off me and helped me to get to my feet. We straightened our clothes. Ed looked extremely embarrassed and avoided my mom’s gaze while I was busy giving her my warning look. “Mom, you know that’s not true.”

“What’s not true, hon? You’re not my son? Or Ed’s not my future son-in-law? Or you boys were not groping and grinding each other in the middle of the living room?” My mom had no shame. Her quirking lips were testing my patience.

“Mom! Stop it! We were just fooling around.” I tried to assure her to end this topic as soon as possible.

“That’s what I’m saying hon; you boys were just fooling around.” I sighed and looked in Ed’s direction who was pale as if he had just seen a ghost. Well, my mom was not less than a ghost.

Mom threw her handbag on the sofa, hastily walked to Ed and began checking his pockets. Ed and I exchanged confused looks. “Jenny? What are you looking for?” Ed asked in discomfort. Poor Ed.

“Condoms,” My mom said nonchalantly, as if she were searching for her car keys in his pockets.

“Mom!” My threatening tone and glares never sufficed to make her shut her mouth before, and it didn’t work this time either.

“Don’t mom me. I’m making sure that if you guys are fooling around then you’re taking proper precautions for that.” Mom was done searching Ed’s pockets while he stood there like a statue. “Like I suspected, you boys have no protection, but don’t worry, Mama-bear is here. I’ll get you a full stash of different flavored condoms, and then you boys will be ready to bow-chicka-wow-wow.”

“Mom! I think your quota to shame me is done for the day. So if you don’t mind, can Ed and I leave for school?” I asked to stall the current topic, but I should have known it would be futile.

“Zune, I’m talking about a very important topic here.” She eyed me seriously, but I knew she was laughing uproariously inside. She shifted her gaze to Ed, who was blushing. “So Ed, what is your favorite flavor?” Ed looked ready to dig up a hole in the floor so he could vanish in there just to escape my dear Mother’s unneeded attention. This was it.

I walked over to Ed. “Ed, just go to your room, and get ready for class, otherwise we’ll be late. Jake, Steph, and Carol will be waiting for me.” I pushed him towards the stairs, and he ran upstairs like his ass was on fire. As he disappeared upstairs my mom laughed out loud. “You’re so ruthless, Mom.” I couldn’t hold back my smile either. My mother was a piece of work.

“Oh come on!” She slung her arms around my shoulders. “You know that was fun.”

“Just for you.”

“Hah! You know I live for these moments.”

“Where you could embarrass me to death.”

I shook my head. She kissed my forehead and moved towards her bedroom.

“I so hate you,” I mentioned with a soft laugh.

“I love you too.” She didn’t even glance back, but I could see her smiling. My mom was mad, but I love everything about her, even her madness.

I was happy that she was her old self again. It took her a few months to get past everything that had happened to me and everything that had happened between her and Matt. She was still not ready to forgive him and give him another chance, but Matt was persistent. He still visited us and made every effort to mend things with us. I always talked to him as amiably as possible, but Mom snubbed him completely, like he didn’t even exist. I didn’t want her to be with him again, but I was not against it either; I just wanted her to be happy with her decision.

***

Ten minutes later, Ed, Becca, and I were in his car headed towards the place where she works —Grey’s Cafe. We were dropping her off on our way to school.

“Ed, hon, you don’t have to pick me up after work. Brad will drop me home after…after dinner,” Becca informed us shyly from the backseat. Bradley Cane was the owner of Grey’s Café and a very sweet guy around forty. Becca started dating him a month ago. We were all very happy for them…except Ed.

“In other words, you have a date tonight,” I said enthusiastically. Becca just blushed and stared at her lap. “We’re so happy for you, Becca.” Becca stared in Ed’s direction. Her smile faltered and a grim look crept over her face. I knew she could sense Ed’s disapproval. “Including Ed.” Ed’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Right, Ed?” I asked with an edge in my voice. He just hummed in his reply. I saw tension lines on Becca’s forehead disappearing, and she smiled in my direction as a token of thanks. I nodded slightly. I glanced at Ed who appeared annoyed. He could be worse than a toddler sometimes.

“You’re going to pick me up after school, right?” I asked to divert Ed’s attention away from Becca.

“Like I haven’t been doing that for the past nine months.”

“I was just confirming it.”

“Well, you don’t need to.”

“Okay, don’t forget that we’re going shopping this Thursday,” I reminded him, getting comfortable in my seat.

“I hate shopping.” He said the same thing he always said whenever we plan to go shopping.

“I don’t enjoy it either.” And I said the exact same thing I always said whenever he said that he hated shopping.

“Becca, do you need anything?” I asked her without looking back.

“Some bed sheets for mine and Jenny’s bedroom,” she answered.

“Any specific color?”

“Choose whatever you like. I trust your choice.” Admiration was audible in her voice, and I smiled in response.

“I think red would be great.”

“If red is your favorite color it doesn’t mean you’re going to paint the world red,” Ed interjected.

“Well, I’m not going to paint the world red, I’m just going to buy some red bed sheets and pillowcases,” I retorted in annoyance.

“Touché.” He smirked in satisfaction that he succeeded in pissing me off.

“Do you have any other color in mind?” I asked Becca.

“Blue sounds better.” Ed interjected again.

“Blue may sound better, but it’ll look horrible.” I commented looking away from him.

“It will not,” he objected sharply.

“It will.” I held my ground.

“It-will-not.”

“It-will.”

I could see Becca looking back and forth between Ed and me.

“Zune, it won’t.”

“Ed, it will.”

“I said it won’t.”

“And I said it will.”

“You’re damn stubborn.”

“You’re damn annoying.”

“You’re so childish.”

“You’re so immature.”

“Okay, okay, boys, calm down. I just want the color to be light purple. Now quit fighting.” Becca tried to diffuse the tension.

“We were not fighting,” I lied.

“Yeah, we were just having a healthy argument, Mom.” Ed supported me immediately.

Becca chuckled, and I saw her shaking her head in the rearview mirror. “Sure. But from what I saw, the way you boys were having a healthy argument over the color of bed sheets you seemed like an old married couple to me,” she remarked without any hesitation.

“Mom!” Ed swayed his head gently as a cue for her to shut her mouth. She snickered like a schoolgirl.

This was the time I had to say something. “Becca, for the nth time, Ed and I are not a couple.”

“Yeah, keep telling that to yourselves, and one day the realization might hit you like a bullet,” she stated like a novelist. I bit back my words and decided to let this subject to slide. I guess the same thing was on Ed’s mind because he never said a word after his mom’s statement. The three of us settled into a comfortable silence.

I had no idea why the hell everyone thought there was something between Ed and me. Did they really think I wouldn’t have known if something like that was going on between us? I was not that naïve.

After dropping Becca off at the cafe, Ed began driving in the direction of the cemetery where Steph, Carol, and Jake would have been waiting for me.

Ed and I were still angry with each other because of that stupid healthy argument, so neither of us said a word for a while.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

Both of us apologized at the exact same moment and burst out laughing. When our laughing subsided I thought about this morning’s incident with my crazy mom.

“Ed, about this morning, I’m sorry if my mom made you uncomfortable. I know sometimes her humor is way out there; she’s the most nonsensible person on the face of this planet.” I tried to apologize to him, though it was not the first time my mom had teased him and mentioned us like a couple, but poor Ed was still not used to her third-degree treatment.

“Zune, it’s okay. I know your mom is quite unconventional, but she’s cool. And believe me, she’s the most amazing mom on the face of this planet. You’re lucky to have her.” He smiled, and I grinned.

“Have you talked to your father?” I asked out of the blue, and regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth. Ed stiffened immediately.

“No, and I don’t intend to either,” he replied.

“He’s your father.”

“Really? I don’t remember the last time he acted like one.” I was able to read the meaning behind his words. He was hurt. His father was constantly making illogical efforts to win him back from Becca and turn his son straight, like being bisexual was crime. Ed was tired of making his father understand his point of view. His father was obstinate enough to think that Becca would never be able to take care of him like he could. He was persistent enough to think that his son would never be a real man if there was a minute possibility that Ed could be attracted to a guy. He was stupid enough to throw away a marriage with Becca and an amiable relationship with his son on the sole grounds that Becca was a woman and Ed was bisexual. According to him, one: a woman can never compete with a man, and two: the mere thought that a guy can be turned on by another guy was repellant to him; he didn’t think them as humans, he considered them demons.

Ed hadn’t gone to see his father in at least seven months. His father called him many times, and every time he answered his call, their discussion turned into a cold war. He never tried to come and meet Ed personally because he would consider it a defeat against Becca, which would hurt his pride. As long as I’ve known him, that man loved nothing more in the entire world than his damn pride.

Ed looked upset, so I decided to drop this topic for the time being. I turned my head to stare out the window.

***

A couple of minutes later, Ed parked his car a few steps away from Carol’s. Carol and Steph were leaning against the closed door of Carol’s car while Jake was fidgeting at the entrance to the cemetery, staring in the direction of Ron’s grave. He seemed restless.

Nine months ago when Ron died, his parents got the custody of his dead body. They stringently prohibited any of us to be at his funeral…not even Jake. Jake literally begged them to allow him to say his final goodbyes to Ron, but they didn’t budge. Jake was crushed. He was devastated. After Ron’s funeral, Jake was never able to gather enough courage to visit his grave. Every day for the past nine months, Jake had been coming to the cemetery; he moved around the gravesites in discontent and watched Ron’s grave from afar, but he never got close to it.

Shortly after Ron’s funeral, Jake moved from my place to the apartment which he and Ron used to share. Carol insisted on moving in with him, but he rejected her idea. He wanted to be alone, and we all respected his wishes.

Ed and I jumped out of the car and walked towards Carol, Steph, and Jake.

“Here comes the lovebirds,” Carol commented as soon as she saw us. Not again! Ed and I stared at each other and shrugged, which meant we were going to dodge this subject instead of having a debate about it.

“It was good to see you too, Carol darling.” I faked a smile, and I knew Carol could see right through it. “Hey, Steph. Jake.” Steph nodded while Jake never reacted.

“Hey, Carol. Jake. Steph…en,” Ed greeted them one by one. While Carol acknowledged his presence with a smile, Jake and Steph turned a deaf ear on him. Jake didn’t respond to him because he was lost in his own world, but Steph had his own reasons.

Steph was still not over his grudges towards Kev and Ed. He always attempted his best to ignore their presence, though somehow he had learnt to coexist with them.

Ed fixed his eyes on Carol, Jake, Steph, and me. “I have to go. Kev, Mich, and Jer would have been waiting for me. Bye, guys.”

Seven months ago, a new guy entered our radical group of friends: Jer…Jeremy Jones. One day on Kev’s way back to his house, his car broke down, and Jeremy was passing by and decided to help him out. They talked, and Kev found out that he was going to the same school as us. A few weeks later, Stephen told us that a guy went out of his way to help him with a class project; it was Jeremy again. A month later, Michelle went to a bar and got drunk. Why she went there alone and drank like there was no tomorrow, was altogether a different story. Anyway, she passed out on her way back to her house and a guy helped her. He saw her address on her ID and dropped her home, and yeah, that guy turned out to be none other than Jeremy Jones. Since then he became a part of our group.

We all liked Jeremy except Jake, because since day one, even when Jeremy was not part of our group at the time, he tried to flirt with Jake shamelessly, and Jake was in no state of mind to handle such attention. Many times Jake told me that sometimes he finds Jer extremely mysterious and shady. The funny part was that Jake and Jer shared a birthdate.

Despite a few differences, all eight of us were pretty tight together; although, Jake, Carol, Stephen, and I were more comfortable around each other, while Jeremy, Michelle, Kev, and Ed were more compatible with each other.

Every Friday, Jake, Carol, Steph, and I met at our secret spot which was a secluded park a few kilometers away from our houses; we used to talk there, get drunk and do anything we wanted. Similarly, Jer, Mich, Kev, and Ed had a secret spot too where they gathered every Friday; though Jake, Carol, Steph, and I had no idea about that place, just like their group had no clue about our meeting spot.

On Saturdays all eight of us would get together at one of our houses to celebrate our togetherness. This Friday and Saturday thing was like a sacred ritual for us, and we all religiously followed it.

Ed snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I came out of my trance. He was smiling. “I’ll see you at lunch.” I nodded agreeably and smiled back.

“Are you guys done with your marital rites yet?” Carol interrupted with her sarcastic remark. Ed and I just ignored her and held each other’s gaze for a while longer than needed. I averted my eyes first, and with that Ed scurried away.

I leaned against the car in between Carol and Steph. I stared in Jake’s direction; he was doing the same thing he was doing when I got there.

“Nothing new?” I asked no one in particular.

“Nothing new.” Both of them answered in unison.

I shifted my eyes to look at Steph. “How’s Mich doing?” Stephen and Michelle were still sharing the same apartment, so I asked him about Mich’s well-being; she was still getting over her break-up with her girlfriend, Mila. Yeah, Mich’s a lesbian. Stephen knew about it before the rest of us, as they were cousins. As she became comfortable with us, she told us about it, and we supported her in every way we could.

The night Mich went to a bar alone, got drunk, passed out on her way back home, and Jer hauled her back to her house, was the night after Mila broke up with her. As far as Steph had told us, the prime reason for Mich’s break up was Mich’s weight. Mila thought Mich’s obesity had made her ugly and uninteresting. That bitch! Carol was dying to kick that bitch’s ass, but we stopped her from doing something irrational because we all knew what Carol was capable of.

“She’s fine. She and Carol are going out on Thursday for a girl’s day out,” he divulged staring in Carol’s direction. I followed his gaze.

“Really, Carol?” I asked, seeking a confirmation. Carol looked unsettled which was so not like Carol. Her head was ducked down and she was avoiding our gaze. “Carol?”

“Yeah. We’re going out together this Thursday to take her mind off of Mila-bitch.” There was something odd about her today, or maybe I was reading too much between the lines. I kept looking at her and she kept her eyes busy staring at her intertwined fingers.

“Let’s go.” Jake interrupted me while I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on with Carol.

Jake didn’t wait for our reaction and got settled in the backseat of the car. Carol, Steph, and I shared a knowing look and got in the car.

***

Carol drove us to the school. We all departed for our respective classes. I was a year behind my friends, so normally my classes were held in the east wing of the campus.

Soon came the lunchtime. We all friends had the period around lunchtime free so we met in one of the cafeterias. In this particular cafeteria we had a fixed place where we always sat; it was a long, rectangular table with eight chairs. By now everyone there knew that area belonged to us.

When I entered the cafeteria, all seven of them were already there; on one side of the table were Mich, Kev, Jer, and Ed, and seated across them were Carol, Steph, and Jake. I slid into the only vacant seat right in front of Ed, whose nose was shining red as a ripe tomato. He smiled when his eyes landed on me while everyone else said hi.

Mich and Carol were preoccupied in discussing their plans for Thursday. Jeremy was trying to hold up a conversation with Jake, but Jake was hardly responding to him. Steph and Kev appeared to be in a staring competition as they were utterly quiet and engaged in gazing at each other. That was seriously creepy.

I shifted my eyes to Ed who was busy sneezing every other minute. “You have a cold.” He tried to nod but sneezed instead. “But you were fine this morning.”

“My cold didn’t inform me before…sneeze…before sabotaging my mind and…sneeze…and turning me into a pile of…sneeze…pile of shit.” Ed was pretty strong and hardly fell ill, but when he did he acted all like a drama queen.

“Look, I think you should take the day off and go home, take medicine and go to sleep,” I suggested.

“Zune is right. You should go home and get some rest,” Jake chimed in, and I smiled in thanks.

Ed glanced at me. “No, I’ll go with you after our…sneeze…our classes. I’ll be fine.”

“Stop being a pain in everyone’s ass and just do as Jake and Zune said.” Yeah, that sweet statement was from Carol.

Ed’s eyes were still fixed on me. “Zune will have to go home alone. No. I’ll…sneeze…I’ll go with him and that’s final.” Ed was being persistent.

“He’ll be fine, Ed. You just go home. It seems you could use some rest.” Kev advised Ed while his eyes were on me.

Kev never completely got over me. He hardly bothered me about his feelings towards me, but sometimes the way he looked at me, the way he said something to me, I couldn’t help but pray that with time, he’ll soon be able to move on from me.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about him. I’ll drop him off later,” Carol offered.

“Are you sure, Carol?” Ed asked sniveling.

Carol raised her left brow, and Ed took that as a confirmation.

“Are you okay…sneeze…okay with it?” Ed asked me in a whisper.

“I’m more than okay, now go home,” I commanded.

Ed smiled and stood up to leave. “See you at home.” As he said that the whole table filled with the noises of ‘awws’, ‘oohhs’ and whistles. I even heard Carol muttering something like ‘young love’. Instead of reacting to them, which I was sure was of no use, I nodded and told him to call me when he got home, which invited another round of ‘awws’, ‘oohhs’ and whistles.

Kev left with Ed, as he had no other class for the day. Soon Mich headed towards her next class too. Now, only Jer was left on the other side of the table.

“I was thinking maybe you could help me with my studies sometime today after our classes.” That was another of Jer’s attempts to talk to Jake and seeking the opportunity to spend some time alone with him.

“I’m busy today,” Jake responded immediately.

“Then what about this weekend?” Jer was not going to give up so soon.

“I’m busy this weekend too.” Jake was not going to make it any easier for Jer.

“Next week?” Now, Jer was checking Jake’s patience.

“Busy.” Jake refused again.

Carol, Steph, and I were just looking between them like mute spectators.

“Next month?”

“No.”

“Don’t you want to help me?”

“No.”

“Don’t you think you should help me?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why do you hate me so much?” Jer asked out of nowhere, and Jake stared at him precipitously. For a few moments Jake and Jer held their gazes in utter silence, and I could feel thick tension between them. Then finally Jake broke off the silence.

“I don’t hate you. I just don’t like you.” Jake took his bag in a hurry and left his chair in a rush to leave the cafeteria.

Jer emitted a defeated sigh and held his head in his hands.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Steph asked.

“Is it that obvious?” Jer asked, staring at us. We just nodded simultaneously. “I’m done.” Poor guy was knocking on the wrong door at the worst time.

***

The rest of the day was uneventful. After my classes, I met Carol, Jake, Steph, Mich, and Jer in the parking lot. Jer had to drop Mich home, so they left first in Jer’s car. Though Steph and Mich lived together, after classes Steph left with Jake and Carol in Carol’s car. Every day Carol dropped Steph at the bus stop as he had to tutor some guy who was in one of his classes. Generally, Steph took a bus from there to get at his classmate’s house.

Soon, Carol, Jake, Steph, and I left in Carol’s car too. I was sitting in the front seat with Carol while Steph and Jake were in the backseat. I made her make a pit stop on our way.

“I need to get something,” I told her and slid out of the car. Minutes later I was back with a paper bag in my hand.

“What is it?” Jake asked from behind.

“Nothing.” That was lame. I tried to evade the topic, but I should have known better.

“You made us stop for nothing? Didn’t seems so.” Steph pried further.

I huffed. “It’s some hot soup for Ed. I thought it would help him with his cold,” I admitted sheepishly. Jake chuckled, Steph smirked, and Carol just rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “What?” Their reactions were quite frustrating.

“Let me tell you what; you and Ed fight like you have been married for a decade, but you say you guys are not a couple, you guys care about each other like fools in love, but you are just friends. You practically spend most of the day together under the same roof, cooking, laughing, studying, bickering, but you guys are not boyfriends.” I had no reply to that. “Either both of you are the most oblivious people on this earth or the stupidest creatures of God or, probably both.”

“I care about him the same way I care about all my friends. And for the last time guys: Ed and I are boys and friends but not boyfriends,” I explained, while somewhere deep inside I knew I was lying.

Carol leaned her head back in her seat. “Keep telling that to yourself, but one day the reality is going to make you jump out of your skin.” In the morning it was Becca with ‘realization might hit you like a bullet’, and now it’s Carol with ‘reality is going to make you jump out of your skin’. What the hell was going on?

Thankfully, Carol began driving again. We first dropped Steph at the bus stop, then Jake at his apartment, and then finally she left me outside my house. We said our goodbyes and I opened the door and walked in. I heard someone laughing in the kitchen. I put my backpack on the sofa and moved towards the kitchen, carrying the paper bag containing the packed soup.

As I got to the kitchen I found Ed sitting on the kitchen counter while some girl was on the other side of it. They were deep in conversation. The way they were talking and laughing, they seemed really happy together. I tensed instantly.

“Ed?”

Ed hopped down to the floor as he heard me and flashed a smile. He was definitely feeling better. “Hey. You’re home.” I nodded and smiled meekly in the direction of the girl. “Oh yeah, Zune, this is my classmate Alisha.” He turned to look at Alisha. “And Alisha, this is Zune.”

Alisha’s smile got wider. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I greeted her back with less exuberance.

“You know when Alisha knew that I had a cold and missed all my classes today after lunch, she not only brought notes of today’s classes, she was sweet enough to get me some hot soup too.” I felt a pang of jealousy inside the way Ed was praising Alisha. I hid the packed soup behind my back and tried to smile, but that seemed more difficult than breathing at the moment.

Alisha came around the kitchen counter and walked towards me. “Ed talks a lot about you. I wish I had more time to talk to you, but I have to be somewhere in half an hour, so I have to leave.” I nodded in total agreement. She kissed Ed’s cheek, and I found myself breathing harder. She ultimately said goodbye to us and left.

“Isn’t she great?” Ed asked as soon as Alisha shut the door behind her. I stared at him but refrained myself from saying a word. “What?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled and put the soup on the kitchen counter and turned around to leave.

“What’s this?” Ed asked in an urgent tone like he wanted me to stay with him.

“I brought you some soup, but I guess Alisha already took care of it,” I blurted bitterly, without looking back.

“Zune?” He sounded confused by my spoilt mood and rude words. “Did I do something wrong?” The helplessness in his voice almost melted me. I didn’t move from my place nor did I say anything. Ed walked to me and stood before me, holding my shoulders gently. “Look at me.” He insisted in a mere whisper. I slowly lifted my head and stared at him. “I can always have some more soup.” I jerked his hands away and surprised him and myself. What the fuck was I doing?

“Do you really think this is just about some stupid, tasteless fluid?” The abrasiveness in my tone was as sharp as a shining blade but totally unnecessary. I was starting a fight for no good reason.

“Then what is this all about? Where this is coming from? You’re so upset about what?” Ed was running out of patience.

“I…” I thought for a few seconds. “I…” I had no clue what exactly was upsetting me so much. I just stood there facing him without having any explanation for my behavior. I began moving towards my room, walking around him when he got a hold of my hand; I stopped but didn’t look back. “Let me go, Ed”

“I will, but first can you tell me what’s bothering you so much?” he asked in a hushed tone. I never answered him. He guided me to the dining area and made me sit on one of the chairs. He disappeared in the kitchen for a few moments but came back with two bowls of hot soup. He sat beside me and gestured me to have it. I complied. “I don’t think this soup is some stupid, tasteless fluid. It’s good.” Ed pointed this out in an effort to lighten up my mood, and it worked. I smiled, and my smile made him grin. I shook my head at my stupid behavior, and we ate the soup in peace.

***

The next day at lunch everything was going as usual. Mich and Carol were talking about some handbag, Jer was still pursuing Jake, but Jake was paying him a deaf ear, Kev and Steph were in between another staring contest while Ed and I were talking about our Thursday shopping plan. Everything was going smoothly until Alisha decided to show up at our table.

“Hey, Ed.” She announced her presence in a chirpy voice.

“Hey, Alisha,” Ed greeted her.

“Are you feeling any better today?” She sounded concerned.

“I’m perfectly fine. No trace of a cold at all.” Ed smiled at her. That little fact bothered me.

“Well, I needed to discuss some points about our project since it’s due next week, so I was thinking maybe I could join you guys.” As she said those words, the whole table went silent. When nobody said anything she seemed apprehensive. “Did I say something wrong?” The way she flashed her puppy eyes and innocent face in front of Ed, I had no doubt she would got what she wanted.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. Of course you can sit with us.” Ed comforted her and brought her a vacant chair from another table and placed it right next to his chair. Every pair of eyes at the table was on Ed.

Suddenly I was angry and in one of my worst moods. “I gotta go.” I hurriedly stood up and grabbed my bag.

“Where are you going?” Ed asked in an imperative tone.

“Oh, you noticed I’m leaving?” I asked, with my voice dripped in sarcasm.

I swear I heard Carol muttering ‘Trouble in paradise’. I shot her a dirty look and she shut her mouth right away.

“Of course I noticed. Why are you going so early? Your next class doesn’t start for another half an hour.” He looked lost because of my sudden mood swing.

“Well, I don’t think you’ve much time to talk to me as…” I eyed Alisha and then him, “…someone else might need your immediate attention,” I barked impulsively and left the table.

***

Just like every day, after classes the eight of us met, but no one said a word to either Ed or me about the lunch incident. After a round of goodbyes, Mich, Kev, and Jer departed together in Jer’s car, then Carol, Jake, and Steph drove away in Carol’s car, and finally Ed and I left in Ed’s car.

Dense and impenetrable tension made it difficult to even breathe in the car. Ed seemed angry as his eyes were fixed ahead on the road. We were quiet the whole ride home.

Once inside our home, I inhaled a deep breath and trudged upstairs to my room. “Zune.” I could hear the asperity in his voice. I stopped in my tracks. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Hostility was clearly audible in my tone.

“About your absurd behavior.”

I snapped my head to look at him. “Okay, so now my behavior is absurd?”

“The way you reacted yesterday, and the way you behaved today with Alisha, was totally absurd.” Ed was getting agitated and so was I.

“I think the way she suddenly appeared in our home, at our lunch table, and in our life is totally absurd,” I retorted. The resentment in my voice was quite apparent.

We were staring at each other, fuming, using the ‘absurd’ word again and again; neither of us was ready to back down first. I knew at that moment it was not going to end well.

“What’s going on?” I heard Mom somewhere around us, but neither of us even averted our eyes away from each other.

“What the hell is your problem with her?” Ed asked throwing his hands in the air.

“Ed, Zune, what’s happening here? What’s wrong?” It was Becca, but Ed and I didn’t even respond and avoided her altogether.

“Why the hell do you care?”

“Because you made an issue over her yesterday and created an unnecessary scene today.”

“I didn’t do any such thing!”

Ed took a step towards me. “Oh, you sure did. The way you treated her today was not polite at all.”

“I don’t have any reason to be polite to her.”

“Do you have any particular reason to be so rude to her?”

“I don’t have to answer your every question.” I had a pretty good idea that we were revolving in a circle with this fight, but I had no clue why I was fighting with Ed, why I had no answers to his questions, why the mere mention of Alisha was antagonizing me so much, and why I was furious and riled up about her presence around Ed. I had no fucking idea why I was so upset.

“Zune, she’s a nice girl,” Ed said in a softer tone.

“And I’m the bad guy here?” I listened to him to huff in irritation like I was a nuisance to him.

“Oh God! I didn’t mean that and you know it.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I’m just saying I don’t see any concrete reason why you are so standoffish towards her.”

“And I don’t see any reason why you are so worried about her!”

“Because she’s a friend.”

“Just a friend?”

“What do you mean?” The way Ed said that I knew that he knew exactly what I meant.

“You know better than me.”

“Zune, Ed, stop it right now,” my mom ordered, but we still ignored her.

“Just go to your rooms,” Becca added but got the same treatment as my mom.

“As I said, Alisha and I are just friends,” Ed clarified with no hesitation in his voice.

“Yeah, sure. She visits you at home when no one is around, brings you your homework, brings you soup because you’re not feeling well, and out of nowhere, emerges at our lunch table to sit next to you, and she’s just a friend. I’m not stupid.”

“You are stupid. And why the hell do you care if she’s a friend of mine or something more?”

“I don’t give a shit.” My voice faltered a bit.

“Then why the hell are you so pissed off?”

“Why the hell do you care?”

“Don’t you know why I care?!”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then whatever I’d say is not going to change that.” I could feel the disappointment through his words. “Think what you want. Believe what you want. I won’t justify myself anymore to you.” And with that he ran upstairs to his bedroom and slammed his door shut. I heard my mom muttering to Becca, ‘there goes our dreams of becoming in-laws down the drain’.

I stared in Mom and Becca’s direction. I didn’t have the patience to answer their questioning looks, so I rushed upstairs to my bedroom which was right next to Ed’s and banged the door shut behind me.

***

Dinner was sure as hell an awkward event. On one side of the dining table were Becca and I, and right across from us were Mom and Ed. Becca and Mom were busy staring between Ed and me, while Ed was staring at his plate, moving his folk through his food. No one said a word.

“What was this afternoon’s fight all about?” Mom asked, at last breaking off the sickening silence.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing.”

Ed and I lied together, and for a brief moment our eyes locked before we averted our gazes.

“Don’t tell me that was another one of your healthy arguments.” I was able to hear inquisitiveness and a touch of sardonicism in Becca’s voice.

“Will somebody say something?” My mom was not going to let go of this so easily.

In the very next moment Ed coughed hard; perhaps a piece of the lemon chicken he was eating had gotten stuck in his windpipe. I hurriedly left my chair and ran to get him a glass of water.

“Here. Take this.” I offered him the water, but he declined by shaking his head; he was still coughing badly. “Ed, I said take this; it’ll help you.” Ed still ignored me. I took his face in my free hand, made him look at me and forced the water into his mouth from the glass. He resisted for a bit but never left my gaze and eventually complied. He stopped coughing. I put the glass of water back on the table. “Feeling better?” He nodded and shifted his gaze back to his plate. His refusal to acknowledge me was bothering me like a prickling needle.

 

TBC.

 

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