That weekend, Sebastian gave a lot of thought to what Delilah had said about having an opportunity to take another big step forward. He went back and forth between having a celebration and not having one. He even went so far as to contemplate texting Delilah and having her decide for him so he wouldn’t have to; however, he realized that if he did that, she would most likely want to celebrate and it could make him uncomfortable.
When Sunday came, he realized that he had not yet made a concrete decision. Instead, he figured he would just let Delilah come over and he would take it from there. This was something that he couldn’t do by just thinking about it. Much like with becoming friends with her, it was something that he had to feel to know if it was right. This way, it left the option open which made him feel a bit more comfortable about everything.
Still, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t nervous about today. His Mom had made him a huge breakfast of a cheese omelet, bacon, pancakes, and homemade hash browns. For someone like Sebastian who was a small eater, this was a feast that he could have lived off of for a week. When he sat down at the table, his mother smiled and wished him a quick happy birthday. She wasn’t expecting much in return because for years whenever she did that, Sebastian would get mad and tell her not to say anything about it. As a mother, she couldn’t oblige to that and that’s something he hated. This year, though, was a little bit different.
Sebastian smiled and thanked her for the birthday wishes. When he did, his Mom nearly fell over.
“Who are you and what have you done with my son?”
“What do you mean?”
“Every year I wish you a happy birthday and every year you practically scream at me and tell me that you hate hearing that and to never do it again. I’d have to throw away your breakfast and you’d stomp to your room in protest. Why the sudden change?”
“I don’t know. I guess I learned that life isn’t so bad after all.”
“I see. And does life not being so bad anymore have to do with your little guest that’s coming over today?”
Of course, it does but I’m not about to tell her that. Even though we’re just friends, if I tell her how she made me feel, it might give her the wrong idea and then it’ll turn her visit into one of the most uncomfortable scenarios I’ve ever been in… the Bryce incident included.
“No. It’s something that I realized on my own. Let’s just say that I had a bit of an eye-opening experience and I’ll leave it at that.”
“I see. So, is it just Delilah that’s coming over? What about your other friends?”
Oh yeah. Because I’ve been spending so much time with Delilah, I kind of forgot that I had lied to her about having other friends. Oh well, one more lie can’t hurt, I guess…
“I invited them but they were all busy today. Delilah was the only one who could make it.”
“That’s a shame. After all the times you went over to their houses for dinner, they couldn’t make the time to come see you on your birthday. I don’t think that’s fair but oh well, it can’t be helped, I guess. Thanks for not biting my head off this year. Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
While the breakfast was delicious, it was filling. He regretted the decision to clean his plate because it felt as if his stomach could have burst at any moment. With that out of the way, there wasn’t much for him to do except wait for Delilah to show up. They had agreed for her to come over at 1 p.m. and given the time, that was still quite a bit off. He wondered what he could do to pass the time and he suddenly remembered that he still had Delilah’s copy of The Zero Eclipse. He decided he would pass the time by playing that.
As he played, he started to get engrossed in the game. He had forgotten just how good it was and soon, he had lost track of time. By the time he remembered that Delilah was supposed to come over, it was 12:58 p.m. He gasped as he realized that she would be there at any moment. He quickly saved his progress and turned the console off. He thought about just sitting there in his room to wait for her but a part of him wanted to be there to greet her at the front door so he opted to head to the living room to wait.
His mother was sitting on the couch doing a crossword puzzle when he took a seat in the recliner on the other side of the room. He gazed out the window so that he could see her come up the walkway. When his mother saw that, she could only laugh at the sight of her son eagerly waiting for a girl to stop by.
The clock on the wall dinged and 1 p.m. had arrived. Any minute… Sebastian thought to himself as he sat there and waited. 1:01 came and went as did 1:02, 1:05, 1:10, 1:20, and 1:30. When the clock dinged on the half-hour, it made Sebastian aware of how much time had passed and Delilah still hadn’t shown up.
Maybe she’s running late? I’ll give her another half an hour. Maybe she thought it was two and not one. Yeah… that must be it. I might have accidentally told her the wrong time, that’s all.
Another half-hour passed and there was still no sign of Delilah. By now, all of the excitement had drained from his face as if all hope had been lost.
I knew it was too good to be true. Just when I had let my guard down and had finally put my trust in someone, she decided to run away in the end. What was that whole thing about bringing me to the mall on Friday, then? Why would she buy me some cheap bracelet and say we were friends only to no-show on the biggest day of the year for me? I guess the whole reason why I felt as if I shouldn’t celebrate was because something like this could have happened. Now that it did, I’m glad that I didn’t come to a decision. It just makes everything a lot easier.
His mother looked over and saw the disappointment on Sebastian’s face. Her heart sank as she knew that he was looking forward to having her come over and visit. She put down her crossword puzzle and called out to him.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. She probably got busy with something at the last minute. I’m sure that there’s a good reason for it.”
“Yeah…” he said just so that his mother wouldn’t keep droning on about it.
Sebastian excused himself as he got up and headed over to his room. He sat on the edge of his bed and noticed the friendship bracelet resting on his nightstand. He looked at it and then looked at his phone. He picked it up and tilted it because normally if there were a text message that he missed, his phone would vibrate when it moved. There was no vibration which meant that she never texted him. When he realized that, tears began to stream down his face.
Maybe after hearing everything I had to say, she wanted to distance herself from me. Maybe this bracelet and that kiss were a parting gift rather than a symbol of friendship?
Suddenly, Sebastian felt a pain in his head. It wasn’t severe but it was enough for him to reach into his pocket and pull out his medicine.
Ugh… It’s happening again…
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Before Sebastian knew it, the pain disappeared and his head felt completely fine. He didn’t know what to make of what just happened but what he did know was that he wanted to get out of there. He stood up with the bracelet still in hand. He moved his hand over as if to drop it back on top of his nightstand; however, at the last moment, he moved it over a little more and, instead, dropped it in the trash can beside his bed.
I don’t need this anymore…
After he tossed the wristband into the trash, he headed out to the living room and grabbed his coat. He told his mother that he was going to go for a walk and head to the park, stating that he needed some fresh air. She apologized to him again but if he wanted to be left alone, there wasn’t much she could do to convince him otherwise. With that, he stepped through the front door and was on his way.
Meanwhile, Delilah was at home frantically trying to help her father with a home improvement project. He just so happened to want to place some new shelving up in the basement and asked her to give him a hand, stating that it wouldn’t take long. That was only half true because it wouldn’t have taken long had he used a level and made sure all of the shelving was balanced before he installed them. When he took a step back and saw how crooked they were, he needed to take them down, readjust, and re-affix them to the wall.
Delilah knew that she was running late as evidenced by the panic on her face. She just wasn’t aware of how late she was until they took a break and she checked her phone.
“OH MY GOD!”
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“I didn’t realize it was this late. I tried to call Sebastian before to let him know but I’m now over an hour late going to his house for his birthday! He must have thought that I ditched him or something!”
“Oh, so that’s why you were going over there. Why didn’t you say that instead of ‘I’m going over to Sebastian’s today?’”
“I didn’t think you were going to drag me into a project like this.”
“Well… the way I look at it, I messed it up, I should clean it up. Go over to your friend’s house. I’ll take it from here. Besides, I was a bit rough on him anyway but he seemed like a good kid. He passed my test if you want to call it that. Go celebrate the boy’s birthday.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Delilah took off running up the stairs. All she could think about was how Sebastian might be feeling as a result of her being late. She tried calling him again but just like last time, it went straight to voicemail. That worried her even more because, after everything he told her, she feared how he may perceive this whole situation. As she thought about that, she began to wonder why she felt that way. As those thoughts crept into her head, she shook them off because getting to him was more important right now than trying to figure out her feelings.
Delilah arrived at Sebastian’s house just mere minutes after he had left for the park. She frantically knocked on the front door until his mother opened it only to see Delilah struggling to catch her breath.
“I’m so sorry for being late but my father needed help with something,” she said in between breaths. Finally, she got her wind back and continued. “I tried calling Sebastian a couple of times but it just went straight to voicemail.”
“Oh! Well, that would explain a lot, then. I’m afraid Sebastian looked pretty depressed when you didn’t show up. He told me that he was going to the park for a bit. He left a couple of minutes ago so if I were you, I’d hurry and catch up to him.”
“I will. I’m so sorry about all of this.”
“No need to apologize to me, sweetie. I understand. You better run along if you want to get to him though. Something tells me seeing you might cheer him up.”
“Thanks!”
Delilah didn’t care if she was already tired. With her destination known, she took off running once again. What she had feared had come true in the fact that Sebastian must have felt that she had abandoned him. After everything she said to try and get him to cheer up about his birthday, she could only imagine what kind of emotions he must be feeling right now.
Despite being out of energy and on the verge of collapse, Delilah reached the park. Her eyes scanned the area but she couldn’t see any sign of him. She wondered if she was too late and he decided to go somewhere else. If that were the case, she wouldn’t even know where to start looking for him. She could only hope that he was in some place that wasn’t immediately visible from the entrance.
She scoured the area once more and took note of the various features. There were concrete paths for people to walk on with benches that lined them. In the middle of the park was a tall water fountain that looked as if it were made out of white marble. There were a few people on the benches along with a couple of kids playing. After taking in everything, she noticed that the whole park was lined with trees. When she saw the trees, she recalled something he had said.
I would lie to my mom about going to a friend’s house for dinner and, instead, go sit in the park and look up at the stars all while enjoying the relaxing sounds of nature.
“If he wants to listen to the sounds of nature, he’d probably be somewhere over there. At least, it’s probably the best place I could start looking for him.”
Delilah headed in that direction. It didn’t take long to cross the park and get to the wooded area. That’s when she noticed that the ground was no longer flat. There were many small hills to traverse, each adorned with trees and rocks. She figured the one in front of her was as good as any to climb so up she went. When she reached the top, there was nobody there; however, when she looked to the left, she noticed a rather large tree on top of a bigger hill. A familiar-looking boy sat beneath it and her face lit up.
Even though she had found Sebastian, she was still rather nervous when it came to approaching him. She didn’t know what he was feeling right now or if he even wanted to see her. She did her best to suppress those nerves because she had come this far so it would be a total waste to chicken out now.
She walked over and as she did, Sebastian turned his head as he heard footsteps approaching. When he saw Delilah, a mixture of shock and sadness washed over his face.
“H-Hey…” she said rather meekly.
“Hi…”
Just from his tone, she could tell just how badly he was hurt. If the tone in his voice wasn’t enough, the streaks of dried tears on his cheeks were a dead giveaway. When she saw that, she almost began to cry but she fought back her emotions so that she could set things right between them.
“I’m sorry. I hope you can believe me but… I needed to help my father and he kept me longer than I planned. The thing is, I tried to call you and let you know but… did you turn your phone off so no one would bother you or something?”
“What do you mean?”
“Both of my calls went straight to voicemail. I couldn’t get a hold of you to let you know that I was going to be late.”
At that moment, Sebastian remembered picking up his phone and not feeling a vibration earlier. He never thought to turn it on as the vibration would still go off even if the phone was in standby mode. When he realized that, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and pushed the power button. There was no response.
“My phone… it’s…”
“What’s wrong?”
“I… I’m the world’s biggest idiot. That’s what’s wrong,” he said as he lifted the phone’s screen to her while repeatedly pushing the power button. “It’s dead. I forgot to charge it.”
“Oh… Well, that explains a lot.”
“Yeah. It explains why I’m such an absolute fool. Had I just checked…”
“Sebastian… it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. I let my emotions get the best of me. Despite everything we did together on Friday, I jumped to conclusions without even thinking anything through. I… wouldn’t blame you if you turned around and went home. There’s no reason to hang out with an idiot like me… In fact, I’ll spare you the trouble.”
Sebastian stood up and went to walk away. Suddenly, those feelings she felt when she left her house had returned and they were burning a hole through her heart. She couldn’t stand them anymore and lunged forward, gripping his wrist. When he turned around, she pulled him into a tight hug.
“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay. Just don’t go!”
When she said that, Sebastian’s mind jolted. Every memory he ever had of his mother saying the same thing about everything being okay to him flashed before his eyes. Almost as if a puzzle were putting itself back together, the false memories that stuck with him from his trauma shattered like glass with only his true memories remaining. Those words “everything is going to be okay” continued to echo through his mind as Delilah continued to embrace him in a hug that she refused to let go of.
Sebastian began to shake. He slowly lifted his arms, his eyes filling with tears. Suddenly, he couldn’t hold back anymore and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He buried his face into her shoulder and began to cry. She responded by hugging him even more tightly, moving her right hand up to the back of his head. She didn’t care how long it took, she resolved to stand there until he got all of it out of his system.
When he finished crying, he loosened his grip but didn’t let it go completely. He looked straight into her eyes and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
Delilah couldn’t respond. She could still see the pain in his eyes; however, as she stared into them, that burning feeling in her chest spread throughout the entirety of her body. All of her feelings had come to the surface and in a blind, knee-jerk decision, they all came pouring out. Delilah leaned in and pressed her lips right against his. She leaned into it more and more as a look of shock washed over his face. After a few seconds, she realized what she had done and quickly backed off.
“OH MY GOD! WHAT DID I DO!? I’M SORRY! I DIDN’T MEAN TO, IT’S JUST THAT…”
Sebastian reached up with his hands and touched his lips, his face still in shock.
That wasn’t my cheek. She just kissed me and it wasn’t your typical quick friendly kiss either. It was a kiss on my lips that looked to convey a message. She wasn’t ready to do that so I wonder why she did? Although, I’m not going to lie… I kind of liked it… I should probably say something as she’s still freaking out over this.
“It’s okay…” he muttered. “T-Thank you…” he said as he tried his best to smile.
“You’re not mad that I kissed you?”
Sebastian simply shook his head ‘no.’ Soon, his forced smile turned into one that was purely genuine. It didn’t mean that she didn’t feel guilty about stealing, what could have been, his first kiss away from him like that but deep down, she was really happy that she was the one to do it.
Even though his birthday almost ended in disaster, he was happy that it ended the way it did. Delilah ended up staying for dinner but headed home when the sun went down due to her house rules. When she left, Sebastian headed back to his room where he fished the wristband out of the trash. He placed it back on his wrist and stared at it. As he did, he reached up and touched his lips with his hand again. He closed his eyes and replayed that moment over again in his head. When he opened his eyes, he had a bright smile on his face.
I have a decision to make…