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“Guess what? He is so cute!” a teenage girl squealed while I was heading to school the next morning. I thought for a second that the girl was referring to me, so I turned to look at her face. But, of course, she was talking about someone else to the girl next to her.
I was afraid of attending Mr. Anderson’s class without Uncle Danny, but how long could I avoid school? “Joe!”
I turned once again to find Justin running towards me. I looked at him as he stopped, trying to catch his breath. I was feeling a little awkward about what I had said the last time we met. I hesitated—
“Hey, Justin.”
“You left yesterday. It was... awkward and sudden.” “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I’ve already told her. And we’re dating.” Justin’s face broke into an amused grin. I wished he was lying, but he wasn’t. He told me the truth to make sure that the burden he had dropped on my shoulders the other day was lifted, and I was free like before.
“Well, good for you,” was all I could manage. I began to move toward our school, just wanting to get rid of the sudden pain I was feeling in my ribcage. Even though there wasn’t any certainty that his Diane was my Diane, I still felt bad and overwhelmed with emotions. I wished I could shake off the weight of the world from my shoulders, but I simply couldn’t ignore the harsh reality. It was something that could break you and satisfy you at the same time. It could break you because you were losing the love of your life, and satisfy you because your best friend had found the love of his life. But Diane was all that I had. How could I let slip someone who was the purpose of my life? I never wanted to do that. But Justin demanded it. He knew that I was hurt, but I didn’t care—I just needed some space. I wanted to stay away from Justin, and I wanted to stay away from Uncle Danny. I wanted to stay away from Diane, and the world.
I was on the verge of uncontrollable tears when Justin stopped me in my tracks.
“You know her, don’t you? Then why didn’t you tell me that before? I asked you if you knew her or anything, but you didn’t show an interest. Why do I have a feeling that you like her? Let me take you to her and you can confess your feelings. Don’t say no this time. You are more important to me than a girl!” Justin swallowed a couple of times before starting again.
“Let’s go to her, Joe. I don’t want to see you like this. I know I’ve hurt you. Please let me make it up to you. I don’t want to feel guilty about all of this, you know. No girl is more important than a brother.”
Justin constantly calling me his brother and an “important thing” made my heart melt more than anything else ever had before. I was finally feeling good about being someone’s brother and an “important thing,” even if it was just a figure of speech. But sometimes, certain words feel too good to hear, especially when you’re hearing them from the person you feel the same way about. But how could I control myself when I was losing the best person in my life? Was it possible to stay calm right in front of the person who had a crush on your girlfriend? Yes, Diane was my girlfriend. And if she wasn’t already, I was ready to make her my girl. And then there was this guy who was absolutely as cute as Justin Bieber.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea. Diane…” Her name felt heavy on my tongue, but I went on. “Diane maybe likes you already, and if I go to her now to tell her what I feel about her, that would be a great turn-off. Please, don’t make me do this. I just need some time, and I’ll finally get over this,” I finished with an overwhelming desire to feel Diane in my arms. However, I remembered that this would never happen again.
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“You don’t get it, do you? Let’s go,” Justin said, dragging me by my arm as we headed toward the front gate of our cafeteria. “Where are we going?” I asked stupidly.
“To Diane.”
Just as we stepped inside the cafeteria, we watched as the students gathered together, having a good laugh with their friends, drinking coffee, and eating. Justin pointed his finger toward a group of girls standing near the cash counter. I frowned. There was no one there who even remotely looked like Diane. Then what was I thinking about?
“There. Let’s go to her and talk personally,” Justin said, and I shook my head.
“No. There is no trace of her.”
“Are you blind? There she is, wearing a blue denim jacket with loose hair.” He pointed toward a girl who looked like an Aussie. Her hair was deep brown, and her skin was the color of olive. When she turned toward us to wave at Justin and smile at me, I couldn’t help but smile back. There was no doubt the girl was attractive. Her brown eyes were affectionate enough to make you want to fall in love with her. She wore a white floral dress and a denim jacket. I looked at her feet—she was wearing a pair of sneakers as white as her dress.
Even though the girl was lovely, there was nothing in her that I could relate to Diane. So, I let out a relieved sigh. I was finally happy to feel alive again.
“See? Let’s go to her and talk this out. Do it before it gets too late,” Justin advised like a big brother. I wondered if somehow, we had a connection. The way I felt so close to him, I had never felt the same way with anyone else before. Well, I hadn’t been friends with anyone else before.
“Leave it. She is not who I thought she was,” I spluttered. “Meaning what, exactly?” Justin looked as bewildered as I was to let my thoughts go out of my mouth. I regretted thinking out loud at that very instant. In order to put the conversation aside, I decided to settle for a “Nothing. Leave it.” “No, you have to tell me. Isn’t she the girl you were upset about?”
“No. She is not here.”
“Gee, you saved me!” Justin exclaimed and exaggerated a long, sharp breath. “I thought you were thinking about this girl, and I was having a bad time thinking that I was dating your lover.” Justin shook his head in a manner that told me he thought I was some kind of fool.
No wonder I was.
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“You are not paying attention to your studies,” Justin stated while kicking a rock with his leg. We were going toward the Yukun River to have a good chat, but then he decided to bring up the subject of school to completely ruin my mood.
“I already told you. Mr. Anderson wants to meet my uncle before seeing me inside the classroom.”
“That’s why you are missing your classes? Oh, damn, don’t be a dummy!”
“What should I do then?”
“Let’s go to school. I’ll show you what to do.”
“But—”
Justin had already headed toward our school.
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The next moment, before I could even realize what was going on, Justin just kicked me inside my classroom. Thank the Lord, I was at the back door of our class, and Mr. Anderson was busy writing something on the board. I nearly tripped on my feet and was about to fall; just then, Justin gripped my hand and made me sit down at a desk.
“What are you doing? If he sees us like this…” I whispered, and Justin shushed me, raising his hand.
“Calm down, he is not going to find us,” Justin assured me. To my surprise, Justin was really in my classroom, sitting just beside me. I didn’t know exactly what he was thinking, but one thing was certain: he was not in the mood to go back to his own studies.
“But I cannot mark my attendance like this,” I protested. “Shut up! Focus on the board.”
Justin had no concern about our present situation. What if Mr. Anderson found us like this? What if anyone inside the classroom saw us like this and went straight to complain to Mr. Anderson?
I let it all sink in and focused my mind on the whiteboard at the other end of the classroom.
When the bell rang, Mr. Anderson thankfully dismissed us. I turned to Justin, “Well, thanks. But not every day will be like this. I need to tell this to my uncle as soon as possible.” “Sure. I just bought you some time. Good luck.” I spent the rest of the day happily, except for the fact that Uncle Danny did not return home that night, and I slept with an empty stomach.