It has been two days ever since Eli asked Leon to let him borrow his song of his to confess. It was now the day after tomorrow, a school day, a Monday, yay.

It was 12:22 PM, and Leon has seen neither Eli nor Reynatra in the cafeteria since break time has started. Normally, he would’ve already been having lunch like usual with the both of them. However, he has not seen either of them since the beginning of today’s recess.

He knows for sure that both of them were in attendance today—he saw them earlier during the morning assembly. So, with that knowledge in mind, what could be the reason that they are late? He tried to think of several reasons why.

Eli and Reynatra share the same class. Their teacher before recess should be the English teacher, Miss Gina, and she has a reputation for always ending the class early.

Could they be taking a remedial then? he thought. No, that can’t be. He would’ve understood if Eli needs to take remedial, but Reynatra is the top English student of their year. The probability of her having to take a remedial class for English should be less than low.

What could it possibly be, then? Why are they late?

Just as he was thinking of other reasons why his friends weren’t in the cafeteria yet, he finally saw both of them walking through the gates. They dragged their feet to get their food—Eli buying something from the stalls first—and then they rushed towards him, taking their respective seat at their usual table.

As the two of them sat down, Leon noticed that something was wrong. For some reason, their table was really quiet today.

Reynatra is normally very chatty, but she has not spoken a single word ever since she took a seat at the table. Eli as well—if it was as per usual, the guy would’ve begun a conversation before he even put his food down on the table. But no, the two of them were completely silent instead.

If the silence was comforting, Leon wouldn’t have said a word. But this time, the silence was awkward, strange. The silence felt like it was suffocating him somehow, and Leon couldn’t deal with it. He had to break the silence, and then he had to find out the reason why they were silent as well. So he started simple, just two words. “What’s up?” he said.

Reynatra’s eyes widened. “Huh?” she asked. “What—what do you mean what’s up? Did you—did you notice something up?” she said, unusually speedy and followed by a burst of forced laughter.

Leon raised his brows. “Uhh...” he mumbled. He meant to ask them the reason why they were late, or perhaps why they’re currently acting very weird around each other. But it seemed his question was received very differently by the both of them.

“Guys? Is everything okay?” Leon asked, concerned about his friends.

Reynatra placed her hand on the side of her neck, her face slowly turning red. She bit her lips, the corner of her eyes glancing at the guy sitting beside her. “Should we—should we just... tell him?” she asked, lightly dragging her tongue.

The lack of context was frustrating him. Honestly, what the hell was his friend talking about?

Eli bit on his lips. “Well, when you say it like that, I guess... we should?” he said, sounding unsure himself.

Leon stared at them both. Bitch, what the fuck are y’all talking about?

After what seemed to be a very long five-second silence, Leon’s two friends sighed and decided to drop the bomb on him immediately. “Leon, it’s... um... me and Eli, it’s—we’re dating,” Reynatra said to him. No build-up, no warning. Her words slipped out of her mouth just like that, and it made the spoon Leon has been holding freeze.

He had to make sure; did he hear that correctly?

“You’re dating?” he asked, repeating her sentence to affirm that his hearing didn’t do him wrong. “You—you two are dating?” he asked again, this time accompanied by a strange chuckle.

“We... were nervous to tell you before. Sorry, it took us so long to get out of class be—because we weren’t—we weren’t sure how to tell you,” Reynatra tried to explain, her words jumbling over each other. “But... yeah, we’re dating now,” she continued.

She took a deep breath, and then she took Eli’s wrist, holding it in her hand. She looked at him, and the two of them shared a smile. “Yeah, I’m dating Eli now,” she said, firmly, making a stance on herself.

The food inside of Leon’s mouth was left unchewed, and inevitably, he choked. His hand immediately reached for the drink by his side and chugged it harshly, pushing the food down his throat.

Okay, he needed to get this straight. So, they’re dating now? he thought. Eli and Reynatra are dating each other? he wondered to himself. Eli uses his song to confess to Reynatra? He used that song for the very girl that Leon wrote it for?

Leon lifted his drink again and drank it once more, forcing it down his throat, forcing every curse word he wanted to say down it as well. There was a wave of anger rising, and Leon was doing everything that he can to suppress it.

One litre of drink was consumed in a span of fewer than fifteen seconds, and the new couple across his table smiled lightly as he was drinking it through. They watched him, possibly even judging him, and then he placed his drink down on the table, still feeling the flow of water violently shaking his insides.

He burped. Fuu... he needed to calm down.

He took three deep breaths, regaining his rational thought back before being able to reply to their words properly. And then, “Congrats,” Leon said, truthfully not meaning any of it. He might be bad at lying, but he’s very good at hiding his true feelings.

And to that, the couple simply smiled.

***

As soon as he made it home in the evening, Leon took a seat on his couch, his back leaning on the pillows and his head falling to the back, looking up, staring at the ceiling.

He has neither taken a shower nor eaten after he arrived home—he couldn’t bother. His head was too full of feelings he couldn’t quite comprehend. He needed time. Time to process those feelings, time to contemplate.

Eli and Reynatra are dating. He formed those words in his head, and yes, he understood that part very well. Eli—his best friend—is dating Reynatra—the person that he likes, he continued, elaborating on the previous statement.

He took a short breath, and he began to conclude one more thing. Leon likes Reynatra, but she is with someone else now, he thought, and that realization broke his heart.

He felt something forming deep inside, possibly in his chest. Something that’s tugging him, pulling him in, suffocating him. He put his hand against his chest, trying to control his breathing, only to fail miserably. He was in pain, and it won’t go away.

And, the rest of the day felt hollow for him. Lack of food, too full of emotion. And the next day comes by like a flash. When he saw her during recess again, he had to bite his lips and hold his own wrist to prevent his emotion from spiking out.

“She’s taken now,” he told himself, carefully under his breath.

He closed his eyes and sighed. He sobbed, silently crying behind the mask he was putting on.

She’s taken now, Leon thought to himself, and he had to hold himself back.