Closeted freshman student, Aries Buan, falls in love with his senior after getting partnered with him during their freshman orientation. Afraid to admit his feelings, he kept his emotion in check and watched his first love from afar, swearing to him...
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"MAMA! I'M HEADING TO work!" I shout as I walk towards the front door of our house. Mom rushes out of her bedroom to catch up to me, already panting despite only moving a few steps.
"Ma, I told you to just stay in bed," I nag, sounding more like a mom than she is.
"I know, but I just wanted to tell you about my medicine. I don't have any left, and I still need to take them for five more days. After your work, head to the drugstore and buy some for me," she tells me, opening the wallet she was holding to pull out some cash.
I waited for her for a while, but all of a sudden, she put her wallet down and suddenly started laughing at herself. "Maybe you can do it tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be tired when you get back," she tells me instead, obviously embarrassed.
Mama didn't have to say it, but I already knew why she had to take it back. She probably doesn't have money in her wallet anymore, especially when she had to pay the bills the other day.
"Don't worry about it. I'll buy it for you," I tell her anyway. Mama was about to say something, but I immediately left the house because she was only going to stop me if I allowed her to speak.
To be honest, I don't have extra cash with me either. Other than the need to wear a uniform to take the exam, I had to pay for my tuition fee, which was most of the money I earned from working part-time. I knew mom had to buy her medicine, so I didn't ask for money for my tuition.
One problem just leads to another. When I thought that finishing the exams would solve a lot of things, it just added more issues. I'm still pretty much broke, my mom is still very much sick, and Aries no longer speaks to me. He doesn't talk to me because I haven't seen him in school yet, but he doesn't answer my messages anymore.
For some reason, it pisses me off.
Did I do something wrong? Is he purposely trying to avoid me? Was he pretending to be okay with being in our house but was actually dying to leave, and now he doesn't like me anymore? Was hugging him at the hospital overkill? Did I step over his boundaries?
Why am I thinking about all these things?! I shouldn't be worked up over this because I have much more important problems to worry about, but here I am, agonizing over a boy I barely know who might not even be thinking about me anymore.
I should really do something about this. Maybe I could look for him in school and ask him why he's ignoring me so I could finally get these feelings in check. He can just say that he hates me, and then I can eventually move on from whatever this is.
"Good evening, Mr. Sunday. How was your exam?" Big Joe, our bouncer, asks when I finally arrive at the club.
"I think I aced it," I reply, patting his shoulder and heading inside.
As soon as I got in, everyone started greeting me, instantly making my mood feel better. I guess, other than the fact that I got assaulted here last time, the people in Red Light are kind to me. I feel like we're all the same, and we understand each other. Being surrounded by them just makes me feel good.
