Levi Harris: A Guide to Middle School

Episode 22: The Love Triangle

EPISODE 22: The Love Triangle

    I couldn’t punch him. My fists were trembling and I was sweating all over. I couldn’t blame her. I was the one who broke up with her. I was the one who made the mistake. I just stood there looking like an idiot. I was just staring at my best friend kiss the girl I loved and I could not do anything. I released my fists and I lowered my head and stared at my feet before dragging them past the two figures and making my way towards my car.

‘Lee, wait.’ I heard her soft voice call out. I kept on walking forwards. My anger was too great to start talking to her. I could hear her quick steps coming towards me. My feet trod quicker and quicker and I started to somewhat jog away from her. Then I felt her soft touch on my shoulder and I halted.

‘Levi. What can I say...’ she began but I quickly interrupted.

‘If you have nothing to say then you should just keep quiet.’ I said. It seemed rude but I didn’t care.

‘Lee… Why did you break up with me?’ she asked and at that moment she appeared in front of me with a confused look on her face.

‘I don’t think I need to tell you.’ It was harsh but it certainly told her how I felt about her and Mustafa’s ‘moment’.

‘Then why get jealous? I mean you break up with me but you don’t want me to try dating other people?’ She was right. I sounded selfish as if I didn’t want her to do anything. It was my fault. I did break up with her. I felt like a prick.

‘So… You like Mussy now?’ I asked her. I was trying to sound considerate but honestly, I was hoping she said no. She shrugged her shoulders before saying: ‘I don’t know. I mean, I still love you and all but you broke up with me. I can’t do anything about that can I?’ I shook my head. I wanted to ask her out again but I was afraid what her reaction might be.

‘I’m sorry for breaking up with you in the first place. I was taking advice from… Bwana. I’m sorry. I love you. I guess what I’m trying to say is, Will you take me back?’ Her reaction at first got my heart plummeting. She looked up at me with a baffled look on her face and then she looked at her shoes. I held her chin and raised her head so that her eyes could look back into mine. She didn’t want to reply.

‘I understand.’ I said. It seemed obvious that she wanted to say no but I didn’t want her to say the words.

‘Yes. Yes I do. But I want you to know that you really hurt me you know.’ I nodded in approval. I did hurt her a lot. I was a prick to her. She loved me so much and I took advice from Mrs. Bwana and broke up with her for reasons I was uncertain of. At that moment, I didn’t deserve Angelina. She didn’t deserve what I did to her and yet that day, she took me back. From the corner of my eyes I could see Mustafa walking away looking disappointed. All the anger in my body boiled up. Mustafa knew how I felt about Angelina but yet he still tried to snatch her. This wasn’t the first time he tried something on her and he was supposed to be my best mate. I clenched my fist and my jaw. I walked steadily but fast towards Mustafa with anger leading me. Angelina was shocked about my sudden movement. I could feel her stare while I was making away to a fight. She only realized where I was going when I was five metres away from him. She didn’t have the time to stop me. Mustafa quickly noticed me and I could tell that he was deciding whether to face me or to continue walking. He halted and faced me.

‘Look. Lee…’ He didn’t have the time to finish what he wanted to say. I wasn’t going to give him the chance to persuade me. I grasped his shirt so he couldn’t get away and threw my fist. It connected with his jaw and he almost fell down. His right hand came over the left side of his jaw where my fist hit and surprisingly, he didn’t fight back.

‘Fuck you yeah! You’re supposed to be my mate but this is the second time you’ve gone behind my back and kissed Angie!’ I shouted. We had been friends for a year but I could see the end of the friendship. It was like we were steering a car to the edge of a cliff. At that moment, we had arrived at the edge.

‘Oi listen yeah! You broke up with Angie, she was crying and I think it gives me reason to kiss her.’

‘Shut up! You know I still liked Angie. You know she still liked me. You’ve been eyeing her from day one ‘aven’t you?’ I was speaking so fast that my English accent burst and I forgot to pronounce the ‘h’ in ‘haven’t’. He chuckled a bit before looking at me and standing straight.

‘If she liked you so much, she wouldn’t be kissing me would she?’

‘Shut up!’ I retorted. My brown skin was turning redder and redder.

‘Guys, stop it. Please.’ Said a soft voice from behind me. Her hand slipped in between my arm and body and we were arm-in-arm. Mustafa’s laugh became more pronounced and I tried to ignore it. Angelina and I walked away with his laugh fading away the further we walked away. I held my right fist with my left hand. It hurt from the punch. Angelina was staring at the ground the whole time as we walked back to our previous position, next to the school generator, underneath a tree to the right of the school.

‘Don’t take him serious. He was just angry.’ She said. All that was in my mind was the point that Mustafa made. She had kissed him twice. Today and when they went to the cinemas. Why?

‘Why did you kiss him?’ I asked. The scenery immediately turned quiet and all you could hear was the harsh breathing of the wind. The silence carried on for many more moments before she broke it.

‘I don’t know. It just happened. Don’t worry though, I love you and only you.’

‘If you did, then why would you kiss him? Why would you kiss him when we were dating?’ My question shocked her. Her face contorted and her eyebrows furrowed.

‘Err… I don’t know. It was a mistake. I… I guess… I don’t know. I’m sorry Lee.’ Her apology seemed to lift some of my anger but I was still pissed.

‘Are you attracted to him or something?’

‘No.’ She answered quickly and firmly. ‘He’s sweet and all but I’m not. I’ve sort of had a crush on him before though… but no.’

‘You had a crush on him?’ I asked. I was stunned. Angelina had never told me about this before.

‘Was it while we were dating?’

‘Yeah… sort of. I’m sorry Lee,’ she said. My pulse was increasing and I was sweating from every pore. My anger was building and building. I felt a cold touch on my cheek and I quickly identified it as Angelina’s hand. I couldn’t be too Angry at her. I had a small crush on her friend Pia as well and I had never told her that.

‘Since we’re being honest. I sort of had a crush on Pia last year. It didn’t last long though.’ I heard a small chuckle and I looked up in astonishment. Angelina was laughing.

‘I knew it! You and her were a bit too close last year. She had a crush on you as well. But for long.’ Angelina and I were back together and as I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine, I could tell that there was something special, something that I couldn’t take for granted. I knew it would come with pain and some fighting in the future but what we had was irreplaceable. Or so I thought.