MAD LOVE

Chapter 19

And again I saw a picture of a blonde with green eyes in my head. She had bewitched me, I swear, but I didn't mind... I finally realized one thing. Without knowing how it happened, I fell in love with Alana Moore...

I returned to Boston after the brief business trip with my father, and I absolutely did not want to go to the campus, knowing that she was not there. Because of that, I took a little walk. When I was on the coast by the Charles River, I looked at the opposite side and the Harvard Bridge itself. It connected the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston to the city of Cambridge, near the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That most hateful girl was studying there, who stuck to me like lint on dark clothes, but my intuition told me this was not about her...

"There you are!" Alex's voice rang out, startling me. "You should have told me where you were. I'm tired of looking for you."

"Stop your nagging. I already have a headache." I turned around and looked at him. "Where's my coffee?"

"You're not in a restaurant, you know. I forgot it in the car, so if you want it, get it yourself." My meaningful look answered for itself. Farrell grinned and lowered his eyes, exploring my travel bag. "How long have you been here?"

"I arrived a few hours ago... Where's Jess?"

Although that was a stupid question... It was obvious where she was...

"I don't know... In the afternoon, she said she wanted to meet Lana, and I didn't bother her anymore. We need to call her, by the way. It's getting late. She's been kind of weird lately. I get the impression that these ladies are hiding something from us..."

"Milton is quite capable of that," I said and grinned, knowing the character of his friend. "But the fact that she sets a poor example for Moore is not very good. We need to talk to her about it..."

There was a long silence. The night-time city was alive behind us, the sounds of the streets assaulting our ears. Flowing silently past us, the river's movement made fascinating patterns reflect off its surface. The sun sank smoothly, giving way to bright stars in the sky and powerful lanterns on the ground. I found myself staring at the opposite shore again.

Something was wrong...

"Well... Talk to me." The silence must have gone on too long, compelling Alex to break it. "I can feel your tension a mile away. Was it an interesting trip?"

"Stephie..." I said on the exhale. "We met in Canada, literally face to face."

***

"Come on, you're only thirteen and you're worried about a chick, Mike!" Alex looked at his friend with indignation.

"Screw you... Of course, you always have Jess nearby."

"That's enough, you dorky smartass. Your whole life is ahead of you, and you're worried about some goose..."

"I care, because I didn't..." Opening my reddened eyes, I stared at my friend. It was like an epiphany came over me. "You know, I figured out how to behave, and sooner or later, she'll leave that freak and come back to me."

***

"Well, well, Norton..." Farrell drawled, scanning me with his leaden gaze. "That's a brilliant plan to get a girl, breaking countless hearts. Are you trying to attract attention? Is that your strategy?"

"I like my life. Leave me alone. I don't want to be a monk like you..."

"Taking this ghostly revenge on all girls, you can miss the one who can heal this open wound of yours. So many years have passed, and you still can't get over it. You've turned into an asshole, haven't you?"