Give & Take (boyxboy)

Chapter 3

Daina stayed over on Sunday as well. From what Jeremy could tell, it didn't seem like she was in any great hurry to get home. She must've had a huge fight with them. Jeremy had overheard his mum try to call her sister, Daina's mother, on Sunday morning. "Straight to voicemail?" she'd muttered in frustration after it rang out. "Dammit, they're probably at church." Jeremy was surprised to hear a rare curse word from his mum's lips.

"You have reached Jin-ho and Julia Lim. Please leave a message after the beep."

"Hi Jules, it's me, Marian. Can you please call me back? Daina came here last night and said you kicked her out. I can't get another word out of her." She hung up with a sigh then spotted him standing in the doorway. "Oh, hi Jer."

"No luck?"

"Nothing. Daina seems really upset, but she doesn't want to talk to me, and her parents seem to think it's more important to go to church than to look after their child." She shook her head. "Anyhow, she's welcome here. I'll sort this out."

Jeremy could see the concern and stress grabbing at the corners of his mum's mouth, pulling it into a strained frown. "I'll do whatever I can to help," he said. "I'm sure Aunt Julia will call back."

"I sure hope so."

. . .

Jeremy had a lot on his mind at school on the Monday, and his teachers could tell. They kept calling him out on his 'daydreaming', as they liked to refer to it. He hated it, because every time they tried to catch his attention, they also drew the eyes of everyone else in the class. And their stares always seemed to be judging him.

Even lunchtimes were becoming unbearable. At first Ella had simply let Cassidy join their group, but now they seemed to have progressed to the status of 'girlfriends' and were using their free time to lock tongues without restraint in a corner of the quad. At first he'd been able to ignore it by turning his back on them, but they were getting noisier and noisier, giggling and playing around with each other constantly.

Halfway through lunch, Jeremy snapped. "Can you guys take that somewhere else?" he said abruptly, despite his usual shyness.

"What, too gay for you?" Ella snorted back at him. "If you don't like it, sit in another spot."

For some reason Jeremy felt anger rising within him. Usually he was the first to cave in any conflict, but today he was sick of it. He felt the urge to punch something, so he quickly left for the bathrooms so he wouldn't hit someone. She's so selfish, why the hell would anyone want to see her practically dry humping her girlfriend? It's awful! It wasn't that he had a problem with Ella's sexuality, but Jeremy didn't want anyone pashing feverishly in front of him while he was trying to eat his lunch.

It was no better when he got home. Ella, the conniving vixen, had hauled Cassidy home with them on the bus. It seemed they were working on a music project, because soon Jeremy could hear Ella's acoustic guitar and Cassidy's voice emanating throughout the entire house.

"Dear Lord, please put an end to this incessant noise," he pleaded to the ceiling.

"They are really loud, aren't they?"

Jeremy jumped in surprise. Daina was standing by the door, watching him. "They sure are. Do you wanna watch a movie or something? To drown out the noise, I mean."

Daina shrugged. "Sure. Have you got any sci-fi films? I'm in the mood for something intense."

"You're into that sort of thing? Sci-fi is life." Jeremy started sifting through a pile of DVD cases. "I've got... I, Robot? Looper, District 9, Ex Machina...?"

"I haven't seen Ex Machina yet."

"Nor have I, Dad and Ella watched it without me." Jeremy set up the TV and turned on the surround sound. "Soon they won't even be able to hear themselves," he said, laughing wickedly.

Daina played with her bright red hair, sniggering quietly as the movie started.

And boy, it was loud.

. . .

It was another lonely afternoon. Ashad's mind was whirring with thoughts, so he didn't even try to attack his English homework. All he could think of was Ella and how she'd turned him down. How, barely two weeks later, she was happy to sit there eating some other girl's face right in front of him. He knew her decision didn't have anything to do with what he'd done. Probably. But he couldn't make himself accept that.

Ashad got up from his desk chair and started sifting through his cupboard. Eventually he pulled out an old worn leatherbound book. It was a journal his grandfather had given him when he was young, and he only ever wrote in it when something especially distressing or special had happened. And Ella... well, she was both.

He wrote about how intriguing she'd been at first; the demure girl with a mysterious depth to her personality. She was unfathomable, and Ashad had spent hours talking to her without ever running out of things to say, yet every silence they had shared had been filled with understanding and comfort. He missed that time bitterly.

Before he knew it, Ashad had written four pages, scrawled messily in haste. Normally he formed every word carefully in this diary, but his emotions were too strong today. He sighed, filled with an indescribable feeling that hovered somewhere between loss and an immense sadness. I really need to get over her, he thought. She was never going to miraculously turn straight, and more importantly she seemed to have transformed into someone else entirely. Ashad realised he actually didn't like, or love, her, at least not anymore. It was a relief to even admit it to himself that he'd fallen out of love with her so quickly. Maybe now he could just live for himself and find someone else he could care for.

Forcing himself to show some determination, Ashad grabbed his phone and set up a new group chat, adding Toby and Jeremy to it. He really didn't want to see Ella and Cassidy right now.

4:28pm

Ashad: Hey guys. I have GOT to get out of here. Can we hang out?

Toby: sure, im not doing anything

Jeremy: What's open on a Monday night?

Ashad: Movies, Jeremy. We're going to see Dr Strange, and that's final.

Jeremy: Hey, I'm not complaining!

Ashad grinned to himself at the banter. He loved teasing Jeremy. The other boy had a great sense of humour. Toby was a good friend too, but Ashad also liked that he and Jeremy were becoming closer and creating some of their own in-jokes.