Unfortunately Just Friends✔️

Chapter 7: All I See is the Sky

Milo

I can't help but continue laughing even though all of them left already. I then feel a tap on my shoulder to see Leo and January standing behind me. "Did we miss anything?" January asks. "Damn it Leo, we're always late to everything." January looks up at Leo and yells at him and Leo just rolls his eyes. We talk for a while before I see January's eyes widen as she looks passed me. I turn around to see Thalia near the bar talking to Lucas. I instinctively start towards them before I see them both share a hug. Then... all the noise around me goes silent. No music, no chatter, no sounds of feet hitting the floor... I hear absolutely nothing. Then I hear a sound for the first time in what feels like the eternity I have been standing here. A sound that I'm positive nobody around me can hear. It sounds like glass when it falls to the ground and shatters. The problem is that I can not only hear it... but I can feel it. I noticed it hurts so much the second time around, and I guess it will feel like this every time from now on. I should probably get used to it at this rate. It's the sound of my heart breaking.

I lock eyes with Dash from across the room and I can see the sympathy in his eyes. I suddenly can't steady my breath and turn around, pushing Leo out of my way and I start running. I notice that Leo is behind me screaming my name out. What kind of person am I? To have my friends have to chase me over a silly feeling that I'm having? I'm a grown man trying to run from his feelings. I should have known that she would end up with someone anyways. I'm an idiot with an obsession with time anyways. I just didn't like the feeling of her with that moron all over again. I should have walked over to him and punched him, but instead I'm outside of the club now. I couldn't do it, because she didn't look sad, and why should I go over there and hit someone that wasn't making her sad. Leo's voice pulls me back to the world. "Hey idiot, get out of the street!" I look around and see that I am actually in the middle of the street. I am too lost in my own mind that I don't even know where to go. Then I see a bright light come my way and try to dodge it. Leo sprints my way trying to push me out of the way, but the collision takes both of us down.

I'm looking up to the sky now. When did I get on the ground? Is Leo okay? Am I really that stupid to just be in the middle of the road? Yes, it seems like I am. I hear January's shaky voice "Milo! Keep your eyes open okay? Stay awake! Just do that for me!" Then she says in a hushed tone "just do it for Thalia, okay?" And my eyes shut.

I see a long white light before I'm in a long hallway, I look around. I'm standing in middle school with my blazer and dress shirt on. I flip my bangs with a whip of my head and lick the braces in my mouth. I see a beautiful girl walking with her textbooks in her hand, her black hair falling in long, wavy strands around her face. Her smile is the biggest and most calming thing in the world. She's wearing a cheerleading uniform, standing and talking to someone who looks too mature to be a fourteen-year-old boy, like a young greaser. She catches sight of me and practically skips to me. "I've never seen you here before!" I look down because I have seen too many teen movies that I know better. I know that a loser like me can't possibly talk to a cheerleader. She would ruin my social career if I said one wrong word. Then she does something that leaves me utterly confused. She starts talking to me in sign language. "What are you doing?"

"Wait you can hear me?" She lets out a large sigh. "I felt like the most insensitive person in the world! I thought you were deaf for a second. My cousin is deaf, so I know how to sign. Wow, sorry for rambling so much, but I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Thalia." I look at her in the eyes and can feel a strange skip in my heartbeat. I don't think about it much because I just want this conversation to keep going. "Hey, I'm Milo. I just moved here this weekend."

"Oh that's fun! Well I am part of the welcoming committee, so if you need anything don't feel hesitant to ask. I got to go back to my friend over there, he gets lonely without me." Before another word she skips off to her friend. It felt strange to have a relief that he was a friend instead of a boyfriend. I later was introduced to her friend, who was very quiet and kept to himself. He had a cool name that it definitely wasn't his actual name, but I wasn't going to ask about it because it was so awesome... Dash.

Suddenly, it's senior year of high school. Dash sees me in the hallway and pulls me aside. Dash only talks to me on occasion, he actually only talks at all on occasion. "Dude, did you get a new tattoo?"

"Shut up, Milo. Let me say what I have to say before I forget."

"Uh, okay? What's up?"

"Thalia started talking to guys from the college she's going to."

"Okay, how is that my problem?"

"I don't want random boys from college coming to my house and knowing where I live." I don't understand what he's trying to get across now. He then rolls his eyes and continues. "I made a poster for you to ask Thalia to prom. I told her it was just a project and that I need her help with it later. So, before you go to football practice, grab some stupid roses and I'll give you the sign from my locker and you can ask her."

"What? What if she doesn't want to go with me?"

"You're her best friend, you idiot, she would love to go with you. Now just ask her before someone else does." He rolls his eyes one more time before walking away. I never got to thank him for doing that for me, because the look on Thalia's face when I asked her was absolutely priceless. It was probably the happiest she had ever been.

I remember the week that followed that, because we went dress shopping for her practically every day. Thalia did not have a lot of spending money, so she was trying to find something affordable. We went into a nice place and she found a dress that looked stunning on her. The second she looked at the price tag, she walked into the fitting room to take it off so we could go home. When I went to the hospital to visit my dad that night, I told him my plan of buying the dress for her and he encouraged me to do it. When I went to her house that night, her and Dash were sitting on the front porch watching the sky. I showed her the dress and she started bawling, thanking me, telling me that it was too much, but truth is, I would spend millions on that girl to see that smile every day.

The day of prom I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. She was gorgeous, nobody could compare in any way at all. The entire night was perfect, and much to our surprise, we won prom king and queen. We had to slow dance in the middle of the dance floor, and when she put her head on my shoulder, I wished that time would stop. I hoped that she couldn't hear my heartbeat because it could have been louder than the music. If I could repeat any time in my life, I would say it was that. I later went to drop her off that night and before leaving the car, she gave me a peck on the cheek. I knew I had feelings for this girl, but I never realized how in love I actually was.

All of these memories kept flooding back to me. And I realized they all shared one thing in common, Thalia. I just can't keep this girl off of my mind no matter how hard I try. I just have to actually try now. I had to understand that we can just simply not be together. If something were to happen, it would have happened already.