Chocolate Emergency

Twenty-five Home

Twenty-five Home

"Wait for me to come home" –Ed Sheeran, Photograph.

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                I heard someone once say the only thing that remains the same is change itself. That phrase has stayed with me ever since, always lingering behind my hazy thoughts. It's true, isn't it? Everything changes, even love does. A passionate young love gives way for affection when youth withers away.

            Change is what I was feeling right now. As the weekend passed, I spent my time in the guest room, studying-my eyes fixed upon the blinding white pages of the book, a part of my heart was slowly becoming a stone. Yes, that's the aftereffect of rejection. Once, a long time ago, I often wondered what made people to become so distant, cold, and cruel. It was my young self who was wondering about the stone heartedness of adults. Why are adults cruel? Why do they place worldly goods above friendship and love?  

            I found my answer. When a wave of hardship collided fiercely against me, I began losing wisps of my identity; I began losing kindness, sympathy towards the problem of others. I'm not the only one. Hardship and struggle does that to people. I vowed that I would resist these changing tides with all I had; I won't let the hardships of life kill my soul.

            I lost that war.

            And yet again, I was facing the same yet different tides of change. I wouldn't let them change me this time though. If there is one thing I had learned during the short time I stayed with Devlin is to never let life pull you down no matter what. His kindness and goodwill gave me hope. It made me hopeful that even in the war against reality, one can always fight the war together; you don't have to be alone in this war. Join other people; be kind, this isn't a race. This is Life. And Life was never a competition.

            "Alice," Oliver's hand found my back, he steered me towards the lunch table at the end of the hall. His friends from the swim team were gathered around the table, few of the lower class girls were also sitting at the table, and I recognized some of the faces from middle school.

            "Where are you talking me? I'm not sitting with your group," 

"Oh yes, you are," A pair of stormy eyes held mine. Small, red spots were peppered across Oliver's forehead. There was a small teasing smile on his lips; his eyes were almost challenging me to contradict him.

            "I'll beat the shit out of you if you force me into sitting with them,"

For a moment, he seemed scared. I could see his mind going back to the time when we used to ride the same bus in middle school. Every time we would into a fight, which incidentally happened a-lot, I used hit Oliver so hard that there were purple bruises on his shoulders the following day.

Then Oliver smirked, his pale lips curled into a victorious smile, he straightened his back, his full height came into my view. I didn't miss the way he tighten his arms to reveal the muscles draping around its length.  "I'd like to see you try,"

I curled a strand of hair around my finger. "You wouldn't hit a girl,"

"You're the only exception," He finished with grin that reminded me of Lord Voldemort.

"What about Sandy?"

            "She has her minute math competition today,"

"Right," I sighed as we began nearing towards the table. My old friends came into view, Zack, the boy with an electric smile and a personality to charm, Tanya, a girl who always puts up her brave front even when circumstances are opposing, Solida, who had a brain of a genius but a heart of an musician, Trever, a guy who is always willing to fight for his friends but didn't fight for me.