13 years ago
16 year old Brett arrived at his best friend's house. He tapped on the door which was shortly answered.
"Hey Brett, welcome. How's it going. C'mon in."
"Thanks Eddy. So how is she?"
"We just picked her up from the shelter. She's super cute."
Brett entered the house, removed his shoes and followed 15 year old Eddy into the living room.
"Brett's here."
"Hello Aunty Chen. Yes my parents' are well, thank you. Hi Belle."
Eddy's older sister Belle excitedly called out to Brett;
"Hey Brett, come and check her out. She is sooooo cuuuuuute OW!!"
"Hi Belle. Woo, she's a bit feisty. Oh wow, she is so cute. What's her name?"
"We haven't named her yet. Eddy and I were saying she's too agitated to show her true self to us yet so we'll wait till she settles to work out her personality before we give her a name. "
"Yeah Brett. She is very feisty! Have a look at our hands.. they've been shredded.."
Eddy held up his hands in front of his best friend. Brett took the opportunity to take them into his own hands, wearing his deadpan, as if it was the most natural thing to ever do. His heart rate secretly doubled. He carefully held each hand of Eddy's in his as he gently turned them over to inspect both sides.
"Oh no Eddy, man you're right, she must be one bloody vicious little kitten!"
There was one particularly large gash on the back of Eddy's left hand. Brett gently traced along its side with his thumb.
"This one looks quite deep. You should give it a good wash with some antibacterial soap."
"Yeah probably not a bad idea, thanks."
Brett looked up at his friend. Eddy was smiling, was that a tinge of rose colour in his cheeks?
He's probably just excited about the kitten, the new addition to the family, not because I'm holding his hands..
Brett let Eddy pull his hands away as he dashed to the bathroom to wash his hands. When Eddy returned, his bangs were wet as if he had splashed water onto his face.
"Ok, ready to practice?"
Brett cast his eyes back over his shoulder to indicate that he had his violin case on his back.
"Always. Let's go."
The boys went upstairs to Eddy's room.
The boys had met at maths tutoring a couple of years prior and had become best friends after learning they both played the violin.
An hour of practice later the boys descended the stairs together, chatting about a joke their conductor had said at orchestra practise that neither of them could understand.
"It was probably not quite PG ya know.."
"Yeah I think so, too."
"Hey Belle, how's she going?"
"Hey Brett, she's hidden under the couch and won't come out. I think I'll just let her hide and feel safe. Can you boys also try to ignore her and give her space for a while?"
"Okay, sure thing. Brett, Mario Kart?"
"Yeah sure. Can we still sit on the couch?"
"Maybe we'll just sit in front of it on the floor. Cos I know we're gonna end up bouncing around when we get excited, she might not appreciate that if she's under the couch."
"Sure Eddy, that's good thinking."
So the boys initially sat side by side, but gradually Eddy shuffled his way closer to the TV screen as he sat cross-legged as became more and more engaged in the game. Brett also cross-legged but chose to stay put to lean back against the couch.
Eddy noticed by their 2nd lap of their 2nd game of MarioKart, Brett had gone rather quiet.
Eddy turned around to check on Brett. He widened his eyes in surprise.
The kitten had emerged from underneath the couch and was sitting right next to Brett.
"Eddy, Eddy!! I'm right behind you, you're gonna crash..!!"
Eddy quickly turned back towards the TV screen.
"Oh damn. Brett.. you realise the kitten is sitting next to you?"
"Yeah, I saw her in my peripheral vision. I thought she was unfriendly and scared."
Eddy kept his eyes on the TV screen, faced away from Brett as he smiled.
"Well, she seems to like you."
"Humph. Jealous?"
"...Just a bit."
"Fair enough."
"....Is it?"
"Yeah, she's your cat. You've always said you wanted to become a vet. It's natural to feel jealous if you think you're more entitled to something, in this case, your kitten's attention, than I am. That's what jealousy is."
"Humph. Is that so."
"Yeah. If you feel threatened that someone else will claim what you believe is rightfully yours, that's jealousy. If it's something you want knowing it's not rightfully yours, it's envy."
"Hmm.. so I guess I am jealous, Brett."
It was the first time Eddy had ever admitted to feeling jealous.
There have been other times when they've gone out with a group of friends and Eddy had witnessed Brett's charm captivate girls and boys alike, where if the literal words rang true, Eddy would've been glowing toxic waste green with jealousy. It pained his poor little heart but the 15 year old couldn't quite work out why.
Like I don't feel jealous of Brett's musical talent.. I'm envious of it I suppose, but I do understand he deserves it because I know how much he practices.
Now I know Brett's my best friend and that he thinks the same of me. So why should I feel jealous when we're with other people?
According to what Eddy just said, because I think... Brett is rightfully mine..?
OMG
Eddy's cart almost skidded off the road. After letting out a shriek, Eddy managed to get it back on track. Cart back on track but his thoughts were all over the place, out of control.
I think it's because I want more.
..But I don't know what that actually entails.
I mean, where do you even take it from where we are now? What's the next level after being best friends?
Eddy was way too distracted by his thoughts and his cart skidded off the track and fell down a chasm.
Behind him, he heard Brett roar with laughter.
"Eddy, what were you thinking?! That was the stupidest place to fall off!!"
Eddy shrugged and turned around. This time Eddy gave out a little yelp in surprise. And it gave him great comfort to openly admit it;
"OMG.. Brett..I'm so frickin' jealous."
Brett beamed with his sweetest smile.
The kitten had turned herself into a little fluff ball on Brett's lap, tiny enough to perch herself on the surface of his thigh.
The thing was, Eddy wasn't sure who he was jealous of.
Brett winning the affection of the kitten.
Or.
The kitten, that sat on Brett's lap.