Chapter 24: Confrontation
Theo
"I just want to know why you wanted me to befriend Theo so bad."
The three wasn't able to answer, they avoided eye contact from Hunter. "It doesn't matter. It's all good for all of us, Theo's happy, we're happy--"
I didn't let Mika finished as I stepped out of the shadows. All of their eyes turned on me, even Cielo who had his back on them.
"So, that's why?" I said, my voice louder than usual. I looked at their faces, Hunter's surprised and the others' guilty. "You all forced him to befriend me? Am I right?" My deafening voice echoed through the maze.
"Theo, it's not what it looks like. We just wanted to make you happy because--"
"How do you know what's good for me? How do you know what makes me happy?" I looked at Mika with a thunderous glare, my voice getting caught in my throat after my last word. I looked at Hunter, his expression guilty. "So our friendship was just forced?" And at that, they all went quiet.
"N-no, Theo. It's not, I appreciate you--"
"If so, why the fuck did you not tell me?" My eyes slowly glistened in the orange lights from the walls of the maze, the situation sinking in ever so slightly. "That's why you comforted me? That's why you were nice to me? Because my friends told you?"
Hunter just stayed silent, his eyes held something I couldn't explain. I shook my head disappointingly.
And then I faced my so-called-friends. "And you all, what did I say, what the fuck did I request? It was the least you could do, to respect my decision, to respect my request." And the tears escaped my eyes. "When did you tell him?" I asked them, my voice getting quieter.
"...The end of last year."
My mouth parted. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I couldn't believe the friends I trust my whole life with, the friends that has helped me, betrayed my trust. What hurts the most is the four months of enjoying the new high-school life I had with my new friends... was all just fake, just for show.
My tears continued spilling out of my eyes. I roughly wiped my cheek, as my other hand balled into a fist at my side. "You didn't only betrayed my trust, but you, you all! You all kept me in a bubble, a bubble that was far from reality that you knew was gonna burst." I said to them, hurt evident in my voice, my pained voice keeping them silent. "Some friends you are."
And with that, I ran past all of them, exiting the hedge maze, hot tears running down my cheeks and feeling the cold air hitting my skin. I let it wash away the pain I was feeling.
The pain my friends caused.
...
12 Missed Calls, 131 Unread Messages. My phone buzzed over and over again as I laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. The moon emitting a soft glow from the window to my left. It was two in the morning.
"Theo, silent your phone. I'm trying to sleep." Theodosia said as she turned on her bed. I mumbled a 'sorry' before picking up my phone and reading the current messages.
An incoming call from Hunter.
If I was the old, dumb Theo who was oblivious to their doing, I would've picked up in a heartbeat. But it's different, and I wish it wasn't.
My phone rung from an incoming call from Reign. I went to the bathroom to answer the call. My eyes were so swollen, my hair disheveled, I picked up, not caring about how I looked.
"Hello. Theo?" I heard my cousin's voice over the line.
It's still weird calling her my cousin.
"Hi Reign." I greeted. "Really sorry, I'm a mess."
"Theo, you don't need to be sorry. And don't worry, after you left, I gave them all a piece of my mind. I just need you to hear them out."
"Hear what out? I've heard enough." I said with an exasperated sigh. "Look, I know that I overreacted. But I just can't face them, at least not right now. Give me a few days." I said, my tired eyes tearing up, just from recalling the night's events.
I heard Reign sigh at the other line. "Yeah okay, fair enough. A lot of people were really concerned about you, like Masha and Rhea. They don't know what's going on."
"Can you fill them in. I..." A sob escaped me which made me clutch my mouth.
"Theo, do you want me to come over?"
I collected myself for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. "N-no, you don't need to do that."
"M'kay. Try to push everything out of your mind so you could sleep. You know, this always happened when we were young, whenever you got reprimanded, I'd always tell you, don't think about it too much. There's always tomorrow, you can do it." She started cheering. "Go, go Dory! Go, go, go Dory!"
I laughed as I tightly gripped my phone. "Thanks, Mal. I love you." I whispered over the phone.
"Love you too, Dory. Now go get some sleep." We bid goodbye and I was the one to hung up. I pondered over her words as I carried myself out of the bathroom and to my cold bed.
One of the things I'd prefer to have is someone to sleep with. It really does help me have that sense of security, I'd pay to have a sleeping buddy to be honest. That's why I have a trillion stuffed toy, it might be different from a person but it does half the trick.
"Hey, Theo. You fine there?" I heard my sister ask from across the room.
"Yeah, except this night was just complete shambles." I replied, my voice quiet to prevent anymore sound that would concern Sia.
"Is that why you're getting a million text a minute?" She asked, completely sitting up, rubbing her eyes.
I sighed tiredly, ruffling my own hair and letting my arm slump. "You know our cousin Mal? Turns out, she was studying in our school the whole time. And I didn't even know." I said.
Sia's eyes widened, letting my words sink in. "Wow."
"And that's not the only thing I found out." I cut her off before she could say anything. "You know that lad that's dropped me off a few times? Turns out, he and my friends were all lying to me." I continued with a sarcastic smile. "It's all great. I was supposed to have fun and impress tonight. And it all ended in complete disaster." I finished ranting, burying my head in my hands.
I felt the bed dip beside me as my sister wrapped her arms around my shoulder. "It'll get better, I promise. Do you remember your answer in that Q&A? It's time to apply that to yourself now."
I looked back on the answer I gave on that competition two months ago.
"Everyone faces problems and everyone experiences loss. But just because someone else is doing worse than you, doesn't mean you can't feel pain, doesn't mean you're not struggling... No matter what it is, it will be better. There's a rainbow always after the rain."
"I'm sure your friends have a really good reason why they did whatever they did. You're friends for a reason, you trust them with your life. They help you, you help them. Don't think about it for now, you have all the time in the world... Okay?"
I wrapped my arms around Sia's torso, before pulling away and giving her a smile. "Thanks, sis. You're the best."
"If you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk too, you have your sis." She said before crossing the room and sitting on her own bed. "Now go get some sleep."
I nodded and I did what Mal and Sia advised me to do, push all of the negative thoughts and succumb to my tiredness. And so I succeeded, falling asleep in a matter of minutes.
...
I woke up at 12 noon, the bright sun reminding me to get my ass moving, clutter of kitchen appliances ringing through the house as I sat up on the bed.
I opened my phone to see the notifications on the lock screen. 12 missed calls and 247 unread messages. I scoffed and threw it on the bed.
I exited the room to see my mom and sister watching the TV as they laughed at whatever was happening on the screen.
I drank some water from the kitchen, sitting down on the chair with a screeching sound. I propped my chin on my palm as my eyelids fluttered close. When a hand slammed on the table in front of me scared the remaining masculinity out of me.
"Good morning, Theo!" My sister greeted before sitting down on the chair opposite of me.
"Gosh, there is no good in a morning when you're a miserable friendless mess." I said as I buried my head on my hands.
"Cheer up! You know what, would going to the park clear your mind?" She asked.
I looked at her, contemplating her suggestion. "It... would!"
"Great! We're leaving at 3 so it's not scorching hot." She said before leaving me to my thoughts.
"When did you tell him?" I asked them.
"...The end of last year."
The fact that they kept this a secret for that long is incredibly enraging and at the same time, impressive. People like Wei can't keep a secret for long so I'm surprised they could keep this kind of thing behind my back. Not that it matters now, they've done it and betrayed me.
I hesitantly checked my phone again, the unread messages are now at 300. I felt really bad for them since they're doing all of this effort to talk to me. I just hope they thought about what they'd done before they did it.
The thought of them going against what I requested is okay, they've done it countless times. But the fact that they kept it a secret for that long, the friendship I built with Hunter... the bond we've had... it's all because he was told to do so is what really broke me and the fact that my friends knew it was just the cherry on top.
I sighed tiredly and turned off my phone. For the three hours, I helped my mom with household chores before entering my room to get ready.
After getting dressed, I joined my sister at the door for our journey.
We reached the park after a few minutes. Green grass stretch out as far as I can see as people hung out. There was a bridge that crossed to the other side of the park.
Sia and I sat on one of the benches, basking in the warmth of the sun.
"We can watch the sunset later at the bay. It's really pretty there." Sia said as she looked around her surroundings.
People are walking their dogs, kids are playing with balls, an ice cream truck parked just a few distance away.
"Yo, let's buy some ice cream, I haven't eaten one for forever." My sister said before standing up and approaching the truck.
I followed her, preparing my money for the payment already. The moment we reached our turn, I saw a familiar face crossing the bridge.
"Hey, Masha!" I greeted with a wave. Masha recognized me immediately and waved back enthusiastically. She approached us as Sia started to order.
"Hey, Theodore, what do you want?" Sia asked.
"Whatever you're having." I said absentmindedly as Masha finally reached us.
She wrapped me in a tight hug, her scent calming me. "I'm sorry about what happened, Theo."
I chuckled before pulling away. "No need to pity me, it already happened. Anyway, how are you?" I asked.
She smiled warmly at me. "I'm great. But I just want to know how you're holding up when you... found out what happened?"
I looked down at the ground before looking up at her again, fighting the frown that is trying to form on my lips. "Well, when I found out, I was hurt. I don't wanna go into details, I might cry. But I'm surprisingly holding up okay!" I explained.
She nodded. "I understand. I really have to go, I'll see you at the fundraiser, right?"
I nodded then waved her a goodbye.
My sister handed me my ice cream, sitting down on the bench. "So. You told me you'll be joining the elections. What's your advocacy?" Sia asked.
I bit into my ice cream. "Improvement of the Environment. I'm just really passionate about it so..."
She nodded. "You better kick asses. I'm rooting for you." She said before fist-bumping me.
As I was enjoying my ice cream, I suddenly spotted a very familiar group hanging out by the bridge.
"Sia, we should probably get out of here." I nudged my sister, my sight still on the group.
"Why?"
"I... I just-- let's just go." I dragged her out of her seat.
I kept my head low, my hand grasping Sia's arm as we walked closer to the exit, finally--
"Theo. Please, talk to us." I heard Cielo's voice from behind me.
I slowly came to a stop. I bit my lip as it quivered, taking a deep breath before facing my ex-friends.
"What are you doing here?" I noticed that all four of them were standing there, facing me with the same guilty expressions.
"Hear us out. It's all we ask for." Athena said, crossing her arms as she gave me a saddened look.
"Okay, go."
"Theo. I know you wouldn't approve if we set you and Hunter up. But we've seen you daydream, that just means you're really knocked out for him." Mika explained.
I raised a brow.
"And look what happened! You two are friends--"
I didn't even let Wei finished. "Yeah, except I found out last night it was all fake, that he just decided to talk to me one day because he was forced."
"For god's sake, Theodore! He might have been told to befriend you but what you two have is genuine!" Athena snapped.
"I know better than to think someone like him would want to be friends with me! I'm not interesting enough to make friends with anyone! So what makes him different?!"
My eyes began to heat up as the four wasn't able to answer, they just stayed silent with their downcast eyes.
I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. "Look. I know your intentions were good, but you could've obviously thought different ways of supposedly making me happy." I cast them an apologetic look. "You're all my friends, but you didn't respect my decision. Not only that but you lied to me." I was about to say more, but I decided against it. I shook my head before walking away.
"I'm sorry you guys, just give him time." I heard Sia say before her hurried footsteps followed me.