"Hey.. Kurv!" D'Carter called out, chasing after me. He finally caught up with me and grabbed me by the arm.
"I just want to know what has you so upset--"
"It's not something I want to talk about, Elr. Just.. let me be.." I tried to pull my arm off his grip.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that," he said, letting go.
Suddenly, I felt warm hands gently placed on my cheeks. I looked up to see D'Carter staring down at me with so much concern in his eyes.
"You're my friend, "
"Feel free to tell me anything "
And for a second, all that anger.. anguish.. self-pity boiling up in my heart, it all melted away.
Just hearing him say that, looking up at him made me feel.. I wasn't alone.
Those enigmatic silver eyes glistening with warmth felt so.. reassuring.
If only Vetto was like this.
Ugh, what am I even saying? Vetto just broke up with me. Thinking about him isn't something I should be doing right now.
But before I could undo it, hot tears streamed down my eyes. I just couldn't stop myself from crying. I've been pressing it in all day, but now, with Carter around, every piece of myself I thought had buried away just broke lose.
And without saying a word, Elr stepped closer and embraced me.
Then in a low voice, he whispered,
"Whatever it is, you don't have to tell me, as long as I'm the one at fault here. Just.. don't let it tear you apart, okay?"
I pulled away from the embrace and walked away briskly. Hoping he wouldn't call my name.
And he didn't.
If there's anyone that understands me more than myself, it's Elr D'Carter.
I've known him for over two years now, our first encounter was a complete blur, and although he'd been the one chasing, I've grown quite very fond of him lately. Even when Vetto and I were still in a relationship, we'd still steal a moment of each other's time, tell rotten tales about ourselves.. write a story together,, he even composed a song with my name.
And with time, he became the brother I never had. He's like the guardian angel that I never asked for, and I'm grateful for that. That he sees me.
Not everyone does. Really.
Right now, what I needed more than anything was to be left alone.
And he let me be.
I just soaked my pillow with tears that night, recalling all the moments I spent with Vetto, hoping that he would at least call me. It doesn't matter if he is rude to me. All I just wanted was to hear his voice again. Just once.
At 3 A.M I was still awake, Praying he would call. My eyes opens to the buzzing of my phone. It wasn't the ringtone I saved with Vetto's number, so I didn't want to pick.
' Incoming voice call from unknown number.. Inc-- ' The annoying custom read-aloud of my phone was a weasel to my ear.
' But it is an unknown number ', I muttered to myself. A single stretch was enough to reach my vibrating phone.
" Before you hang up, hear me out "
I paused, recognising the familiar voice. "Elr?"
"Why didn't you just call me with the number saved on my phone?" I could sense the annoyance in my own voice.
"You wouldn't pick if I did" he replied
I rolled my eyes at the mention of it, what was he now, a mind-reader? My fingers played around the hang-up button, I didn't have time for this.
His tone suddenly changed and he began to sound more serious than ever before.
" Look. I heard what happened.. I'm sorry."
But he doesn't have to apologise, the person that has to haven't said anything yet, or even given me a call.
I won't say that I hate the sound of it, .. but.
Anytime I hear a narrow beep it tells me that it's time to go.. time to say goodbye I really miss Elr.. so much that I wanted to talk more.. longer on the phone. When did this even start??
I already miss him.
"Whatever happened between you and Vetto is a blur to me and I'm in no position to say anything.. But you have to stop."
I paused, trying to process what he had just said. And he was right, given the way Vetto dumped me, sulking all day long wasn't going to bring him back.
Maybe I was too blind to notice that.
Maybe..
"Come have pizza with me, then after that, we can play darts on the chessboard I just built with Vetto's pictures.."
I couldn't help but giggle at the mention of it, Elr always had a way of cheering me up. But then, he suddenly went quiet.
"Are you still there? Elr?"
"It's nice."
"..."
" Hearing you laugh, pulling out from that burden of yours. The likes of Vetto aren't worth making you sad.. But I'm still serious about the dart stuff."
" No way, I'm not doing that.." I chuckled halfway into my speech.
" But I spent HOURS designing that dart board.. You can't do this to me Kurv, it would be sooo depressing playing with it alone.."
He sounded like a child throwing a tantrum. But I'm not blind enough not to notice how deep his hatred runs for Vetto. The way his mood changes whenever they cross paths on Campus.
Those two shared a very strong bond of rivalry that I just happened to find myself in the middle of.
Like that one time that Elr planned a birthday party for me and just surprisingly enough, Vetto called me over for a date, after which I had a modeling session for his brand which took hours until my birthday was completely over.
I've been hearing rumours about it but I can't really press it. Sure, Vetto is the popular and rich CEO that everyone has just been talking of lately, always having a crowd around him, forcing me to take one of his escorts home and all that stuff that rich people do.
But Elr never had so much company, in fact, I'm the only one he seems to know around here.
So what then connects the both of them? What gives them a solid reason to hate eachother?
What if there is something Elr wasn't telling me.