Chris
I ran towards the soccer field, getting ready to train for the tournament. Art left us about a week ago, saying he wants to focus more on his program and that he could no longer balance training and university works.
It’s true though, we are already at our third year. Which means more time and effort is needed for us to get through the semester without backlogs. I looked at the students gathering around the field, wanting to watch us train. Then I’ve got an idea.
“Why didn’t I ask her earlier?” I told myself as I went back, hoping to catch up to Trisha and ask her if she wants to watch the soccer team’s mock tournament.
When I caught sight of her I stopped right away.
She’s talking with Art. I can’t hear what they’re talking about but Art is acting shy around her, covering his mouth while whispering something to himself, but then he decided to leave.
What were they talking about? Art is changing his expression faster than usual, he was shy at first then he immediately wore a bored expression and only shrugged at Trisha before leaving.
I was about to call Trisha out but suddenly she ran and tried to catch up with Art. Why is she running after him?
Without thinking too much about it, my legs moved all by itself and I’m now following the two of them from a distance. A part of me wants to just let them be, but another part of me wants to know what’s going on between them.
I once asked Art how he feels about Trisha, when I asked for his help for our date. He only shrugged, he even supported me saying that I should go and confess to her. But I don’t really know what he’s hiding deep down. I have a hunch that he likes her after he took her out but as I continued to observe him, I concluded that he’s not really that into her. Because if he was, he would’ve tried harder to get closer to her, just like what I’m doing.
I heard Trisha shouted Art’s name. She called him Art, she used to call him Fernandez all the time. When did she start calling him Art? Also, Art does not really like being called Art by people whom he does not consider as his family or close friends.
Art looked like he was dumbfounded by how Trisha called out to him. He then walked back towards Trisha, this time wearing a bored expression, but I know what I saw first.
Suddenly Trisha grabbed his hand, preventing him from walking away, they talked for a while then Art decided to leave her hanging, again. But Trisha continued to follow Art without Art noticing, and I continued to follow her.
I know I will get hurt if I continue to follow her any further, but I just can’t stop myself from wanting to know the truth. Does she like Art? Is that the reason why she does not want me to court her?
We arrived at the parking lot and Art turned back and saw Trisha. I hid behind a car, in case that he’ll look at my direction too. I moved slowly towards them and from here I still can’t hear what they’re talking. I took a peak and saw Trisha wiping a tear from his cheek.
The action looks so intimate, as if it’s so natural for her to calm Art down. Art even lets her cup his cheek as he closed his eyes as he felt her touch even more.
This is my first time seeing Art acting this way. I never even saw him cry, not even once. But right now he’s crying in front of Trisha, this means he really trusts her, right?
I know Art, he does not want anyone to think that he’s vulnerable. He likes to keep his walls up, and although he jokes around with us and loosens up, I know he’s hiding another side of him, the weak side of him.
I watched Trisha comforted him as they are kneeling on the ground. Art is resting against her chest as she hugged him.
I feel like I’m invading something private, or that I’m seeing something that I’m not supposed to see. Other than that, I can feel tears running down my cheeks. It hurts, seeing the woman you love, expressing her love to another man. Not just towards any other man, but towards my closest friend – my best friend.
I want to express my jealousy but I have no right. I’m just her friend, and it’s my decision to still wait for her even though she already told me no. It’s my decision to hope, is it really wrong to hope for her?
I thought, that maybe someday somehow, she would look at me the way she’s looking at Art right now. I wish she would look at me like that, but I guess she never will. The eyes of other women don’t matter to me, I only want hers. No matter how many beautiful women express their fondness, their love towards me, none of it matters if it ain’t Trisha.
“Gosh, how far have I fallen?” I told myself as I chuckled lightly to ease the pain.
I saw Trisha went inside Art’s car as they drove out of the campus.
“Where are they going?” I wiped my tears and stood up. I decided to skip training and went directly back to the dormitory.
I texted Dale, ‘Can’t train today, I’m not feeling well.’
I went inside trying not to think too much about what’s going on between Art and Trisha.
“If I want to have answers then I should ask them, right?” I talked to myself in the mirror as I washed my face.
I sat on the bed, set an alarm for 8:00 pm.
“I’ll ask her later then at the rooftop.” Then I closed my eyes.
Time passed by so fast and I heard my alarm went off. I stood up and changed into clean clothes, then I went to the rooftop.
On my way to the rooftop I bumped into Carmela. Her face is full of worry and she’s panting, as if she’s running around trying to find something – or someone.
“Hey Carmela, where are you going?” I asked her. “I’m going to the rooftop. Trisha and I are going to make our lab reports. Have you seen her?” I added.
She looked at me as if she wants to tell me something.
“Why? What’s the problem?” I asked her.
“That’s the thing, Trisha is nowhere to be found. I tried contacting her but she’s outside coverage area.” She told me.
“She’s not yet home?” I asked her.
“Nope, maybe you’ve seen her earlier?” She asked me.
Should I tell her what I saw earlier? Nah, if Trisha wants to tell her, she’ll tell her. I’ll just tell her she’s with Art so that she’ll no longer worry.
“I saw her with Art earlier. They drove off somewhere.” I told her.
I heard her breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I don’t have to worry anymore since I know Art can be trusted. Will you still wait for her at the rooftop?”
“Yeah I will. I know she’ll come back on time.” I responded confidently. Trisha is not really the type to forget her university works, right? Although this lab report is not due until next week. But we planned it and she said yes. I know she’ll come back on time.
“Are you sure?” She asked me and I can see she’s worried about me too.
“I’m sure she’ll come.” I told her, while also trying to convince myself that Trisha will really come.
Carmela looked at me as if she wants to object about me waiting for Trisha, but decided not to.
“Okay then? I shall get going first. I need to tell Aiden that I already know where Trisha went. Thank you, again.” She then patted my shoulder and walked away.
“I know she’ll show up.” I told myself.
I waited at the rooftop and looked at the time.
“9:00 pm. That’s okay, maybe she’s travelling back right now.”
I asked Dale if he knows where Art went but as usual no one knows. We tried to contact his phone but he left it at the dorm, again.
He really has a habit of disappearing without saying anything and he does not even bring his phone with him.
I waited and waited. I even started solving the measurements we got from the lab. Then I started to make the graph, but there’s no sign of Trisha.
“Should I still continue to wait for her?” I whispered to myself.