❤️THE SPACE IN BETWEEN❤️
?Age is Just a number?
✍️ Written By Precious Pinky✍️
?Chapter Twelve (12)?
#NOT EDITED.
Theme: Dance in the rain…?️
?Manuel’s Pov?
He was yelling.
He was mad at me.
He hates me.
He wish I could just die and be gone for good.
I was the one pulling him back.
I was the failure in the family.
He wish I was never his son.
He wants me out of his life. For good.
Tessa pats him at his back as she tries calming him down and putting him to ease but he was so mad that he didn’t even pay attention to what she was saying but was just glaring at me.
If look could kill, then he would have do me the honor by killing me right now and here.
I look down at my bandage wrist and honestly I felt no pain at all.
Okay, maybe it hurts. Hell, it hurts like crazy!
I’m pained.
But my heart…they were aching so badly…. The hole in my heart can never be cured by a doctor and neither can it be covered with a bandage.
It was unbearable.
….The pain.
This physical wound was nothing compare to it.
My dad glared at me one last time before storming out of the ward.
Tessa ran her fingers throu-ghher hair and approached me with a sly smile on her face.
She hates me also.
It’s very obvious.
“How do you feel now?” She ask, going hands on hips as she stare at me and waited for my reply.
“Like you care.” I mumbled under my breath as I tried to get up to my feet.
“Actually, I don’t. But i do care about your dad and you are doing nothing but making things difficult for him.” She sighed. “Yeah, I wish you could just die and disappear from this planet so your dad could have a peaceful life but it seems like my wish can never come true.”
This lady was mean.
How could she say something like this?
Why does everyone care about him and not me!?
Even mom left not because he had hurt her and me but because she doesn’t want anyone to know about his evil deeds.
She was worried about him. And not me.
“Are you done?” I questioned Tessa, glaring at her.
She eyed me from head and toe and stormed out of the ward.
I felt like strangling her.
And for the first time, I felt like killing someone aside from myself.
I grabbed my phone from the couch which was kind of a surprise to me because i had left it on the bed.
Well, whatever.
I kept it in my pan-ts pocket and walked out of the ward as well.
I was in so much shock when I heard her voice.
But…why will I be hearing her voice in the hospital?
Or am I that guilty for breaking my promise to her?
She will definitely hate me now.
I’m so disappointed at myself for breaking my promise.
I sighted Tessa talking to a girl my age. I couldn’t see the girl’s face because Tessa was standing in the way.
I walked over to them and damn, I almost stri-p and fall when I saw her.
…Malby.
But what was she doing here?
How did she know I was here?
“Malby?”
She looks up at me and shit, I could see the disappointment in her eyes as she stared at me.
I could see the bitterness.
The sadness.
fuc-k, I think I hurt her.
“what are you doing here?” I ask, pulling my bruised wrist behind me. I don’t want her to see the pain I was pa-ssing throu-gh. I don’t her to see the pain I had caused myself.
“I might have told her about you.” Tessa says, smiling.
What?
How the hell was that possible?
How did she even get to have Malby’s number or know about Malby?
“I thought you said he was lying helplessly on the hospital bed.” Malby says, turning her gaze to Tessa.
Tessa shrugged before walking off.
Oh. Now, I get it.
She used my phone to call Malby. No wonder my phone was on the couch instead of it to be on the bed.
That despicable woman!
“That’s my dad’s mistress. Tessa.”
“I know. She introduced herself but didn’t tell me about being your dad’s mistress.” She says. There was a long silence before she dropped the bomb that came in form of a question. “Why did you do it?”
Why did I do it?
I know exactly what she was talking about but I don’t have an answer to the question.
I just find joy in harming myself.
Okay, maybe I don’t find joy in it but it felt save. It felt like it was the safest thing to do and the easiest way to escape from the world.
I sighed and look ahead of her when I caught glimpse of him.
The one guy I grew to hate for no just reason.
He was staring right back at me with his hands stuffed into his pocket and he was standing very close to Malby.
I clenched my jaw and fist as I glared at him.
Did she tell him?
Who knows maybe because i broke my promise to her she decided to break hers?
She told him about my de-epest secret. She betrayed me.
“What is he doing here?” I ask, diverting my gaze from him to her.
I know for a fact that the eyes I was using to stare at her right now could possibly kill.
“Uh…I…you… Xander…”
“You told him.” I cut her off from whatever she was going to say as I ask her the one question I needed answer to.
She quickly shook her head. “No. I didn’t. He kinda overheard my conversation with your… dad’s mistress.”
“How…”
“Are you trying to avoid the main question here?” She ask, cutting me off as well.
I guess this saying was damn true, don’t do others the thing you won’t want them to do to you.
“What?”
“Why did you do it? Why did you self harm yourself after promising me never to do so?” She almost raised her voice.
“I…” I was doomed. I don’t even know what excuse to give right now.
I look down at my feet.
“Answer me, Manuel. why did you choose to break your promise instead of not self harming yourself?”
“Okay, I know you guys didn’t ask for my opinion but I think we should take this conversation outside. I hate the look I’m receiving from both the nurses and the patients.” Xander bu-tted in and for once I agreed with him.
Malby glared at me before storming out of the hospital alongside Xander and me.
We walked into a cafe that was across the road from the hospital.
We headed for the booth that was beside the window and took our seat.
Malby was still glaring at me while Xander was seated beside her and I was sitting across from them.
A waitress approached us and we ordered for just water.
The waitress gave us a weird look but left anyway to take our order.
“Start talking.” She urged.
“I know I broke my promise to you. And I’m a jerk for doing so but…you also broke your promise as well.”
“What?”
“Why is he here?” I pointed at Xander.
“i…”
“Listen.” Xander cuts Malby off sentence as he spoke. “I know you don’t like me and hell I don’t like you either. But I can’t hate you also. Why? Because my best friend here likes you and calls you her friend.” He paused. “She didn’t tell me about your sickness. You see, Malby is very good at keeping secret save. She can be stupid sometimes, she can be annoying, she can be a best friend who keep secret from her best friend because she is trying to protect a friend. But she’s never one who breaks promises.”
??????????
?Malby’s Pov?
“….but she’s never one who breaks promises.”
That word melted my heart.
This guy keeps making me fall for him over and over again.
I mean, he knows the real me. He sees me for who i am and not what i am.
He trusts me.
He understands me more than anybody in this world.
He is more like my other half.
And i love him.
Not just as a friend but as something more.
And honestly… I’m feeling guilty for keeping this secret away from him. He was my best friend after all and best friends don’t keep things from each other.
“i…” Manuel voice trailed off as he looked from his feet to my face. He was wearing an apologetic look on his face.
I didn’t say anything.
I just waited for him to give me a reasonable reason for self harming himself. Again.
“I’m sorry.” He apologized.
He’s sorry?
He’s sorry?
Who the hell needs his apology right now?
I was fuc-king mad at him.
In fact I hated him.
He tried to kill himself.
He wanted to leave just like that.
I mean, if he dies then who’s going to do the list with me?
We promised to finish the list together but what did he do, he went behind my back and tried to commit suicide.
Like seriously, who does that?
But it turned out to be that I wasn’t mad at Manuel. I was only scared of losing a friend like him.
“I don’t need your apology, Manuel. Hell, fuc-k that apology!” I say, getting agitated. “I just need you to tell why you did it.”
I thought he wasn’t going to talk. But he did.
Okay, he didn’t actually spoke up but he snapped out instead.
“I was fuc-king tired! I was fuc-king frustrated and tired of the whole world. I needed my own space. I needed my own time but hell, I can’t seem to have it! Why does my own life have to get so fuc-ked up like this? Why me? Huh? why?” He paused and let out a de-ep sigh. “Life isn’t just about choice but it’s rather about decisions. It gave me a choice…either to live or to die.”
“And what was your decision?” I ask softly. He didn’t say anything. “What was tour decision, Manuel?” He still kept mute.
I slowly got up to my feet and ran my fingers throu-ghmy hair and sighed. “Fine. Do whatever you want. In fact, fuc-k you!” I threw the list at him and pulled Xander up from his seat. “When you’ve make your decision…you know where to find me.” And with that said, I dragged Xander along with me out of the Cafe.
That a-sshole.
That jerk.
He didn’t even care to stop me or anything.
He just stood there like an idiot and watch me leave.
I let go of Xander’s wrist and got into the pa-ssenger’s seat while Xander entered the driver’s seat but he didn’t start the ignition.
He just sat there and was staring at nothing in particular.
What’s wrong with him?
No, I mean…what’s wrong with everyone?!?
“You look like an idiot right now.” I say, laughing.
He glared.
“Why are we just sitting here doing nothing? Let’s go home.”
“Do you like Manuel?” He suddenly ask and I swear I almost got choke with my saliva.
“What?”
“You like Manuel, don’t you?”
How can he even think that?
Does it look like I like Manuel?
What’s wrong with this blind bat?
Can’t he see that the person I like is him?
Or was he that blind?
“Let’s go home.” I say instead of giving him a reply.
I was mad at him for being so blind not to see that my actual feelings were for him and no one else!
“I will always support you, Malby.”
“What?”
“If you like Manuel then just know that I will always support you. I might not like him but_”
“Are you that blind?!” I yelled in anger. “Are you that blind that you can’t see who my actual feelings are for or you are just acting to be dumb!”
“what… what are you saying?”
I can’t do this.
if I keep sitting here then I will eventually say something that I will regret. So I did what I knew was best for the both of us.
I got out of the car.
I walked down the road, ignoring Xander as he kept calling out to my name.
What a douchebag!
Jerk!
a-sshole!
I hope you fall with your di-ck !
Okay, that was harsh.
Scrap that word.
I kept walking down the road with no destination in mind.
I hate him. And hell, i hate that I’m falling for him gradually!
Even the heavens could feel my pain because they started crying for my sake.
I look around to find shelter for myself as it kept raining heavily when a hand shot up and got hold of my wrist from behind.
I couldn’t move..
I look around and there was no single soul around aside from me and the unknown person who was still holding my wrist.
Oh my God.
I’m going to die.
This person could be a serial killer who kills for fun.
It might be a psychopath!
fuc-k, I’m going to die.
I shouldn’t have left the car. I should have let Xander take me home first before I get mad at him.
Should I scream?
But even if I scream no one will hear me because of this stupid rain!
“please…let…me go…please don’t hurt me.”
“And why will I hurt you?”
Wait.
Recap.
“And why will I hurt you?”
That voice.
I know that voice.
That voice wasn’t a serial killer’s.
In fact that voice belongs to my friend.
I turned around and found myself staring at Manuel.
Water ran down his hair to his face and body.
Yeah, it was still raining really heavily.
That rhymed.
“Man…Manuel?”
“Hi.” He let go of my wrist and dropped his hands at his side.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, looking around the silent street but there were still few buses and cars driving past us.
“I should be the one asking you that. Why didn’t you go home with Xander?”
“That’s none of your concern.” I say, and tried to walk away but he held my wrist stopping me from going.
“We need to talk.” He say sternly.
“We have nothing to talk about, Manuel. I told you, unless you’ve made your decision that’s the only way we could talk.”
“But…”
I pulled my wrist from his grasp, for-cefully. “I need to go home.” I turned from him and tried to take a step from him but was stopped.
And no, he didn’t hold my wrist this time around but what he said next made me stay still. In shock.
“I want spend my time with you, Malby.”
I slowly turned to him, wide eyes. Did he just say that? Does he really want to spend his time with me? Do I even worth it?
He walked closer to me and now he was standing so close to me.
He brushed a stray of hair from my face and tuck it behind my ear, looking closer to my face.
Our faces were just inches away from each other as the rain poured down on us.
“Hashtag four.” He whispered.
Hashtag four? What does that…
#4. I want to dance in the rain.
Oh.
We could cross that out now.
Now was the best time for it.
I smiled and nodded my head in agreement.
“May I have this dance, milady?” He say, using an accent I do not know as he stretched out his palm to me.
I giggled. “Of course.” I placed my palm on his outstretched palm and we both started dancing, smiling.
This was fun.
Manuel was my friend and I’m glad we sorted out our differences.
I just have to settle things with Xander now and stop acting like a pu-ssy.
And I need to make a decision of whether to tell Xander about my feelings for him or not.
Manuel was right after all. Life wasn’t just about choice, it was also about making decisions.
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#To Be Continued…