❤️THE SPACE IN BETWEEN❤️
?Age is just a number?
✍️Written By Precious Pinky✍️
?Chapter Nine (9)?
Theme: His darkest past…?.
?Malby’s Pov?
“Let’s go home together.” I say, grinning at Manuel.
He shrugged with a smile on his face.
I grabbed my bag and walked out of the school building alongside Manuel.
It was kind of fun chatting with Manuel. We mostly talked about music. I was so overjoyed to talk about music with someone.
Do you know what it feels like in finding your other half? Well, that was how I actually felt like.
I didn’t really come across Xander or Mona. But I did saw them coming out of the library, laughing and all that.
I was happy for Mona. This was what she has always wanted. Having Xander’s attention to herself.
But my problem here was…why does she have to take my best friend away from me?
I was mad at Xander and it wasn’t because I was jealous…okay, maybe I was jealous a little but come on, best friends don’t ditch each other!
I slung my bag over my left shoulder and let out a de-ep sigh.
Maybe Mona has always been the one in his heart and I was nothing but just his friend.
I was too greedy to expect more from him.
“Are you okay?” Manuel ask me as we stood beside a motorbike.
“Yeah, why?”
“You keep walking in zig zag.” He pointed out and i laughed, looking down at our feet.
“Want me to drop you home?”
I nod.
“Okay.”
I was still looking down at our feet when Manuel stretched out an helmet to me.
I furrowed my brows in confusion as I look up from the floor to him and that damn, I was left speechless!
Manuel had those bad boys look as he sat over the black motorbike. Damn, that bike looks fu-cking expensive.
I love motorbikes! But… I’ve never rode one before.
Why?
My wonderful mother was only just scared of me dying if i get on a motorbike.
Hilarious, right?
Well, I know that already.
I collected the helmet from him and admire his motorbike for a while, a grin on my face.
“It’s beautiful.” I complimented.
“Thanks. But are you going to get in already or what?”
I smiled before hoping unto the bike and pulling the black helmet on my head.
I wrapped my arms around Manuel’s wa-ist and rested my head against his wide back.
Damn, this guy must be doing a lot of workout.
He puts on his helmet as well and started the ignition before driving out of the school’s compound.
This was fu-cking awesome.
I won’t deny the fact that I was kinda scared due to how speed he was going but I was enjoying the ride…still!
I tightened my arms around Manuel with the aim of never to let go of him.
Geez, why does that sound like a promise.
“Where is your house?” He now ask.
“I don’t want to go home.” I answered.
“Fine.”
Fine? Just fine?
Or does he have other things in mind?
??????????
“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I jumped off the motorbike and ran over to the clifftop.
It looked like a deserted island but at the same time looks like a garden.
und-erneath the cliff were blue oceans. At the left side of the ocean were beachy sand and at the right side were green gras-sthat led to another path that I do not know.
But all the same, it was beautiful.
I was grinning ear to ear as I took in my surroundings.
How did Manuel find a place as beautiful as this place because honestly, I don’t feel like going home again.
Manuel came to stand beside me as he look down at the blue ocean as well.
“How did you find a place as beautiful as this place?” I ask.
He shrugged. “I just kept walking and accidentally came out here. What do you think?”
“It’s… it’s beautiful.” I say.
“Let’s seat.” Manuel says as he sat down on the ground. His legs were swinging over the cliff while I placed my legs beneath my body, sitting down beside him.
We didn’t say a word as we stare at the sky.
We were both in our own world.
But I didn’t like my world.
My world were filled with sadness and heartbreak.
It was filled with images of Xander and Mona having fun and even worse, making out at the backseat of the car.
I was damn jealous.
And i came to the realization…I won’t be fine with Xander and Mona going out together.
In fact, I feel worse and that saddens me like crazy.
I wanted my best friend back. I want to be with Xander. I want him to see me as more than a friend and not just a friend.
I want to be on the same level with him when it comes to education.
But it all sounded impossible.
I look over at Manuel, he was staring at me…damn, that was kind of creepy at first.
He smiled when I look over at him and I returned his smile with a smile of my own.
“Why don’t you want to go home?” He now asked.
I hesitate. “Why don’t you like being in a crowded place?” I fired back and he laughed.
Smart, right?
Yeah, yeah, I know I’m smart. Thanks for just noticing.
I never expected him to answer. Shit, I thought he was going to take offence to my question. I mean, it was his privacy and it was none of my damn business but i was so surprise when he spoke up.
No, he didn’t just spoke up. He provided me with an answer.
Guys, I think Manuel just told me his biggest secret.
“I’m sick.”
I wide-ned my eyes in total shock.
What?
He’s sick?
Like… S-I-C-K?
When did i became so good in spelling, by the way?
“I don’t get.”
“If I stay in a crowded place or in a small place…I might suffocate to death. It’s hereditary…the sickness.” He explains. I didn’t even remember to close my mouth shut until Manuel helped me on that.
I look at him from head to toe but found no sign of his sickness.
He look so normal. Although it was obvious that he had a past. Like he has a problem but no one will ever guess that this guy here had that kind of sickness.
He pulled his black sweatshirt off and showed his wrist to me.
Holy fu-cking Molly!
He wasn’t just sick. He was traumatized!
“You…you…” I couldn’t even compose a word. In fact, my breath was caught up in my throat.
Manuel was a suicidal person. He was self harming himself.
But why?
?Manuel’s Pov?
Why was I telling her all of this?
They were my darkest secret and fear.
They were what was killing me from the inside.
I was a freak.
But I was afraid of Malby seeing me as one.
I was a suicidal person but I was afraid of she getting afraid of me and running away.
That’s what they’ve always done…run away.
Even my own mother had ran away…why? Because I was a freak.
I don’t have friends, they all left me when they found out about my kind of person.
I was literally left alone with my billionaire father who hardly have time for me.
In fact, he never had time for me.
He was always business with work or his numerous mistresses.
I was practically left alone with no one to talk to, to laugh with, to joke around with.
I was like a human with no emotions to feel.
But one day, a brave girl approached me.
She smiled at me.
She spoke to me.
She laughed with me.
She joked with me.
She didn’t see me as a freak.
But rather saw me as a friend.
She shared my food with me… she broke throu-ghmy walls and stepped foot into my kingdom that was only made for me.
But…will she want to be my friend again?
Will she run away just like the way they all ran away?
Will she start to see me as a freak?
I was curious.
But I still don’t regret about telling her about my dark secret.
Yeah, I was afraid of losing a friend as precious and kind-hearted as Malby. But i want her to still know the truth about me.
I want her to know the real me.
Like the saying goes; A true friend will always stay beside you during your darkest moment.
Will Malby represent that true friend by staying beside me even after finding out the truth about me?
Although, I didn’t tell her my actual reasons for self harming myself… i was afraid of telling her that.
No, maybe I was rather afraid of remembering it.
“I’m a freak, I know. I’m nothing but a suicidal person, I also know that! My life suc-ks! Sometimes i want to die. I just want to die and leave this forsaken world. I hate my life, Malby. I hate myself. There is no point for me to live. No one wants to be my friend, no one likes me. They all see me as a freak and run away. Even… Even my own mother ran away and left me with that son of a bitc-h! I’ve never had a life of fun before. I’ve never hanged out with friends. Hell, I don’t even know the taste of ice cream. Isn’t death better?”
Malby was still staring at me in shock.
Before I knew it, she lifted her hand up and ran her fingers throu-ghthe wound I had left on my wrist.
Wait…was she crying?
“Malby….” My voice cracked as I called her name.
She didn’t answer. She just kept crying as she ran her fingers throu-ghmy wrist.
Was she feeling my pain?
She was the first person to actually feel my pain. The others acted gullible and cared less about my pains or problems.
Hell, they never even cared to see what I was pa-ssing throu-ghafter that day.
That day…
The same day that made my mother leave…
The same day that turned my life upside down…
The same day that turned me into a freak…
That same day still scare me like a bitc-h.
Malby pulled her fingers from my wrist and before I knew it, she had her arms wrapped around my ne-ck and pulled me closer to herself into a warm embrace.
I have never had a hug before. No one had ever pitied me or consoled me.
Hell, I don’t want anyone to fu-cking pitying me.
“Don’t.” I warned.
“What?”
“Don’t pity me.” I say.
She pulled away from me and smacked me on my ch-est, glaring at me.
What was that for?
Before I knew it, she embraced me again. “I’m not pitying you, Manuel. I’m just feeling your pain. I can’t even imagine what you might have gone throu-gh.”
“Why aren’t you asking?”
“I don’t want you to remember about that ugly past, Manuel.” She pulled out of the embrace and cup-ped my face in between her palms. “You don’t deserve this pain. No one deserves it. I’m sorry for what you might have gone throu-gh. I’m sorry for not being there for you.”
“It’s not your fault, Malby.”
“Yeah. But still.” She sighed. “Let me help you.”
“What?”
She does sees me as a freak. She thinks I need help mentally.
“No, no, no. Not that kind of help, Manuel. But…I want to help you forget about that past. I want to help you forget about that pain.” She looks down at my wrist again. “I want to be your friend in your darkest moment.”
She didn’t run away.
She’s still here.
She still wants to be my friend!
Hell, she wants to make me happy.
She…
I reached out to her hand and smiled and nodded my head. “Friends shares secret.”
She laughs and nodded her head in agreement.
“But promise me one thing…” She began. I gave her the go-ahead look. “Promise me that you will never self harm yourself again.”
I looked de-eply into her eyes and i could see the plea.
She cares for me.
But can I promise her that?
Am I even sure that I wouldn’t self harm myself again?
“I will try but I can’t promise you that.” I answered honestly.
“This won’t do.” She clears her throat as she stood up to her feet and ushered me to stand up as well.
I stood up to my feet, giving her the what-are-you-doing look.
She just smiled and opened her bag and brou-ght out a double sheet of paper and a pen.
She handed them over to me. I gave her a puzzled look.
“I want you to write down those things that you want to do. I promise to do them with you. As your number friend. And trust me, I’m very happy to be considered your first friend.” She says, smiling.
I look down at the sheet of paper and pen then look back up at her face. She was still smiling.
“My hand hurts.”
I quickly collected the paper and pen from her but didn’t write anything.
“Make sure you write out those things you want to do. I will like to see them tomorrow. And i will do all with you without complaining or giving up. I will show you a reason to live. I promise.”
“Won’t you regret this?” I ask.
“Not doing this will be my greatest regret. Oh, before I forget. Your phone.”
I handed my phone to her. She smiled and collects it before typing down something.
She gives back my phone to me and when I look down at it, it was her number which she had saved as; My Number one friend?.
I smiled and look at her.
“It melted your heart, right?” I nod. “We sound like couples.” She started laughing while I joined her in laughing as well.
And for the first time, it felt like a light was shone into my dark heart.
??????????
?Malby’s Pov?
Grrrrgh!
Grrrrgh!
Grrrrgh!
I smiled as i opened my eyes.
I quickly jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom.
I was so excited this morning.
I brushed my teeth while humming a music. I had my bath and walked into my closet.
I picked out a black skinny jeans with a black singlet and a black leather jacket. I collected a black face hat from its rack.
I dressed into the outfit and damn, I look hot!
I snatched my headphones and hung it on my ne-ck before collecting my bag and phone and walking out of my room.
Darla barked as she saw me.
I ruffled her hair and pressed a ki-ss at the top of her head before going into the kitchen.
Dad was brewing the coffee.
Where was mom?
“Hey sweetheart.”
“Dad.” He planted a ki-ss on my forehead and i smiled.
He looks down at my outfit and gave me the What-are-you-wearing look. I just gave him one of my cutest smile.
“Where is mom?”
“She just left for work. Why are you dressed like this?”
“I just felt like dressing like a bada-ss. How do I look? Rocking, right?”
“Yup.” He says, popping the ‘p.’
“I will be going out with a friend today so I might be late.”
“With Xander?”
“Nah.”
Thinking about it now, Xander and i haven’t spoken since yesterday.
He had called me but I didn’t answer.
It’s not like i ignored it on purpose. So don’t start judging.
it just…okay, let’s drop that matter.
I heard a car honk. I furrowed my brows in confusion.
Xander didn’t tell me that he was going to pick me up for school.
Oh.
I hurriedly chug-ged down my coffee and grabbed my sandwich from the plate. I gave dad a ki-ss on his cheek and ran out of the house.
I opened the car and hopped in and of course it was Xander.
“Hey.” I say as I took a bite of my sandwich.
“Ahhh.” He opens his mouth, indirectly asking me to feed him my sandwich.
I glared at him but still fed him the sandwich.
He smiled and started chewing on it.
“I didn’t see you yesterday in school. Why?” He asked as he began to drive out of the compound.
“I was in school but you were too busy to know that.” I say. I had just finished eating the sandwich and was looking for water to drink.
“Here.” Xander handed me a bottle of water.
I grinned at him in appreciation before collecting the water and gulping from the bottle.
I feel satisfied!
“I’m sorry for ditching you yesterday.” He apologized.
“It’s fine.” I replied.
And honestly it was fine.
If Xander had not ditched me then I wouldn’t have had fun with Manuel and find out about his past.
It hurts to know that a guy like Manuel was suffering. It hurts to see him in pain. It hurts to know that he intends to kill himself.
I won’t let him kill himself.
I will make him happy even if it’s the only thing I will have to do.
MAKE MANUEL SEE A REASON TO LIVE was my mission starting from now.
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#TBC.