“What? No!” I quickly said. “I’m just happy for Liam.”
“Are you sure you’re not hiding something from me, Eth?” Nathalie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You’re acting weird today.”
“What weird?” I said and turned so that my phone’s back faced her. “I always talk like this,” I said as I continued to view Liam’s profile on Instagram.
“Not that,” she said. “You’ve been complaining about me holding your hands a lot lately, and now I caught you staring at Liam’s girlfriend? You might not think it’s weird, but I find it… weird.”
I ignored her.
Thankfully, when we got back to our hometown, there wasn’t much traffic. That was the reason why we came back early. It wasn’t only to prepare food for the party, but we also wanted to avoid the traffic congestion during peak hour. Many people, especially from big cities and towns like Buvekeli, would be coming back to Eastville because of the holidays.
Nathalie’s home was right beside mine. We were neighbors. After she parked her car in her home’s parking space, I returned home to put down my belongings first before going over. My parents weren’t home. They must have still been at work. I had no siblings. I was their only child.
Nathalie’s parents and also her brother, Theo, were at home. They helped with the food preparation for the barbecue party. I was close to her family. They treated me like I was one of them; their second son. When I came over, they had even cooked me food and told me to eat first before doing anything.
During our childhood, I hung out at Nathalie’s place all the time. That was how we got so close. Nathalie has been my neighbor ever since I moved to Eastville from Levigard. She was the easiest to reach whenever I needed someone to play with. I remembered there was one time her mom asked me if I would marry her. It was a joke of course, but I still remembered how quickly I was to reject that suggestion. My biggest concern at that time was how disgusting it would be to have to grab Nathalie’s boobs.
I was extremely familiar with her house, especially the kitchen. I knew where everything was placed and could get whatever I wanted without having to ask for permission. I took out a knife and began boning the chickens we’d bought.
Nathalie’s mom suddenly hit my head with a wooden spoon.
“Ow, Mom!” I called. I had been calling her Mom since I was a kid. She asked me to call her that. We were so close that our relationship was like adopted son-and-parents.
“You’ll want the bone, child,” Nathalie’s mom said. “It’s good for you.”
“I’m not a dog, Mom.” I laughed.
She hit me with the same spoon again. “I’m not talking about you eating it. I need them to make soup for you all later. How old are you to think that you can eat bones?”
“Ow, okay, okay!” I complained, shielding myself from the spoon with my forearm when she tried to hit me again. One would be able to see clearly where Nathalie’s bad habit came from.
Everyone in the kitchen laughed.
When we were done, both Nathalie and I rested in Nathalie’s room. Her room was the only female room that I’d ever entered, but it wasn’t anything female-like, where there might be plush dolls and princessy stuff. Her room was surrounded by bookshelves, full of fantasy books. Seeing them immediately reminded me of her birthday gift.
She lay down on her single-bed and sighed. “So tired!”
I tried to lie beside her when I saw her leave a big space open like it was for me, helping myself to it. Before I could even sit, I was kicked in the butt, falling forward onto the ground. “What the fuck, Nat!” I rolled over to cuss.
“What the fuck, Eth!” she cussed back. “This is a girl’s bed. Help yourself to the rug.”
“I’m your best friend,” I argued before I sat up. I had more important things to do, so I took out my phone.
She took out hers too and began scrolling through social media as she relaxed. She ignored me.
I ignored her too and texted Liam. Hey, u got my gift yet?
He replied in an instant. Yup. I bought this book called Axion. It’s about some rare breed of werewolves that can call forth the power of the stars.
I couldn’t help smiling. Liam knew exactly what I was thinking. Damn u, Liam. U know us the best. I was thinking to call u so u’ll buy a fantasy novel too.
“Who are you texting, Eth?” Nathalie put down her phone, specifically on her breasts, and narrowed her eyes at me.
I did the same thing, quickly covering the screen of my phone with my chest. “No one. Just a Facebook video.” Fuck. I couldn’t let her know that I was only buying her present now.
Nathalie tilted her head a little, her eyes glowering with more suspicion.
I sighed. “Anyway, Nat, have you ever liked someone you shouldn’t?”
It was a stupid move, trying to change the topic. She got up from the bed and came towards me. I sensed hostility.
I quickly moved backward. “What are you doing?” I hugged myself, protecting my boobs—as though I had them. She looked like she was going to rape me.
“I want to know, Eth,” Nathalie reached down to snatch my phone. “I want to. Gimme—”
Before she could, Theo saved the day. He opened the door without knocking, which was a taboo for Nathalie. “Sis! You have—”
“What did I say about knocking on the door before entering someone’s room?!” Nathalie yelled. “So rude!”
Theo’s eyes landed on me. Then he shifted his eyes to Nathalie for two seconds before he looked at me again. “I interrupted something, didn’t I? You two are…?” He pointed back and forth between me and Nathalie.
“No!” I stood up from the ground immediately. “Me and your sister?! Impossible!”
“Really? Both of you seem like a great match,” Theo muttered into the middle distance. “Anyway, you have a guest, Sis. Someone named Duncan.”
“Oh.” Nathalie’s expression changed immediately. Her smile was so happy that it was like she had been waiting for this person the whole day. “Tell him I’ll be down in five minutes. Let me fix my hair.” Nathalie went over to shut the door. Or actually, shutting her brother out.
“Who’s Duncan?” I asked Nathalie.
“Why are you still here?” Nathalie blinked her eyes a few times at me. “Get out! Even you will have to pay if you want to see my tits, Eth.”
Who the fuck wanted to see her tits? I said nothing and went out.
I went downstairs to see who Duncan was.
A stranger was sitting uncomfortably on the couch in the living room. He had short, dark hair and a mole on his left cheek. He looked kinda cute. But Liam beat him at least a hundred times over. He must be Duncan. If this was Nathalie’s target… Well, as her best friend, I should be testing his quality for her.
“Hi,” I greeted him.
Duncan turned around to look at me. He was rude. He just stared at me and it was one of those kinds where I was scanned completely from the top to bottom like he was going to judge me based on my appearance. He never replied to my greeting.
“Hi,” I tried greeting him again.
Duncan shook his head and quickly stood up. “Hi.” A wide smile broke across his face. Like he was happy to see me. Wait, did I know him?
He held his hand out for a handshake. “Name’s Duncan. Nice to meet you. You can call me Dun. What’s yours?”
Ah. Perhaps I was wrong. He was polite. I liked it. Maybe he was just shy earlier. “Ethan. Friends call me Eth.”
“Nice to meet you, Eth. Nat’s friend?” he asked.
“Best friend,” I corrected him.
“Sweet. Are you studying or working? Oh wait, please have a seat,” he said as he sat down and patted the space beside him.
“Studying. Same school with Nat,” I answered as I sat.
“Nice,” Duncan said. “Same hostel with Nat too, then?”
“Yeah, but different building. Didn’t she tell you about me?” I asked back.
“I’m sure she did. Ma
ybe I just forgot or something. Maybe I thought it wasn’t important.” He laughed a little. “Did she tell you anything about me?”
My phone pinged. It must be Liam’s reply. “Oops, sorry.” Before I realized it, I had already taken my phone out to read the text.
Who do u think I am? Liam texted.
I thought of answering: My guy. But then I deleted it and texted something else. Most clever person on earth. He would like it anyway. Liam liked to be praised. One of the reasons why he always studied hard, I could tell.
Of coz! Haha. I’m driving home now. See u soon!
“Your girlfriend?” Duncan asked. I almost forgot that he was there. He respected my privacy, though, keeping a distance between his eyes and my phone. Okay, with this, I approved him to be Nathalie’s boyfriend.
“No,” I said, almost too quickly. “Nothing like that.” I kept my phone away. “So, how did you and Nat meet?”
“We’ve been in the same class since our first semester,” Duncan answered.
“Oh, so you’re in Psychology too?”
“Yup.”
“Huh? You two know each other?” Nathalie asked as she came down from the stairs. I couldn’t see any difference in her hair. What did she do?
“Nope. We just met,” Duncan answered her.
Nathalie grinned at me. “I didn’t know you could make friends so easily now, Eth.”
“What’s your problem, Nat?” I said, jokingly of course.
I didn’t realize that beside Duncan was a present box. He took it, stood, and gave it to Nathalie. “Happy birthday, Nat.”
“Thank you, Dun-Dun,” Nathalie said and pecked Duncan’s cheek.
Ew, I groaned in my mind. That was the first time of me seeing Nathalie doing that to someone other than her parents. I tried to look away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
“You’re really not staying?” Nathalie asked Duncan. “The barbecue’s gonna be great. And you’ll get to meet all my friends.”
“But... I have work tonight,” Duncan said.
“I don’t get it. Why would you work when you have no financial problems?”
“I don’t want to rely on my parents’ money too much, Nat. I wanna get stuff I want with my own hands.”
Damn. That was mature. Nathalie seemed to have found a good one. Nathalie sighed.
“C’mon, Nat…”
I was still looking away, pretending to look outside the house. I could picture Duncan trying to kiss Nathalie to make it up to her.
Duncan sighed. “Okay. I’ll call in sick, okay? I’ll tell my boss and stay.”
“Really? Yay!” Nathalie squeaked. “Love you!” There was a kissing sound. She must have kissed him back.
“Get a room if you wanna kiss,” I said.
They were quiet for a short while.
Something fell on my head. “Ow!” Nathalie hit me with the same wooden spoon her mom had hit me with.
Ugh! She was being ridiculous. Did she just go into the kitchen to get that spoon to knock it on my head? If today wasn’t her birthday, and if she wasn’t a girl, I would have… I sighed. Forget it. I wouldn’t want to hit her. She was my best friend and I was used to it already. Well, at least I was happy for her to have finally found a boyfriend. I just hoped that Duncan could get used to the little bad habits of hers. Or maybe those were what attracted him?
The barbecue party started before everyone even arrived. Nathalie said she was hungry. Since she was the queen of the night, we had to obey and cook for her. Everyone that was invited eventually turned up. Olivia came with Samuel and Daisy. And Liam arrived last with Joanna. Joanna wore a pretty, white, silk dress that looked like she was attending a ball instead of someone’s birthday party. I found it odd because I was sure she knew that this would be a barbecue party, which meant it would not only be hot but also oily and dirty. But anyway, none of my business. Liam was in his usual attire. He wore a pair of jeans and a singlet to show off his muscles. As they came in, Liam carried two presents wrapped in different wrapping papers.
“Happy birthday, Nat!” Liam said and gave Nathalie a hug.
Nathalie hugged back. “Thank you, Liam!”
“These are for you. This is from me, and this is from Eth.”
Nathalie shot me a glare. “You need Liam to buy you a gift for me?”
I hid my face behind my own hands. “I’m so sorry, Nat.”
Everyone laughed.
When Liam took his seat beside me, I passed him what I’d cooked for him, thinking that he would be hungry when he arrived.
“Thanks, bro, you’re the best,” Liam said. I beamed, but the smile was gone the moment he stood up and shouted for Joanna. “Jo! Come eat! You’re hungry, right?”
“Who cooked them?” Joanna put the food she’d skewered on the grill before she sat down beside Liam.
“Eth,” Liam answered with a smile. “So thoughtful, right?”
“Thanks, Eth,” Joanna said with a smile.
I watched Liam feed her. My heart ached. Okay, stupid Eth. Why do you even feel pain? Liam is just a best friend. Not your boyfriend.
Duncan came to sit beside me suddenly. He seemed to notice the change in my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Here,” he said and passed me an opened Somersby.
I grimaced. “Nah. I can’t drink. I’ll get drunk real quick.”
“You can’t drink?”
“I don’t drink,” I corrected.
Duncan shrugged. “Okay,” he said as he put down the alcoholic drink. He took up a bottle of fresh orange juice, which Nathalie’s mom had prepared a few hours earlier. “How about this?”
“This one, I can,” I said and took it.
“Good,” he said as he took up the alcoholic drink again. “Cheers, Eth,” he said and clinked the bottle with mine.
“Cheers,” I said back politely. We drank. The orange juice tasted bitter. It wasn’t because it was spoiled or Nathalie’s mom had included too much zest in it. It was because I had to see Liam cooling his food with his mouth before feeding it to his girlfriend. Maybe I should just move on. It had been five years and we were going nowhere. I was going nowhere. It was so painful like this.
But it was easier said than done. I’d told myself the same thing so many times these past few years. Yet, I still couldn’t forget him, especially when we saw each other almost every day. And I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. If I was moving on, I knew I would have to avoid him. I didn’t want to do that.
I felt bad and also guilty. No. I didn’t try to poison Joanna. I would never do that. I was guilty because of Nathalie. It was her birthday and I wasn’t at my best when I was her best friend. I looked and sounded so dull when we sang the birthday song for her and had a photo session. Everyone was smiling genuinely for her except me. After Nathalie finished opening her presents and we finished the cake, we hung out around the living room. Like when we were eating, I sat beside Liam and Duncan sat beside me.
We played Pop-up Pirate, the gift that Samuel got Nathalie. It was a luck-based game where players simply had to stab plastic knives into a barrel. There were many holes but only one of them would trigger the pirate to pop-up from the barrel. The player who made the pirate pop up would lose. Olivia suggested pairing the game with Truth or Dare, which means the loser would have to choose either Truth or Dare. In Truth, the loser would have to tell the truth to any question asked. In Dare, the loser would have to do anything that he or she was asked.
Nathalie made sure all of us played. She made the first move. And nothing happened to her. The rest followed, and nothing happened to them either. I was the last before it would be Nathalie’s turn again. When I stabbed the plastic knife into one of the many holes left, the pirate’s head flew up like the cork from a wine bottle.
Oh, fuck.
They laughed.
“Yes!” Liam and Samuel fist-pumped.
“Truth or Dare, loser?” Olivia asked.
I gave i
t a thought. I had many secrets. “Dare.”
“Finish this, Eth,” Olivia took out a Somersby.
“I can’t drink, Oli,” I refused.
Nathalie cleared her throat. “What is that, Eth? You don’t have to drive.”
I looked at her. She knew I had a low tolerance for alcohol, but she insisted, blinking a few times at me and acting like she didn’t care. I saw devil’s horns above her head. She wanted me to get drunk, and I knew she would get mad if I refused. I sighed. It was just a game and tonight was her night. I didn’t want her to feel disappointed. Unwillingly, I gestured Olivia to pass the bottle over.
“Yeah, yeah!” Liam and Samuel cheered.
I was surprised when Olivia used her teeth to bite the bottle cap open. I took the drink and chugged it down in one shot. The drink burned my throat and blurred my eyes. Before I even finished it, I could already feel my body heating up. When I was done, the entire room was spinning a little and my head hurt.
“Done!” I slammed the bottle on the ground so hard that it cracked a little underneath. “Next!”
Olivia blinked twice. She took out another bottle.
“No!” I said. “Next! Game!” I almost fell forward.
Both Duncan and Liam held me in place, holding I couldn’t tell which part of my body.
“You okay? You really can’t drink.” I wasn’t sure if it was Duncan or Liam saying this.
The room was spinning again. “Ha-ha!” I said to Duncan. “Told! You!” I said to Liam.
“That bad?” I heard Joanna whisper to Liam. Or was it Daisy?
“What?! Bad?!” I yelled and laughed.
Nathalie shushed me. “Nothing, nothing. Let’s continue, let’s continue.”
The game went on. The next person who got the pirate to pop out was Joanna.
“Ha!” I pointed my finger at her.
Joanna shrugged coolly. “Truth,” she said.
Everyone looked at her.
Samuel grinned. “How did your first sex with Liam happen?” he asked. He was smart. Because that question alone answered other questions like: Was Joanna a virgin? Had Liam and Joanna had sex?
A Monster's Love Page 2