ALIN

After Sebian left, my father who was sitting silently for so long suddenly spoke, “I don’t think that boy was lying Aly. Even I have heard that Mrs. Reece is out of town right now. Nobody knows why but she is.” Was Sebian really telling the truth then? Only one way to know. I excused myself from the dinner and went after him. Outside I saw him walking towards his house. “Sebian” I called, he didn’t stop. “Sebian” I called again and ran after him. He still didn’t answer. When I called him the once more he abruptly stopped and turned. Under the street light I can see his face that has lost its glaze and his eyes were red from crying. I should have asked him before blaming him as responsible for everything. Believing Natalie was a mistake.

“Is Mrs. Reece okay now?” I asked in a low tone. He shook his head to a ‘no’. “I am sorry, I am sorry” he told and walked fast towards me. He crashed onto me and captured me in a tight embrace. Putting his forehead on my shoulder he cried, his body shaking uncontrollably. “It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay” I held him back and patted him. After staying like that for some time he finally calmed down and lifted his head up. His face was wet and fully swollen now. I wiped the tears from his face and told, “I am sorry. I shouldn’t have believed Natalie but it was your voice so I just did. I am sorry.” “No, Alin, I did tell that,” he said with regret in his eyes. “Alin, I would like to confess something to you” I nodded. “Alin, it’s true. First when I started to talk with you it was with the intention to ruin your project. You see, Natalie wanted the scholarship and you were her competitor so I changed as your partner by talking to Ruth and all but as I started talking to you and knowing you more I couldn’t do it. I like you Alin. I had never thought of not coming if not because of my grandma. Forgive me.” I trust him, he was not lying. I smiled and nodded. “You don’t worry, I will talk to Mr. Crauser, I am sure he will understand” he told in a hurry. “Yeah, it will be fine, I know it will be.” Now, after a long time I saw a smile appearing on his face. He was still sniffling but that liveliness is back in him, he will be fine. He lifted his head up and pulling me closer kissed my forehead. “You take care and don’t worry, tomorrow in the college I will talk to Mr. Crauser” he told again. I nodded. “Get some sleep, I will see you in the morning,” he told and waving a ‘bye’ went inside his house with a smile and I returned back to mine.

There was not a lot of work to be done downstairs so I went to my room. I felt really light hearted. Inside me I had a feeling that everything will be alright. More than anything, the fact that Sebian would never betray me was something very soothing. I went and stood near the window watching the house he was in. The light of his room was turned on and after a few minutes went off. “Good night” I mumbled and then came and lied down on my bed when my phone vibrated.

“Hey...” It was Sebian.

“Hey... do you want to tell something?”

“No. Just... good night”

“Good night Sebian.”

A sudden painful headache pierced through me. This is not the first time I was experiencing this, it was happening very frequently to me these days, maybe because I am taking too much stress. After a few minutes the pain subsided and as usual I forgot about it. Now that I don’t have a lot to worry about I hope the headache never returns.

I tried reading a bit and a few other things but I guess I was not tired enough to sleep. I opened my phone and in the browser searched for Sebian. His handsome face popped up and I kept on staring at it for longer than I should have. Sebian White, how my life has gone through tremendous changes these few days after meeting him. I had a lot of questions, curiosity and opinions about him when I saw him from far before but after knowing him I can tell that you should never judge a book by its cover; he is a classic example of that.

I have hope that everything will be alright and faith that come what may Sebian will always be with me and that’s all I need. The only question that I have right now is that after what happened today are I and Sebian still just friends or a little more than that. I guess I have to wait and time will tell. Thinking about this I kept my phone aside and closed my eyes waiting for sleep to gradually come over me.