In the Course of Friendship (On Hold)

18|•° Curiosity Killed the Cat.

°•| Curiosity Killed the Cat |•°

• A R I E L L E •

There's always this part of college where people don't visit much. An area with less harsh rays of sunlight and more fresh air. A place where serenity reigned and all my brain cells seemed to cooperate with me. It comprised of a big oak tree with branches as wide as a hand fan and with a jointed wooden table and bench beneath it. My favorite spot.

At my favorite spot on campus, I sat with Lucas G. Finch as we were immersed in projects of our own. At least, Luke was. Ever since, he found me here and joined me, a specific question made my lips itch to ask. I took a quick side glance at Lucas whose golden hair was packed into a bun and his eyes peering deep into his phone.

"How did you become friends with Roman?" I finally inquired, my chest feeling less heavy.

He lifted his head before bending it to the side, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Why do you ask? You interested in him or what?"

"No! Hell no. I'm a bit curious about how close you two are even with how closed off Roman can be sometimes."

"It doesn't matter now, does it? You two are good now, right?"

"How did you know?" I folded my arms.

Lucas tsked. "He can't hide anything from me, Elle. He told me himself that you're friends already. Or isn't that what you wanted?"

"Well, yeah. But not totally."

I gulped, realizing how that sounded and my eyes darted to Lucas's whose face already had a teasing expression.

"His money then? Or you want him?"

"Geez, no, Luke! What makes you think that?"

"Sorry, just kidding. My bad."

"So, are you going to tell me? I'm not asking for a long story about how maybe he defended you from bad guys in high school or bought you another ice cream after spilling yours accidentally when you two were little. Just a precise narration."

"I see." He nodded, crossing his legs and stared at the sky as if trying to gather his memories into a paragraph. "I'll tell you how it all started."

"I'm all ears."

"You see, we were only ten when we first met-Roman and I. I was about drowning in a lake, in the park my parents and I usually visited during the weekends. That day, I swear, I thought I was going to die and hell, I didn't want that. Several thoughts ran through my head it was fucking crazy. I thought I was going to die an unaccomplished, single boy with braces. Who hasn't even had his first kiss yet."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. So, the water choked me as I sunk deeper and deeper with my consciousness fading away. Then, with nearly shut eyelids, I saw a boy of my age swimming into the water with an outstretched arm and it looked so unreal. Well, the summary is that boy was Roman and he saved me. He had good looks and without seeing his grades, I could tell he was intelligent.

"He chided me for being so carless and foolish-I was foolish. Despite all that, he asked if we could be friends and I agreed. That lake became our meeting spot. We would sneak there to play and complain about things we didn't like at our homes. Life then, was much more fun than it is now. He would complain about how he was taught what to do and what not to do; how to behave and disliked the way people's bases for judgement were so shallow.

"As we grew older, well ... things changed for us and we began drifting apart due to different happenings in our separate worlds."

"What kind of happenings?" I subconsciously brushed my fingers over my chin.