A Different Descendant: Freshman Year 1

Chapter 9

    The room was silent. Erica sat on the bed with a hospital blanket over her lower body, while I was few steps away from her. I had to break the long silence and apologize. The thoughts of what went down between Freya and I at the school still haunted me.
    “You okay?” Erica asked, bringing me down to earth.
I had been thinking for a while that I didn’t know when she picked a flower from the bouquet and caressed some of its petals.
    “I’m sorry,” I said softly.
    “Henry, it’s okay, you don’t have to apologize. I get it--”
    “-No you don’t. I shouldn’t have behaved the way I did. I should’ve opened up to you guys a bit. I shouldn’t have--”
    “Seriously Henry, it’s totally fine”, she said and held both my hands.
“I might not understand why you’re the way you are, but, I don’t know. I just can’t seem to hold it against you.”
I never seemed to know what it felt like to be around a friend that wasn’t anyone in my family. It was, heart-warming.
    “When Freya told us what went down between the two of you at school this evening, I was heart-broken without a doubt. I really wanted to be your friend since your game against Jackson. Not cos’ you beat him, but because, unlike many others, you did what was right. Every normal person would take the jacket and assume the post of captain. But you acted differently. It made me wonder;
    ‘How much good and mystery is under that expressionless face?’
    But when she told us that you were um-heartless, I just didn’t want to accept it. And I’m glad I didn’t. You’re not soulless to me Henry. You’re just different from everybody else.”
    It was the first time in forever that I had ever encountered someone outside my family that was this way. Unlike others that just wanted to be friends with me just because I was popular and somewhat “perfect” in every way, she was different. She was one of the wonders my mother told me about earlier that evening.
    “Thanks Erica,” I said. Every attempt to pull the smile and flush on my face was futile.
    “You’re blushing,” she teased.
    “No I’m not,” I said turning my face away instantly. I had almost never been in situations like these before. I felt somewhat embarrassed.
    “Yes you are and I caught you. It’s a rare sight. I’m never going to forget it,” she added and laughed.
    “Okay, you’ve teased me enough,” I said, forcing a blank expression on my face. Her laugh was very contagious. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t resist smiling.
    “Anyway, don’t you think you should be talking to someone else right now,” she said, using her eyes to shift my attention towards the door.
    Freya was standing just outside the door with her arms crossed over her chest and her body leaned against the wall. She kept the angry look on her face and was staring at me. I could only imagine the terrible things she was saying about me in her head.
    “Your parents are almost here Erica. Get dressed,” she ordered, stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
    I didn’t say anything. If anything I wanted to make up with Freya, and I was going to do it. But I made up my mind that if she was going to be tough to plead with, then I’d simply move on.
    “Just say your mind,” Erica advised. She already noticed the state I was in at that point.
    ‘That’s the plan.’
    *******
    I took in a deep sigh, headed for the door, and repeatedly told myself; ‘Just say your mind’. 
    I pushed the door open and walked out to the warm.
    “You know showing up at the last minute doesn’t change what I said about you,” Freya said.
    I turned my head to see a girl sitting on the edge of the bench, glaring at me angrily. Her arms were crossed just above her cleavage and her right legs were crossed over her left.
    “Can I sit?” I asked.
She stared at me for a while. Like she was contemplating on whether or not she would let me sit.
    Rolling her eyes, she moved a little bit and created some room for me to sit.   
    “You don’t have to start apologizing and start telling me how sorry you are. Being on good terms with Erica doesn’t mean--”
    “—He was my best friend,” I began. At that point, all I did was said whatever came to my mind. How it came, I just said whatever came. As I spoke, I stared at mopped hospital floors.
    “He did so much for me and my family. I remember this one time he was out of town. We were in Central City back then while he was in Starling. He was away on his hospital business with my mother. We were at home with my aunt and cousins. My sisters and I were talking to him via face time. Then I sneezed. Then Alexis, and then Heather followed. He got worried sick. He started asking if we had a fever. We were so young back then. I told him it was just a coincidence. Then the three of us sneezed again. He was super worried.”
I didn’t know I was smiling until my cheeks ached a bit. Whenever I talked about him with my mother, I was always smiling.
    “Then next day, my aunt took all of us to the park. When we got home, he was at the house. He flew all the way from Starling City just because my siblings and I sneezed”.
    I was surprised that she didn’t say a word as I spoke. Any other person would’ve asked why I was telling him or her that kind of thing at a time like this. But she just stayed quiet and listened.
    “When he died on my birthday--”
    “Alright cut the crap,” she said cutting him off.
    “You don’t have to come up with a lie so we can be friends. On your social media, it says your birthday is November the twenty-sixth. Dr. Jake Collins died on the twenty-fifth of November.”
    I shifted my gaze so she could see the seriousness in my eyes.
    “Exactly Freya. My social media says the twenty-sixth,” I said.
    The twenty-fifth of November every day since my dad passed has always been the saddest day of the year for me. I was constantly reminded that my father passed on my birthday anytime I heard the words “Happy Birthday” or anytime I saw a cake.
    Freya stared at me in disbelief for a while. Then she finally realized that I wasn’t lying.
    “Oh my God!” She exclaimed, covering her mouths with both her hands.
    “You lost your dad on your birthday?! Henry, I’m so sorry. If I knew I--”
    “No,” I said, stopping her in her tracks.
    “What you said, it actually opened my eyes. I should’ve treated you and your friends like mine. I just can’t seem to open up to anyone since him.
He was like a grown me. He always had answers to every question I had. His colleagues constantly told me about how much I was like him. I really admired him.
He built bonds everywhere he went. And that’s where I know we’re not similar. I don’t share any bonds special bonds with anyone besides my family. I’m pretty sure Mr. Gudjohnsen hates me”.
    I simply said the words as they came. I felt lonely right there. I always stayed busy to avoid thinking about stuff like friends. If I wasn’t studying, I was reading a novel. If I wasn’t doing any of those, I was on the guitar, which I had not really carried since my family moved. If I wasn’t doing that, I was undergoing basketball training. I played with people I didn’t know at different courts in the cities I lived. I never actually built bonds with any of them.
    “You know, I felt bad when I left the school this evening,” she said.
She wasn’t looking at me anymore. She was staring at the moon.
    “Not because of what you said. Well I was hurt by that. But I felt bad for saying no one would ever love you. I probably went too far. I’m sorry about that.”
    Her mood had changed completely. The angry aura she gave off few minutes was completely gone.
    “You don’t have to be,” I said.
    “Right now, I just want to make up for what I said. I also have to apologize to your friends. You already told them what I said didn’t you?”
She nodded in agreement.
    Things between me and Freya were getting fixed little by little. Every word that came out was all honest and true. We had not made eye contact since I started talking.
I would feel somewhat embarrassed looking her in the eye. It was usually that way in movies and novels. But if there’s anything I noticed in many stories, whenever you wanted to apologize, you had to make eye contact. To make it look more sincere and true.
    Lifting my gaze from the tiled floor to her face, I said;
    “I guess all I’m trying to say is I’m sorry.”