BENEATH THE STARS

Chapter 8

Night had fallen, and Felix found himself on his bed with his phone. He sighed and rolled onto his stomach.

"Why is it so hot in here?" he goofed, getting up to open his room's windows.

Felix cradled himself onto his window bed, holding his phone up in his hands.

Looking through the window, he felt the cold breeze of the night. "I hope he is okay."

Felix took his phone and opened his chat with George. He typed, "Hey George, ummm. I don't know what happened earlier, but ummm..."

Shaking his head, he deleted his text. Trying again, "I hope you are alright."

Once more, Felix shook his head and deleted his text. He sighed and opened his chat with Yvonne.

"Hey," he messaged.

Yvonne replied, "Hey, what's up?"

Felix got straight to the point, "George is not fine."

Yvonne rolled her eyes as she texted, "What did you do again?"

Groaning, Felix responded, "You say it as if I always do something stupid. Or you are waiting for me to do something stupid."

Yvonne replied, "Is that a surprise to you? I mean, you are Felix."

Felix texted, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sighing, Yvonne said, "Let's bicker later. What happened with George?"

Felix proceeded to tell Yvonne everything.

Yvonne listened attentively as Felix narrated what had happened. After he finished, she texted, "Oh my."

Felix, concern in his eyes, responded, "He's never done this...neither have I seen him this distracted and zoned out."

"He isn't fine, Yvonne, and I don't know what to say to him," Felix continued.

Yvonne advised, "Texting him now might be a bad idea."

Felix asked, "So what do I do now?"

Yvonne replied, "Let him have some alone time. Give him time to be with himself. He'll bounce back into his old self very soon."

Felix questioned, "You think so?"

Yvonne responded, "I hope so."

Felix turned off his phone and looked through the window. "It is a beautiful night; I hope he's not missing this."

Cuddling into his sheets, Felix dozed off, hoping for a better tomorrow.

(++++)

Tuesday

Tuesday arrived earlier than expected. The morning was beautiful, and Felix felt a sense of relief seeing Theo sitting alone, enjoying a snack.

However, the beauty of the morning didn't last. Upon reaching school, Felix noticed George standing behind his locker. Concern etched on Felix's face, he approached George, but George closed his locker and left for class before Felix could reach him.

Throughout class, Felix attempted to talk to George, but George avoided any interaction, coming up with excuses to leave the moment Felix approached.

At lunch, Felix vented to Yvonne, "I am telling you that George has been ignoring me. He doesn't want to talk to me. He's been avoiding me since morning."