Mine (an African love story)

18. Couple

"Tyler, you know April right?" I ask him from the passenger side of his car.

I told Tyler I wanted to talk to him so he decided that we should go to KFC and hang out there. I was trying to get April to come with us but she's busy today.

"Yeah, w-what about her?" he asks, and I catch his little stutter. I smile to myself.

"You seem to be very fond of her."

He quickly looks at me in shock and shakes his head. Yeah, he definitely likes her.

"No, not in that way. We're just friends." 

"That's what they all say." I tell him, rolling my eyes.

"I mean, she's really pretty and she's really kind. And I like her cute little laugh and the way her nose scrunches up when she's nervous. Her--" he rambles, but stops when he sees me looking at him from the side.

"Wow, Mr. 'We're Just Friends'. Never knew you were so observant." 

He sighs, before making a turn to the KFC parking lot. He parks his car and turns to look at me.

"Okay, fine. I like her. I really like her. But, I don't want to complicate things." he tells me, scratching his head.

I scoff. I definitely know a lot about complicated relationships.

"Listen, Tyler. If you really like her, tell her. It's better to tell her than to let someone take her away from you."

"I don't even know if she likes me back." he says nervously, and I give him a smile.

"I think she's interested. Here, take her number. Call her and ask her out on a date." I tell him, grabbing his phone and typing her number in for him.

I give it back to him and he smiles thankfully.

"Thank you so much, Anima. You're a good friend. And I don't want you to feel bad that I don't like you anymore. You know I still care about you." he tells me sincerely.

I wave him off.

"Ty, it's fine. I want you guys to be happy and I think you'll be happy with each other."

He smiles and stretches over to hug me. After he pulls away, he has a curious look on his face.

"What about you and Danny? How's that going?" he asks me, and I shrug.

"Uh, I'm giving him some space right now. I think our relationship is better off like that. No communication, no contact." 

Tyler looks down at his hands and shakes his head.

"Wow. I-I'm sorry." 

I shrug sadly.

"Don't say sorry. It's not your fault. Things happen."

He looks up at me.

"No, it is my fault. There's something I--"

I cut him off.

"Tyler, I don't wanna talk about it. I'm hungry, could we please go inside?"

He sighs and hesitantly nods.

Once we get inside, we walk straight to the cashier. People were already in there, sitting at the tables and eating their food.

"Welcome to KFC. What would you guys like to eat today?" the lady politely asks us.

"Anima, what would you like?" Tyler asks me and I scan the menu at the top.

"Can I please get number 4?"