The Truth Untold

18

Leo wasn't in college the next day. I didn't see him anywhere. I didn't know if he would write to me when he finally confessed to her, but I still looked at my cell phone every five minutes. Still, I felt somehow lighter. As if I had lost ballast with the words I yelled at Leo yesterday. Other than usual, I didn't go home after my last lecture, but went to my dance studio to practice and drive to work from there. Because I was sick, I was behind in our rehearsals and planning and wanted to spend my free time dancing as best I could. It was also a wonderful distraction. At work I didn't have a chance to look at my cell phone all the time. After work, when I changed my clothes, I saw that my cell phone was blinking. It was a message from Leo.

I told her. She broke up with me. I just wanted to let you know.

It was no relief or cheerfulness I felt when I left his message. I felt that he was down, although I only had this message from him. It was guilt and compassion that I felt. I never wanted this relationship to break up, but I could not have lived on with this secret. Neither did he, I was sure of that. It would have eaten away and from the inside out. Sighs I put my mobile phone away, because I did not know anyway, what I should write back and drove home.

The next day in the university we met with the troop at Starbucks to have a coffee, Leo was also there. When I saw him, my heart bumped briefly, but it quickly recovered. He gave me a small, pressed smile to greet me, but there was no more communication between us. He was unusually quiet and looked tired. But with the days he was always in a better mood, was almost the same as before and I was very happy about it. Seeing him like that made me sad too and I couldn't stand it at all. I wondered why it dragged me down like that, but I didn't get an answer. The week passed quickly and I had hardly had any free time. As soon as I had free time at my disposal, I put it into my training and I was horrified by the performance. We hadn't even started discussing couple dance yet. I didn't even know who my partner was going to be, because the cold had caught Óliver just like me a few days ago. It resisted me at the thought that I had to go to another party on Saturday evening. Once I had free time, I had to give it up immediately for a celebration. But it was a birthday of someone we knew well and I found it rude to refuse an invitation for a birthday.

"Did you get the present?" I asked Jessie before we left the apartment.

"Yep, I did," she said, slightly waving the bag in her hand with a bottle of wine and 20 dollar from each of us.

"Milan is already down," she explained, hastily closing the front door behind her. Milan would be our driver today and I was very grateful to him for that.

"Girls, you look great," he greeted us and held the passenger door open for Jessie as I had to look at how I got in. But I forgive him.
He turned up the music and singing we drove in the direction of a beautiful suburb where Eddie lived. Eddie, like Milan, studied biology and attended every dorm party, which is why he invited us. I always had the feeling that he was a little crazy, but in a positive way. He had red curls and freckles everywhere. He also liked to slip into the role of the distinguished gentleman and believe it or not, this scam worked very well for many girls. The house wasn't as big as the dorm and didn't have a pool either, but when Eddie had a party, it was always pretty fun.

It took us five minutes to find Eddie.

"Happy Birthday," Jessie and I shouted at the same time and handed him the bottle of wine.

"Uhh. You know what the Lord likes," he said and looked at the bottle label with interest.

"We're setting up the beer Pong table. You are playing, aren't you?

"Since when did you ask?" Jessie said and popped Eddie in the side.

"Perfect. Kathie, upstairs in my room are the balls, right on the desk. We're filling up," he said and I nodded. The house was pretty neat. There weren't many rooms, but they were all pretty big. Eddie was an only child, so apart from the bathroom, the master bedroom and the office there was only his room on the top floor. I wondered where his parents were again. The last time he was home alone, he claimed they were in Tokyo just because they could.

I entered Eddie's dark room and fumbled for the light switch on the wall. When I found him and turned on the light, I saw the pigsty that Eddie called his room. Clothes and dishes were everywhere and I tried to get to his desk on the other side of the room without stepping on it. Eddie was right. Two white ping-pong balls were lying in the middle of the desk. I grabbed them and disappeared from his room as fast as I could. Hopefully he didn't get any lady visitors that night. When I managed to box my way through the crowd and reach the garden, I breathed a sigh of relief. Those were clearly too many people for such a small house. The beer Pong table was a converted beer tent set on each side ten cups instead of six were. Oh dear, they apparently wanted to step directly on the gas.

"You're an angel," said Eddie, slightly tipsy, pressing a wet smooch on my cheek. I distorted my face in disgust, pressed the balls into his hand and wiped my cheek, careful not to smear my make-up.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen. Kate and Jess against Leo and me," he explained, stretching balls up into the air.