Emilio

(VI) This Is Why I Don't Socialize

Emilio's POV

°°°•Nobody adopts antisocial behavior unless they fear that they will fail if they remain on the social side of life•°°°

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I walked ahead of Alexia into the cafe, trying not to draw any attention to myself. She choose to wear a multicolored trench coat while everyone stuck to wearing darker colours in this weather. She sure knew how to stand out.

I walked to a seat to the far right of the cafe. This was my favorite spot. I used to sit here for hours working on my poems a few years back. It was kind of secluded and I had a lot to take inspiration from.

A few seconds later Alexia emerged struggling to close her umbrella but I ignored her. She could be a bit too much at times.

She sat down and placed the umbrella on the ground, creating a small puddle.

"Are you ready to place your order?"
A beautiful brunnete approached us with a small, brown notepad in her hand.

"I think I'll have black pudding, bacon and eggs and some black tea." Alexia answered as soon as the waitress asked the question.

"And anything for you Lio?," asked the waitress. This was a cafe I frequented and this particular waitress always served me. I never got around to learning her name but she called me Lio. I bet she knew me through my parents.

"I'll have my usual."

"Okay. Black pudding, eggs and bacon, black tea, pancakes with extra syrup and a cappuccino coming right up." The waitress said before heading around to the kitchen.

I stared out the window observing the commuters. My mind went back to a couple days ago when I hit Alexia with my car. I was drunk and I just wanted to take a nap. Before I knew it I was at the hospital begging to not go to jail. The chief offered that I either go to jail or take care of Alexia while she recovered. I choose the latter.

Alexia was very brave. She didn't have a problem speaking her mind like I did.

Alexia snapped her fingers in front of my face"Earth to Emilio." It was then I realized the food has arrived. That was quick. I took up the fork using it to cut through the layers of pancakes. I took a small portion and held it out to Alexia. She looked at me puzzled before taking the fork and gobbling up the small portion of pancakes.

"Why did you offer me any?" She asked. I could see the confusion in her eyes.

"To ensure it isn't poisoned." I answered as if she asked a question with the most obvious answer.

"And here I was thinking you were finally being nice."

"Never."

We cleaned our plates and made our way to the park.

I sat on a metal bench watching Alexia as she acted like a 5 year old. She was rolling around in the grass and picking hibiscus flowers that she placed in her hair. She looked so happy. An emotion I'm not sure I could experience ever again. She skipped over to me and sat beside me on the park bench.

"Have you ever seen the entire park from above."she asked.

I nodded my head from left to right and said "no". I didn't know what she was getting at.

She giggled,threw her head back and grabbed my hand pulling me with her. She stopped under a large oak tree in the middle of the park. The fallen leaves formed a circle around the tree.

"Alexia, let go off me." I exclaimed, pulling my hands from her tight grasp.

"Come on. Stop being so uptight for once. This will be fun."

"What exactly are we going to do? I really don't trust a bone in your body, Lexi."

"Lexi?. Only close friends and family call me that."

I cleared my throat realizing that I just called her Lexi. Well this was new.
"It was a honest mistake".

"Well since you called me that, we're now bestfriends."

I looked at Lexi like she had grown two heads." That's why you'll always end up alone, you don't know how to choose your friends wisely. You're way to easy."

Ouch.

Lexi made direct eye contact with me. There it was again, I said it again. What is wrong with me?I could see the hurt in her eyes. We both stood there in silence, just staring.

"That might've came out wrong," I commented, trying to each the tension.

"No it's okay Emilo, you're right."

"That wasn't what I wante-"

"It's okay Emilio." She forced a smile and said,"Come on. Let's go."

I could still hear the hurt in her voice but I brushed it aside and waited for her to start doing whatever she had planned. I had a bad feeling about this.

In a split second I saw Lexi scaling the tree. There were a few hinges attached that she used to elevate herself. She looked like a professional climber. I couldn't believe this was the same girl that was involved in an accident just a few days ago. She really had a lot of energy for somebody that was allegedly in pain. I started to think maybe she was lying about still experiencing pain. Everyone lies.

"Come on Emilio, stop staring, you're such a killjoy," said Lexi. She  was hanging off a limb. The limb was thin compared to the others. She had her arms and legs wrapped around the limb and she had her head turned to the side, smiling down at me.

I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I felt like something terrible was going to happen.

"Crick"

The moment I diverted my gaze from Lexi, I was forced to turn it back on her.

"Fuck." She said contorting her face in pain. I saw her on the ground still wrapped around the fractured limb.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to her." How do you always manage to do the most stupid sh*t? Are you fucking dumb?"

I crouched over to inspect her.

"Help me up, Emilio. Don't just stand their looking, you inconsiderate pig."

"Ask nicely."

"This is not a joke, Emilio. Please take me serious. My back is killing me," she pleaded.

I put on a smug smile on my face." Why don't I just leave you here? I'm tired of your antics."

She started becoming teary eyed,"Emilio please I think I broke something."

After about 5 minutes of going back and forth with Lexi, I finally decided to bring her out of her misery. We went to the same hospital we had left a few days ago. Lexi got checked out and we returned home. Neither of us mumbled a word to the other on the way home.

It seemed as if anytime I come out of my shell and allowed myself to be vulnerable, something terrible happened. This is why I didn't get out much anymore.

I always found a way to add to the hate that I already felt. I had to push Lexi away before she got too close. I couldn't expose myself like that again.