My Imaginary Boyfriend

My Imaginary Boyfriend *Motive

"Why do you like reading?" Daniel asks me.

I frown at him. "I thought it's my turn to ask questions."

He smiles sheepishly, and says, "Question."

"Okay," I say, rolling my eyes at him, "Question."

Daniel was waiting outside the door of my last class a while ago and he asked me if I wanted to hang out with him. Of course I agreed. So here we are in the farthest corner of the library, away from the view of the glaring eyes of my school mates. In this place, no one can bother us. Yesterday was his turn to ask a question. Now it's mine.

"Reading is my escape from reality," I say, not wanting to be rude by ignoring his question.

"Why do you want to escape?" He asks, leaning on the table towards me.

"Um, I. . ." I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sometimes, living inside a book is very comforting every now and then," I say honestly.

He nods thoughtfully and his eyes glitters in delight. Maybe he finds my words amusing.

"I do that too," he says quietly.

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"I like reading too," he says, grinning like Ronald McDonald.

"You do?" I ask eagerly.

"Why are you so surprised?" He asks curiously.

"Um, I don't find you as the reading type of person," I say truthfully.

He laughs softly. It sounds like—

"Reading is my passion," he says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Really," I murmur, staring at his soft blue eyes.

"Really," he insists, returning my gaze.

"I believe you," I say. "I'm just . . ."

"What?" He asks, urging me to continue.

"Nothing," I murmur. "I remember it's my turn to ask a question."

"What do you want to know about me?" He asks, cocking his head to the side, making his brown hair falls on his eyes.

Everything, I want to say, but instead, I ask, "What's your favorite book?"

He has a faraway look on his face. "I think its Tuesday's with Morrie," he says finally.

"By Mitch Albom?" I ask.

"Yes. Have you read it?"

"Uh, no," I say. "What is it about?"

"It's about an old man and his student, back in the old days, who meet every Tuesday," he says, with a smile on his voice. "It's a very inspirational book; about life, hope, and faith," he adds.

"Ooh," I murmur. "It sounds interesting."

"I have a book," he says, "I can lend it to you if you want?"

Wait. Where did it come from? Where did I get that? I have a lot of books, so why did I say that Daniel's favorite is Tuesday's with Morrie, even if I haven't read it myself?

There's nothing I can do about it now. What's done is done. I can never change it. But it's my imagination so I can make things happen. I'll just do something about it later when I have to read it. I'll just continue my imagination first.