Rockstar Serenade: The Verse

Ch 15: The Heart And Mind Are Just Too Ironic

dedicated to @IanGrimHawk, an awesome writer who's got a talent with words <3

TREVOR~

At least the club was considerate enough to hold the competition on a Friday night, just prior to the weekend.

I got home by almost midnight, my body all sore and bruised. Additionally, my finger's joints got more swollen than ever, so mom had to dip them in a bucket of ice. She's never the medical type, hence my hesitation, so I was surprised when the method deemed effective. It soothed my bones, and having a hand numb from the cold eased me a bit from physical pain.

That morning after, I was restless. I still could get over the fact that after the practices during the weekends and after school, the sacrificed time and all the efforts, we only ended up at the bottom three. At least we made it to through the first elimination, dad mentioned.  I'm not one who’s contented by that though. I always aim for the best there is, and the best would be slipping through the final stage, the screening. We haven’t even made it close.

The house is silent on a Saturday late morning. Travis is out on his weekly shift at a local coffee shop. Mom is in the hospital taking my aunt's place in looking after their bedridden distant relative. Dad, well he said he had to leave first thing in the morning for business stuff.  I just woke up, still with an aching body and a bad hand. As a matter of fact, I didn't actually wake up, it's more like I just rose from a nap. It's a struggle sleeping when your ego got badly bruised, like the pain is too agonizing to let you drift into the comforts of a good sleep. And don't even get me started on Josephine.

It feels like a wasteland here—a wasteland of nothing but melancholia, after all the events that happened last night. I would invite Xavier to come over, but I think he wants some time alone after a heart-wrecking defeat. After a few more moments of pacing around, deciding on how to spend the day, I go outside, where the breeze greets me with a gentle blow on the face.

There isn't much to see out here as well. It's just a road fenced with a few trees, a bicycle lane and a few people on their morning walks. These people are in their mid-forty's, and I don't think they'd be very much interested in a conversation with a teenager, much less even bother knowing my name.

So, I walk like a misdirected boy. I head to the direction my feet brings me, the direction opposite of the CJA headquarters, northbound to the city. It's better if I just let the bitterness fade on its own rather than drowning myself in hate for it.

It's only takes a few minutes' walk before I find myself strolling under the skyscrapers.

There is this coffee shop I always visit whenever I get the chance to. Ironically, I don't go there for their coffee, rather for their pastries and the ambience. I have a favorite spot there—a two-seater table by the glass window. It’s tinted on the outside so no one could see me spying on their private strolls. It's not like I wanna stick my nose at their privacy; I just like seeing people in motion without being cautious that they might think of me as some kind of freak. I strangely find this activity mundanely entertaining.

As I take my place—It’s vacant, thankfully—I do my usual thing of observing. There is a novelty shop across, and I always see foreigners exiting the shop with grins spread across their faces. I take a huge bite of my Mallorca Sweet Bread, my eyes still on the streets, then almost choked on what I see.

Chris and his current girlfriend hand in hand. It isn't much of a surprise really, but it's just weird seeing him around with another girl when Terra always got her arm around him whenever she gets the chance, and Chris seems cool with it.