Serendipity [BoyxBoy]

Chapter Twenty-One

Irekan was dying and it was the most disappointing thing to ever happen to him.

It was even more disappointing than the time he kept begging his mother for coconut ice-cream only for him to taste it and find out that it tasted no different than coconut that had been left in the freezer for too long.

He thought dying would be something spectacular, something to ruminate on in the afterlife maybe; the end of a story, the curtains closing on a play. He had expected his life to flash before his eyes right before he caught of glimpse of his maker. He had expected a roller-coaster of emotions just before nothing.

But there was none of that. There he was, on his back on the cold asphalt, staring up at the black clouds and a moon that looked like it was trying it's best but it's best wasn't just good enough, feeling nothing but disappointment. He was cold but his back was warm. He tasted blood but he was okay with it because it made him feel like a vampire. He no longer hurt and that was fine.

And he was alone. So alone.

'Ireti, is this how you felt?' He thought.

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all but he found that he couldn't and that just increased his disappointment.

Irekan wished Uvo were there. He wished Nosa were there. He wished Ireti were there.

Most of all, he wished everything would just stop.

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On Saturday, Nosa watched anime at Irekan's house while Irekan read a novel he had borrowed from Nosa but it wasn’t the same as every other Saturday.

A new addition to their routine was that they now did this thing where they glanced at each other, caught the other one looking, then glanced away quickly. Nosa thought it was absolutely ridiculous. But, between filler episodes, Uvo falling asleep on his legs and Irekan smiling like he knew something no one else did whenever he read a good scene, Nosa knew where he wanted to be looking.

On Sunday, Irekan served mass and Nosa spent more time staring at him up on the altar than the priest and Jesus. When it was time for communion, Nosa made sure that he that he was in a position to be given communion by the priest that had Irekan holding the communion-plate for him. And, when Irekan held the metal plate underneath his mouth and the priest announced 'The Body of Christ', Nosa had to suppress his smile long enough to reply 'Amen' decently.

On Monday, they ate lunch under a tree by the pathway, one that they could now identify as their spot. Irekan played songs on his phone that made Nosa feel things he wasn't sure he was allowed to feel.

They ate in silence, like they usually did, but Nosa was suddenly now hyper-aware of every little detail. He began to notice things he never noticed before. Like how Irekan's skin glowed like freshly polished wood under the sun and how he closed his eyes when he chewed like he was savoring the flavor even if it was something he had eaten many times before. How a small smile graced his lips when he heard the opening bars to a song he really liked, which was a great contrast from Nosa's classmates who began shouting when the same thing happened. He noticed how time seemed to slow down around Irekan, like the universe really wanted him to enjoy a particular moment before he moved on to the next. Irekan was in his own bubble, hell, he was literally his own planet, with the sun shining down on him, the moon orbiting around him and the stars following him.

Irekan was a magnet and Nosa felt himself getting pulled in.

When Irekan came over during breakfast before school, Egho gave them curious looks. She stared at Nosa pointedly and he stared at his food. Who knew bread could be so fascinating? Not him!