~~9:40 pm~~
o Angel
I was browsing my pictures on Instagram on my phone when it vibrated, and the screen was taken up by the caller’s name, ‘Dante Evadoni’.
I picked up and said, “Hello?”
“Angel,” Dante’s voice came through, smooth and well-toned, “hey. It’s me.”
“Hi, Dante. What’s up? Why’d you call?” I leaned against my bed’s headboard.
“Nothing, really. I just thought I’d call – we, err, didn’t get to talk as much today.”
“It’s all right,” I told him, “You were with Carol.”
“Uh, yeah. I was.”
“Mmm.”
“Are we gonna start talking about her again?”
“No,” I smiled thoughtfully, “As much as I want to find out more about you two; no, I won’t start that again.”
“Good to know,” Dante chuckled.
There was a pause.
“You really don’t like talking about her, do you?” I mumbled seriously.
Dante gave a grunt. “You could say that.”
“Still not telling me why?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
He seemed to hesitate. “Angel?”
“Yes?” I asked tentatively.
“Can I tell you something? Just between you and me?”
“Sure! What is it?”
He took a breath. “Well, the reason why I don’t want to talk about Carol is—”
“Yeah?” I urged him easily.
“I…I sometimes wish I never felt anything for her.”
I nodded, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “I see. You liked her, didn’t you?”
Dante was silent.
“I…heard you even fell in love with Carol. Is that right?”
“…yeah, I did.”
I paused. “So you really did. I…never thought you felt that much for her.”
“Well, now you know.” Dante gave a mirthless laugh.
So here was the Dante the rumors had been saying. I could sense his sadness in the way he spoke. I could almost feel how broken he must be, underneath his smiles and laughter during practice.
I wanted to ask him if he still loved Carol, but I couldn’t. I knew he was pushing himself closer and closer to his limits now, and I didn’t want to make him feel any more hurt. Besides, I now knew he had once offered his heart to a girl who didn’t want it. It was enough for me to understand his sorrow. It was enough for me to believe.
“Hey, um, are you excited for the party? It’s just around the corner,” I said, deliberately changing the topic.
Fortunately, Dante seemed to go along with me. “Yeah, I can’t wait. I reckon it would be fun.”
“So…you’re not nervous about dancing in front of people?” I asked him, biting my lip.
“A little bit,” Dante replied promptly, “but I’m having a decent amount of fun practicing, so I think an actual audience doesn’t bother me that much. How about you?”
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Teen FictionSixteen-year old Dante Evadoni is a normal boy with a normal life - he's in eleventh grade, he has a fair few friends, he's not popular and he's quiet - and a problem that has followed him for two years: he's heels over head in love with a girl he c...
