1st Memoir – Chapter 3 Mr. Bestie and Mr. Grumpy

“Hey! We’re here!” I see Mark waving his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Alex!” Mark was laughing at my absent-mindedness.I can’t help but laugh at him too, he has such an infectious laugh. We got-off and walked together to the AD Building, I waved at him as we parted by the entrance and I walked towards the stairs. I am so early today; I usually walk to school but now this friend decides to pick me up saying it’s no trouble since my house is along his route anyway. I guess it is good, I am not prepared to see Enzo so soon anyway.

I found out about Mark’s secret by chance. I wanted to finish the last few chapter of a book I borrowed from the library, and thought since it is so nice out today, I could do some reading at my favorite spot in campus. This place is very quiet, not many students are willing to walk the considerable distance just to sit under the trees. Ah! I see my favorite acacia tree, I pull an old, used manila paper in my bag. I can use this to sit on I thought. I was about to sit when I noticed a brown journal partially covered by dry leaves. I picked it up and looked for any identification, I quickly flipped though the pages and saw none. But on the last page these words were written, “I think I am gay, and I feel like dying…”

The words were written so firmly that the pen marks almost tore through the paper. I felt the person who must have written this is anguished and frustrated and felt alone. I trace the pen’s deep indentation on the paper with my finger and closed the journal. When I looked up, Mark was in front of me. He was a bit breathless and there was a slight worry written on his face. I dared not ask if the journal was his, not after seeing what was written there. But as I stare back at him, I see his face relax and as he smiled, he had a wistful expression. He let out a sigh of relief and said, “I’m not worried because my secret was found out by the most introverted girl I know.”

I finally spoke, “There was something written here, is it true?” He said yes. I dropped the journal as I hurried towards him and hugged him tightly. He asked, “Are you hugging me because you feel bad, I am gay?” I pushed his shoulders and looked at him, “No, you idiot! I’m concerned because you said you feel like dying!”

We talked a lot that afternoon, the book I was supposed to read remained unfinished. I did not ask him anything, I let him do the talking, he chose which stories to tell, which feelings to reveal. Half the time we just sat under that acacia tree, no one speaking and yet so much was understood. The sun has started to set, neither noticed the time. I was just glad that he has accepted my offer to be his friend. Mark turned to me and laughed. I thought that I really like his infectious childlike laugh, this time though it sounded more authentic. He said, “I’m so happy you found out about my secret, I feel so relieved, it’s like a huge weight was lifted off me. But hey, we should go, it’s getting dark. I’ll take you home.”  I responded to him saying, “I’m glad you are ok with me finding out and if you ever feel that way again please just call me, okay?” And that was day one of our friendship.

No one is at the classroom yet, I took my seat and waited. My cellphone pinged, it was a message from Mark, he said he will buy me lunch. I giggled a bit and thought I’ll tell him I want sushi today. I was startled when someone suddenly spoke, “A single text message made you that happy?!” I looked behind me and saw Enzo looking annoyed and cranky as ever. I thought to myself, I seldom see this side of Enzo, it almost seemed like he is jealous. But somehow his grumpy face looked rather cute, I smiled at the thought. I stopped smiling the moment I saw him looking at me seriously and quickly told him, “We’ll talk after dinner tonight.” I went quickly back to my seat.

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