I let out a quiet scoff at Sasya flirting with Will. I wanted to yank her blonde hair and tell her to back off. But I was already sick and tired just from hearing her voice. Seeing Will avoid her as much as he could only made my jealousy flare, leaving me able to do nothing but clear my throat in annoyance.
Will looked at me, regret written across his face, then took the hand that was still holding my phone. He reached for it and glanced at the message still clearly displayed on the screen. I watched his expression tighten, his brows drawing together.
“We can come up with an excuse not to attend this event, Che,” he coaxed.
I only shook my head slowly. “We can’t keep leaving and avoiding them every day, Will. Can’t you see that we can’t avoid them forever? No matter what, we have to sit down and meet Dad and Mom again.” My voice seemed to catch as I said the last word.
I saw Will clench his fists, suppressing all the emotions that must have been churning in his heart and mind as well.
I gently stroked his arm. “It’s okay, Will. I know how you feel. You know how I feel, too. Maybe we really do have to move forward, Will. We won’t get anywhere if we keep holding on to these feelings. I don’t want to be selfish and destroy the happiness of someone I love.”
Will’s eyes looked sad as he tried to process what I was feeling. Then he slowly nodded.
“All right. Wait for me after your class is over. Come on, let’s go home together.”
Class ended as the orange light of late afternoon began filtering into my classroom. The professor teaching the course wrapped things up by assigning us work that would definitely eat into my time for studying and completing it. I glanced beside me. Leona looked as if she would pass out if class hadn’t ended.
“I’m so tired,” she said as she packed up her stationery and the books she always carried around.
“You’re still going out with everyone later, right? You didn’t forget that we’re going to have fun, did you?” she continued, sounding more excited as she remembered our plans to go to karaoke and drink together.
“I’m sorry. Just say hi to everyone for me. I have a family gathering tonight.”
“Family?” she said in confusion. “You mean that family? That one?” she asked, staring at me wide-eyed and shaking me by the shoulders.
“Yes,” I answered briefly.
“Ugh, I might go crazy if this is really happening. Should I pick you up in the middle of dinner? Are you sure you can handle it on your own?”
“I’ll be fine, Leona,” I said, stopping the hands that had been shaking me this whole time.
“Che,” someone called from the classroom door.
I saw William standing straight with one hand on the classroom door. Leona looked at me uncertainly, then said simply, “Call me if you need help.”
I only nodded at her words, then followed her as she stood and headed toward the classroom door. I saw Leona glare at Will as if, should he hurt me again, she would be ready to wrap her hands around his long neck. Will and Leona had never been close, unlike the friendship Sasya and I used to share.
Leona, Sasya, and I had been best friends, going everywhere together since the beginning of our college years. Wherever I was, there was always Leona, loud and clingy, and Syasa, who always dressed femininely like a princess. That was only natural, since she was an only child and the heir to a major hospital in this city.
Will and I met later at a hospital where he was doing his clinical practice. At the time, he was absorbed in his hobby of photography.
I thought he was the photographer the hospital had hired to create its latest profile. As it turned out, he was a medical student at the same university as me—he had simply enrolled earlier. From then on, Will and I grew closer, and our relationship changed into that of a couple.