Chapter 5: Feelings

Chapter 5: Feelings

“WHO ARE YOU, young man?”

I was a bit taken aback because of the appearance of a sturdy-looking man in his 40s right in front of me. Trying not to be intimidated by his aura, I stood tall and smiled with confidence.

“Cole Hawthorne, sir,” I introduced myself.

He stared at me intently as if he’s trying to see through me. With the way he looks, he reminded me of Amara. They resemble each other actually. He might be her father.

“Uncle, don’t kill him with your glare. He’s a friend of mine and Dwayne’s.” Amara came to rescue me from her uncle.

Okay, so he’s her uncle. But what did she say? I heard her say Dwayne. She mentioned him to her uncle. So, he knows Dwayne?

“Aight, come in, Hawthorne,” he told me with his voice full of authority.

“Just don’t mind him, he’s always like that. He’s been like that also to Dwayne when he first came here.” Amara tried to keep me cool. She might think that her uncle has gotten me intimidated. Yeah, at first I was. But what caught me more was the fact that her uncle knows Dwayne. As much as I like to ask Amara how her uncle knew him, I just kept my mouth shut. This ain’t the right time for asking shits.

“I’ll just go get my things,” Amara politely informed me.

“Why is Dwayne not the one to pick you up?” I heard her uncle ask before she could make it up to her bedroom.

“It will be too much for Dwayne. Besides, Cole is just a few blocks away from us so Cole volunteered to give me a ride,” Amara explained.

“I trust that kid better than...” he paused and glanced at me sideways. “...this one.”

Amara smirked. “Come on, uncle, don’t be such a douche.” Her uncle rolled his eyes and let Amara go.

All I could hear was Amara’s footsteps on the stairs and my heart beating so loud. I am getting intimidated even more considering the fact that her uncle likes Dwayne more than me.

“My name’s Oliver,” Amara’s uncle Oliver introduced himself, extending his hand to me.

I quickly shook hands with him and said, “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

“Are you my niece’s suitor?” He asked, giving me his death glare.

What should I say? Of course, I’m not. Amara and I are just friends so why am I thinking of what should I say?

“No, Sir, I’m just friends with Amara,” I politely answered.

“So, you don’t find my niece attractive?”

I swallowed the tension forming in my throat. Is he asking some kind of tricky questions?

“I do, sir,” I honestly replied.

I saw him smirking. “So, you want to date her?”

The question got me. Can I? Should I? Would that be fine?

“I don’t want to lose her.”

That’s the safest answer I could give. Besides, it’s true that I don’t want to lose her. If I’m going to cross the line of our friendship, when shit happens, I know that I’m going to lose her forever.

“You’re brave enough, Hawthorne. I like you already,” and Sir Oliver laughed while tapping my shoulder. “Take care of Amara. She never had a lot of friends before. I’m glad she’s hanging out with some kids now.”

“My pleasure, sir. My friends and I love her so much and we will protect her as long as she needs us to.” I smiled widely and answered confidently.

“I’ll count on you, young man.”

“You have my words, sir.”

“Who’s this young man, darling?”

I looked towards the lady who just came in. She’s holding a bunch of flowers in her arms and she’s wearing working clothes but that couldn’t hide her beauty.

“Bettina, darling, this is Cole Hawthorne, Amara and Dwayne’s friend,” Oliver introduced me. “Hawthorne, this is Bettina, my wife.”

“Nice to meet you, Ma’am. You look so beautiful,” I complimented her because she really is. No sugarcoating shits intended.

“Oh, dear, you’re flattering me,” she said, sweetly. She became shy of my remarks to her.

I heard Oliver fondly laughed and helped his wife to carry the bunch of flowers. He kissed her forehead and it made Bettina smile.

“This kid has the same taste for a woman like me. You’re starting to earn my trust,” Oliver told me.

“Darling, is he Amara’s suitor? But they’re still kids,” Bettina protested. “You gotta take it easy, okay?”

“Take it easy on what?”

Amara suddenly appeared with her backpack. She’s wearing tattered shorts paired with a white oversized shirt, above-the-knee black socks, and white Chuck Taylor. I have seen a lot of girls in this outfit, but she gotta be the cutest.

“Oh, nothing, sweetheart,” Bettina answered and she made her way to Amara. “Enjoy your trip, okay? Send my regards to Caroline.”

“I will, Aunt,” Amara said, smiling. “We got to go now.”

“Yeah, take care, sweethearts,” Bettina reminded us.

“Yes, of course,” I answered and bowed to them. “Such a pleasure meeting you, ma’am and sir.”

They just smiled and I felt Amara pull me by my hand leaving their house. I glanced back at Amara’s aunt and uncle who were waving goodbye to us. Oliver is gesturing to me to keep an eye on Amara and I just smiled at him.

When Amara and I reached my car, I unlocked the car doors and Amara opened the backseat door and threw her backpack in.

“You have everything that you need?” I asked before going inside the car.

“Yup,” Amara happily replied, giving me a thumbs up.

Her smile sends me to heaven. I would die to see them always.

AFTER MORE THAN an hour of travel, we have already reached our destination. It is a youth center located almost in the middle of a forest and I have no idea why the council chose this to be the place for their immersion and outreach program. Well, as friends of the two powerful student leaders in school, Gray, Miranda, and I, got the chance to tag along with them. Lucky us.

The place is actually good, cozy, and relaxing. I could see a lot of teens playing volleyball, or playing instruments. Some are painting and reading books. No one is using any gadget. What a life.

“Welcome to Off the Cliff Foundation,” a lady in a classy, conservative dress welcomed us.

“Hi, Miss Caroline,” Amara greeted and went to hug the girl named Caroline.

“It’s been a while, Amara, and you’re looking great.”

Amara just clicked her tongue and winked to Caroline as an answer. Why does she need to be so cute?

“I’m starting to like it here,” Miranda said with the biggest smile.

“You just liked it here because Amara loves this place,” Gray butted in. “You’re obsessed with her.”

Miranda rolled her eyes at Gray before making her way to Amara, stomping, and hugged Amara’s arm. Amara was surprised but just laughed after seeing Miranda.

“Amara unleashed the baby side of our spoiled brat friend,” Dwayne commented.

“Tell me about it,” Gray scoffed.

“Wait, so Amara knows this place?” I asked.

“Yes,” Dwayne answered. “Since her birthday is getting near, the whole student council let Amara choose where to go for the immersion and she suggested the Off the Cliff Foundation.”

I frowned at Dwayne. “Her birthday is near?”

“Yes, man,” Dwayne replied.

“Oh, shoot,” I silently burst. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t ask in the first place. How would I know you’re interested?” Dwayne shot a bored look at me.

“Maybe because you would want to keep it for yourself,” I said.

“Why would I?” Dwayne has finally shown me an annoyed expression.

“Jesus, both of you,” Gray stepped between us. “Could you calm your shits, aight? And you, lover boy,” Gray faced me. “No one’s getting Amara from you. She’s not yours to begin with, and she’s our friend.”

What Gray has said got me back to my senses. I glanced away, embarrassed by what I had done.

“HOW DO YOU find the place?” Dwayne asked, holding out a glass of milk to me, and I can’t help but snort to laughter. “They don’t have alcohol in here, you better take this one.”

I silently laughed and just shook my head. “So, where are our girls?” I started.

“You mean, Amara and Miranda? They’re with the girls of the foundation. They are having some girl talk, I don’t know any shit at all about what it is about.” Dwayne replied before taking a sip of his milk.

“Man, I’m sorry about what happened a while ago,” I told Dwayne.

I heard him scoff. “Dude, Amara’s a good friend of mine. I would not dare cross the line. I know she’s not into me and we are just friends, end of the story. Besides,” Dwayne paused and cocked his head on one side. “...I know you’re into her.”

He fucking got me.

“She had a lot of shits she has gone through and I’m not in the position to tell you what those are, you gotta find out on your own.”

What Dwayne told me made me envious of him.

“I was lucky enough to talk with her and I felt like a person worthy of someone’s trust when she opened up herself to me. Not a lot, but it means everything to me because she sees me as a trusted friend. I like her, yeah, as a friend and as a little sister. And when I heard her story, I wanted to protect her even more.”

“Then why do you let other people, even us, judge her?” I asked.

“Amara doesn’t give a shit about it. She has her truth and almost everyone refuses to see what’s the truth about her. She’s giving them away for people to see and know, but they only want to see what they want to see. You know that. Those who are only close to her or get to be with her for a long time every day get to see what she’s really like.”

I saw Amara and Miranda by the glass door in the living room. They both looked so happy and the other kids are all having a good time with them. Next thing I knew, the whole student council, except Dwayne, was all joining them. Even Gray joined them. They gathered in a circle and sat on the carpet and who knows what they are laughing about. But only Amara shines the brightest to me.

“She doesn’t need to prove herself to anyone,” Dwayne continued. “That’s what she would always say. When you get to know her, I mean more, you will realize a lot of shits in life.”

He finished his glass of milk before glancing back at me. “You ain’t gonna go in and join them? They look so happy.”

“I’ll probably stay for a minute or two to enjoy the fresh night air,” I told him.

“Alright, I better go in,” Dwayne said and started to walk his way inside the cabin.

“Dwayne,” I called.

“Yeah?” He replied, looking over his shoulder.

“I don’t want to lose Amara,” I said.

He looked back at me, waiting for the next words that I’m about to say.

“And I also want to know more about her and I can’t fight it anymore.”

Dwayne remained silent.

“I like her.”

He smirked and said, “Boy, you better tell her.”