Before I know it, the dreaded day arrives. “Why did I agree to do this?”
I’m carrying a 20 pound backpack while the icy morning air whips at my cheeks and does all in its power to push me off balance. I do my best not to step in one of the many puddles surrounding us.
“Because of the gorgeous view we’re about to see!” Rodrigo’s meaty palm lands on my shoulders with a thunk. I wince, then shiver.
“Why is it so cold?”
“It’ll warm up as we start climbing.”
“And it’s wet.”
“Oh come on, at least it’s not actually raining!” A moment later it starts to drizzle steadily.
“Crow’s mouth.” I mutter.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I turn away. “Why did you pick today anyway?”
“Well…” he scratches his head. “There wasn’t really another day when everyone was available so”, he shrugs, “we picked today. But at least it isn’t-“
“Stop talking right now.” I hastily cover his mouth.
“Huh?”
“You’ll jinx it again.”
He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. “Acher!” We turn to see several of the other guys arrive. My gaze immediately zooms in on my target. He’s loosely tied his slightly longer, dark hair back in a small ponytail. I blink, trying to see the crease at the corner of his eyes as he smiles, the way his mole moves with his lip. But as I strain my eyes, my view turns blurry, I blink several times. Is there water in my eye? Or…
“Hey man, you okay?” I look up at Rodrigo, he’s like a large brown blur. I crouch down and cover my face with my hands, closing my eyes for a moment. “Give me a second.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qtja’r atf wjaafg?”
“C mjijwlaber yfjeas.” P weaafg.
“Let?”
“Rbatlcu.” P rlut. P mgbemt atfgf obg j wbwfca yfobgf rajcvlcu. Coafg atja wbwfcajgs gfra la’r rilutais yfaafg.
“Lfs, jgf sbe-” Ebvglub jrxr jujlc.
“Pa’r cbatlcu, ifa’r ub.”
Qf kjla j ofk wbwfcar lc mjrf atfgf’r jcsbcf firf ktb kjcar ab pblc beg ugbeq, yfobgf kf yfulc beg jrmfca. Ca olgra, Ebvglub rajsr ys ws rlvf ilxf j wbatfg tfc kjamtlcu tfg yjys mtlmx.
“Are you seriously okay? Do you need anything? I knew we should have bought a trekking pole! I can borrow one from one of the other guys if you need.”
“I’m fine.”
“Whoa watch out! There was a large log there.”
“I’m fine.”
“Come to this side it’s less slippery-“
“Hey Rodrigo!” He glances up, it’s one of his friends. “What are you doing back there? Come up here!”
“Hey, Zion! Nah, I’ve got to-“
“Go.”
“Huh?”
“Go with them.” I look up at him.
“But-“
“Seriously, I get that you’re trying to help but it’s more obnoxious than anything else. I’m fine, I can do this much.” I look him directly in the eyes. “I can see.”
“But-“
“Go. I’m fine here. I won’t trip, fall, or die. There’s trees around us, it’s not like we’re on a precipitous slope. And besides, I’m surrounded by people, I can just shout if anything happens.”
He still looks unconvinced so I push him forward. “Go.“
Finally, he goes to his friends, taking a couple hesitant glances back. Once he’s gone I heave a massive sigh. Then I turn my eyes to the line of people in front of me. Distracted by Rodrigo’s endless fussing, I lost sight of Acher. He must have wandered ahead. Now, all I can see is a handful of random members of the club. I lower my eyes and continue walking.
“Is your protector gone?” I jump, turning to see…dark curls, those familiar warm brown eyes creased in a twinkling smile just as I remember it. I freeze. Then I process his words.
“Uh…what?”
“Your protector, Rodrigo?”
“Oh, uh…he went with his friends. You aren’t with your friends?”
“Oh,” he scratches his head, “well Grace and Kai actually just started dating so I’m giving them space and Mir and CJ are racing to the top…they’re my friends by the way.” He adds, by way of explanation. I nod with my head down. Makes sense, but then…what is he doing here with me?
“So what made you decide to come along on this hike? I mean I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around in the club.” He turns to face me.
“…Rodrigo told me the view would be beautiful.” I reply with my head down. I peek up at him, his face still carries that easy, every present smile.
“Oh yeah, it’s supposed to be. Since it’s our senior year we thought it’d be a pity if we didn’t come here at least once…” He continues talking as I bask in the fact that he’s, once again, right next to me. I’ve gotten to be this close to him twice in one week. Sure, we may never talk again and this’ll probably just be another random conversation he forgets about but…
“Speaking of which, we were in the same highschool, weren’t we?”
I pause. “…And elementary.”
“And elementary? No way!” He turns towards me. “You were at Peace Montessori too???”
“…Yeah.”
“Wow, we were together all those years…I don’t think we ever talked though…” He muses to himself, I peek at him before looking back down.
“We did talk once.”
“Really? When-“
“Hey Acher how much further?!” He looks up.
“We’re only a mile in, what do you mean how much further?!” He calls back with a smile on his face. I take advantage of that moment of distraction to peer at him. He’s like sunlight, the way he shines and attracts those around him. Shining for all, belonging to none. What was I even about to say? I lower my eyes sighing.
“So when did we speak?” He turns back to me. I keep my eyes pointed on the ground in front of me.
“Nothing, I don’t remember.”
“But you just-“
“I think you handed me some sheets during class or something.” I continue walking. I can feel his gaze on me for a moment. Finally, he doesn’t say anything and just joins me in walking forward.
“You know though, this rain may turn into a blessing in disguise if we see a rainbow at the top.” He soon resumes chattering away.
I step out of a particularly large puddle and glance distastefully down at my sopping wet tennis shoes. Acher notices my look and laughs. “Yes, it can be a pain though.”
We continue up the hill with his chatter and my occasional response. It’s surreal and not quite what I’ve dreamt about but…I don’t hate it.
