Recap:
Clock strikes 8. Fares is sitting very impatient. Clock strikes 9. Fares is now frustrated. 15 minutes shy of the clock striking 10, Layan calls...
[Layan]: Hey, you.
[Fares]: Where the hell have you been!!?
[Layan]: What the hell is wrong with you!? Why are you screaming??? This is no way to talk to me!
Fares tries to muffle his wrath to the best of his ability...
[Fares]: Oh yeah? Then tell me, where have you been?
[Layan]: Oh, so now I have to go through my whole daily schedule with you? Funny, I was never informed.
[Fares]: That smart mouth of yours won't get you anywhere.
[Layan]: Oh yeah? Well, mister, that attitude of yours is getting you somewhere really dark.
[Fares]: ...
[Layan]: Hello?
[Fares]: Yeah?
[Layan]: Listen, I need to take care of something. I'll call in you a bit.
[Fares]: Wait...
But she hung up way too soon...
Fares leaves his uncle's old room dumbfounded. His mom meets him with a smile, which then turns into a concerned look; "What's wrong, Faroos?" Fares puts on a faux smile and comforts her; "Nothing, I'm great. Why?" He asks her if they're leaving soon. She tells him that they could leave immediately if he wants, it was getting a bit late anyway and they've been at his grandparents' since lunch. The family drives back home, and Fares goes straight to his room; still no call from her. He lays on his bed and -sure enough- drifts into slumber. He wakes up to one last ring before his mobile phone went silent. He picks it up; "Shit! 3 missed calls from her! Wait, that's it? Three?" He calls back...
[Layan]: Hello.
[Fares]: Yeah.
[Layan]: Hey.
[Fares]: Hi. I didn't think you'd still be up.
[Layan]: Why not?
[Fares]: Well, for starters, it's 3 o'clock in the morning; that's usually a little too late for you.
[Layan]: Well, that amongst many other things has changed.
[Fares]: Heh, oh.
Fares stops himself and swallows the bitter question like 2-year-old taking a dose of a horribly tasting cough medicine, but that didn't last for long...
[Fares]: What do you mean by "amongst many other things?"
[Layan]: Well, I don't know, Fares! It's not the same!
[Fares]: What isn't?
[Layan]: -sigh- Listen, I've been thinking about this for a while, so don't try to change my mind about this; I made a decision.
Fares could feel his heart fall into his stomach as he realizes the nature of the words that are about to come of this girl's mouth...
[Fares]: -hyperventilating- Huh?
[Layan]: Fares, this isn't going anywhere. In fact, it is beginning to choke me. I've talked to my sister and many other friends about this.
Fares thinks to himself; "Fuck! She talked to her sister about this; the one who was never able to keep a guy down for more than a month!?" Layan carries on talking, while Fares listens still unable to make as little as a peep...
[Layan]: This is getting too serious, and we're both so young. I was never yours, Fares; you deserve better, trust me.
[Fares]: But... I want you...
[Layan]: We don't always get what we want, Fares. Like there's someone for everyone, there's someone out there for you; that someone is not me. I'm sorry it had to end this way. Listen, I already blocked you on MSN. And don't try calling back, please, it'll be easier that way. Goodbye Fares.
[Fares]: ...
[Layan]: What? You don't want to have one last goodbye?
She had lost him at "end this way." He had stopped listening. She repeats her question...
[Layan]: Fares, you sure you don't want to have one last goodbye?
Fares is too choked up and frustrated to breathe properly. He swallows his pride, gathers what's left of his composure and replies...
[Fares]: No!
[Layan]: Ok, Fares, whatever you're comfortable with. -hangs up-
Fares stays in denial for a good hour or so. Then, he starts panicking and calls Layan. She doesn't pick up, so he calls again 15 times in a row before he realizes that he had received a text message. It was from her and read "I knew this was going to happen. Please don't call again, it's for the best." That's when it hit him hard; she's never picking up. She's never coming back.
For 3 months after they last talked, Fares was still sending text messages to her to no avail. The tone of what he sent her alternated between bitter/very angry and desperate/hopeless. He introverted and poured his heart out into paintings and dark poems, they were what kept him holding onto his last thread of sanity. He began looking at his trip to the US to go to college with indifference; "Texas" sounded just like "hell" to him. "Out with the reverie, in with the reality;" he thought.
His last months in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, were full of sadness, remorse, longing, and emptiness. His family tried spending as much time as they can with him, but he was never really there; sure he was there in the flesh, but that wasn't enough. A couple of months before he left, he had one fling with an unlucky girl, which rendered his emotional state even worse. He vowed never to fully fall in love with anyone ever again, it would just expose him to the eventual hurt.
"Next time, I'll be careful not to get too close. Like a butterfly around a flame, never get too close or you'll get burned." It's been 4 years now, and Fares still hasn't forgotten; he never trusted anyone completely with his heart since he did with her. And, Layan... Well, Fares heard from a close friend that she had hooked up with a guy three months after their breakup; "She's obviously doing better than I am." Fares still writes poetry, but it's different. The experience helped him grow out of his naive shell.
"I wouldn't have done anything to change it."
This is a true story; Fares' real name is Fahad. :)
Santana Feat. Musiq - "Nothing At All"
The End
