Most pepole believe that love stories has a "happy ever after" but, not for William, a good looking introvert kind of person, he stood nearly six-foot-four tall, has a blonde curly hair, lean body,and a perfect appearance that could probably get any girl he wanted, if he would. But even he has that perfect shape he never choose to get a girl cause he don't care about falling or loving a person cause for him it's just a waste of time, falling inlove is just a dumb shit for him like he'll call people an idiot if they confess their feelings for him. He only loves his family obviously but if any man that could be considered as the lonliest man in the world it would be him, he would love to be lonenly and be unreachable, he's influenced by sad drama stories that he believed as the reality of life ever since his parents divorced when he was ten. As the youngest, he watched his siblings grew and eventually got into relationship and got broken so he sware to himself he will be never be like them. As a young man he should be enjoying everything but he spend all his time in his bedroom writing poems, novels and watching movies.
It was twenty -first day of June, a hot sunday morning, and got up doing his everyday routine, it seems to be a nomal day for him not until his phone vibrated, when he unlocked it he saw that it was a notification from his phone's callendar, and there's "Cousins Arrival Day" in it and then he realized it's the fourth day of summer and it's the day where his family's relatives to celebrate their family's tradition every summer season. " Oh what the hell, I shoud stay bed today" he said to himself. It's exactly ten o'clock in the morning when a car stopped in yhe front of their house, then William heard some voices chatting and laughiing downstairs, " yah here comes the interrogations" he said on his mind. He stayed at his bed watching movie when suddenly there is a knock on his bedroom door, then he heard a familiar female voice behind the door, " Willie are you there?" said the woman behind the door, then it was Leizel his only friend among all of his cousins, "the door is open you can come in" said William in a lazy tone, then Leizel step inside the room and saw William on the bed,
"Aren't you going somewhere?" Leizel ask,
"Nah I'm good " William answered,
"Is that how you welcome your visitor huh, you stinky skunk?" Leizel ask,
" Aight,come here you crazy witch" William answered, then Leizel excitedly ran unto William and hop unto his bed then she hugged William,
" Oh I missed you so much Willie" she said while hugging William,
"Ok stop now, I'm not fourteen anymore to recieve your hugs you know" said Willam,
"Oh what do you think you are now Willie? A big grown up man? Well you know your still the skinny guy I know" Leizel answered. Then they become silent for a while until, "By the way William, I got something to tell you" said Leizel with a serous expression on her face,
" Yah what? Are you pregnant?" William asked,
"No! Its just I got this friend of mine, she's nice, and funny and hot " Leizel said,
" And then?" William asked,
"And she's here in your home cause she joined us, she'll be staying her for a while like maybe whole summer since her parents are on states for business trips." Leizel answered,
" Oh that's great, lucky for you, you got new friend"William said,
"Oh, can you do me a favor?" Leizel asked,
"No, I mean I know your plan Leiz so no"Willam said,
" How did you-, oh never mind, so your a mind reader now?" Leziel replied slightly confused,
"Oh no, no it just kicked in" William said,
"but what's the problem about that willie? You just have to meet her and that's it" Leizel said,
" Oh really?" William answered
"Yes it's just as simple as that, and you know I want you to have more friends cause you're a bit lonely up here" Leizel said,
" Oh I appreciate you concern but still no, and I love being lonely Leiz you know that" William replied, then William turn his head back to his laptop, but then Liezel shut it down, 'Ok what about a deal, you'll meet her and I'll be paying for the snacks since we'll be going to the convenient store as usual" Leizel said with a serious expression on her face,
"You mean you'll be paying for all the stuff I'll take from the mini-mart?" William asked,
" Yes that's what I'm saying" Leizel answered,
" You mean everything huh?" William asked,
" Oh yeah everything but don't exceed to my tax bracket you know, limited resources" Leizel answered,
" Ok deal, but keep your promise I got no cash bruh" William said with a smile on his face,
" Yey I know I could convince you, but first take a bath you little bum" Leizel said smiling,
" I'm just broke right now but I'm not a bum" said William,
"You smell like one tho" Leizel replied still laughing at William,
" Oh yeah shit it's been a long time since I took a bath, maybe a few days like three or four?" William said,
" Yuck! And you let me hug you!? My goodness I might vomit right now" Leizel replied with disgust expression " but don't make me wait long, I might change my mind" she continued. Then Leizel heads outside the room and wait for William downstairs while William go straight to the bathroom to take a shower.
It was exactly eleven o'clock in the morning, William heads downstairs to look for Leizel and the girl she's talking about. He was walking towards the living room when he heard Leizel's voice in the kitchen, and when he walked in he saw Leizel talking to a girl, " Oh that's probably the girl she's talking about" he said on his mind "Well, she got nice black hair, she's probably much my age, maybe she's atleast five-foot-ten tall, she's probably a model" he said, as Williams busy analyzing the girl on his thoughts he was disturb by Leizel's voice, " Oh William was basically a nice guy, he likes to write poems and stories,, watch movies, he got a mascular body, you can say his hot but he stinks you know, and maybe he needs a love cause he's a lonly man you know" Leizel said.
" Uhmm, what? Who needs lover?" William asked,
" O-oh, Willie I didn't noticed you there, are you there for a while?" Leizel nervously asked,
" No, I just came and hear you said I need a lover, and I don't know why you said I need one" William replied annoyed
" Oh Willie you probably misunderstand it, I was about to say I'm just kidding but you suddenly talk out of nowhere" Leizel replied,
" So it's my fault now?" William answered and his voice raised a lil bit showing the sign of distress,
" Oh Willie can we talk outside, just for a sec?" Leizel politely asked,
" Oh yes sure" William agreed, nodding his head,
Then they step out the kitchen and head to an empty space under the stairs, " Willie please calm down, it was just a joke" Leizel said,
" Oh yeah great joke leiz," William replied,
" Please calm down, ok here what if we just walk back inside for you to meet her and I'll double my budget on you" Leizel said,
" Ok, ok I'm sorry I went a little sensitive about that, but doubled budget sounds good" William answered,
" Yah, are you calm now?" Leizel asked,
" Yes let's go now, but no shitty stories now" William replied,
Then they head back , then William calmly entered the kitchen
" Hey William this is Elizabeth, my friend" Leizel said
" Call me Beth for short" Elizabeth said,
" nice to meet you" William replied
" I heard a lot about you from Lei" Elizabeth answered
"Oh great I hope all of those where true" william replied,
Then William walk to the fridge to grab food, while Leizel and Elizabeth sense the akward feeling so they both leave William alone in the kitchen while he's eating, as they pass the living room a voice called them from the back it's Leizel's father Adam, "lei how's William?" He asked, then Leizel turned around "he's good dad" Leizel answered, " oh okay did you tell him that we all want to see him?" Her father asked,
" Actually he's in the kitchen eating, and he's about to come here any second" Leizel replied, then she and Elizabeth gone to the garden. Time passed and it's now twelve o'clock in the afternoon when William went to the living room, and as usual his uncles and aunts are asking him the never ending questions like it's the same question every year but one question stunned everyone even William, " Do you have a girlfriend ?"asked by his Aunt Luzinda his mother's cousin,no one ever dared to ask him that question ever since, it is not becasuse they're afraid of William but they were afraid to hurt William's feelings cause they all know that William has a sensitive background that affects his understanding about relationships, but they're all surprise when William stayed calm and smiled after that quetion, " Oh no I don't have one, and I don't wanna have one" He replied. William knows that his Aunt Lucy is a mindless woman that can't even contorl her intrusive thoughts so he calm himself down, but unexpectedly , because of his calmness and expression after that question, it ignites everyone's humor and curiosity about William's current status, "Actually, you should have one " said his Uncle John- his mother's sibling,
" Oh no thanks, I'm good" William replied
" Or William what about Leizel's friend, you know she's cute and hot and you two are perfect for each other" his Uncle Adam said,
" Or maybe let's end this conversation because we're having a barbecue in the garden, I got corn and beef awaits to be grilled" said Ester mother of William, she know William well so she took the initiative to drive her siblings and relative away from the topic that might make William upset, " Ok, in the garden we go" Uncle Adam said "I'll come right after" Ester said. After a while when everyone was gone, his mother sat beside him,
"I'm sorry Willie I cant hold their thoughts" Ester said with concern,
" Oh no mom that's fine, I understand why they asked cause I'm old enough to experience those romantic stuffs, but you know I don't care" William said with smile on his face
Then Ester hugged him tight" I'm sorry Willie If only your father and I never divorced, you could see the beautiful side of having a person to love" she sadly said, while wiping her tears
"Oh no mom that's fine don't blame yourself, I'm the one who decided to so everything is fine," he said,
"By the way, come with me to the garden we'll be having barbecue" Ester said,
"Oh about that, me and Leizel will go to the mini-mart down the road" he replied,
" Oh really, ok have fun" Ester replied.
It was twenty minutes past one o'clock in the afternoon when William saw Leizel and Elizabeth at the greenhouse talking about the plants and vegetables that Ester grew, then William called out Leizel,
"Lei are you ready to go?" He asked
" Go where?" Leizel replied
" To the mini-mart remember?" He said
"Oh yeah about that we have some changes in plan" Leizel answered
" Why, don't you wanna go?" He asked
" No, I want to go" Lezel answered
" Then what's the problem then?" He asked
Then Leizel ran unto him, " Willie, you know my friend Elizabeth is with me right?" She asked
" Yeah, I know, what about that?" William asked
" Uhmmm, can she go with us to the mini-mart? I'm afraid that she'll feel alone and out of place here" She said
"Bruh what can I do, she's with you, but take responsibility on her" William replied
" Yah sure, thanks Willie" she said, then she turned back to the greenhouse, "Beth your going with us" she cried,
" Oh yeah sure, thanks for letting me join you" Elizabeth replied
" No problem " Leizel answered
Then the three of them head towards the mini-mart, it's unsuall that William didn't say even a single word cause usually William is the first one to start a conversation, telling Leizel his achievements or what he have done that year but in that moment is a total silence, as in nothing not even checking each others academic journey, but Leizel understand why, it is because Elizabeth was with them. Ten minutes later they arrived at the mini-mart, it was the same mini-mart but they wonder why there is no shoppers inside the building, only the staffs and their crews. A staff noticed them enter the mini-mart, " Hey Willie it's been a long time since you last came here", said Sarah, she and Willam are classmates during their seventh grade, five-foot-eigth girl, red haired, who try to flirt on William every time he came by to shop, but eventuall she is constantly pushed by William.
"Yeah your right William barely goes out of the house" said Leizel
" Oh I'm not talking to you " Sarah replied
" Oh that's how you treat costumers nowadays" Leizel answered,
" Duhh, but by the way who's this young lady here, I never seen you before, are you Willie's girlfriend?" Sara asked while staring at Elizabeth
" Shut up Sarah" said William with an serious expression,
" Ok calm down just asking ok!?" Sarah replied nervously
" Duhh what ever" William answered then walk away.
After that they all went to buy snacks, brought it outside then they sit on the sea shore near the mini-mart watching the horizon, "I wonder why the experts didn't finished exploring the ocean" William said,
" Maybe because it's too deep and too dangerous for them to continue" Leizel answered
" Oh sounds like a love strory with bad ending, they stopped being in a relationship knowing the risks if they continue" William said,
" Yah, a bad ending " Leizel replied,
" Uhm, excuse me sorry for interfering but I think not because they stop exploring the ocean when they know the risk didn't mean they'll stop forever, maybe they're .finding a new way to continue, you know sometimes stopping doesn't mean they're afraid of risks, but maybe they need some time to think about a new way or plan to continue the journey, just as loving, sometimes people broke up or separate just to think about what's happening and creating a plan for what happens next, you know it needs time for everything, it's just we need to study things and situations." Elizabeth said,
William firsttime hearing these words from a stranger completely shocked, but in the same time he had a question inside his mind, "how can a girl like her say all of those word? Did she experienced love?"he asked himself .
" You've experience it?" William asked
" Experience what?" Elizabeth answered
"Love, relationship, commitment?" William answered
" Oh no, it's just my perspective about love, " said Elizabeth
" Then how could you say that ilove worked that way?" William asked,
" Woah William how did you become interested about that thing if you don't really care about it?" Leizel said,
" I'm just being curious you know" William answered
Leizel was confused on how Elizabeth caught William's attention to that topic cause ever since, William only see love as a pain in the chest, and even when Leizel convince him that lovw is not just about bad things he won't believe it, neither ask questions like what he asked from Elizabeth, it's like the other side of William was awaked, first tome seing William in his state of curiosity about love, she seize the opportunity to leave them, " uhmm, excuse me I'll head back to the mini-mart cause I need to pee, William take care of Beth" she said, but on her mind she had a lot of questions like "how did Elizabeth caught William's interest about love?",
"Or is she the one who's gonna change William's mind?", and then an Idea came to her mind, she planned to make William and Elizabeth become closer to each other cause she hope that Elizabeth could change William's mind. Then a few minutes after Leizel gone to the mini-mart, William stared a conversation
" Who are you?" William asked,
" I think Lei introduced me earlier" she replied,
" Yes your Elizabeth, but who are you exactly?" William answered
"What do you mean?" She asked,
" Are you one of those people who belive that happy ending exist in love?" He replied,
"Uhmm, I can't understand what are you talking about" she said,
" Oh , never mind though" he said,
A few moments later two men came to the shore a few meters from them , named Conly, and Marco, they where trouble makers, and William knows about that it is just he don't like to deal with them, so he get up ready to live,
"Hey William" Marco cried,
" Beth let's go," William said in a low serious tone,
" Aren't they your friends?" Elizabeth asked,
" No so come on let's go" William said,
"Oh ok" Elizabeth replied.
In the moment that William and Elizabeth is walking away, Marco suddenly ran and blocked Elizabeth's path, then he hold Elizabeth's arms,
"Hey look at you" Marco said
" Get off me" Elizabeth yelled
While William continuous to leave showing no intention of helping Elizabeth, so Elizabeth felt fear in that moment seing William walking away leaving her on Marco,
"Hey is that your man over there?" Macro said while pointing on William " What a shame, you how'd you got that man? He only knows how to leave like what his dad did to his mom!" He said while laughing at William, then suddenly a burst of rage hit William's mind, he suddenly turn around then threw a single punch unto Marco's face that knocked him unconscious, seing Marco lying to the ground Conly ran unto William readu to strike back but when he saw William staring at him he suddenly stopped moving when he feel fear, he was so afraid that he almost peed himself, on his mind was " If I'll continue I might end like Marco" cause he thought that William stared at him with an intention to knock him unconscious like Marco, so he never dared, he held Marco's head instead.
" What's wrong with you man?" Conly said, then Elizabeth held William's arms to stop him from striking again, and that's when William realized what happend, then a cop car showed up not too far from them, William suddenly held Elizabeth's hands, " let's go" he said then the two of them immediately go to the mini-mart to take Leizel, but Leizel eventually got out before William and Elizabeth reach the front door,
"Hey why are you guys holding each other's hand?" Leizel asked with a smile on her face, so William let go of Elizabeth's hands, "Shut up, let's go" William said,
"Hey what happened? Why are we on a rush?" Leizel asked,
" A long story, I'll tell you when we'll get home " Elizabeth replied.
"Oh ok,"
Then the three of them rushed home, then William went straight to his bedroom realizing he'd done wrong that day, while Elizabeth and Leizel went to a guest room, " Hey what happened? Why William seems scared?" Leizel asked, then Elizabeth told her everything that happened in that moment,
"Oh, I understand it now, I think William thinks that what he did was wrong" Leizel said,
" I don't know, but I'm thankful, I think he saved me, but I realized he just got mad because that Marco talk shit against his dad," Elizabeth answered
" Yeah about that , I should tell you about William and how he became like that" Leizel said,
" Oh yes, tell me more about him" Elizabeth answered.
So Leizel tell her what happened to William's family and how it changed it a lot,
" I think you should go to his room, and try to comfort him" Elizabeth said,
" Oh yeah, are you good if I'll leave you here for a moment?" Leizel asked ,
" Sure I don't mind, I think I'll need a little nap too," Elizabeth answered.
So Leizel heads to William's bedroom, while Elizabeth lying on the bed, thinking about William's story, she suddenly got interested about William, it ignites her will to change William's perspective cause she believe that no one deserved to be alone for ever.
William on his room can't stop thinking on what happened that day, he asked him self why he let his ego win, and suddenly he got distracted by the knock on his door,
" William, can I come in?" Leziel asked,
" Sure come and see how miserable I am now" he replied, then Leizel came in and saw William on the window looking so far.
" Hey, William don't think you did wrong, you protected Beth" she said
" I wasn't protcting anybody, I was just furious about Marco said things about my dad" he replied
" But that's how it was, she thinks you protected her, and she's so thankful for what you did," she said
Then Leizel hugged him tight like saying it's alright, a few moments later his mom went to his room saying there's a police officer came by, before his mom continue talking his heart pounded like it's like to explode, he was so nervous and afraid that because of that he'll be grounded for the rest of the summer, " The police officer said thank you for teaching those two punks a lesson, they saw what you did, and because of that they caught them because they'vybeen tracking them for a few days after they got themselves into robbery incident, and also come out for dinner I've prepared your favorite food" Sarah said, hearing that William breath a sigh of relief, then he laughed after knowing he is not in traouble, but he never realize that, that day is the beginning of changes unto his life.