Words That Never Reached

Prompt: You Shouldn't Have Heard That

“Hey, Ryan.”

Ryan feels a tug on his sleeve. He is typing on his keyboard, his eyes glue to the screen.

“Yeah?” His voice sounds uninterested.

There is a silence, the girl sitting on his bed is fidgeting. Her fingers tangle with itself.

“I...need advice.”

The typing echoes the room.

“Ok, on what?”

“Um… I like someone and I..”

The typing stops.

“Don’t know how to confess to them.”

“Yeah.” She whispers.

He sighs and he spins his chair around to face her. Her face is red and she is fidgeting around. Her eyes are looking at the ground.

“Just tell them.”

“But!” The protest escapes her.

“But what?”

“What if you’ve been good friends for a while but you are scared of ruining what you have.” She whispers.

“Depends on how long you know them.”

“Its Liam.” She declares softly.

She quickly covers her mouth. Her face turns a darker shade of red. Ryan looks at her for a moment. He smiles, but his hands form fists. He squeezes them until his knuckles are white. He turns back to the computer screen and continues typing.

“Lily, you deserve someone better than him.”

She stops fidgeting and looks away from the floor.

“Liam is nice.”

The typing gets louder. Ryan takes a deep breath.

“Okay, as your friend I’ll support you.”

Her eyes sparkles. He can see her happiness from the reflection of the computer screen. A hint of pink appears on his cheeks.

“Thank you, Ryan.”

He nods, his eyes focus on the screen. She picks up her phone and starts typing. There is a ding and she quickly stands up.

“I have to go now. Thanks for everything, Ryan.”

“I did nothing.” He replies bluntly.

She smiles and waves goodbye before she walks out the door. He can hear her footsteps echo. He stops typing, teardrops lands on his keyboard. He pushes himself away from his desk. He tilts his head up and looks at the ceiling. He can feel the stinging of his tears. He throws his glasses onto his bed. He rubs his eyes until they are swollen. No sound escapes his lips as tears keep rolling down his cheek. He takes a few deep breaths. Rub the tears away then pick up his glasses. He pulls himself back to his desk and minimises his homework. His desktop background is a picture of him, Lily and Liam. He clicks on settings and changes it to a city view at night. At the corner, there is a watermark, Lily Dawn. He opens a folder and clicks on the first image. There are images of Lily and him. Some of them have Liam in it. They look happy, smiling and laughing. They look peaceful. He flicks through the pictures as tears stained his glasses. Lily’s silky golden hair. Her smile that can compete with the sun. Her sweet personality, her selfless nature and her clumsiness. He loves all of it. Her soft shy voice echoes in his head.

“Its Liam.”

He grits his teeth.

“What does Liam have that I don’t have?”

He slams the table sending his keyboard to jolt awake.

“Was he there when Mr Mitten died? Was he there when you won that competition? Was he there? Lily.”

His monochromatic voice, slowly showing some colour of red. He walks to his shelf. The shelf has books stored neatly. At the top shelf, near the end of books, he picks up a picture of a woman. She has hazel hair and shamrock eyes. He touches the picture and the glass is stained with tears.

“He wasn't there when I needed him. He left me and Dad to deal with it. He left mum.”

He can remember the call from his school. His dad sounds hoarse and his voice is soft.

“I’m sorry.”

He breaks into a sob.

“What’s wrong Dad?”

He can hear his dad taking a few deep breaths.

“Your mum…”

“What about mum?”

There is panic in his voice and his heart is in his throat.

“She passed.”

Both of them break into a sob before his dad hangs up. He texts Liam, about mum. He doesn't reply, doesn't show remorse and he doesn't even come to the funeral.

On the day of the funeral, Lily is there. Her arms wrap around him as he sobs. Her sweet voice whispering to him calms him down. On that day, he learns that Liam should have picked up their mum from the airport and drive her home safely. That night, Liam is drunk from a party and he forgot about mum. She takes a cab and on that rainy night. The cab skids and crashes into a truck from the opposite lane. He couldn’t forgive Liam, but Lily does. She pulls him out of the dark hole he deserves to be in. He always has seen her with him. She is always smiling and they are always laughing. He should have seen her feeling’s from a mile away. He dives onto his bed, his back against the soft cool sheets. He stares at the ceiling.

“Am I not good enough?” He whispers.

“No!”

He jolts up to see Lily peeking into the door. Her smile isn't there and there are tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry.” She says.

He coughs.

“What for?”

His voice returns back to its monochromatic tone.

“I heard something I shouldn’t have.”

His eyes widen.

“How much?”

“Not much.” She whispers.

His cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. He dives into his bed and hides his face behind the covers. She walks over and gently sits down onto the bed.

“You are amazing, Ryan.”

Her hands go through his hair. Her touch is soft like the wind on a spring day.

“You are always looking out for me. You are so strong even after your mother’s death. You are so smart, that you are my math tutor. Most of all, you are kind. You don't show it but when you see someone in need you stop everything to help them. Liam doesn't have those qualities.”

Ryan can feel the heat on his cheeks. He can feel the soft touch on his head slowly drifting away. He can hear her footsteps walking away. He jolts from the bed and grabs her hand. She looks behind him to see Ryan’s blushing face. Pink is painted on her cheeks.

“Stay.”

She smiles. Her blush grows darker. She sits down and puts her free hand on Ryan’s hand. He can feel her warmth radiating. Her smile is soft and like sunshine. Tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ryan's eyes widen, he lets go of his grip and waving his hands in panic. He pulls her closer and wraps his arm around her into a tight hug.

“He rejected you.”

She nods. Her quiet sob is loud in his ears. His white T-shirt is stained with tears. He doesn't care he hugs her tighter.

“Liam met someone who can make him happier than I can.”

Her sobs making the sentence like jagged pieces of glass.

“I’m happy for him.”

They remain in a hug each other as Lily cries her heart out.