Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ The Frozen Lunar Flower ❯ Coffee Is Ironic ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 4

Hige grumbled as he walked down the street, his head down and hands in his hoody pocket, occasionally looking up at the store window. This was his third job interview of the week, the third failure, and the list just seemed to go on and on. He sighed and leaned against a blank wall and looked up at the sky, then at his watch, and back to the clouds. It was nine in the morning, so Blue was at school, which meant there was nothing to do.

"Heya Hige, how's it going?" A tall, slender, and very attractive girl stood next to Hige. He felt his stomach drop to his toes in two seconds.

"Hey Christine," he replied nervously. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Christine was your typical girl, very pretty, long light brown hair and almond green eyes. "I was just on my way to the coffee shop down the road, do you want to go with me?"

Hige shrugged. Truth be told, he was extremely confused because inside his mind there were several different voices talking. It's just coffee and catching up with a friend! insisted one half of his brain. But Blue would probably think otherwise if she heard something, said the other. Honestly, just because you're seeing Blue doesn't mean you can't have other friends who are girls!

"Sure," Hige replied finally. "I can't stay for too long, though, I have somewhere to be." And they began to walk the short distance to the coffee shop.

"That's cool," replied Christine as she opened the door to the coffee shop. "I have work at ten, so I can't stay too long either."

Ten minutes later, they sat down at a small, secluded table in the corner, Hige with a large, strong coffee and Christine with a small mocha.

"So, what have you bee up to lately?" asked Christine sweetly. She took a small sip of her mocha and smiled.

Hige shrugged. "Nothing extreme. I'm job hunting today, but lately I've been hanging out with Blue." Christine's face suddenly sharpened, but maybe Hige just imagined it. Perhaps her coffee was somewhat bitter.

"Oh, is that so? Who's Blue?"

"Um," Hige paused. How exactly do you tell your ex that you are seeing someone new? He'd never really had that problem before, considering this was the first time he'd ever had any contact with an ex. Well, that was on good terms anyway. "She's, well, I guess you could say she's my girlfriend."

"Ah, I thought so," said Christine. "What's she like?"

"Well, she's pretty, sweet, and kinda spirited, too." Christine's face had the look of pure venom. At least her eyes did, but Hige was almost certain he was imagining things. After all, Christine was the one who ended their relationship in the first place. "But she's still in school."

Christine's face lit up slightly. "Wow, going for the young ones, are you?"

"She isn't that young, Christine," sighed Hige. "She's still in school, yeah, but she's seventeen."

"And you're nineteen, Hige. You should be careful with a young girl's heart." She looked down at her coffee lid and traced her thin finger around the edge. "They break pretty easily."

"I'm fully aware of that Christine," Hige said with a slight edge to his voice. He felt like he was being cornered, and like there was no way out of this. He was certain of it now, Christine was jealous. "I think I can handle myself, though." He stood up, but Christine grabbed his wrist.

"You can't really be over me, can you, Hige?" she asked. Hige felt every hair on his body stand on end. This wasn't right at all, but he was stuck here. "Honestly, you wouldn't pick a seventeen year old girl over me, would you?" He sighed and looked over his shoulder, but then felt Christine's lips on his. A million ideas and possibilities were running through his head, but he backed away.

"I'm sorry, Christine, but I'm not single any more."

Christine laughed lightly. "You weren't single when you met me," she smirked. "Besides, you said your new doll is at school, so it isn't like she'll ever find out."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't care. I actually want to be with her."

Christine's expression changed rapidly. "But Hige, I thought you loved me. I still love you, you know."

Hige raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. Since when were girls, Christine to be specific, so persistant. "That's odd, because I thought you were the one to break it off." Christine remained silent and Hige picked up what was left of his coffee and made his way to the door, but paused before he walked out. "Either way, Christine, it's not my problem. I've moved on and so should you."

Christine stood silently, alone and amazed. "Dammit!"

"Hige, are you feeling alright?" asked Blue when Hige picked her up from school later that day. "You seem kind of weird today." Hige just nodded and tucked his hands into his hoody pocket and continued walking. Blue sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I just had a bad day, that's all," Hige replied.

"Want to talk about it?" asked Blue. Hige shook his head, but Blue just looked up at him. Suddenly Hige was asking himself if her eyes were always that big, round, and puppy-like. Hige laughed lightly, realizing what Blue was trying to do, and kissed her forehead softly.

"That's not fair play and you know it," he said. "No puppy eyes."

"Where does it say that in the rules, Hige?"

Hige shrugged and decided to change the topic. "How was school today?"

"It was alright. A lot of drama happened between a few girls and there were two fights..."

Hige nodded at the right times and replied with 'yeah's' and other little phrases, but he honestly wasn't paying much attention. The morning's events were still eating away at him. His stomach felt like it was tied into several knots and filled with worms or butterflies and other things that move a lot. Christine kissed him and he stopped. He didn't kiss back at all, he told her he wasn't interested more times than he could count, and she still came onto him. But the one thing that was really eating away at him, wasn't what Christine did, but was something he said. I actually want to be with her. At the time it sounded like the right thing to say, but by saying that did it mean that all the other relationships he had been in were something he didn't want to do? Of course he wanted to date those people. But then why would he say something like that?

"But that's pretty stupid if you ask me, fighting over a guy," sighed Blue. "I mean, it was the guys fault for cheating on his girlfriend, but for some reason when that happens the girl always goes to beat up the chick her boyfriend cheated on her with!"

"Oh, yeah," Hige stuttered slamming back to their conversation. "It's a bit weird." They walked in silence for a while and eventually reached the park. Hige felt yet another mixture of feelings, ranging from guilt to relief. Everything always seemed so easier to handle when they were at the park.

"Well," sighed Blue. "This is where we part today."

"Why?"

"Because Pop's doesn't have work today. I can't see you later tonight, either. But I'll call you."

Hige nodded and watched Blue walk to her front porch. She turned around, waved at him, and then went inside. Hige sighed and looked towards the sky. The one day he needed it the most, he didn't get a hug.