When Alex came back late, his parents were terribly worried, but Alex didn't care. He was feeling weird, like he had a big ball of warm air in his chest, making him content. He claimed to be at a friend's house after the blackout. What could they argue about that? The whole city went into darkness. Besides, it didn't take him long to get home.
Especially because he hand't walked there. Instead, he borrowed Mitsu's bike. He had insisted on taking it and then giving it back at the campus the next day. He almost threw it to Alex and closed the door on him. And so, he rode Mitsu's bike home.
Tired, he went straight to bed. He charged his phone and the whole notification wall he had got suddenly full - texts from his parents, missed calls and such. Alex rolled his eyes. He was about to delete them all together until he saw one notification that contained only the numbers on it, an unsaved contact. It read: one file attached.
He opened it and saw it was an audio file.
Alex immediately thought it was probably Mitsu's song. Alex's thoughts went back to Mitsu's place. It had been so much different than any night he had ever had. The pale boy had spent his whole teen years with his ex-girlfriend - all of the things he did were with and for her. If she didn't like something, he wouldn't do it or he would try to change it. He had lost most of his friends and spent all her time with her and her friends, who he didn't like at all. Certainly, he had always been Connie's boyfriend.
When they broke up, Alex couldn't recognize himself. He had only one goal in mind: to get back together with her. But that night, Mitsu had showed him and made him remember he was an individual on his own - who could have fun and like things again, who could laugh and smoke and not be judged at all. He spent hours talking with a male friend, for the first time in years. Alex felt like he didn't want to forget that night, so he opened his notes app on his phone and he typed:
"it was cold
there was coffee
It started to rain
He borrowed me his clothes"
Alex hesitated. Writing that felt so intimate. But, since no one would ever read it, he decided to keep at it anyway:
"then there was a city blackout
so there were two candles
there were rolled cigarettes
and I laughed and I talked a lot with Mitsu"
He saved it and fell fast asleep.
Alex alarm clock woke him up early, so he could arrive at campus before 12, even though he didn't have any classes in the morning. He walked next to Mitsu's bike, looking around to see if he was nearby. When he didn't find him, he left the bike and secured it using his own bicycle lock.
He didn't reply to Mitsu's text last night, because after he listened to his song again - now knowing he had composed it - it absolutely amazed him, so he wanted to tell him about it the face to face. Alex quickly realized, they didn't agree on meeting somewhere specific to return his bike. Alex decided to text him.
'Hey, man. I have ur bike, u here?'
He waited a bit to see if he was going to reply right away, but a couple of minutes went by and nothing happened. Maybe he had forgotten. As he started to decide what to do with the bike, someone called him from behind:
'Alex!'
He turned around and saw Mitsu waving at him. He approached him with the bike now on his side.
'Oi, thanks. Sorry for being so late, I overslept' Mitsu smiled, taking the bike. 'How are you?'
'I'm good. I've been here all day' Alex tried to sound chilled but he was feeling inexplicably awkward again. Why? He tried to shake those feelings away and remembered he wanted to tell him about the song. 'Hey, so last night I was listening to...'
'Mafuyu!'
A guy howled from behind. Mitsu looked back and waved, signaling him to wait. Then he looked back at Alex and said, in a rush:
'Thanks for bringing the bike, Alex. Gotta go now, but I'll see you around' Mitsu punched Alex's arm lightly and hopped onto his bike, waving him good-bye. Alex could barely say good-bye, feeling slightly disappointed. He turned around and went to the station to go home.
At his desk, Alex turned on his computer and left his phone on the table. He had been overthinking a lot today, and he was mentally exhausted. He searched for a playlist to put on chill music - he played the first thing he found and logged into a game he had been playing since he was a kid. Last night, Mitsu had reminded him how much he was into that game.
He played for long, although he was feeling rusty. He felt discouraged, but he kept playing until his fingers and mind started to remember a little more about how to play it right. It was two in the morning when he decided he was tired and sleepy enough.
While Alex went to bed, he recalled his conversation with Mitsu. They both used to play when they were kids, but now after a lot of upgrades, the game was more fun and modern, and so they could actually play together. Mitsu had told him that, and Alex was thankful for informing him about the world outside Connie.
He wanted to invite him to play, but Mitsu didn't replied his texts, and he felt awkward insisting. Besides, Alex felt something had changed. He realized he hadn't thought about Connie the entire day. Not even once.
He thought about music, because Mitsu had shown him some new stuff, and he was reminded about how much he used to like games. He thought about his classes - even on returning something he had borrowed from the shaved head girl for months. Somehow, his mind and body felt lighter and with no effort, he fell asleep.
And he had a dream.
He was at a carnival, or more like a huge amusement park. From where he was standing, at the top of a hill, it looked as big as a city. He could see a ton of large roller coasters, and giant ferry wheels. It went so far back, but Alex could not see the end because everything was covered in fog.
He realized he was alone. The place was completely empty. He looked down the hill, but it was impossible to see the bottom of it, as it was covered in fog too. It looked like he was really far away from the ground.
'Hey! Alex!'
He turned around and saw Mitsu. He was running towards Alex's direction, wearing his red hoodie on, the one he had lent to Alex. Alex was prepared to say something, but Mafuyu didn't stop - he took Alex's hand, interrupting him and he pulled him vigorously, bringing him along.
'Careful!' Alex almost tripped but he got back his balance, as he tried to keep up with Mafuyu.
'Look, we can scream all we want!' Mitsu said loudly and shouted, moving his head backwards: "WOAH!"
Alex laughed and shouted too, running down the hill rapidly.
The time skipped. They were going on all the games and structures from the park - they were laughing, and Alex somehow knew now that all the people in the world had suddenly disappeared. Now, both of them lived in that amusement park. They were the only two people left in the world, so it seemed like the best thing to do.
Alex woke up. He didn't remember the dream right away, but a few seconds later, flashes of it rushed into his head. Alex's heart skipped at one exact the memory of the dream.
It was Mitsu running downhill, holding his hand.
'Oh shit'. Alex stared at the white ceiling, paralyzed. He had to get ready to school, but his mind was fully working on bringing back all he could remember about his dream. When he couldn't remember anymore, he rolled to his side, and his thoughts led him to Tuesday night. Mitsu - reaching to move his hair away so he wouldn't burn it. Mitsu - lending him his clothes. Both of them - laying in bed next to each other and laughing in the darkness.
His stomach was tied up in a knot. He recognized this feeling from other times - he was almost certain he knew what i was. He thought he had felt so happy because he finally had made a new friend that day - and it was someone he got along with easily, without his usual anxiety. But now...
The reason he felt bummed out when Mitsu brushed him off the day before...
And why he had dreamt about him last night...
Alex's heart pounded inside his chest. He immediately covered his face with a pillow, and pushed it down into his face, completely terrified.
'Do I...do I have a crush... on Mitsu!?'