Chapter 42

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"Come on, we have two weeks left together, don't be stuck up!" someone yelled from the college's small basketball court. It was a half-court, but enough to fit in the crowd of senior students that were currently within it. Leo looked over at the court at who was calling out to him. He looked away, hoping that they would give up and just start the game already. He was sitting on the concrete slab of the flowerbeds with Claire to his left, and Alejandro to his right. Marie was still within the college's building since she had things to do. Kenneth and James had slipped away for one last practice for graduation. That's why Leo, Al, and Claire were the only ones out with the rest of their year mates.

"Come on," Jameson, a blonde-haired boy with deep brown eyes said while leaving the court with the worn-out basketball in his hand. Leonardo sighed as Jameson approached him. Jameson son stopped right in front of him and started to tug at his hand as he begged for him to join them. Leo looked over at Al, giving the man's hand a small squeeze before giving into Jameson's begging. He was about to get up, but he sat back down again, and Jameson groaned in annoyance.

"Just go," Alejandro said, and that's all Leo needed to get up from the slab and followed James to the basketball court. Soon another game had started, and the college's compound was echoing with the sound of a bouncing ball, a whistle, and the sound of shoe soles slapping the clay flooring of the court.

Al stayed silent. He hugged his knees and hummed. He couldn't follow the game. Too many voices and too many movements. Alejandro almost jumped when he felt someone lean on him a bit, and then he remembered Claire had been sitting on Leonardo's other side. Al wasn't sure if the revelation made him feel better or worse.

His relations with Claire were complicated.

"You're lucky," Clare said, and Al wasn't sure what to say back so he settled with staying silent. Yes, he was lucky if she was talking about the opportunity to be with Leo and freely love him. Claire didn't say anything for a while. She stayed quiet, and Al just assumed she was watching the game like everyone else. Claire leaned away from Al, and the man let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

Claire made Alejandro feel tense—anxious. It had been like that ever since Claire had told him to give up on Leo when they were alone at their table in the cafeteria. Al also remembered her mentioning that she liked Claire, and he wasn't sure if she still did and didn't like him much for going out with Leo. It just left a bad taste in his mouth, and he didn't like being around her much unless someone else was with them.

"Al?" she started, leaning closer to Alejandro so that he could hear her in the flood of noise coming from the court. "I wanted to say sorry about that time," she said before leaning away from him and biting down on her bottom lip. Claire combed her bob with her fingers, wondering why getting the words out of her mouth was proving difficult.

"You know, I was really rude and dismissive about it. I must have made you feel terrible," she continued, trying not to look at Alejandro so that she could get the words out. "I was wrong, and you're a wonderful relationship with him now. I'm not mad. I just feel terrible for dragging you down, and now things have turned out in your favor," she continued to say before pausing. A sigh left her lips, and she fidgeted with her fingers as her nerves took over.

Why hasn't he said anything? She wondered. Alejandro had been quiet throughout her apology speech, and she was desperate to know what was going on in his head.

"Thank you for apologizing," Al muttered after a while, and Claire's tense shoulders relaxed as a small smile formed on her lips.

"It's okay, you didn't know," Alejandro added, and Claire just hummed as she nodded to herself. She didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything. She was glad she had gotten that out of the way. Alejandro was always around because Leo was always around. And it had been awkward for her to be around them for the past few months. She didn't want to end things with Al on a bad note, so she took the chance to apologize.

When the game was over Leonardo made a beeline for Al, and Claire just smiled to herself as she watched the two. Leo always made a fuss about Al. It was sweet, but she couldn't help feeling jealous or a little sad.

The three waited for Marie, Kenneth, and James to be done with what they were doing within the building. When they got out the whole group went for launch together in a nearby restaurant.

Claire's eyes moved from one person to the other. She didn't let her gaze linger on any one person for too long so that she wouldn't raise suspicion. She looked at Al and then at Leo before turning her gaze over to Marie. Marie and Claire had always been good friends since they met on the first day of college orientation. Marie had been the one to introduce Leo to Claire, and it had been an instant attraction on Claire's part.

For a very long time, Claire had felt that Marie was the only thing keeping Leo and her from being together. She'd fumed, cussed, and maybe even cried in the privacy of her own bedroom when she thought about it. Now, all that felt like an embarrassing phase to Claire since discovering that yes, the two were just close friends.

Claire looked away as her thoughts got drowned in the noise that was the casual conversation her friends were having on the table. She felt odd. It was a mixture of regret, jealousy, and numbness, but there was nothing she could do about that. Things were what they were, and she had to move on. 

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