What he was saying was true: people in movies, specifically in romance, develop some feelings towards each other; there are also some circumstances when they are themselves not aware. But whatever, they try to interact with each other and all that stuff, and 45 minutes or 1 hour later into the movie, voilà, they are together. Happy ending; of course there are exceptions; I am aware of ‘Titanic’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

He sat straight up and pointed a finger at me to stop me from saying anything further. “I know that’s all fiction stuff, but it is not completely false when applied to real life. Yes, it is unreal, but there are some parts that are reality.”

I raised my eyebrows. He had stopped scrolling through the TV for movies.

He continued, “In dramas, those circumstances are taken from real lives as inspiration, or they are just pure unrealities born from the writer’s mind. In the former, they add spice to it, because then that would just end up being some boring documentary film. And talking about romance,” He whispered in my ear, “Crushes are real. The character in movies also happens to fancy or like someone, and those being part of the plot or main character themselves somehow come together.”

His voice poured right into my ears, and I felt it leaking into my heart; now my whole body was doing its best to not let the tingling sensation get over me. I quickly responded, “Ahh. I   I... yeah…but in real life it does not become true. We don’t end up in a relationship with our crush…”

He furrowed his eyebrows and squeezed his lips inside of his mouth. “Oh.. well but you kno-” His voice sounded low, as if something had weighted him down. Was he disappointed by what I just said?

I spoke before he could utter another word. “BUT it’s not the same for everyone.” I raised my hands in air. “Like you know, there are cases where people date their crush. It is real for some people minus the fantasy and spice the movies and shows put in.”

I nodded, not knowing what I could add further to it. Then I asked, “What’s your favourite movie?”

“Parasite, the one from South Korea.”

“Oh, .. I see.”

From my blank look, it was clear to Michael that I had not watched it. I told him we could watch it now, but he said Cole won’t like it at all. So we finally agreed with some other movie.

Sam called us to the kitchen for help. Michael said he could take care of it, but I decided to help anyway with bringing the plates to the living room. Meanwhile, Michael gave Brownie his food and sorted out the space for us to sit in the living room for lunch.

We all sat in the living room. I had just tasted a lovely sandwhich. I asked Sam and Cole for it’s recipe. Cole pointed towards Sam with pride and said, “You want to know about its process and seasoning stuff? You should ask about that to Sam.”

Sam said, “I would like to, but for that you need to drop by here again. Would that be alright?”

I agreed with her. Cole gave Michael a nudge. His grandfather whispered something to him, and he nearly choked on his sandwich. Did he also happen to choke on stuff like that similar to me? His grandfather helped him with that, but he was also smiling about something.

After the movie lunch, Michael and I decided to end our video game, which was left on uncertain end last time. It ended up being drawn later, even though I would have won it if it were not for Michael’s interruptions again and again. He was cheating, and he denied it shamelessly. We played some other games, and after that we talked about our classes and agreed about the stress and fear regarding exams. But he said he enjoyed today’s break, to my surprise. We were chilling in his bedroom.

"What do you do in your free time on days like these?” he asked.

“Well, mostly reading books or maybe cooking sometimes.”

He turned towards me. “You can cook??”

“Yeah, but I mostly follow the recipe. I don’t experiment on my own.” If something went wrong, it would be a waste of ingredients I bought from money that I got from my part-time job.

He thought for a while and said, “Oh yeah, right, Mason mentioned that to me once.”

“Why are you shocked?”

“I can barely cook for myself.”

I glanced outside the bedroom window. Evening was approaching. I told him, “I should get going now.”

His demeanor dimmed for a moment. “Leaving so early?”

The look on his handsome yet adoring face makes him want to not go but, “Yeah, it’s getting late; it would be hard to catch the bus as traffic increases as nighttime arrives.”

He pressed his lips together and got up, "Yeah, you are right. I hope you drop by again.”

I nodded and told him, "Yes, and you should come and visit me too; my apartment is not that far from the bus stop area.” Wait, why am I inviting him over? But he did too, so it did seem unfair to not do that.

He chuckled. "Yes, I would love that. Wait, your roommate won’t mind that?”

“No, he is rather more curious about people.” I said.

“That’s a relief. Come on, I will lead you down stairs to the front door.” He said while giving me a shoulder hug. My mind took some moments to process that and then concluded that it felt nice to have a miniature dose of oxytocin.

He closes the door from behind, and before I could step down from the porch, he pulled me behind. I looked towards him. He scratched his neck and took a while to say anything further. “You know about what we talked about before lunch..."

He is now willing to conclude our conservation. I had asked if I made things uneasy. I bit my tongue, hoping he was not about to leave me like others had left when they learned I was not what I had to be. But it was still anonymous to me about what I had to be.

“I would want to be in the criteria where people in the end get together with the one they treasured to be with...”

I tilted my head to one side, still trying to make sense of what he was talking about, but it was certainly not about what I had thought to be.

He continued, “Like those in romance movies, with happy endings, minus the part of spice they put in the movie."

I looked at him, trying not to get lost in his words, “Yeah, I would love that too.. But in reality, there is no end. But I would want that. Everyone wishes for it, at some point in my life. To be with someone they care for, whom they..” I shut my mouth, pausing, thinking what on earth was I blabbing about to him. I am getting what he is saying, but I cannot fully grasp it.

“I would want you to be in the picture when that happens, Chris.” Michael said, giving me another shoulder hug.

“So, do you not want me to accompany you till the bus stop?” He asked me.

I shook my head. “No need for that. I would be fine. Bye.” I immediately moved down from the porch and began heading outside his yard. Before he tags along with me, I don’t want to cause him trouble.

“HEY Chris!” He shouted. I looked back.   he said, “See you at college.” He waved at me.

I lightly smiled and waved at him before heading towards the bus stop. I glanced around the other houses. Getting a sense of déjà vu about the times I had lived in places like this. All houses had different fences; the footpath’s brick pattern was different, but the layout was always the same. All houses in a square or rectangular boundary. As I began reaching the bus stop, the crowd and rush increased.

The sky’s color was orange and mixed with red. It was now covered with tall buildings and billboards of the city. I sat down at my usual seat at the bus stop. Waiting for the bus and not thinking of what had happened back at Michael’s house. It gave cozy vibes thinking of him and his family. They felt complete and happy. But again, I don’t know much about it. I am just an outsider being judgmental about them, even though I don’t have that right in the first place. It’s wrong to judge someone, but they were really good people.

The passersby were in their own world, someone glued to the phone. Some people dressed in formal are coming back from meetings. There were some people seated with me at the bus stop. Someone was talking on the phone or two girls merrily for their date, given the fact they called each other ‘honey’ and ‘babe’. There was a person sitting across the street on a bench, right opposite the bus stop. Their gaze fixed on me or maybe behind me felt eerily creeping over my mind. I tried to look away from them. Luckily, my bus came, and I got on it. Relief washed over me only to twist into a spine chilling when I noticed the same person staring right at me. Their gaze fixed on me when I moved from one end of the bus to its other. It was not one person now, but one more like them who looked feminine, leaning against the streetlight, staring at me. Was it just the lighting effect, or did their eyes glow red?