Phoenix_Marco

Florante Mendoza builds a wall and distances himself from the people around him. Larry, the witty, funny, big-mouth Larry crashes in head-first onto Florante's  walls and throws a party! 

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Party crasher, wall breaker, smile summoner boy falls head over heels with the sad boy. Sad boy holds back, looks back, runs back, hides back to the safety of his walls. Will they ever meet halfway?

The Summer I Fell In Love is a coming of age story that explores friendship, love and teenage alienation. Two boys  embark on an adventure to seek their rightful place in the world. As they traverse unfamiliar territories, both within themselves and the world around them, they must confront the challenges that will put the strength of their friendship to the test as they navigate through the twist and turns of adolescence.

The Summer I Fell In Love

It was a typical Friday afternoon. The sun was menacing, but we're safe, Larry and I under the shade of an old Molave tree. I've abducted him from his tormentors, the Larry Fan Club when I thought he's about to split his face in two by smiling incessantly at them.

I was leaning against the sturdy bough of the tree and he was lying on the soft bermudagrass, half-asleep listening to my walkman. He's developed a kind of liking to my playlist.

"Do you have plans for this weekend?" He asked with eyes still close. His guttural voice dragged in his throat.

"Nah..." I responded nonchalantly.

"Wanna hang-out with me?" He followed through coyly.

"What are we gonna do in your room Larry?"

"Things? What things...like smile rehearsals?" I asked.

"My smiles ain't that bad you know...!"

"Your little Larry Fan Club sure likes it..."

"Don't be jealous, you know I only have one best friend..."

He rose and opened his eyes into tiny slits.

"Florante Mendoza, do you mind being my best friend...?

"Larry Davis, if I become your best friend...half the schoolgirls would wage war against me...I will surely be damned..."

"So you're coming over this weekend, right...?"

"C-mon Florante...please? Mom and dad want to meet you..." he said with his odd squeaky voice.

"Don't drag your parents into this..." I said and flipped the book I was reading.

"But they do buddy!" Said he. I did not know why but I felt my cheeks burned when he called me buddy. Nobody has ever called me that way before.

Buddy...what did he mean by that? We're not even friends as far as I was concern. Are we?

We fist-bumped when we parted at the crossroads, one leading to the city, one leading to the hills. The sun painted the sky with blood as it retreated West.

I looked back at Larry as he walked home. His elongated shadow stretched and touched the tacit blades of grass by the river.

He turned around and screamed at the top of his lungs. "See you tomorrow...!"

I bet he smiled. But I can no longer see it from where I stood.

Chapter 7