Somethings you cannot un-see. Even in the pouring rain, the goings on in the car next to us are hard to ignore. So Ramona and I watch paralysed as Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Stephan share a long, wet kiss. I'm still in a daze because of the mixed feelings that have decided to arise in me all at once.
“Ewww! How can she?” Ramona scrunches her face and wriggles in disgust.
“‘But love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit’, Shakespeare said that.” I find myself uttering.
“What? Who's Shakespeare? What are you talking about?”
I turn to look at Ramona. Her expression of pure confusion makes me laugh. I watch as her confusion turns to annoyance and she punches me on my arm. Ramona is just a teenage girl but a punch like that genuinely stings, even a grown man like me. I try to rub off the pain when another 'Ramona punch' lands on the same spot.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I cry out in pain. “It's going to bruise.”
“Oh, boo-hoo drama queen. You deserve it! Why'd you laugh at me?” She starts to launch another punch but this time I stop it midway.
“Ramona, you act like such grown-up all the time that sometimes I forget that you're still a child. I wasn't laughing at you, I was touched by your innocence.”
I am punched again, this time on the unsuspecting right thigh, by Ramona's free hand.
“I ain't a child, mister. So, don't ever call me that. You're the child. You can't make any decisions. You can't even decide whether you want to marry your girlfriend or not. If you ask me, making decisions is pretty easy. You just take it or leave it, not sit on it year after year unable to decide what to do.”
“YOU LITTLE BRAT! Who do you think you are?” I let my frustration and the mixed bag of emotions get the best of me. “You think you know everything and understand everyone? You think that you're better than me because you've everything ‘figured out’ and I don't? Well, guess what? You're wrong. Your whole devil-may-care attitude on the outside is a sham. Inside, you're just an ATTENTION SEEKING BABY. Right now, you feel like nothing can touch you. You’re the queen of the world but wait until reality hits you in the face - you're a nobody, living a nobody's life. You're a loser who's never going to be successful in her life.”
There's a sudden chill in the car the moment I pause to breathe. It isn't raining anymore, and it’s deathly quiet. I’m still holding onto Ramona's hand and the realisation of what I’ve done instantly washes over me. I've gone too far. Ramona looks rattled and hurt.
“I'd like to go home now.” Ramona steps out of the car and starts walking away from me.
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