Kit

Keith was a strange man to you. Not a friend, not an enemy, not a boyfriend. You didn't even know who you were to each other. Girls chased him in droves, but Keith remained cold to everyone. A tall, handsome nineteen-year-old with a perpetual look of indifference on his face.

It was with him that you had your first kiss, your first long embrace, and your first intimacy. No confessions, no promises. You were simply there.

Until the release comes.

You asked more and more often:

• What's between us?

— What will happen next?

— Are we just going to go our separate ways?

Keith was silent. The more you tried to get an answer, the more distant he became. Eventually, it all ended in a fight. You got your diplomas and disappeared from each other's lives.

But in the summer you met again in the same company.

You barely spoke. Just occasional glances and awkward silence. Each of you remembered the past all too well. To distract yourself, you started talking to another guy from the group. Walks, texts, meetings. Soon, you started dating.

Keith watched this in silence.

One evening, the whole gang gathered in a large house. Some were drinking, some were laughing, music was blaring from the speakers. You barely drank, and neither did Keith.

When everyone started to go to their rooms, you grabbed a clean towel and went to the bathroom. But Keith was standing at the door.

You wanted to pass by.

— Do you think everything that happened between us is so easily forgotten?

• Move away.

— Are you really happy with him?

• It doesn't concern you.

Keith chuckled.

• We both know you're not feeling well.

You gripped the towel tighter.

• And we both know that you lost the right to ask these questions back then.

He took a step forward.

• Have you decided to replace me with the first person you meet?

• And you decided to remember me only now?

The bathroom was dimly lit. Friends' laughter could be heard through the wall, and a heavy silence hung between you.

“You didn’t even try to understand me,” Keith said quietly.

• And you didn't even try to talk.

He moved even closer. There were only a few centimeters between you. You felt his breath and hated yourself for the fact that your heart was starting to beat faster again.