Two – Not so Loyal of a Lover

“You know, your face is really deceiving.” Keith said while he walked beside Laverne. “You look so innocent, but there are many scary things running in your head.

“And you should be thankful about that.” Laverne said confidently. “With my innocent face, we could make anyone do almost anything for us. Who could deny helping an innocent boy anyway? Of course, we should also think our steps carefully. We couldn’t be rash and impulsive, and that’s where my sharp mind comes into play.” He continued.

“Wow, you sure are used to using your face to your advantage.” Keith said. “Don’t you think, that’s too deceitful?” Keith was really finding Laverne amusing.

“Not at all.” Laverne replied with a stoic tone. “Now, could you stop asking me all these questions, we’re about to meet Evan.” He said then removed his phone from his ear.

Laverne opened the door of the diner and waited for Keith to get in first. It was such a nice gesture for Keith. It felt good not to be treated differently. Laverne’s lover, Evan, was waiting on a booth at the far end of the diner. Keith figures that Evan picked that spot so they couldn’t be easily seen.

Keith was actually quite nervous. He still didn’t know what Laverne was planning. He shouldn’t have easily agreed on making Cara regret crossing Laverne. The way Laverne said it was simply chilling. How could a face like that talk frighteningly? He thought.

“Did you sleep well?” Evan asked when Laverne sat down.

Keith noticed that Laverne was avoiding Evan’s eyes. He must be afraid to get swayed by Evan in that situation. “Not really.” Laverne said coldly.

“Are you angry? I thought that everything is fine between us.” Sliding his hand on the table, Evan tried to hold Laverne’s hand, but Laverne moved his own hand away.

“We both know that I’m not innocent or ignorant, those petty tricks won’t work on me.” Laverne said sternly. “Tell me honestly, what’s going on between you and Cara?” Laverne asked with sharp eyes.

“Nothing’s going on between us. Everyone else just assumed that we’re an item, that’s all. Believe me, Laverne. I would never cheat on you.” Surprisingly, Evan’s eyes showed no sign of deceit. He seemed so sincere. Laverne still looked very irritated, he still wasn’t looking at Evan.

“Really, nothing? That’s not what I saw.” Laverne said sternly. “If there’s really nothing between you two, then she wouldn’t act that way with you. She’s all over you.” Laverne said with furious eyes. “If there’s nothing between the two of you, then you wouldn’t let her act that way with you.” Laverne added sharply.

“I can’t really tell her off in front of everyone else. That would be really ungentlemanly. Imagine how much it would hurt her feelings.” Evan said. That reasoning irritated Keith.

“What a great excuse!” Keith reacted angrily. He couldn’t believe how big of a jerk Evan was. He was obviously trying to cover things up.

“Then I’ll tell her off. I’ll make her go away for you. You don’t have any problems with that, do you?” Laverne asked, but Evan couldn’t even answer. “Forget it, I’ll do it anyways.

“I love you, Laverne.” Evan suddenly said.

Laverne suddenly looked up. He was blushing. He was very surprised at first but a few seconds later he was already near tears. He simply looked very happy. He did it. Keith thought.

“It’s the first time you ever said that to me.” Laverne was in a daze.

“Hey, don’t tell me you’ll believe him that easily. Don’t you know how easy it is for men like him to say those words? They'll say it to anyone.” Keith complained closely to Laverne’s ear, but Laverne was surprisingly calm.

“I’m sorry, for taking this long to say that. I didn’t have the confidence before.” Evan said.

“What a blatant lie!” Keith complained, but Laverne wasn’t even paying attention. Keith couldn’t help but get angry with the sight of Laverne getting swayed by that man easily. “Are you really going to be swayed that easily?

In the end, Laverne did get swayed. Evan was totally forgiven and the two looked happy together. They looked so in love. Evan would feed Laverne with his food and they would even hold hands as they eat. Keith was very irritated by the whole thing. He didn’t want Evan touching Laverne at all.

“I can’t believe you got swayed that easily, after everything you said last night when you were drunk.” Keith complained when Evan was gone.

Laverne took his phone before replying. “I know already, I’m weak. There are still a lot of things that I want to say, but after hearing him say he loves me for the first time, it made me forget everything. Besides, I didn’t feel like he was lying at all.

“That doesn’t mean that he’s telling the whole truth. Of course, you wouldn’t feel that you’re being lied to, you’re so blindly in love with that man.” Keith complained as he sat on the chair in front of Laverne. “So what now, are you two going to be a lovely couple from now on?

“Not really.” Laverne said in a depressed tone. “I still can’t deny the fact that he wants to keep our real relationship a secret.” Laverne told Keith everything that happened the day before and Keith understood what Evan was feeling.

“He wasn’t lying when he said he loves you. Let’s pretend that I believe that for now. But, with what I heard, I don’t see him telling anyone that you really are lovers any time soon. He’s using Cara as a beard to affirm his masculinity.” Keith said as nicely as he could.

“I know that. I guess I really am his dirty little secret…” Laverne said sadly.

“You don’t have to be. The question is; how long can you take being his dirty little secret?” Keith asked.

“I don’t want it to be that way for long. I don’t want to be a secret forever. I want to express my feelings freely, but it’s obvious that he didn’t want that.” Laverne said with a grin. “What I’m saying is I won’t let it be that way.” He said in a meaningful tone.

“Don’t tell me that you’re going to reveal the truth to his friends.” Keith was alarmed. That would be a really bad idea.

“What? Are you crazy? Evan would hate me if I do that, that’s why I’ll make him reveal it himself.” Laverne said with a grin. Keith was scared. With that meaningful smile, he knew that Laverne was up to no good.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Keith asked.

“We’ll get to that later. For now, we should focus on getting rid of Cara. And ohh, it would be good if you look around the campus really carefully, you might remember something.” Laverne said. Keith felt glad that Laverne hadn’t forgotten about him. He was afraid that Laverne would forget about helping him and would focus on Evan.

Laverne and Keith went to the campus after breakfast. Evan still had football practice and promised to meet Laverne after that, and for the meanwhile, the two of them planned on walking around the campus.

“So, do you remember anything?” Laverne asked Keith as they walked around the campus. They’ve seen many things, many groups of students, but none of them made Keith remember anything, not even a small detail.

“No, I don’t think I’ll remember anything by just walking around.” He said.

“It would be a lot easier if you have a solid body. I could just hit you in the head, and you might remember something.” Laverne said quite seriously.

“Huh…?” Keith reacted.

“I’ve seen it on TV.” Laverne said convincingly with a mischievous smile.

Keith chuckled. Laverne seemed to be making him feel better. “You watch too much TV.” Keith said.

They were walking around when suddenly a Frisbee come flying in. It went towards Keith and simply passed through him hitting Laverne on the head instead. Keith chuckled.

A male student came running towards them. “I’m sorry. Are you alright?” The student said apologetically.

“Alright?” Laverne suddenly said in an irritated tone. “Really? You just hit me on the head, and you’re asking me if I’m alright? Of course I’m not, it hurts!” Laverne said sharply. Keith was still not used to hearing the innocent-looking Laverne talk like talk. “If I hit you on the head right now, do you think you’ll be alright?!” Laverne’s eyes were fierce at first and then mellowed. “It really hurts…” He said in a mellow tone with a puppy look in his eyes.

The student was stunned when he saw Laverne’s expression. “I’m really sorry. I’ll do anything, just forgive me.

“Then, could you tell us where Cara Morrison might be?” Laverne said in an innocent voice. The student look confused at first. “Don’t you know her?” In the end, the student pointed them to the auditorium where Cara might be practising for a school musical. “See, I told you my face is really useful.” Laverne told Keith as they walked away.

“Hey, Keith.” Laverne suddenly said. “Is it hard, being a ghost?” Laverne’s tone was serious.

“Well, not really. I think having no memories while I was still alive helps. I mean, I don’t miss doing anything, or eating any food, but sometimes I feel really lonely. Since I don’t have anyone to talk to before, it gets really lonely at times. That’s why I’m really happy that I met you.” He said truthfully.

“What about the other ghosts, don’t you talk to them?” Laverne asked.

“Ghosts don’t really like to talk to each other, so most of the times I’m all alone.” He said with wry smile. He noticed Laverne looking at him sadly.

Suddenly Laverne gave him a beautiful smile. “From now on you don’t have to be alone, you won’t be sad anymore either, because you have me. You have me to talk to, and I’ll be with you every time, so don’t be sad anymore.” Laverne said and then smiled again. Keith’s heart started to beat fast as he heard what Laverne said. He was simply so happy to hear that Laverne would be his friend, that Laverne would stay with him. “I’ll be your friend, so always stay with me, don’t ever leave me.

I am a ghost, I don’t have a heart. But why do I feel like my heart just stopped beating for a moment? Why do I feel that my heart is going to burst in happiness? Why am I so happy to hear Laverne say that? Keith asked himself.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Laverne was surprised by what he said himself. He didn’t know what came to him to say those words, but he didn’t regret any of it. In fact, it was true to his heart. He wanted Keith to stay with him, to always be with him. He found it weird since they just met, but something inside of him kept saying that he needs Keith by his side.

Keith was looking at him with widened eyes at first. He must’ve been surprised by what I said. Laverne thought. Then slowly Keith looked happier and then smiled at him beautifully. There it is again, that beautiful smile. Every time Laverne would see that smile, his heart would beat fast and he would be momentarily speechless.

“Friend… huh…” Keith suddenly said. “Thank you!” He smiled again. “I can’t remember having a friend before, so I’ll just treat you as my first friend. Do you know, first friends are always the most special?” Keith said.

Laverne felt embarrassedly happy after hearing that. He looked away, afraid that Keith would see his blushing cheeks. “How old are you, do you remember?” Laverne suddenly asked, just to change the subject.

“I don’t really know.” Keith said gleefully. “How old do you think I am? I don’t have any reflections so I can’t really judge by my looks either.

“I would say that you’re about 20 something.” Laverne said, still avoiding Keith. “Your facial features are more matured than mine or Evan’s, so you must be older.

“Really?” Keith suddenly moved in front of him. Laverne stepped back in surprise. “How do I look? Ghosts can only see their reflection on waters, and it’s really blurry.

Laverne gulped after hearing his question. Answering it would be really embarrassing, but Keith kept looking at him, so he didn’t have much of a choice. “Your eyes are brown, your hair is jet black, your body is well built, and…” Laverne said swiftly and stopped when he was about to describe Keith’s face. Keith looked at him confusedly, waiting for answers. “…your sculpted face is very handsome… satisfied?” Laverne walked passed Keith. He was really embarrassed.

“Then, who is more handsome, me or your Evan?” Keith suddenly asked when he caught up to Laverne.

“Huh?” Laverne was dumbfounded. He didn’t really want to answer that question.

“Who’s more attractive, between the two of us?” Keith persisted.

Laverne didn’t want to admit it but for him, Keith is more attractive. That wouldn’t change anything, would it? I’m still in love with Evan. It’s not considered cheating if I think that way, does it? He asked himself. “Look, there’s the auditorium.” Laverne said nervously as he pointed at the auditorium’s door. He walked towards it nervously as he avoided looking at Keith.

“Come one, answer me, Lav~!” Keith suddenly said.

“What did you say?” Laverne turned around, he thought Keith said ‘love’ and he was very embarrassed by it. “What did you just call me?

“Lav. L~a~v. L-A-V. Lav.” Keith said, clearing the misunderstanding. “Since we’re friends, I thought of giving you a nickname, Laverne is too long for me.” Keith said mischievously. “Why, what did you think I called you?” He asked teasingly.

“I don’t like that name. Don’t call me that. How is Laverne even too long? It’s just two syllables. You’re just teasing me!” He said pointing at Keith. It was fortunate that there was no one around or he would look totally crazy.

“I like Lav more, I’ll call you that from now on. Lav.” Keith moved closer and smiled teasingly at him.

“You pervert ghost!” Laverne shouted embarrassedly and walked pass through Keith. He forgot how cold it was to touch a ghost so he froze on his foot and shivered.

“Are you alright, Lav?” Keith asked and came closer to his side.

“Shut up! You pervert amnesiac ghost!” Laverne shouted embarrassedly. Keith wasn’t offended or hurt at all, instead, he started laughing loudly.

“How cute…” He said. “You’re so cute when you’re angry, just like a little puppy.” Keith said seriously while looking at him with adoring eyes.

Laverne felt even more embarrassed. Even his ears were red at that moment. “HEY!

“I’m sorry, I’ll stop teasing you.” Keith said apologetically.

“Really…” Laverne said. He was still to shy to even look at Keith. He wasn’t mad at all. He was just too flattered by what Keith was saying. Even the nickname Lav was too flattering for him. No one had ever given him a nickname before.

Laverne tried to open the auditorium door but it was locked. He saw a sign on the side. “Rehearsals going on. Authorized personnel only. Spectators not allowed.” Keith read loudly. “To show you that I’m really sorry for teasing you, I’ll get in and spy on Cara for you. Wait here.” Keith said and passed right through the wall.

“I’m not really mad.” Laverne said childishly as Keith entered. He waited by the door of the auditorium and it felt like forever. He was anxious to know what Cara was up to.

Keith appeared with a serious expression. “I don’t know how to really say this, but she’s planning something on Evan.” Keith said carefully. Laverne didn’t know exactly what to expect. “Well, one of their friends is throwing a party tonight and Cara is planning on getting drunk enough to… well… to get him into bed.” Keith said in an apologetic tone.

“What?! That can’t happen!” Laverne shouted angrily. “That witch will see, I’ll make everyone see her true colors.” Laverne said as he walked away.

“Where are you going?” Keith sounded very alarmed.

“To Evan, there’s something that I want to find out.” Laverne said with a serious and sharp expression on his face. Just the idea of Evan sleeping with Cara was revolting to him.

They reached the field and watched while the team practised. Laverne was smiling the whole time. He missed watching Evan play. Every time Evan was on the field, he was the coolest.

“He’s really good; your Evan.” Keith said as he sat beside Laverne.

Laverne smiled. “He is, isn’t he? His dream is to be a national superstar.” Laverne said proudly.

“Mmm…” Keith said.

The team went into a break and after wiping his own face and rehydrating, Evan went towards Laverne with a big smile on his face. “How long have you been watching?” He said happily.

“We…” Laverne almost forgot that no one else could see Keith. “I just got here.” He said with a smile. He looked at Keith and saw his ghost friend holding back laughter.

“So, what do you think of my play?” Evan asked proudly.

“You’re as good as always.” Laverne answered with a smile. “But, you should be more careful. You could be really reckless when you play.” He said worriedly.

“Wow, what a sweet scene….” Keith said sarcastically. “How can you be so caring to someone like him?” Keith sounded very irritated.

Laverne ignored Keith’s comment. He knew that Keith was just looking out for him. But it was really weird. He felt so at ease and comfortable with Keith, they just met that day but he felt that they have been friends for a very long time. He couldn’t even get irritated by Keith’s attitude towards Evan. He wondered why he felt so close with someone he just met.

“Evan, when are you going to clear up the misunderstanding about you and Cara?” Laverne suddenly asked seriously. “You said it yourself, there’s nothing between the two of you. Don’t you think it’s time to tell that to everyone else?

“Nice one…” Keith said cheerfully.

“What’s this, all of a sudden?” Evan looked confused. “Are you still doubting me?

“No, it’s just that I’m not really comfortable with the idea that everyone else is thinking that you are someone else’s lover. I’m not saying that you admit that we are seeing each other, I’m fine posing as your cousin, but I don’t want anyone else to pose as your lover.” Laverne said sadly. It was really painful for him to see his loved one being close to someone else and even the idea of other people thinking that Cara and Evan were an item hurts Laverne. “I’ll be enrolling here soon too. I can’t bear hearing everyone talk about how you two are the ideal couple.

“I understand. I'll talk to everyone later.” Evan said. He looked very uneasy. Laverne could tell that he wasn’t really willing to do what he asked of him.

“That’s surprisingly easy.” Keith said. “Too easy, if you ask me.

Laverne went to the party that Keith told him about. He had a hunch that Evan would be there, and he wasn’t mistaken. He saw Keith drinking in one corner with his friends and it seemed that he was having a blast.

“Are you sure about this? You’re like a sheep in a wolves’ den.” Keith said. “Well, not exactly, I won’t be surprised if you end up eating the wolves instead, but my point is, you might get hurt with what you’re trying to do.” Keith sounded very worried.

“Relax. I just want to make sure that Evan would do as he said.” The music in the house was loud and everyone was busy with their own thing that Keith and Laverne could talk freely.

They walked across the room and once in a while someone would appear in front of him. Talking to him, offering him a drink, and even flirting with him, but all of them were coldly told off by Laverne.

“I was wrong, you’re not a sheep in a wolves’ den. You’re a lion disguising as a cat.” Keith said as he laughed.

Laverne froze on his toes when he saw Cara walking closer to Evan. To his surprise, Evan put his arm around her waist and then gave her a kiss. That scene broke Laverne’s heart. It felt like he was being stabbed over and over again. It was really painful.

“Let’s get out of here.” Keith said. “Just turn around and walk away.

Laverne met Cara’s eyes and she grinned at him. Then she rested her head at Evan’s shoulder, taunting Laverne.

“So the witch wants to play, huh.” Laverne said with a grin as he approached Evan and Cara.

“What are you planning now?” Keith sounded very worried.

“Just keep an eye on Cara and tell me what she’s planning. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Laverne said with a mischievous smile.

“Hello, it looks like your enjoying your time.” Laverne said. Evan instantly moved away from Cara. It was obvious how shocked Evan was. Laverne found Evan’s shocked expression both amusing and heartbreaking. That was the face of a man that was just caught cheating.

“Laverne… you’re here…” Evan sounded very nervous.

“Ohh… the pretty-boy cousin is here.” One of Evan’s friends approached him. He felt an arm around his shoulder and Laverne just let it be. “Do you want some drinks?” The man offered.

Laverne saw Cara giving Evan a glass of beverage and remembered what Keith had told him. “That looks good.” Laverne said to Cara and then snatched the glass.

“Hey, what are you doing? You would get drunk, and you’re really a bad drunk.” Keith warned him. Laverne felt cold when Keith tried to tap the glass away. He felt really guilty for making Keith worry.

Laverne tasted the drink, and it was very strong. “Wow, this is really bad.” He said then poured the contents on the floor. “You shouldn’t drink stuff like that.” He said with an innocent smile.

“Then do you want to taste this?” Evan’s friend offered him his cup and Laverne took it and drank it in one gulp. “So, do you like it?

“Yes, it’s good.” He said with a smile, his cheeks felt hot.

“Really, do you want some more. Come with me, I’ll give you more good drinks.” Evan’s friend said and tried to get Laverne to come with him.

“Don’t come with him!” Keith shouted, but Laverne ignored him.

Suddenly Evan pulled Laverne away. “What do you think you’re doing?” He pulled Laverne towards the exit forcefully. “He’s preying on you, don’t you see that?

“I’m having some fun, like how you’re having fun with Cara. Why, can’t I do that?” Laverne asked coldly. “Just go back to Cara, I can handle myself.” He said and shoved Evan away.

“Hey, is everything alright here?” Evan’s friend approached the two of them. With him was Cara.

“Is there anything wrong?” Cara said, sounding very concerned and innocent.

“Hey, do you want to play?” Laverne asked Cara.

“What do you mean? What game?” Cara asked confusedly.

With a grin on his face, Laverne moved closer to Cara and pulled her face closer to his face. “This game.” He said sharply. Even before anyone else could react, he kissed Cara.

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