The love that never was

Chapter 2

- It's good to have you back on the team, Kōmel!

My coworker, Alex, came to see me; he was one of the people who I talked to asking about Bendy, he had been to my wedding in my dreams and a close confidant, also, in the real word, he was the one who told me what my condition could be.

- Alex, I need to tell you something.

- Oh, sounds serious, is everything fine?

- I found Bendy.

- What?

- I met a man, and he looked exactly like Bendy, only his name and accent were different.

- Kōmel... - He pushed his white glasses against his face. - Are you sure...?

- I talked to him, Alex, he gave me his number, I think.

- You "think"?! - He put his hands up in disbelief. - What does that even mean? Did you dream with numbers or something stupid like that?!

- Alex, I mean that, I met him on the way here and...

I pulled up my phone for the first time since Ribon gave it back to me, checking the contacts and seeing a new chat with a "hi" I didn't send myself. When I looked at the profile, there he was, the same guy who I met on the bus. The only difference was him having straight hair, I showed Alex the photo.

- Is... that how he looked in your head?

- Sure thing.

- Weird... I really did think you made him up. - Alex looked puzzled at the evidence before catching himself at the way he worded that sentence. - I mean! I thought your brain had made him up! I didn't think you lied to me...

He looked away flustered, Alex was a very calm person most of the time, but still socially awkward.

- I know what you meant, Alex, It's fine. - I paused, looked at the time and sighed. - Sorry man, I don't have time to chat now, but let's meet during our lunch break, alright?

- Sure! - He gave me a thumbs up and left, limping as always. -

I hadn't been in this place for what felt like forever, knowing that kids are so euphoric about not having classes, they were probably not gonna be all that welcoming about me coming back to talk about the opium war.

Well, this was a public school so they weren't paying me enough to care.

I got inside the classroom awaiting an array of unhappy sounds. I did hear some, but most of the students just looked at me worried and I raised an eyebrow.

- I'm sorry for my long absence guys, I had some personal problems I had to deal with before coming back to work, although, I guess you're all more pissed about me coming back at all.

I heard a few muffled or nasal laughs at the joke.

- Well, you can see I'm good enough to joke around now, so don't worry too much, keep that anxiety for whether or not "Jason" likes you back. - I turned my attention to my supplies on the table. - Ok, who wants to hear about England's dirty laundry?

- Isn't that just most of our history classes? - A student jokes to her close classmates, but is loud enough for everyone to hear, noticing that fact she goes with it. - I think our school years would be cut in half if England minded their business!

- Well, Sophia, England's business was the world's problem at the time, specifically China and India this once. - I started writing some talking points on the white board. - No need to copy this, it's just for me to keep track while I explain.