Francis sat down with a sigh. „So,what are you hiding from?” he asked.
“What do you care?” Roderich answered with a question without looking up from his lunch.
“Nothing,” Francis said.
He lighted a cigarette. This place was usually hard to find. That was one of the reasons why it was always quiet. He liked to come here when he wanted to be alone during the lunch breaks. He hadn't expected someone else to be here.
But it looked like Roderich had come here for the same reasons as him.
“I'm hiding from my friends,” Roderich murmured after a while. At first, Francis didn't even notice he was saying something.
Francis looked up at the sky. He had figured something like that. He drew in a deep breath. “Me too,” he admitted.
Again, they sat there in silence. The warm autumn sun was shining down on them. There was a light breeze in the air. Birds were singing from time to time. Once in a while, the wind brought yellow and red leaves with him.
“I thought nothing between us would have changed by the time we had grown up,” Roderich went on.
Francis simply nodded. The other had put away his lunch box he noticed. Now, he was just sitting there staring at his hands on his lap. For a moment, he thought about comforting him.
“I really, really tried,” Roderich whispered. “I tried pretending I didn't notice a thing of what was going on between them.”
By now, his hands were shaking. Francis thought that all he was expected to do here was to listen. He didn't dare touching the other. And there was a lump of his own feelings building up inside his throat and making it impossible for him to speak.
“I wished they would just tell me what is going on.” Francis watched Roderich fidgeting his fingers. “They could have. Right from the start. It's not like I didn't notice what they are doing behind my back.”
For a while, they just sat there, breathing in and out slowly. Roderich wasn't shaking as bad as before. At first, Francis took this as a good sign. Above them, fluffy white clouds drifted over the blue sky. From what it looked like, it wasn't long until the days would become colder.
“I wouldn't feel as betrayed as I feel now if they had,” Roderich whimpered.
Dark spots started to appear on his trousers. Francis placed one of his hands on the other young man's shoulder. First, he had thought about patting him on the knee. For a while, Roderich didn't react to it at all. Francis had started wondering if he had done something wrong here when a delicate hand was placed on his. His hand was squeezed lightly for a moment.
Around them, the world went on its own way. On some nearby trees, sparrows were gathering. It looked like they were thinking about leaving for some more southern places soon. Or maybe they just wanted to have a good laugh, the noise they made sure sounded like they were having a lot of fun. Once in a while, a small group would leave and then come back after a while. Every other passing bird was greeted with a lot of angry noises.
The bell announced the end of the lunch break.
“Thank you,” Roderich said. He folded his handkerchief and put it back into his pocket. He wasn't trying to smile when he looked at Francis but there sure was a thankful look in his eyes. Francis forced himself to smile.
He patted the other's shoulder once more, before they both got up and went back into their respective classrooms.
