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  Beyond the Horizon

  Beyond the Horizon

  A Teen’s Love

  Novella 1

  Ace Campillo

  Copyright © 2019 by Ace Campillo

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 allows a maximum of one chapter or ten percent of this book, to be copied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency under the act.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  If there’s any time in my life which I can say I have the best experience, I should say high school.

  Probably.

  I am not the most handsome nor the most talented person. I am that ordinary blonde guy that wanted to live in the shadows, but at least, I have an admirer. I internally laughed. I don't know who the person is—I assume a girl?

  Most times, when I open my locker, a piece of paper will either fall or fly off from the inside. I am frankly intrigued but highly flattered for this kind of gesture. I even got some individually wrapped biscuits hiding under my desk every time I check it in the morning. It’s not much, but to be given that kind of attention is worth appreciating.

  ‘Your secret admirer seems to be lurking around again.’ Andre appeared out of nowhere. He approached me to do our handshake.

  ‘Yeah,’ I sheepishly said. I placed the paper and biscuits inside my bag before adding, ‘it seems like it.’

  ‘Are you not interested to know who it is?’ He flashed a curious look.

  ‘Of course. I just don't have the time for now because of all the exams coming up and table tennis practice.’

  I was never an athletic person, but I came across playing table tennis when we once attended a party at a friend’s house. I kind of liked it, hence my admission to the school’s table tennis club.

  ‘What are you doing after class?’ I asked.

  ‘I have soccer practice, but I'll just probably go straight home afterwards.’

  I didn't know how Andre and I got to be friends. I meant I knew how we became friends; I didn't know why we clicked together. We were different in so many ways. He was the sporty and hunky guy who everyone wanted to be friends with. I was the skinny and nerdy guy who never had any attention from other people. However, what set him aside was the fact that he was not the typical brainless jock. I saw him first in the library doing research, and I got to converse with him as I needed the same textbook for my homework.

  ‘Cool man…’

  Our conversation was abruptly cut off as our homeroom teacher entered the classroom. It was another day of boring class except for the subjects that gave me palpitations because of surprise quizzes. I probably would have answered the questions, but my nervousness always got me blank most times.

  ‘What the heck was that?’ Andre cursed in exasperation.

  ‘Well, it's not like you're the only one who suffered,’ I said.

  ‘How did you go?’ He asked.

  ‘Perfect.’ I chuckled. I paused for a while.

  ‘Dick!’ He mouthed as he punched me on the arm.

  ‘Ouch!’ I caressed the sore part and asked, ‘why’d you do that for?’

  ‘How can you be so happy with your friend agonising about the exam?’

  He placed his two hands on his face and pulled it downwards before letting out a big sigh.

  ‘That!’ I waved my hand and continued, ‘duh! It was easy…easy to have a perfect doughnut on my test paper.’ I laughed. He looked at me, and we both chuckled this time.

  ‘School is over though.’

  ‘Thank goodness.’

  ‘I’ll see you again tomorrow?’ I carried my backpack and started to approach him for a handshake.

  ‘Cool bro. I’ll see you.’ He shook my hand and pulled me to a hug.

  I went to my sports practice at the gym, and I saw new recruits to the team. Our coach paired us up with some of the new ones to practice. I got paired with Erin, who probably had the idea of playing it, but she still needed to have more guidance.

  ‘Here,’ I grabbed her hand as she held a racket. She was balancing a ping pong ball, and my only intention was to angle the racket in the right way. However, some of our teammates started teasing me for doing it.

  Go, Jeremy!

  Jeremy is too quick.

  My idol.

  Some people joked about it, and it got a bit awkward after that. I immediately let go and looked at her and said, ‘I’m sorry.’

  She blushed.

  ‘It's alright.’

  She immediately averted her eyes and tucked her hair under the ears. But despite what happened, we continued to practice together before joining the rest of the team to have friendly match ups. Erin was easy to work with. She followed all the advice and tried to do some advanced serving techniques which I was very impressed with.

  *****

  It was a long tiring day, and I just happened to lay on the bed when I heard a peculiar sound coming from the window. I ignored it at first, but it did not go away. Instead, the sound got louder and louder. I lazily got up to check what was happening. I opened the window, and the ball almost hit me.

  ‘You get your lazy bum down here,’ Andre shouted as he flashed a smile.

  ‘What you doin’ here crazy?’ I laughed as I replied.

  ‘Practice ended early …I got bored.’

  ‘I’m coming down.’ I signalled for him to wait.

  I ran down and saw my mom at the lounge watching a show. ‘Mom, I’m just going to have a bike ride with Andre at the park. We won’t be long.’

  She looked at me and replied, ‘Don't come home late, alright? And you can invite him to have dinner with us when you get back.’

  ‘Okay, mom.’ I hugged and kissed her on the cheek.

  We rode our bikes at the park where there was a riverside path. It was always relaxing to see the beach after a long day. Also, I got to enjoy my time with my best friend. We also got to enjoy the simple bicycle obstacle course. Although, I kept going off balance as I got close to the ramp. Andre never laughed at me, but instead, he was always there to teach me the tricks. After a while, we decided to buy ice cream and sat at the edge of the riverside barrier.

  ‘How was your table tennis practise today?’ Andre asked.

  ‘I guess it was alright. There’s just this girl…’ I was still speaking when he interjected, ‘oohh… your sports loveteam, ei?’

  ‘Don’t be silly.’ I waved my hand and quickly added, ‘I barely know her.’

  ‘That's how all love stories start, though.’ He stared at me, and I caught him doing it.

  ‘What?’ I asked him.

  ‘I just can't believe that my best friend is all grown up now.’ He jokingly shook his head before bursting into laughter. I also laughed at his remark, but I had to say that nothing was going on.

  ‘And you never know—’ Andre giggled mid-sentence but quickly added, ‘—it might be that girl who kept giving you gifts in t
he morning.’

  ‘Hhmm,’ I rubbed the sides of my chin with my thumb and pointing finger. I said, ‘It did not occur to me that way. It might be the case, thanks for pointing that out to me.’

  ‘You don’t actually think it’s her, right?’ He had a questioning look on his face.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘So, what are you going to do about it then?’

  ‘I’ll talk to her. I can probably get the answer without directly asking her.’

  ‘You’re crazy.’ He slowly shook his head as he chuckled.

  I had fun talking about the topic. It’s not like Erin was not attractive. She’s the kind of girl that would tick all the boxes. She’s a petite girl. I thought she was only at least 165cm in height, and I thought she would be a perfect match because I was not also that tall. The last time I checked, I was only 175cm. She had long brown hair with matching almond-coloured eyes. I almost laughed at myself for noticing so much about her, yet, I denied having any attraction towards her. I probably would say that I was in that getting the feeling around her, but I was not closing the door to the possibility of getting beyond friendship. Andre and I were still immersed in our conversation when I realised that the sun was almost setting. So, I asked him about coming back to the house to have dinner which he agreed on. He was already a familiar face in our household; like an adopted son of the family. He was orphaned not a long time ago when his parents died in a fatal car crash accident. I saw him hit rock bottom. However, he recovered quite well in a very short time. Most children would have used that excuse to do some unreasonable things. But with him, he used it to become a mature and independent person. It was kind of painful because he was the only child, and he was given all the attention and love. I didn't know his parent personally. I was not able to meet them. However, judging by how Andre grew up as a good person, I could say that they might have been good people too.

  We went back to the house, where my mom greeted us in the living room.

  ‘Hey guys,’ my mom said as she wiped her hands on her apron.

  ‘Hi, Mrs Carter. How are you?’ Andre politely responded.

  ‘Andre, you don't have to be formal. I told you before; you can call me Sally.’ My mom marched towards us to hug him.

  ‘I don’t think I can do that. I have a lot of respect for you that I am compelled to be formal.’

  ‘You’ve been a good boy. Why can’t my son be just like you?’ She sniggered.

  ‘Well Sally, I’m sorry that you’re not contented with the current member of your household.’ I joked.

  ‘Excuse me, but you actually have to call me ‘mom’.’ She motioned her fingers to make quotation marks before quickly adding, ‘one more and that’ll be one week of house arrest for you, young man.’

  ‘Yes mom,’ I rolled my eyes before adding, ‘c' mon Andre, let's go to my room for a bit.’

  Andre looked at my mom, and my mom said, ‘dinner should be ready soon. I’ll call you when it’s dinner time.’

  Upon entering the room, I plopped down on the bed after I threw my bag on the floor. Andre, on the other hand, placed his bag on the study table before he sat down on the chair. I noticed that he fell silent, and so, I looked at him. He was staring at something outside of the window.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I asked, but he did not hear me. I called out his name this time and asked the same question. It got his attention, and he threw an awkward smile at me.

  ‘I saw a woman walking her dogs on the street. I was looking at the cute puppies.’ He responded.

  It was not long ago when we became friends. I was the one who always spent time with Andre, so I guess I could say that I was the one who knew him well. However, there were times when I couldn't totally claim that because he sometimes had this mysterious aura. There were times when I felt that he's hiding something. Nonetheless, it's none of my business, and I was not the kind of person who liked to meddle with anyone's life. I left him be and just enjoyed his company. I knew there's something more than his superficial reasoning, but I shrugged it off.

  ‘Do you want to do anything?’ I asked.

  ‘I don't know. Your mother might call us soon, though.’ Andre answered.

  ‘That’s right. You can just grab the Gameboy in the drawer and play for a bit.’ I said.

  ‘How about you? What will you be doing?’ He asked.

  ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m going to watch some videos on YouTube.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure. Do it now before I change my mind.’ I laughed.

  He happily took the Gameboy and started playing with it. He did not say anything, but I can guess that he was playing Pokémon based on the sounds. We were engulfed to what we were doing, and we stayed out of each other’s spaces until my mother called us finally to go downstairs. I was not too keen, but Andre might be hungry. I told him for us to go, and we ran down like little kids and went to the dining table.

  ‘How are you, Andre?’ My dad asked as he entered the dining room. He approached my mom to give her a peck on the lips. I was a bit surprised because I thought he was not going to come home until late. I was following him with my gaze, but my dad seemed to have not noticed me.

  ‘I've been well, Mr Carter. How about you?’ He stood up to shake my dad's hand.

  ‘You don’t have to be so formal,’ my dad replied as he sat on his seat and quickly added, ‘John should be fine.’

  ‘We’ve already talked about it. Let him call you the way he wants to call you.’ My mom chuckled.

  ‘I’m also doing good dad.’ I frowned at him.

  ‘Oh, hey son,’ my dad smiled at me and asked, ‘how're your studies going?’

  ‘It’s been good. Thanks for asking sir.’ I replied and got settled in my seat before asking, ‘you seem to be home early today?’

  ‘Well,’ he cleared his throat and further added, ‘my meeting ended early, so I was able to come home straight away. You have any problem with that?’

  ‘Of course not. I was just asking.’ I laughed at the seriousness of his tone, and he also gave in and chuckled. After a while, we fell silent and just concentrated on our food. It went like that for a bit until my mom wiped her mouth with her napkin. She turned to Andre to ask a question.

  ‘So,’ my mom cautiously started. She looked at Andre then to me before looking back to Andre and asked, ‘what's your plan now in terms of your studies, Andre? I mean, what university are you choosing to enrol yourself?’

  ‘Mom!’ I interjected.

  ‘Jeremy…’ Andre held my arm and shook his head as I looked at him. He cleared his throat before responding, ‘the original plan was for me to take up Medical Technology in prep for taking Medicine, but it would be difficult at this stage, I guess. I probably need to have a part-time job and save up some money before then.’

  ‘That’s actually a not so bad idea,’ my dad said.

  ‘Yeah, and I don't think my grandmother will be able to support me for that long,’ Andre answered.

  ‘Is she just here in Sunshine Coast?’ My mom asked.

  ‘No, she actually lives in London. She sends me an allowance every fortnight.’

  ‘That’s good that you’re well supported. If you ever need help, we’re also here for you. Don’t be shy to ask us,’ my mom offered.

  ‘Can I ask for money too?’ I jokingly said.

  ‘No,’ my mom plainly said.

  ‘I think it’s not the kind of help your mom is talking about Jeremy.’ My dad chuckled.

  Andre turned to look at me as he had a big grin on his face. He looked down on his food before responding, ‘thanks for the offer, but I think I’m good at the moment.’

  I was amazed at what Andre had planned for his life. This was the first time I heard about them, and I felt embarrassed that I had not reached half of his yet. I had not figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I realised that I need to start thinking of the future soon if I wanted to have one. I guess I was too sp
oilt by my ever-loving parents, although half of the blame fell on me for being too slack. I would think about it, but maybe later. I internally laughed. We finished dinner, and Andre politely excused himself as he needed to go home.

  Chapter 2

  It became a daily habit of me to go early to school, especially that my house was just a few blocks away. I would sit down at a bench that's close to the fountain, and I would usually wait for Andre there. However, it seemed like he is running late today. I saw Erin passing by, and so, I took the opportunity to speak with her.

  ‘Hey, Erin,’ I called out.

  ‘Oh, hi, Jeremy.’ She went closer as she greeted me.

  ‘You are early today?’ I flashed her a smile.

  ‘It's one of those days—’ she laughed and rolled her eyes before adding, ‘I haven’t finished my project yet, so I have to quickly do it here on campus.’

  ‘What sort of homework is that?’

  ‘It's just a simple essay. I'm almost done, though. I think I just need to polish it.’

  ‘I can help you with that.’ I extended my help as writing essay was my strength. I also thought that it’s the best chance to spend some time with her; to get to know her more. I remember what Andre about the mystery person who kept on giving me daily gifts. I just hope that Andre wouldn’t get mad for not waiting for him today.

  ‘Well, are you sure? I mean I can use some help to check if I'm heading in the right direction.’ She said.

  ‘Of course. I have nothing else to do anyway.’

  ‘It will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’

  I thought I saw Andre approaching me while I was talking to Erin, but he seemed to just disappear suddenly. Meanwhile, we headed to the library, where we sat quietly to discuss her essay.

  ‘What’s your essay about?’ I asked as I moved closer.

  ‘It’s about family values,’ she responded.

  ‘Can you tell me what your family believes in?’ I enquired.