"Hello." I groaned and grunted, squinting my eyes, while holding my phone up to my ear. "Who's this?"
"Ronald Williams. I have very bad news for you." I shot up immediately, my attention piqued by the mention of bad news. "Do you know Tyler O'Connor?"
"Yes, I do. What's up?"
"Well..." The masculine voice at the other end was gruff and terse, never saying more words than necessary. "I'm calling you from the hospital right now."
"My goodness. What happened to him?"
"You see," the man spoke again, "he had an accident. He was driving the other night and he crashed into a tree." I gasped as the man spoke, unable to utter any words. "The car suffered extensive damage but the damage he suffered was greater."
"How is he now?" My heart rate spiked up by several beats per minute and I suddenly became aware of the palpitations of my beating heart. "Is he alive?"
"Yes, but barely. He's comatose and we doubt he'll ever walk again."
"Oh, Christ."
"I have one more thing to tell you, Ronald."
"What is it?"
"You, sir,." The man seemed to be suppressing a snigger, "have just been pranked."
"Huh?" While I struggled to process my emotions, the man erupted into a roaring laughter. "What do you mean? Who's this?"
"Ron. My main man!" Another voice, a familiar one, spoke into the receiver. "Me and the bro just thought to have some fun. What's up?"
"First of all, screw you! How could you play me like that?"
"Calm down," he said laughingly. "How was I supposed to know you'd have a mini panic attack?"
"Maybe because you're my best friend."
Anyone with eyes would have noticed me and a taller, more handsome, boy walk together a lot, laughing and joking about. Standing just under six feet, an impressive height for a teenager, with light brown skin- that contrasts my dark skin colour- and a cute baby-faced countenance, Tyler O'Connor is quite something to look at. His previously chubby body morphed into one befitting of an Armani model over the break preceding our first semester in high-school and he continued to grow more attractive since then. Armed with a witty remark up his sleeve and a charming smile, getting dates or making friends is something that seems to come to him effortlessly.
"Oh. Good point.Sorry." His apology was sheepish, as though he was sorry for the reaction, and not the joke. "The holiday has just been so boring and I needed to spice it up."
"At my expense?"
"You were the first person that came to mind and I seem to remember a certain Ronald Williams saying that nothing can startle or frighten him."
"I never said that." He scoffed and somehow, I knew that he had his eyebrows raised in a sarcastic manner. One of Tyler's many talents is his ability to manipulate his eyebrows and eyes to look either very frightening or very appealing. It also helps that he's equipped with a brilliant, white set of teeth and dimples on both cheeks. "It is true though. This holiday has been extremely boring, it almost makes me miss school. Have you started the assignment?"638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡih1tAX9GCN
"Scrap that." Someone played the keyboard softly in the background as he spoke. "Listen to what I've been working on."
Same day but it feels just a little bit bigger now.... He belted out the lyrics to Bruno Mars' When I Was Your Man , singing in tune to the keyboard playing softly in the background.
"Nicely done." I nodded my head in approval as he sang.
"It's not as nice as something you would do though," he remarked after he had finished singing.
"Well, I could never play any instrument as good as you so I guess we're even."
"Have you been watching any football recently, Ron?" Tyler asked, allowing the conversation to digress from musical matters.
"No, not really. It's all been a bit too, eh, boring for my taste."
"I agree." He laughed boisterously. "Especially Manchester United games." The mention of Manchester United, our favourite team, caused a wave of nostalgia to course through me as memories of watching some of the live games on TV, appareled in the team's jersey, seated alongside Tyler and my brother, swept through my mind.
"I still cannot believe," he said, struggling to utter coherent words amidst his continued laughter, "that you were that gullible."
"When next I see you, Tyler, I'll make sure you'll have a real coma, you ...."
"Mind your language, Ronald William." The tone of his voice was sarcastic and I could tell that an irritating smirk was adorning his face, even though I couldn't see it. "It's not my fault your sense of humor died before you were born."
Ouch!638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcYnjmDoHw
"Well, there's the famous O'Connor sense of humor." I laughed, in-spite of myself. Many months in his company had made me almost immune to his witty remarks. "You know that I can give as good as I get, Tyler."638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeR0JPuCDF
"Actually, you're quite the savage. Especially with your big English words that no one else, but me, seems to understand."
"Why, thank you, my good man. A big vocabulary is something we have in common. It's always nice to confuse people with big words, isn't it?"638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzABfGZ7F8
"Of course, it is." He spoke in a queer British accent, mocking the way my words sounded. "I've always wanted to know, why do you sound like that?"638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38w4dvsr8g
"Like how?"638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5KilbTQwQ
"Your accent. It has a bit of everything. It isn't fully British, nor Australian, nor American. It sounds as if those three accents had an orgy and gave birth to whatever it is you speak."638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKo9ll9awH
"Okay. This is the story." I paused, allowing for dramatic suspense. "On a cold and windy night..."638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7mZb76kcO
"Save it." We both laughed, each of us clearly enjoying the other's company. "Alright brother." He said, sighing forlornly," I have to go now or else I'll spend the rest of next semester paying of the phone bill."
"Yeah, that's true. I still have a lot of stuff to do today. Alright, O'Connor, and please, when next I hear you're in a coma, please actually be in a coma." 638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukI8UWiHAU
"I'll try."638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fwNbUNIsG
"Also, try not to be in a coma." We shared another bout of hysterical laughter before terminating the forty-five minute call. 638Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnGVGQMA4C
"Who was that?" Tony walked in, cradling a bowl of cereal in his hands. "Oh, and we are having corn-flakes for breakfast."
"That was Tyler, my best friend."
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