"Dear Tyson…"
Hilary sighed as she lowered her chin onto her palm, tapping her fingers impatiently against her laptop keyboard. She'd been sitting in the room of her hostel for at least half an hour, and after enough procrastination, she was determined to mail him. It had been over six weeks, since he had last texted, and then just plainly stopped. So far, all she could do was 'Dear Tyson'.
Why can't I think of anything? She frowned, looking down on her phone. She scrolled up, examining all the selfies they had shared of their distinct locations. She smiled generously. And then all the history they had together, all the moments they shared flooded into her mind. She typed into the body of the mail outrageously, to showcase her frustration on the boy who had been ignorant of her, but she erased it all. That wasn't the best way to get his attention. She opened the news app on her phone, perusing through all the latest news of International Beyblading. There were many articles about her filter 'BBA Revolution', Tyson being the center of them all. But the tournament was over two days ago, and he still hasn't seen her congratulatory message. Bubbles of dreadful thoughts burst in her mind. Could there be that there was another manager that had kept them busy? Could that other manager be a female? Could she be interested in Tyson? But then, there was no such face in the news.
She had separated herself from the BBA months ago to focus on her sports management, and promised to return when she became adept. There was always some gap in the communication, but their constant messaging had her and Tyson always connected. She remembered the night she left for Madrid, he volunteered to stay with her, badgering her to eat, rest, study, explore. That one night the roles were reversed, but she could see in his eyes, that care she always clamoured for. Never had she seen that scare in those eyes, but they gave away everything. When she received the internet connection on the airport in Madrid, her phone was swamped by his wishful messages, and every night since then, right at the calculated time zone, she received his text. Those texts were very addictive. She got obsessed with her phone at night, just to check his message. Without them, it was very uneasy. But six months ago, it had stopped.
She thought of calling him, but it would sound pestering. Just their chats and mails would feel…so personal. Just him, and her, and no one else…
And now the problem was, she didn't know what to say.
"Look, I know we haven't really flapped our lips in a log time. Just let me know how you are. I mostly get texts from Chief and Max, sometimes Ray too in a while, but I feel something between us messed up. I know you have always been the Beyblade bunny, and jacked on training, but it wouldn't hurt to let it all out on the sack once in a while.
She gasped erasing it all. This would definitely stress him out, and a bigger tournament was right around the clock in Istanbul next month. She leaned back against her bed, tipping her head to look at the ceiling. Why was it so hard to write him? She had traveled with him for years. He was the closest friend she ever had, so why was a simple thing like writing a mail becoming so difficult?
She sighed disappointedly. She had mailed him before: to old friends, her parents and various other relatives. It wasn't that hard, except for the occasional thumb cramps. But writing a brief mail to Tyson...
She closed her eyes and tried to picture what he looked like now. He was most likely taller than her now. His face probably looked the same, and she had no doubt that his hair was still tied and unruly. But what about Tyson in general, the Tyson she admired and cared for? Was he still the same proud, happy-go-lucky, cocky, flamboyant boy she knew?
She exasperated. I miss Tyson a lot...
She propped up, looking down at her screen once more, the wheels in her brain slowly starting to turn.
Maybe I'll start off by my scoop. How I am doing. The places in Spain I have been to. The new friends I have made. All the Spanish food I have eaten…yeah, that'll catch him.
Feeling inspired, she put her fingers to work again, typing something after the greeting.
"How's it shaking? Congratulations on the win in China's Supreme Tournament! So proud of ya!
She decided she'd stick with that.
"Hope the gangs all the same and chilling. I myself have been doing great in Madrid. And guess what, for my summer project, I'll be managing the upcoming talents of Spanish team 'Sagrada Famiglia', isn't that great? TBH, I'm a little nervous. There won't be you, Hiro or Kenny, so this is all me. But if I ace this, I'll be scaling. And once this course is over, I'll be back in no time. I miss you, I miss everybody, even Daichi."
She paused and looked over what she had written so far.
A grin broke out on her face. Yes, yes, yes!
"It's weird...me all alone. But I'm still trying to get used to it. But I'll never forget the adventures we all had. I know you really hate me being here, Tyson. I saw it in your eyes, but I really think that I can be a much better manager if I do this course, so that it decorates my career too. And I'm glad that you respected my decision. Just wait one more year, and then I'll be back in La Familia. Sorry, the Spanish is kinda growing on me. And then, we'll travel the world together again If it's okay with you, that is...'
Would he be up for it? She tilted her head thoughtfully. He was usually up for going anywhere if it brought him closer to his dream.
"Just do me a favor, if you do read this message, just reply back okay. It kinda bugs me when you don't. It'd be great you hear from you after such a long time. I really miss you, Tyson. Traveling without you is another thing that I'm trying to get used to. It's pretty tough. Sometimes, before I fall asleep, I think I can still hear your snoring!'
She giggled, and inserted a smiling emoji in the end.
"Say hi to everyone from me…"
There. A smile spread on her face as she dropped a huge exhale and was about to click on the send button, when an envelope unwrapped on her screen.
Her face beamed as she saved her mail in drafts, before quickly checking her inbox. It was no joke. Her pupils widened, as he had beaten her in the conversation. She had received a mail from Tyson, himself. Clicking on it, she perused through the whole mail.
It opened with a group image of everyone with Tyson and Daichi in the center, holding the prestigious golden, jewel studded cup. Her face lit up, as she began to read the inscriptions below.
"Hiya Hil,
Been a while, huh? Sorry, didn't write sooner. For six weeks we have been camping in the middle of nowhere of Shanghai without our phones, so there was no way I could have ever reached out. And Hiro stripped our phones off, before I could inform you. We had no net connection there. Plus, the nearest post office guy is 17 miles away. Anyway, you may have got the news, we have bagged the Cup again, and we have all returned back to Tokyo! I was psyched to mail out. Anyway, it was ho-hum without you there! You get sick of eating dimsums and soup after a while! I can't believe I am saying this but I missed your sandwiches. Ever since you put that sauce in our paninis, I am hooked!"
Hilary blushed, smiling softly. He's too sweet. He probably doesn't even realize it.
She took a huge inhale, his memories troubling her again. She sniffed, before continuing further. After some brief updates, the mail had stopped mid-sentence. That was puzzling. There was a time that he had forgot to add the conclusion of his mail, and even missed on his signatures, but this was bewildering.
That's...odd. She scrolled down to the bottom. It was blank. Curiously, she refreshed her mails before going through his mail again, however, just like before, it was incomplete.
"Did he forget to finish it?" she thought aloud.
A knock on the door alerted her. Who could it be at this hour? She twisted her lips before unfolding her legs, and lazily trudging up towards the door. Could it be the hostel staff? Certainly she hadn't committed anything to cause a complaint. Maybe it's her neighbour next door to discuss some doubts, but wasn't she out for the evening? It was a mystery to Hilary, all she could do was open the door. Her eyes widened, as she was met a flashing grin of the face that had been on her mind the whole evening.
Her mouth dropped open. "Ty-Tyson!"
Standing in the doorway of her lodging was none other than her best friend, Tyson, holding a bouquet of lilies, brushing a finger against his nose. "Got ya!"
"Tyson!" tears welled up in her eyes, as she launched herself at him, embracing him as tightly as she could.
"Easy now…" he assured, running his hand through her back, pacifying her.
"What-what are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought that—"
"I couldn't think of what to write, so I just decided that I'd come and find you," he chuckled with a shrug. He walked into the room without a care and took a seat on the chair. "Nice room, girl. Do they allocate room by grades or something? This is much better than the cabin we all cramped up in."
Hilary wiped a tear, before closing the door. It wasn't a girl's hostel, so technically she wasn't breaking a rule of having a boy at her place. Not after the horrendous moaning from the girls next door.
"This is such a shock Tyson," she sighed, heading over to the fridge for some water, "I never thought you'd drop by."
"Well that's what made this surprise an absolute lit, didn't it now?" Tyson snickered, chugging from the bottle she handed.
Hilary continued to stare at him bewilderment. She still couldn't believe that he was actually here, sitting right in front of her and talking to her. She didn't dare blink. She was afraid that if she did, he'd disappear and the whole thing would've been her imagination.
And I thought writing a mail would be so bad…
Tyson wiped a hand across his drenched lips and stared up at her. "Hey, its' ok. You can up your jaw now."
Hilary's cheeks reddened slightly. "No...no, I'm fine." She looked down at her hands, noticing that they were now clutching the end of her pyjamas. The two friends fell silent, neither of them knowing what to say to start up a conversation.
"So, uh..." Tyson started, "how've you been?"
Hilary looked up again. "I've been good." Inwardly, she was feeling a bit of the opposite. She finally managed to get this all typed down, and now she couldn't bring herself to say it to Tyson's face. "And you?"
"You can see what you can see," he goaded cockily. "I had a long year, so I thought I would catch some sun here in Madrid."
"You're here for a vacation?" Hilary cocked a brow.
"Yeah! Had a cheque to burn in my pocket!" he joked. "I couldn't live on dimsums, but Paella's something I can't say no to!"
"See, what happens when I'm not around! I could have done better than dimsums!" Hilary joked, slightly pushing his shoulder.
The two shared a hearty laugh, plucking one joke after the other. A small silence followed before he suddenly spoke up again. "You look different," he stated. "Did you do something with your hair?"
Hilary giggled. "You did the same with your perfume…Wait, you started perfume!"
He rubbed his arm, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, I smell great, don't I?" He laughed quietly. "So how are your studies going on here?"
"They're super good," Hilary replied. "I got a lotta cases to study. Different patterns. My head's constantly numbers. Speaking of which, I topped in the last semester! And, I have been selected to manage the second grade of a local Beyblading Team! I start in two weeks!"
"Really?" he asked with excitement. "That's awesome!"
Hilary blushed. "Well, it'll be different. These kids won't be my friends. Speaking of which, I miss your support, though."
Tyson nodded. "Yeah...me too," he agreed, his voice softening.
"So how is everyone?" Hilary wondered. "Are they doing okay?"
"They are chilling! Even the academy's coming pretty great! The thought of launching new talents from our academy just hypes me to the moon!" he pumped a fist, "And with an expert manager like you, coach like Hiro, and all of us to guide, we'll take the BBA to new heights!"
"We sure will!" Hilary joined Tyson, sharing his chivalry and buoyancy.
Another silence formed between them, after a while. They glanced at each other, and then looked away. Hilary fumbled with the hem of her shirt as Tyson played with his gloves.
"You know, Hilary, I thought this would be a little easier in person," Tyson said suddenly.
Hilary's eyebrows drew together in curiosity "What do you mean?"
"All the time in the flight from Shanghai to Tokyo, I could think nothing else but you. As soon as I got home, I wanted to bomb all my feelings on that mail, but I wasn't sure what to say…I wasn't even sure if you would ever return to us…I was afraid that if you found a job here, you'll be much happier," he slumped his shoulders, "So I didn't think twice before coming here because I had something say to you face-to-face, but it's kind of..."
"Awkward?" Hilary finished, a small smile pulling on her lips. "I think I know how you feel."
Tyson returned her smile. "I really missed you, Hilary."
Her eyes softened. "I missed you too."
He scooted closer to her, looking down into her deep auburn eyes. "No I mean...I really missed you. A lot."
Hilary blushed again, staring back at his chocolate-colored orbs. "Tyson..."
Slowly, unsurely, he placed his arms around her in an attempt to hug her. Hilary gasped at the affectionate gesture. She could feel her heartbeat speed up, and she could hear the thumping vibrating in her ears. This was definitely something different.
"I know it sounds selfish, but I really didn't want you to come here," he confessed quietly. "I thought it would be weird at first…but it's just scary…"
Tyson... She rested her chin on his shoulder and returned his hug. "You know I'll be back. I'll never go back on my promises I made to you and our team. Just wait for one more year Tyson, and I'll be back, and we'll be together…"Her voice was just above a whisper, something that surprised her a little bit. Since when did Tyson have this kind of effect on her?
"Hey, isn't it almost time for dinner?" Tyson blinked, looking at clock as his chin was rested on her shoulder.
They separated, and Hilary whipped around, yelping as the clock read nine-o-clock! "Yikes! I was so busy writing your mail, that I forgot all about dinner!"
"My mail?" Tyson quirked a brow, incredulously.
Flustered, she bit, "Yeah, unlike you, I finished drafting my mail, before you dropped a bombshell on me! All that hard-work for nothing!"
Tyson grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. "I'll read it later. Right now, why don't we go out for a nice dinner?"
"Sounds good," Hilary chirped happily, clasping her hands. "You're paying though!"
"Fine, fine." He pulled away from her chair, only to take the girl's hand. "So, show me around. Been a while since I was last in Madrid."
Hilary looked up at his face, a bit stunned, as the two of them stood up. She hadn't realized how tall he was compared to her now. He smiled down at her, squeezing her hand. Holding Tyson's hand was so warming, she would usually do it during the World Championships but this time the gesture was much different and so much...sweeter.
Nervously, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to the boy's cheek, closing her eyes. She was still for what felt like an eternity, not noticing the deep, red blush that spread all over Tyson's face. She didn't know what exactly made her want to do it. Something inside her told her to do something bold, something that was a spur of the moment, and kissing his cheek just felt right.
She pulled away, an uneasy smile on her face. Blushing, she lowered her gaze to her feet. Tyson blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. He'd been kissed on the cheek a few times years back, but never had he expected for Hilary to kiss him. A goofy smile found its way onto his face.
"Well, we should get going then." Tyson tugged on her hand, offering her a sympathetic smile. "After we get dinner, I'll have to find a place to crash the night."
"You can stay here," Hilary giggled, "Then you and I can catch up."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, you can have the couch!" she winked. "Just wait right here, and I'll go find something to wear."
As she turned around, her soul danced in her body. Trying to write a mail was hard, she realized, but look at where it got her! All's well that ends well, they say.