Free Time Skip by Craig L. Seymour

was completely natural to feel that way, but, to no avail.
    He took the opportunity to stop and assess his situation. The conclusion he came to was that he had effectively isolated himself. Other than Trina, and for a time Katie, he had allowed himself nothing more than casual friendships with anyone. And as those friends transitioned into couples, he was no longer able to lean on them. Trina was his sole confidant, and he couldn’t be sure how long that would last. She was in a committed relationship with a guy who tolerated their friendship. But he suspected that she was giving her boyfriend no choice simply because she knew how much Lovelle needed her. But she wouldn’t be able to ask her man to ignore him forever. And Lovelle knew that he could not expect to come out on top if he ever made her choose. She loved him probably about as much as one friend can love another. She had not only told him that in so many words, but had shown him many times over. But he had long ago given up any right to expect her to put him ahead of another man, one who was willing to give her his heart, as Lovelle had refused to do.
    That summer seemed to drag on forever. He just continued in his state of limbo, working and having lunch with Trina a couple of times a week. Then she dropped a bomb on him. She got engaged. He wasn’t sure if Trina would have let this interfere with their relationship. He didn’t wait to find out. He knew that it was high time for him to be a man and stand up on his own. She was headed back to MSU for a final semester, so he decided it was a perfect time for him to pull back.
    The last time Lovelle had made such an abrupt change in their relationship he hadn’t even considered what he was doing. He had put their friendship on a distant back burner while he concentrated on Katie. He had stupidly failed to realize how that would hurt her, and nearly lost her friendship as a result. This time he decided that, as much as she might protest, he would just tell her what he was doing, and give her no say in the matter.
    “Curtis, you’re being ridiculous,” she said sternly. “Paul doesn’t care how close we are.”
    “No, Trina,” he mocked her tone, “Paul loves you, and he won’t tell you to stop being the caring person you are because that’s why he loves you. But I can guarantee you he would be tickled to see me disappear.”
    “You don’t even know him. He’s not the jealous type.”
    “I wouldn’t bet on that. Just because he trusts you that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get jealous. People can be jealous of a lot of things, including the affection you share with a friend.”
    They went back and forth like that for a little while until he finally insisted, “This isn’t up to you. I’ve made up my mind. I was hoping you’d understand. But, you can’t make me see you any more than I want to.”
    “Maybe I don’t need to see you at all!” She virtually spat the words at him.
    “Trina,” he softened his tone, “You know that’s not what I want. I just want you guys to be happy. I’m not gonna let myself get in the way of that. All I’m saying is that I need to stop leaning on you so much. You both deserve that.”
    Trina sighed in resignation. She cried and hugged him, which made him cry. It seemed to him to be stupid, because they weren’t saying goodbye. She was making way too much out of this whole thing. But a woman crying always upset him.
    It would be a couple of months later that Paul would pull him aside and tell him that he really didn’t have to do what he did, but, that he really admired Lovelle for putting her happiness ahead of his own. Lovelle took that to mean that he really did need to do it, but, Paul didn’t think it would be good form to tell him so.
    So Trina went back to school and Lovelle went from thinking that he was lonely, to finding out what lonely really was. He needed a friend, or girlfriend, badly, only he just couldn’t bring himself to make that move.