I'm Not Daria
The birthday of Mario

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, "You might run away again." He chuckles without humor

Those words triggered a conflicting curiosity within me. curiously, but after hearing him say that, I also did not want to know

"Is it that bad?"

"I think it's a disaster. You may have a different opinion, not knowing if it's good or bad. Sometimes it feels so good and sometimes it's wrong and terrible."

We didn't say anything for a few minutes, where we exchanged glances and gazes when we thought the others weren't looking.

"Good night, Daria"

Without further words, she disappeared behind her door and I was left standing alone in the hallway.

I entered my own room, my head shaken because of what had just happened

Now I really understand that I have to put a lot of distance between us.

Devan has a closeness problem with me. He likes to be close to me in a way that a friend should not. And the scary part happened too.

Devan and I can no longer be friends. That thought made my heart hurt. That means not talking to each other and not looking at each other, pretending as if the other person is not in the room opposite me and being careful not to make eye contact at the dining table.

I don't know if we can be friends again like we used to be, but I know that I want Devan in my life one way or another. I never realized when she made a place for herself in my heart, that when I woke up the next morning, I would be reminded of her absence from then on, she said,

Everything feels difficult. We like each other but we can't even be friends. I have a secret and she has a boyfriend who could potentially ruin my life if she finds out about the events of last night or the few times before we were ever that close.

So I persuaded myself to forget it. I believe that the harder I try, the easier it is to forget.

I deliberately went down for breakfast an hour later than usual because it meant Devan had already left with my father for work.

The rest of the day after that was easy because he wasn't there. I played with Bella and then Mario and then studied the rest of the time.

..

Dinner was a little awkward because he was sitting right in front of me on the other side of the table, so I had to constantly look down at my plate or from left to right. Worse, we accidentally clasped our feet a few times.

After dinner, I went back to my room until the next morning.

..

Although this was the first day we avoided each other like the plague, I had already begun to feel his absence and the fun and conversation with Mario no longer felt pleasant.

One thing I find strange is that Anna refuses to play with me. I had invited him four times that day and he flatly refused to play badminton or tennis on the grounds of being preoccupied with his studies. I know that he stayed away and hated me. I long for the carefree and joyous days we had when we returned home. I don't like that we don't spend as much time as before.

I realized that his mood was always bad. Every time I tried to talk to him, he would look irritated and it seemed like he didn't want to be around me which confused me. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything wrong to him.

It's bad enough to not be able to talk to Devan, I don't want to talk to Anna either.

But I decided to give it a few days. Maybe he was just stressed about something completely different that had nothing to do with me . I told myself that he would come after a few days

The only person I can think of to play with him, without worry, is Mario. He made me feel very comfortable and welcome. He's always been a fun person to talk to. I always learned something from him.

It's the second day since I stopped talking to Devan.

Mario must have felt my mood was not good, so he made me a bowl of yogurt with fruits arranged to resemble a cat's face. That's so adorable. I barely want to eat it.

"Thank you!" I smiled at Mario

"Can you tell me what made your mood bad?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's nothing and I don't think you can help much. Didn't you take a bowl of yogurt for yourself?"

Mario rubbed the back of his neck. "Is it okay if I do?"

I rolled my eyeballs. "Of course it's okay. Why are you asking that? Ever since I've known you, I've realized that you're very careful with everything you do. Have you ever broken any rules before?"

"No" he said shyly.

"I think so. But seriously, don't think too much about everything you do. You worry about trivial things like whether you can eat with me or sit with me. You act as if we have a very far-reaching difference and that's very much what I don't like. You are my friend, so act like a friend and stop overanalyzing everything you do. Now make yourself a bowl of delicious yogurt." I commanded.

Mario smiled at me before he took a bowl to himself. We sat in silence for a few moments, eating our own food.

"Mario, how old are you?"

He raised his eyebrows hearing my random question. "It was just thirty-seven years old about twenty days ago."

"What?"

"Yes. It was my birthday on the fifteenth of August"

"You didn't tell me?"

"Well, I don't really want to tell everyone that it's my birthday"

"But still, you could have told me! How dare you not tell me, God, I thought we were friends."

Mario grunting. "You are a friend. Can't you tell? After all you are the great Daria Daralyn. You never asked me either"

I narrowed my eyes at him and he immediately looked like he was sorry to have said it, clearly thinking that he had crossed the line

I laughed out loud at his expression. "I'm sorry I didn't notice your birthday, I realized I was a bad friend. So, happy birthday, Mario and I'm sorry."

I waved my apology sign.

"Eh, birthdays aren't a big deal to me"

"How can you say that? It's your birthday. That's a big deal. So what did you do that day?"

"Well, as usual, you were busy chasing Devan that day. And didn't do much on my birthday. I'm baking a little cake for myself and my friends here saying happy birthday and we're having a little celebration."

Her answer made me feel sorry for her. I'm sorry I wasted so much time on Devan. It will obviously not produce anything. And I was so busy obsessing over Devan that I forgot there were a lot of other people in the world. I missed Mario's birthday and I was so upset to hear that he had to make a cake for himself and there wasn't much celebration.

"Why don't you go to your family to celebrate?

"Something seems to remember my birthday. I didn't get a call. I don't blame them. I have a big family. It's impossible to remember everyone's birthday." He laughed off.

Mario tried his best to sound fine with it, but he knew that deep down he was sad that no one had ever said happy birthday to him. I almost cried.

"I'm really sorry." That was all he could tell me and he assured me that it was okay and that birthdays were no big deal to him, he repeated his earlier words that sounded like he was trying to convince himself not to be sad because no one remembered his birthday.

At that moment, I knew that I had to dispel her grief. An idea came to my mind to do just that.