Eire.(chapter 29)

Yes, N. was often jealous of me. He didn't show it; the dirty work he did to get some boy to get me out of his head was also done in secret, but my sweetie hadn't learned yet that I'd find out everything. He never gave me a hard time about boys, but one day something happened, and he couldn't take it anymore. Maybe it was my fault, I don't know, to this day I don't know what mistake I made.

You see, I thought Chris liked me, and it was true. But he only liked me, nothing more. He had no intention of trying to lure me away from N. Because of those math lessons and the fact that we were in the same class, a lot had changed between us. I broke my promise not to talk to him, to be indifferent to him, and to never say I liked him. And yet, it happened; Patricia understood. But the other girls couldn't forgive me for this; they often accused me of saying it was because of N. or that I'd fallen for Chris's charm. And maybe they were right, because it was impossible to stay angry with him. It wasn't that he was similar to N., because after getting to know him better, I realized he was different. Maybe he and N. liked the same type of girls; they both loved showing off and were the life of the party, but Chris was more like... a friend, a laid-back guy. One evening I got a text from him: "Hi babe! What are you doing? I'm working on math. I wish you were sitting next to me and touching me with your knee under the desk. You're driving me crazy!" This surprised me. Since I've been touching my knee, this guy must have been out of his mind. I texted him back: "Chris, you better stop sending me texts like that, because if N. finds out, he'll give you a good lecture, and knowing you both, we'll end up exchanging fist bumps." Don't think N. and Chris are some mindless musclemen. They're just boys from Buten Port, that's how they solve problems. Once at CSPE, we were talking about violence, and Chris was asked what he would do if he was bullied at school, someone teased him, etc. His answer was, "I'd turn around, take a swing, aiming right at the beautiful eyes of the guy who even tried." The woman broke down, "but violence won't solve problems!" "Really? Where I come from, that's how you handle things like that. Get hit once and he won't jump again." Every boy from Buten Port would probably respond the same way, them and their little temper. I already scolded N. today about his fight. Believe me, it's not nice when your boyfriend is called to the office to be the boss, including his gang, and everyone stares at you and shouts of "Oooh, beheaded" echo through the school. Others find it amusing, because that's how the guys here protect their honor. You respect guys like that because the fight is clean, fists, nothing more.

Chris replied, "It's okay, little N. won't find out. I'm not stupid enough to tell him I like his girlfriend." I didn't reply, because what could I say? I decided I'd find him a girlfriend; he was wandering from one girl to another. He'd have sex with one, then a week later, he'd have another. Maybe he and Catriona would get back together? It would be great, they were really compatible. I decided I'd talk to N. about it. He knew him better than I did; they were like brothers; he'd know if he still liked Catriona. The matchmaking began again.