He knew it was too good to be true.  Despite this, he continued to wait, hoping to be proven wrong.  How many hours had he been waiting?  How much longer will it take for him to realise that he should give up?  His nose and cheeks were red from the chilly wind, his legs were aching and he was freezing.

He raised his head and looked up at the night sky.  He held back tears which threatened to spill as he let out a dejected sigh.  I'm such a fool, he thought.


Music blared through the club as the party goers crowded the dance floor.  He stood at the bar and glanced at his watch.  Three hours.  He wondered if he was still waiting.

"Are you worried?" one of his friends asked, joining him at the bar.

He gulp down a shot.  "Why would I be?" he replied nonchalantly.

The rest of his friends soon joined them.  "What if he's really waiting for you?"

He shrugged uncaringly.  "His own fault for being gullible."

"You're so cruel," teased one of his friends.  "Giving him false hope like that."

"Poor guy.  I kinda feel sorry for him," another one added.  "It's really cold out there."

He smiled at his friends' remarks.  "Who would be stupid enough to wait around in this weather?"

"I don't know," a fourth friend chimed in.  "He looked pretty happy when you asked him out.  Betcha he's still there."

A smirked appeared on his face.  "You're on."


The group of five teenagers stood from a corner, shivering from the cold despite the jackets they were wearing.  They glanced down the street and caught sight of a boy standing by himself outside the front of a cinema.  The boy sneezed and sniffed a few times but he continued to wait.

"How long do you think he's going to wait for?" one of them asked.

The leader of the group could only stare at the boy from afar.  He couldn't believe that the boy had been waiting all this time.  He felt a slight pain in his chest seeing the boy standing there shivering from the cold.

"Why don't you go over to him?" one of his friends suggested.

Part of him wanted to do exactly that but his reputation would not allow it.  If he walked over there then he would be admitting defeat.  He did not like to lose and his friends would never let him live it down.

"It's cold, let's get out of here," another one suggested and the rest of the group followed.

He took one last look at the boy before turning to walk away.


By the end of the night, he finally gave up.  It was his own fault for liking the school's player.  He thought nothing would come of it but when he was approached by the one he had been longing for, he was so happy.  It did occur to him that maybe it was some kind of joke but he didn't mind as long as he was able to be with him.  But even that tiny hope diminished when he realised that they weren't going to meet tonight.


Hours later, a figure came running and stopped in front of the cinema.  He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.  He looked around the place but there was no sign of the boy.


The owner of the bakery turned to look at his assistant.  "Thank you for your hard work."

They stepped out the front door ready to lock up for the night when they came to a sudden halt at the startling discovery outside their store.