Suddenly, I'm Engaged

Daseot

 “That guy fell for you.”

Aliah couldn’t help but smile because of what she heard. She looked at him once again and their eyes met. Aliah avoided his gaze immediately which makes James smiled radiantly. Everyone was exhilarated as they noticed his irresistible smile.

James hit the drums enthusiastically as the song approaches the chorus. His gaze changes into a serious one, which makes him more attractive. He looks so hot looking that way, Aliah thought. As he opens his eyes, he looked intently at her as he sings along with the chorus.

Don't want to close my eyes

I don't want to fall asleep

'Cause I'd miss you, baby

And I don't want to miss a thing

'Cause even when I dream of you

The sweetest dream will never do

I'd still miss you, baby

And I don't want to miss a thing

Everyone claps for the splendid performance of the live band but Aliah is too busy calming herself. She was too nervous and excited at the same time as James looked at her throughout their performance.

“Are you okay?” Zaine asked. She just nodded in response and smiled at her reassuringly.

Zaine kept on looking at her friend. She felt so delighted to see her best friend smiles brightly unlike the way she is in the past few weeks. She felt proud in helping the two to work things out. Now, it’s time to observe the moon. There are three huge telescopes where you can queue in. Now, it’s Aliah’s turn.

She closed one eye as she peeks onto the lens. She was amazed to see the craters and mountains on the moon which cannot be seen by her naked eyes. She was totally in awe to witness and see on her own such a wonderful heavenly body. This night is a great one for Aliah.

Zaine and Aliah were done with the observations, now they have the free time to chitchat or have some snacks and bonding with their classmates. Aliah kept on looking at her watch and Zaine caught her from doing so.

“Any plans?” She asked. But Aliah shook her head and smiled brightly to deny it. “You still have five minutes to sit right beside me,” Zaine added as she teases her best friend. How did she know that they are going to meet at 10 pm? It seems like Zaine is James’ accomplice once again.

Aliah made an alibi to excuse herself. She is on her way to the Social Hall but the atmosphere is quite eerie because it’s dark and no one’s around. Maybe she arrived earlier than James. As she walks towards the bench, someone holds her shoulder which made her stop walking. She’s too scared to look back or even take another single step. She can feel his breath on her ear. He’s breathing heavily then he whispered, “Sorry, I’m late.” And that made her turn her back. It’s James.

She suddenly collapses from where she stands.

“Are you okay?” James looked so worried but Aliah couldn’t respond and just stared blankly as she couldn’t contain her nervousness. She was too terrified when he suddenly approaches her from behind or maybe because the distance between the two of them is just too close. She nods in response and managed to stand up as James holds her shoulder and assists her to walk towards the bench.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. I thought it would be romantic if I approach you that way.” He felt so guilty to see how Aliah collapse in her position.

“I guess the ambiance doesn’t match in with your imagination. It became horror.” She stated in a matter-of-fact.

James put his jacket over her shoulder to cover her from that breezy night. And put a blanket over her legs.

“When did you prepare all of this?” Aliah was quite surprise seeing James doing such a gesture, it was her first being treated this way. But James just smiled at her dearly as he picks something from behind. She doesn’t notice that James brought a guitar behind his back because she was too busy calming herself from that scare.

James starts tuning the guitar as he plucks each string. And seeing him that way melts Aliah’s heart. She couldn’t stop herself from staring at him. He looks so cool in her eyes. She never knew she could meet someone like him who’s into instruments, which is one of the traits of her ideal guy. And knowing that guy likes him, it’s unbelievable.

“Why did you ask me to come here?” She managed to ask to stop herself from thinking nonsense about James. But he doesn’t respond, instead, he just smirks and starts playing the guitar.

You're insecure, don't know what for

You're turning heads when you walk through the do-o-or

Don't need make-up to cover up

Being the way that you are is enou-ou-ough

Everyone else in the room can see it

Everyone else, but you, ooh

Baby, you light up my world like nobody else

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed

But when you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell

You don't know, oh-oh

You don't know you're beautiful

Every line, every lyric, pierces her heart. It’s as if James is telling her each word with full of sincerity. His eyes, the way he looks at her, it’s different. She is overwhelmed by this moment, being together, just the two of them. She can’t stop herself from smiling.

Aliah always acts tough and snobbish because she believes that there’s no one else who could protect her rather than herself. Since then, she made an impression that she has to have that strong personality which no one can mess up. Not necessarily someone to be afraid of, but someone who deserves everyone’s respect and kindness. But she’s afraid that everything will crumble down once she accepts James’ feelings. She just wants to ignore James and just go on with her life but it would be difficult if he’ll continue knocking on her frozen heart. His irresistible charm is messing up with her heart and mind.

“Are you okay? How was it?” James acting cute towards her. Aliah just smiled brightly at him in response.

“That was it?” He felt disappointed with Aliah’s reaction. He was expecting more than that but then, it’s Aliah. It would take a lot of time and effort to make her fall for him. He looked at her once again but he was bothered by the look in the eyes of Aliah. The full moon is the only light they could rely on but he can see Aliah’s eyes that she’s contemplating something seriously.

He took the flower behind him and gave it to her. But he didn’t let go of his grip on the flower unless he assures that Aliah holds it properly. When he’s about to let his grip away, a silver necklace with a small heart-shaped pendant fell onto her hand which surprises Aliah.

“Aliah… I know you knew my intentions and what I truly feel for you. I hope you’ll think about it and assess what you truly feel. I just hope you’ll listen to your heart more than those thousands of what if’s in your mind. On the last day of our class, I hope you’ll wear that necklace as a yes.”

Aliah’s eyes became teary. He knows deep inside that he made a great impression on her but he doesn’t want to push her too much to give a yes for an answer tonight. He wants to give her enough time to think about it.

“Thank you.” She uttered.

Her voice is shaking as she holds her tears from falling. She’s overwhelmed with the way James treated her. She wants to treat him better but she’s too afraid to accept someone like him. She’s afraid that she was just driven by this overwhelming feeling. That’s why she’s grateful to hear James that he’ll wait for the right time for her answer.

========

Zaine greeted her friend as soon as she sits down on her chair but Aliah doesn’t have the energy to chat with her because she didn’t have enough sleep as she prepares for their exam for the 4th quarter. Time flies so fast, indeed. They’ll be juniors in the next few months.

Since today is the last day of their exams, they decided to hang out in Zaine’s house despite Aliah’s sleepiness. Well, she couldn’t win over Zaine once she insists to hang out since they couldn’t spend more time since that night in the Science Camp.

“Let’s do something with your dark under eye. You look like a panda.” Her friend teases her tired appearance.

After that night, James didn’t bother her as if he’s giving her enough time to think. And Zaine’s curiosity is killing her. She knows everything’s fine between the two as they casually greet each other when they bump on their way from time to time but there’s something wrong with the way they act. It’s like they became friendly yet distant from each other. She tried to ask Aliah what’s going on but she remained hush. While she’s putting a slice of cucumber on Aliah’s dark circles, Zaine took it as a chance to make a smooth conversation to feed her curiosity.

“So what’s with the necklace?” Aliah looked at her, surprised by her question.

“How did you know?” Aliah tilted her head towards Zaine and looked at her with furrowed brows. But Zaine turned her head back to make her stay still.

“You’re looking at it from time to time in your pocket, checking if it is still there,” Zaine stated in a matter-of-fact.

Aliah smirked in the thought that she couldn’t hide anything from her best friend. No one sees through her but Zaine. So she has no choice but to share with her dear friend what happened that night.

“I didn’t know James could be this romantic.” Zaine smiled. And she genuinely felt happy for her friend.

“So what are you planning, are you gonna wear that on Friday?” She asked.

Aliah took a deep breath and exhaled loudly as if she still doesn’t know what could be her answer. She’s trapped with her thoughts and her fears.

“As I’ve mentioned before, just enjoy the process. Who knows what tomorrow brings. If it’s a success, be grateful. But if ever it will be a failure, then charged it to experience. It would be better to experience things as you tried than to have regrets for not doing so.” Her dear friend advised.

As expected, Zaine can bring out the best answer without forcing her opinion. That’s why she couldn’t hide everything from her dear friend Zaine especially when she’s trapped between her options.

That made Aliah comes up with her answer. Why bother weighing things out when you already know what you want.

The next day, Aliah entered the room in a great mood. She smiled back at everyone who greets her. As she arrived at her seat, she looked at the back looking for James but it seems that he’s still not around. Then suddenly, Zaine whispered to her ear.

“He’s not yet around.” That made her gasped. When did she arrive?

She hits her friend’s arm for the shock. She was astonished that she just pops out of nowhere without any word. Zaine apologized and giggled at the same time. They share the same excitement as it was the last day of their class.

After a few minutes, James has arrived. He looks quite serious, or should I say, he’s quite nervous. Because today will be the day that Aliah will give her answer to his confession. Will he be spending the summer vacation with a girlfriend? Or would he spend the entire vacation locking himself in his room?

Zaine poked Aliah as she saw James coming into their classroom. James looked at Aliah intently, hoping she wears the necklace. But the collar of her school uniform covers her neck so he couldn’t see if she wears it or not. He’s too shy to ask her directly so he just texted Zaine.

“Walk her home to see it yourself.” Zaine teases him in reply. They look at each other and Zaine sticks out her tongue.

James is feeling anxious but he couldn’t do anything about it. He doesn’t even have to courage to walk towards Aliah to ask her personally as he’s afraid that it could be a no. He drums his fingers into his desk as he looks at his watch from time to time, waiting for the class to end immediately.

Finally, the class is over.

He walks swiftly outside the room to wait for Aliah and Zaine, hoping he can see Aliah face to face, and took that as a chance to glance at her neck. As the two young ladies walk out, Zaine winked at him as a sign that she’ll excuse herself so they’ll have alone time.

“H-Hi!” James greeted awkwardly. This scenario seems familiar. But this time, Aliah raised her palm and smiled back at him.

Seeing that wonderful smile of Aliah makes his heart skipped a beat. Zaine do her part and excused herself as they approach the exit gate of their school. She waved her hand at them then run away immediately so Aliah couldn’t stop her from leaving. She has no choice but to be with James.

They continue walking side by side but James keeps on peeking on Aliah’s neck. They remained silent as they arrived at the bus stop. Aliah couldn’t stand this awkwardness as she caught James keeps on looking at her. She cleared her throat which made James looked away from her. She acts like she’s scratching her neck as she continues clearing her throat and pulls out the necklace hidden under her collar.

James peeks at her once again then smiled brightly as he saw the necklace worn by Aliah. He looked on his side and throws a small punch in the air as he couldn’t hide the ecstasy he’s feeling right now. Aliah couldn’t stop her lips from arching up, seeing James acting so cute. They are both still shy to express their happiness to each other.

The bus has arrived so Aliah waved her hand to bid goodbye to James. But he claps her hand and they ride the bus together. Good thing there’s a vacant seat for two on the last row of the bus.

Aliah was shocked to see James acting this way. He lives on the opposite side of the road but he rides the bus with Aliah to take her home. Aliah cleared her throat once again as she looked at their hands. James didn’t let go and intertwined their fingers instead. She looked away from him as she feels strange and shy at the same time.

“Thank you,” James whispered which tickles Aliah’s ear so she tilted her head but she suddenly hits his head. They both laugh as they scratch their head. The romantic atmosphere turns into comedy. Their last day of class became more memorable thanks to Aliah’s clumsiness.