Still Into You

CHAPTER 9

/"I'm not joking, Vivian. Go to sleep."/

/"I'm not joking, Vivian. Go to sleep."/

/"I'm not joking, Vivian. Go to sleep."/

/"I'm not joking, Vivian. Go to sleep."/

/"I'm not joking, Vivian. Go to sleep."/

That phrase is still echoing in my mind. I don't know why I keep on thinking about it.

/"I'm not joking, Vivian. Go to sleep."/

Khai's soft and concerned voice wraps my ears. It's annoying! So... Are they still together? That long? So what? I don't care anyway.

Ah, whatever. I shouldn't care. Why I am thinking about it too much? I heaved a sigh and take a sip of strawberry juice.

"Hey, are you okay? You keep sighing." Steph asks me.

"Nothing," I lazily answer as I shake my head.

"Hey, Cass. You can tell me if something is bothering you. I'm your best friend." She says.

I heaved a loud sigh again and look at her. Nodding my head, I say, "I know. I'm just sleepy." I lied. As much as I wanted to tell her about the things that bother me, I can't. I can tell her anything, but not this.

"You should go home after class and sleep. I will tell Khai that you cannot go to practice..."

"No, it's okay. I will just take a nap in our last subject and I'll be okay." I say while smiling.

"Are you sure?" She question, raising her eyebrows.

I nod my head, "um."

"Okay. If you insist. Let's go back to class." She invited and stood up.

"Okay," I stood up, then we exit the school cafeteria and go back to our class.

When we got to our room section, I immediately saw Khai, sitting on a chair beside the window while looking outside. Again, his conversation with Vivian earlier echoed in my mind. Why I keep on remembering it? Whatever. I sat in my seat and after a few minutes, our professor arrived and start his discussion. Until his class ends, I didn't remember any single words from his class, and until our last class for this day finished. I had told myself to sleep, but I didn't be able to do it. That phrase I heard earlier kept on pestering my mind. I hate it.

"Okay, that would be all for today. Don't forget to pass all of your assignments tomorrow. You are dismissed." Professor Kim says.

"Yes, Professor Kim. Thank you and goodbye." We said in the chorus, then she left the room.

"I thought you were going to sleep?" Steph asked in a teasing way while she is putting her books inside her bag.

"Stop teasing me. Do you want me to sleep during our classes?" I say and zipped my bag.

"Okay. It's good that you know that. Ah, by the way, are you going to practice now?" She asks.

I take a peeked at Khai who just finished fixing his things. He stood up and exit the room right away. Are we going to practice? He didn't talk to me today about the practice. I wonder if are we still going? Hmm.

"Um... Well, I..." I wasn't able to continue my sentence because my phone just beeps all of a sudden. I look at the phone screen and saw a message.

FROM: unknown number

/"I will wait for you at the parking lot."/

Speaking of him.

"Yes. I'm going. How about you? Are you not going to practice with Von?" I ask her as we stood up from the chair and walks out of the classroom.

"Yeah. We just choose simple dance steps and we will study it on our own." She says and shrugged her shoulders.

"Are you serious? That's crazy. How can you be so sure that you two will do it perfectly? Do you want to fail, huh?"

"Relax! Don't you know me? There's nothing I can do." She giggled.

"Whatever. Just make sure you won't fail the class. You know, Professor Jen...." Steph cuts my line.

"Is a super strick old woman." She laughs. "I know. You too. Do your best. And... Be careful. I don't trust your partner." She says as she stops walking and looks at the parking lot, so I had to look where she is looking. There, I saw Khai, standing, leaning his back on his car while his arms are crossed across his chest. He is also looking in our direction.

"Um. I know. Trust me. So, I'll get going. See you at home." I say.

"Take care. Go home after. Okay?" She reminds.

"Yes, mother." I laugh.

"b***h. Bye," she waved her hands at me and walks to her car then left. While I walk towards Khai.

"Hi," he greeted as I approach him.

"Um. Hi," I greeted back. It's awkward.

"Let's go?" He asks.

"Where?"

"Practice."

"I mean... The place." We can't go to their house.

"Oh, you will if we got there. Let's go," he invited as she opens the door of his car for me.

"Thank you," I say as I get inside. He then closes the door and goes to the other to get inside in the driver's seat. He fastens his seatbelt, starts the engine, and drove his car away.

After a couple of minutes, his car stopped in front of a beach. Wait, are we in Manila Bay?

"Is this the place?" I ask him.

"Yeah."

"Are you serious? Why here?"

"Well, I want to dance in front of the sunset with you." He says and that makes me speechless.

I hate hearing that kind of thing from him. Where did he find the guts to say that? Didn't he know that what he is doing is cheating? Stupid, jerk.

"Let's practice. I have to go home by 6 PM." I say, changing the subject and I quickly got out of his car, then I walk to the seaside. The warm air from the sea blew to my skin, it's refreshing. Also, the sunlight is bearable since the sun is about to set. Time check. It's already 4:30 PM, but there are only a few people here. Good thing, it would be awkward to practice dancing here with a lot of people.

"Shall we start?" It was Khai who spoke beside me.

"Have you already chosen a song?" I ask without looking at him.

"Yeah. Can I have this dance?" He asks and offers his hand to me. I look at his hand before I look at him.

"Is that our song title?" I ask.

He laughs a little and nods his head. He also mumbled a phrase but I didn't hear it clearly, however, I didn't bother to ask him that.

"Why is that? The song is too long. It will be impossible for us to memorize the steps in just an hour."

He laughs a little again. "We don't need to memorize the whole steps of the song. We will just start with the chorus." He explains.

"Oh, I see." Right. Why didn't I think that? Gosh.

"Yeah. So, shall we start?"

"Okay," I nodded my head.

He offers his right hand to me again, and I give my hand to him. We are now holding each other hands. It's really awkward and I feel that my hand is going to produce a cold sweat. I take a breath as Khai puts my hand on his shoulder, then his right hand holds my waist while his left hand holds my left hand. And I'm surprised when he pulled me closer to him. Now, our face is inches away from that I could feel him breathing. I look away.

"Uh... Do we have to be close like this?" I ask him with my stuttering voice. I don't think I can dance properly if we are so close.

"Yeah. Otherwise, we won't get the perfect dance." He says.

But... It's really uncomfortable. Doesn't he feel uncomfortable? Or... It is just only me? Ah, why is that? I should not feel awkward towards him since he doesn't feel the same way. I take a breath. Past is past, Cass, and you have moved on already. So, let it go.

"Okay, I got it," I say and look at his eyes.

"Yeah. Let's start..."

"Wait." I stop him.

"Hmm?"

"Did you already memorize the stepping?"

"No," he answers firmly.

"What? So, we don't have a stepping yet?"

"That's right. Don't worry. I will just go with the flow with the song and all you have to do is to follow my lead."

"What? Are you saying that we don't have a permanent stepping to the song?"

"Looks like it," he shrugs his shoulders.

I scoff, "you've got to be joking me."

"I am not joking."

I scoff again. "This is crazy. What's the use of practicing then? Gosh." I was about to remove my hands from him but he stops me.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. Of course, I did prepare steps." A small smile slipped on his lips.

"Whatever,"

"Follow my lead, and memorize the steps. Ok?"

"Okay, but what the song? Aren't you going to play it?" I ask in confusion.

"No. I forgot my phone inside the car. I'll just sing the song." He says.

He will just sing the song? Oh my god. Does that mean, I will hear his voice singing after long years? I'm not ready, but all I can say is, "okay. Let's begin."

He then started singing as he starts to lead the steps, I just follow him. Even if I try to memorize every step, I can't do it. I find it difficult to focus because my attention is focused on listening to his voice. I admit it, I miss his voice singing. Just like before, his voice while singing is still so good in my ears. It never changed. And for some unknown reasons, my heart starts to beats faster like crazy. I don't know. I don't really know.

"Did you got it?" Khai asks me after we ended dancing.

"Huh? Um. Yeah. Yes, I got it." I say and moved away from him.

"Are you sure? Do you want to dance again?"

"No. I got it. Really." I managed.

"Okay. Good," he smiles and looks at the sea. "The sun is setting." He muttered and turn his gaze back to me. "I meant what I said earlier in the car. I want to dance with you in front of the sunset."

"Why? Why is that, Khai?" I ask.

"Because..." He paused and he takes my hands. "I don't know if you still remember, but that is what I had promised you. And I want to fulfill that promise. So, please. Let me dance with you while the sun is setting, Cali."

I'm speechless. I don't know what I am going to say. Well, I remember that promised he made to me. I remember everything. Khai is holding my hands right now and I want to pull them from his grip, but don't want to. I want to hold his hand even if, I know I shouldn't be. What the hell on earth is happening to me? I shouldn't be like this. I already cut my ties with him.

"Cali..."

And he is calling me by the nickname he made for me.

"Can I dance with you? In front of the setting sun?" He asks me again with a trace of begging in his eyes, but I didn't answer.

No, Cass. Don't let him. You two are over. He belongs to someone right now, not to you anymore. He hurt you. He fooled you. He left you.

"I'm sorry," I uttered and pulled my hands on his grip. "Are we done practicing, right? So, I gotta go. See you tomorrow. Bye." I say in hurry and was about to take a step away but he spoke.

"I'll drive you home..."

"No, thanks. Actually, Steph will pick up. Bye!" I leave his sight immediately. I looked for a restaurant where I could hide from him. This is what I hate most of all. He will act as if he did nothing wrong to me. As if we are cool. He is so very annoying!

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