With Each Other
2085 Words
“You're the prettiest,” I whisper to Irene. She gasps a little, looks away from me, hiding her face entirely.
Maybe I was being creepy! Sh*t! I hate myself! This is why girls are avoiding me! I'm a creep! Ugh!!
“I... I-” she stammers.
“I'm sorry,” I apologize. “I was being creepy.” TOO CREEPY to be exact!
“No...,” she says, glancing at me with a smile. “You're not.” She's afraid to look at me.
Could it be... that I flattered her? I gulp when I notice that she is sticking her shoulder against mine. What's going on? I'm not sure about what I think? She's cool with what I said? That wouldn't happen, right? Because I was being creepy. Maybe I wasn't... F*ck, I don't know!
She looks at the karaoke like she wants to sing so, “You want to sing?” I ask her.
“I think... no,” she chuckles. “I'm not that good.”
“I've heard you sing before. You're very good.”
“Really?” she smiles at me.
“Yeah. Don't b... be shy,” says the stammering one. Oh, God, I'm awkward...
“Okay. What do you want me to sing?”
“Uh, anything,” I tell her. She pouts her lips and looks at the LCD TV, dissatisfied. “Okay, how about Deja Vu? I heard you humming it.”
“I love that song,” she remarks with that sparkling eyes. I can tell how much she likes it.
“I'll tell them.” After clearing my throat and with a louder voice so John could hear, I call out, “John!” He stops flirting with Chloe then looks at me.
“Wassup?” he answers.
“Irene wants to sing.”
“Oh, okay,” he smiles at us. “Here.” He hands me the songbook and remote.
“Thank you.”
He nods and goes back to lean on the sofa and wrapping his arm around Chloe's shoulder while she sings. Meanwhile, I give the songbook and remote to Irene. She begins to search for it. She finds it and encodes the number of the song into the next songs to be played. It's gonna take a while since there's a lot of songs that are reserved. Most of them are for Chloe. We always want her to sing because she has such a great voice. Also, she loves singing so... yeah... we give her that. But sometimes we would sing too. She needs a break from time to time or she will break her voice.
A few songs later, Irene's song comes up. Chloe gives her the microphone. She starts singing and I'm getting goosebumps hearing her beautiful voice. My friends are leaning against their girlfriends, probably feeling they need affection because of Irene's singing. She and I had a glance.
While singing, she smiles—it kills me.
I'm glad I asked her to sing. At this rate, I'm gonna fall in love with her even more. It was just the first time we spent together and why did things go this smoothly? I can't believe that this is real.
That night of hanging out with her turned out to be fine than I expected. We ride our way back to our dorms. I had a heavy yet light feeling when we have to part. Another thing that is out of my expectation is that I could tell she was comfortable around me. I couldn't sleep thinking about her so I just smile here like an idi*t, looking at the ceiling, and lying on my bed. I hope she's thinking about me too. Maybe she is. That's why I can't sleep. But let's not be fast in jumping to conclusions. Jumping to conclusions is what hurt my chances in the past.
Morning has never been this great! I greet Irene with good morning through online chat. She replies a minute later and we chat while I eat. These sardines taste good! I don't understand this good feeling but I certainly love it! Everything seems to be bright so suddenly! I must dress a little good today. We don't want to look ugly right next to the most beautiful girl in the world. I don't have new clothes so... I choose a blue polo shirt and jeans.
Looking at the mirror, I notice something. Is it just me or am I looking so handsome today? Tsk... what am I talking about? I'm always handsome. Well, time to go to the campus! Another day of the sports fest, coming right up! I'm always early so I told her that I'll wait for her at the entrance and we'll enter together. On my way to the campus, I walk a little faster. My feet are feeling energetic. I'm feelin' it!
Then my phone vibrates inside my pocket. I pull it out and found out I got a message from Eli. “How was your night with her?” she asks, with a smug emoji.
“It went fine,” I reply, sending a smiley emoji right after.
“Does she like it rough?” she asks. What the f*ck?!
“Stop it!”
Then she sends a barrage of laughing emojis. “Are you still at your dorm?”
“I'm on my way to the campus.”
“Wait for me, then. I'm gonna be a little late today cuz bad hair day.”
“I'm gonna wait for Irene, not for you. Besides, you're not a girl. You can handle yourself.”
She reacts to my message with a sad emoji. “You're quick in discarding me after you used me a lot of times. You're a jerk!”
This little sh*t....
“Stop acting like a girl,” I reply.
“You're the one who's acting like a girl,” she teases before sending a barrage of laughing emojis again.
She's so annoying! That's it, I give up! I turn off my data and screen, putting my phone back into my pocket. Let's just walk faster before Irene arrives. I don't want her to wait for me.
At last, I'm here at the entrance, waiting for her. Other students are hurrying to enter while I just stand here like an idi*t that can't stop smiling. A few minutes later, she arrives and her smile is a morning therapy for me.
“Hello,” I greet her as she approaches.
“Hi,” she responds, walking beside me.
“I'm hangover,” I chuckle.
“Yeah, me too but I enjoyed. You guys were funny last night.”
“I'm glad you enjoyed our company.” To show I mean it, I smile at her. She smiles back.
“So, where do you want to go?” she asks me.
“Watch basketball, maybe.”
“Okay, let's go.”
“What about Reine and Mary?”
“They said... uh...” She's hesitating. “they're going somewhere else.”
“Really? Why can't you come with them?”
“It's okay,” she says, smiling.
“Alright,” I nod.
We enter the gymnasium and there are already a lot of people in here. The game hasn't even started. The players are warming up. The opposing teams are the blue and green teams. We take a seat at the left bleachers at the most top. Not too many people are here so it's the best.
“I like it here,” she remarks, sitting down. I sit beside her. “It's less crowded and we have a good view from up here.”
“Yeah, I like it too. Oh, the game is starting.”
The teams are doing their best to score right when the game starts. Both have a good defense, in my opinion, and because I know some of these guys. John told me about them. The green team has a good center player with the number 57 that is aggressive in scoring as well as careful in defending. He's being scouted by the team varsity right now. In the blue team, there's a good small forward player with the number 36 that scores efficiently. He can do jumpers—much like John. But John is always looking to score behind the three-point line.
Just to check the time, I open my phone while Irene is occupied for the moment. It's 10:37 and then unlock it to check on my notifications if there are important messages. There's nothing but spam and a message from a tomboy. Sighing, I tap on it to see what she wants from me.
“How's your alone time, going?” she asks, sending a smug emoji—that I now confirm is her favorite emoji.
She's up to something again but most importantly, “How'd you know?” I ask.
“I told Reine and Mary to give you two time to be alone.”
What?!!! “You did that?” I ask calmly.
“Yes, so you better lick my boots later.”
“I won't do that but thank you.”
She sends a GIF of Maui singing, “You're welcome.”
After that, she sends, “BTW, tell Irene nee-san that I want to go with her to the movies this Saturday evening. Tell her it's K-drama and I'll pay for both of your tickets.”
Here she is again...
“You don't have to. I'll pay for us,” I reply.
“No, I invited so I will pay. Bye ;)”
“Hey! I will pay for us! Eli?”
She's not responding or seeing the messages. It's a good thing to treat your friends but not this much that you'll make them feel so indebted to you.
As the last thing I could do, I sent a narrowing eyes emoji. She's too much of a good friend. I'm feeling guilty that I sometimes feel annoyed by her. I can't help it but I'll try to highen my tolerance. All I have to worry about now is if I'm giving enough attention to Irene. She looks like she's enjoying watching the game although our team is not playing. I feel glad.
“Where do you want to go next?” I ask as the crowd is buzzing with cheers.
“What?” she asks. She didn't hear what I said because of the noise.
“What do you want to watch next?” I rephrase.
“Tennis!” she answers in a louder voice.
“Okay,” I nod and we look at the game.
It's already the 4th quarter with 2 minutes remaining. The score is 55:57 with the green team leading. The game is very exciting because no one knows how this will turn out. Both teams are tired and their defense is weakening. The aces of both teams are breaking their limits to win this game. Still, the green team leads in the score 59:61 with 20 seconds left on the clock.
It's the blue team's possession—the team that has a sharpshooter. They're trying to stall! Are they serious?! It's when there are only 10 seconds left on the clock that the blue team's ace starts to dribble at the three-point line, passing two defenders with a help of a screen. Another two defenders block his way but he jumps and shoots! The defender bump against him but the ball!! It goes in!!
They're tied!! What the f*ck?!! “Wow!!” I exclaim. “That was beautiful!”
Then the whistle blows. A foul? Oh, my God! The whole place is exploding in awe! There are only 1.5 seconds left!
“That was incredible!” Irene cheers. “But what is happening?”
“They fouled him while he shot, so he's gonna have to shoot a free throw. If he can get this in, it's their win!”
When the whistle blows, the whole place is trembling in suspense. The number 36 is doing his ritual before shooting the free throw. His sweat is dripping and I can see it from afar. How can he be this calm when the whole game depends on him? Hundreds of eyes are looking at him, some hoping for him to get it in and some are hoping for him to miss. Will it be overtime or win for the blue team?
The ball is released from the number 36's hands.
- Writer
