Good-for-nothing
2121 Words
“You wanna meet my family again?” I ask Eli. “We could celebrate Christmas with them.”
I hear her faint gasp before she leans behind the wall, showing only her face. Her eyes are narrowed when she says, “Yes, and by the way, once the Christmas break is over, you'll be working on a steady schedule.”
I feel a little nervous about hearing that. My first day on the job could be a month away. “Okay, then. And I have to go now. I will go on a date with Irene.”
She scoffs before hiding herself once more. What's with her? Anyways, let's just get out of here and give my remaining time to Irene. I should message her that we'll go on a date. Right when I sent it, she says, yes. Yeah! A date with my girl!
It's a good time to spend time together because we've finished signing our clearance. It was harder for me though, since I have a missing attendance back when Eli went on a cafe spree. We had separate tasks because the student council said so. So much for that “we'll do community service together.” Some things just don't go in the way as planned. One thing is for sure: My date today will go the way as planned.
After strolling in the mall, we eat at a table for two in a fast-food restaurant. We sit side by side, enjoying our lunch. We're eating burgers and fries. She's eating happier than me. Like any other girl, she's weak to food. In this relationship, my understanding became deeper about the relationship between food and girls. It's not a bad thing. It's nothing but adorable. I intently don't finish my burger so that she could eat the rest—that's what I'm doing now.
“Are you finishing that?” she asks while her mouth is full.
“You want?”
With stuffed cheeks, she smiles, nodding. I couldn't help but chuckle. She's so cute!
She finished her food and starts to dig in on my leftovers. I feel so light watching her enjoying it even though she looks like ignoring my existence because of it.
“What?” she asks as I'm staring at her.
“Nothing.”
“O... kay.” Her chewing slows down and her face tells me that she's conscious of the way she eats. “I'm getting fat,” she groans while chewing.
“That's not a bad thing,” I remark.
“You're lying,” she argues depressingly. “Sooner or later, you'll break up on me because I'm fat.”
“What? No, I love you even if you're fat.”
She looks away, leaving me confused. She's still eating the burger but doesn't let me see her face. “You're just fooling with me.”
“No, I'm not. Believe me.”
“Hmph,” she scoffs.
So, that's how she wants to play it huh? I have a secret weapon that John taught me. Here it goes: “I'm even thinking of buying you a dessert but I guess you don't want it anymore.”
She turns to me with her eyes widening and smiling. “I want dessert!”
“So, do you believe me?”
“I do,” she grins.
I couldn't help but laugh. “Okay, wait here.”
“Yay!” She clings onto my arm, leaning her body against mine. D*mn, she's so cute!
“What dessert would you like?” I ask.
“Anything!”
“Okay.”
She lets go of me and continues smiling until I got to the counter. While she waits, she looks at her phone. The line is a little long so it'll take me a while. I decided to look at my phone and found out that she took a picture of me. She shared it as her story. I'm standing, lining at the counter with other people. She covered their faces with doodles except for me. I'm looking so innocent here. I didn't even know that she took a picture. Her caption is “Lining up for my dessert. He's so sweet!” It warms my heart so much that I'm afraid that the dessert I'll buy will melt before I take it to her.
After a few minutes, I finally ordered one cup of halo-halo. It's a Filipino dessert with shaved ice. I ordered a large one because... why not? As I take it to her, she smiling so wide, looking excited to eat it right away.
“Here,” I tell her.
She takes a picture of it sooner than I could sit beside her. Then she shares it on social media before mixing it with a spoon. She stops for a moment and asks, “Where's yours?”
“Oh, I'm fine, go on.”
“We'll eat it together.” She leans against me while mixing.
“Okay, I'll get an extra spoon.”
“No need,” she says, pulling me down to sit. “Here.” Right before my lips, she nears the spoonful of the dessert. My heart jumps so suddenly! “Come on,” she nods so I open my mouth wide enough. Then she draws it in and I eat it. I remember Mom. “How is it?” she asks.
“It's... uh...,” I swallow. “delicious.” D*mn, my heart is beating so fast!
She serves herself while I just sit here, calming myself. My hands are trembling. She holds my hand, so it couldn't hide how flustered I am right now. Even so, she continues. I kinda feel embarrassed because there are people around us but she's not paying attention to them and just feeds me I should do the same and just enjoy this time with her.
It took us a while before we could finish eating it because it's so large. I'm so full. She looks like she is too. We stroll around the park to spend the time we have left for the day. Dusk is beginning to curtain the skies with darkness and we're still holding hands, walking. We ran out of things to talk about but that's okay, I think. They said that once you get comfortable with each other's silence, it's when you truly trust that the person loves you. But then I forgot to ask her about something.
“So, when will you go home?” I ask and she holds my hand tighter. What does this mean?
“I don't know but it could be tomorrow.”
“I'll miss you so bad,” I whisper.
Slowly, she smiles and leans against me more. “Me too.”
No one is around and it's a little dark in this part of the park. It's our moment and we share a kiss. The dusk of December is so warm this time.
Tomorrow comes sooner than I expected. Time flies so fast. Right now, it's very early in the morning as I'm watching her climbing up the bus and we wave our goodbyes. I feel like I want to go with her. I can't so I just wait here until the bus leaves. I miss her so badly already.
Although I've said it already, through chat, I message, “Be safe, babe. Tell me when you arrive safely. Love you.”
“I will, thank you. I love you too, babe.”
I heart-react her last reply before closing my phone. It makes me glad at least that we can say those words with each other so casually. Having a girlfriend is better than I expected! *Sigh* It feels so good to be loved. Thank you, Lord!
Meanwhile, I have to go to Eli's. I need to work out so that I could get more attractive for Irene. She deserves me at my s*xiest form because she loved me in my wimpiest. This is for her!
I return to my place as soon as possible so that I could wear my sports attire. I bought new shorts and shirts for working out. They feel so comfortable and working out has been made easy. Let's go!
To add to my workout, I jog my way to the gym. In my hand, I carry my small sack-like bag carrying my wallet, extra t-shirt, and water. In my current stamina, it's not that far as I used to think. It's merely a warm-up now. The air is a little cool so I don't sweat that much. I might need to run on the treadmill when I arrive.
When I finally entered the gym, Eli is there, running on the treadmill. She looks... fine as ever. Her ponytail is swinging sideways in every step she takes.
“Good morning,” I greet her as I start running on the treadmill right next to hers.
She's not responding nor glancing at me. I run while thinking about her at my side. It's bothering me so much that I lost the will to keep running in silence. I stop it then face her.
“What's wrong with you?” I ask her, failing to conceal my anger. She just glances at me then rolls her eyes to look ahead of her. “Eli, I'm talking to you. You've been like this for a month and it bothers me so much.”
“Just leave me alone.”
“You're the one who told me not to fan away people from my life but now here you are-”
“Just shut up!” she grumbles, turning off the treadmill. She walks away, grabs her things, and walks out of the gym.
I follow her, saying, “Just tell me.”
“Not here,” she says.
I settle down and just follow outside. After we changed clothes in our respective restrooms, she walks at a fast pace to the elevator. She's so silent in the elevator, not even using her phone to scroll down as she always does while waiting. Again, she walks fast on our way to her flat. Once we're inside, she goes to the window and looks very far. It's like I don't know who she is right now. All I've known is that she's very energetic. Nothing could ever outshine her. Now, her light is fading.
Standing beside her at her right, I ask, “Is it because you're worried about your parents?” She nods. “That and?”
“I'll just say I'm confused—that's all I can say to you. The rest is mine to soak in. Don't worry, I'll be fine after a while.”
“If you say so. But you know, if you want to share it, you can.” She shakes her head. “But it's okay if you don't want to. I'm not forcing you. It just bothers me that I couldn't do anything to help you feel better. I'm lacking social skills, after all.”
“Yeah, you're good-for-nothing.”
“As your good-for-nothing friend, all I can think of a way to help you is this.” I spread my arms, gesturing for her to hug me.
“What's that?” she asks but I know that she knows what it is.
“Come on. From what I discovered, hugs are very good in making people feel better. My friends also do this to me whenever I felt sad about being the only one who didn't have a girlfriend. I should tell you, it made me get through it all. To be honest, I thought about committing suicide but their hugs helped me.”
“Suicide?” she asks, raising her eyebrows for a slight.
“Yeah, but now when I think of it, I feel guilty and cringy. I shouldn't have ever thought about it. So, come on, man. Let me give ya bro's huge hug.” I spread out my arms once more.
She faces me and looks to the side, slowly taking a step. I step forward and gave her a big hug. My arms are wrapping over her shoulder and our chins are on each other's left shoulder. Slowly, she wraps her arms around my back. Her body constantly shakes as she sobs. She's sniffling near my ear.
“Are you crying?” I ask, being careful not to provoke her.
I tried to lean back to see her face but she pulls me and growls, “I'll knee your eggs if you look at my face!!”
“Ow!” My left ear is ringing! Sh*t! This tomboy!
“I feel guilty lying to them,” she confesses, sobbing.
- Writer
