Enchanted Love

Fate

"You look like a s**t Bianca," Clara says as she stares at me.

"Wow, thanks a lot, Clara!" I said sarcastically and put my hand under my chin, my elbow on the table. We're currently taking our lunch break here in the school's cafeteria.

After that weird nightmare, those dreams keep coming back every night. I've been sleepless for 5 freaking days already, and the weirdest part was every night is a different scenario but with the same guy.

"You still have those nightmares?" she suddenly asks after she chews down her food.

"Yeah, and it made me so weak," I said, irritated. I finally decided to eat my sandwich tiredly.

I had already told her everything from the first night I got that dream.

"That sucks! Do you think there's a message about that nightmare of yours? I mean, I don't believe in that kind of stuff, but you know it's just kinda weird having that sort of dream and it doesn't just happen once but 5 times," she says with her hand gestures.

"I know, but I still don't get it. Who's that guy that I should save? And me saving him? I'm just..me, I don't even have powers." I said nonchalantly.

"Hey girls!" Austin suddenly appeared, showing his cute smile.

"Oh hey, Austin, what's up?" Clara said while I just waved at him, smiling.

Austin has been our friend since freshmen, he's really a complete package guy. He's a sweet, caring gentleman and has a killer smile.

"Can I join you?" He asks and we both nod. He sits at my side putting his tray of food on the table.

He looks at Clara and, lastly, at me and his expression suddenly changes.

"What happened to you Bi?" Austin asks, worried.

"It's nothing, I'm just really sleepy," I said dismissively. I don't want to worry about him anymore, he's much more protective than Clara.

"Are you sure? Well, you really look tired. Do you want me to excuse you for your next classes? I can talk to Ms.." He said, but I quickly cut him off.

"No..no! It's okay. I can just sleep after school. I have no duty today." I said.

Convincing Austin was really hard and the good thing was Clara backed me up and, at the end, he just nodded and sighed in defeat.

"Did Ms. Hana tell you about our school trip this coming week?" Austin suddenly asked.

"Yup"

"Yeah"

I and Clara said in unison.

"I think it's a lame school trip," Clara says in so much disgust.

"And why?" I asked curiously. Austin curiously looks at Clara also, waiting for her response.

"Well, first of all. Who the f**k wants to go to.."

"Me.."

"Me.."

Austin and I look at each other and laugh.

"You two are the worst," Clara says, rolling her eyes.

So our lunch break is just like that. I and Austin are on the same side, it all consists of bickering about who's who and laughing at Austin's jokes.

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Last subject for today, I and Clara are walking back to our class because Ms. Cynthia, our Management professor, asked us to bring the piles of folders to her desk in the faculty room.

We were approaching the stairs to our classroom when suddenly I stopped and stared in front of me.

"Who's that guy?" I asked as I stared at the guy in confusion. I didn't notice him before. Is he a transferee?

"Who?" Clara asks, confused. I turned to her and pointed towards the stairs.

"Ha? I don't see anyone, Bianca" she asks, confused.

"What? Are you blind? That guy..that cute guy there" I said, still pointing at him, he's not looking at me. It looks like he's in deep thought.

"Seriously, you're creeping me out. I don't see anyone. Let's just go, we're gonna be late." she said as she walked ahead, leaving me behind. I saw her pass the guy and then it hit me.

Why does everyone just pass him by without even noticing him? So I walked towards him and stopped just beside him.

"Who are you? Are you lost?" I asked in confusion. Maybe he was a transferee and everyone just ignored him..but based on his looks..I could see that he belonged to one of the popular students here.

He was really cute... Okay let me rephrase that..he's handsome. He's tall with black hair and beautiful black eyes. He wears a white T-shirt underneath and a top with a black polo shirt and faded jeans.

He suddenly looked up, the shock evident in his face.

"You can see me?" He asked and that made the hair all over my body stand up. Wait a minute? What's happening here? What is he talking about?

And as if he could read my mind, he suddenly stood up looking at me, his face brightened up.

"I'm Tony..."

"..finally. I found you" he said, smirking.

I stared at him, stunned and confused. What does he mean by that? And that's cute… I mean the creepy smirk.

What the hell!?

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After meeting that strange guy I wasn’t able to get him out of my mind. I know for a fact that there is something weird about him but It would be rude and strange of me to think of him like that especially when we just met. Am I overreacting? Yes… I think I am.

“Hey! You’ve been acting strange since you mentioned seeing that guy. It’s giving me the creeps! Are you sure you’re okay?” Clara asked.

I jolted from my seat and looked at her. She was driving, but I could see the worry on her face. I exhaled and smiled. "Yes, of course. I am sorry if I worried you. I must have seen a ghost, haha! Just never mind that," I said, brushing it off.

“So, could you drop me off at my workplace? It’s my shift today, so…” I said, steering the conversation.

“Sure! No worries” she said and smiled.

When we arrived at the café where I work part-time, I said goodbye to her and informed her that I would be home late because my shift ends around 11:00 PM. I told her not to worry about me because there were still buses running at that time.

As I entered the café, I was greeted with a pleasant aroma. The café was busy today, packed with customers. It was Friday, so most probably some of our customers were from my school, on a date, or just from the other school that used to hang out here.

"Finally, you're here!" greeted Diane, my full-time coworker.

“How’s school?” she suddenly asked as she took the money from the cash register machine and gave the change to the customer.

“Still the same,” I said smiling.

I entered the employee break room and changed into a different shirt and pants. After tying my hair back and putting on my apron, I went outside. The bell dinged and Cesar called out "Table #5," indicating that our cook had finished preparing the customer's order and it was ready to be delivered to their table.

"Got it!" I said as I placed the sandwich on the tray and took it to the customer's table. With a smile, I asked, "Here's your sandwich. Is there anything else missing from your order?" They replied no, so I nodded and returned to the counter.

While helping make coffee, I chatted with Diane. "Today is really busy. Fridays and Saturdays are always big days," I said with a smile.

"Yeah, and about that, I need you to cover for me tomorrow. I have a date with my boyfriend, and Mr. Brown would not say yes. I really need to see him tomorrow since he will go back to his university on Monday, and I will not have the time to be with him after that. You know that his school is like 2 hours away, and he only goes home once a week. Say yes PLEASE…" she said sadly. She batted her eyelashes and gave me a puppy-dog look. How can I say no to this face?

I rolled my eyes and looked at her seriously. "Fine!" I said and smiled. She beamed, smiling widely. "Yey! You're the best!" She said. Then another customer came to the counter to place an order, so we went back to work. She was beaming happily, and I just shook my head.

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“Wow! That was so hectic. I never thought that we would finish our work this late today,” Diane said as she massaged the back of her neck.

“Yeah! There were too many customers today but It’s worth it. At least I had an overtime for it.” I said and chuckled.

We closed the shop unexpectedly at 12:05 am, and I wasn't prepared for this to happen. I'm not sure if there are any buses still running around here at this time. Cesar had already gone home since he had a motorcycle and I think he was in a hurry. We aren't very close, but we do talk and greet each other sometimes.

"My boyfriend will pick me up. Do you want to hitch a ride? Where is your apartment? We can drop you off. It’s already late," she said while holding her phone and looking like she just texted her boyfriend.

"Oh no! It’s fine. I can look for a taxi, and my apartment is in the other way. I do not want to disturb you," I said, waving my hands in refusal.

“Don’t be like that! How about this. You’re doing me a favor tomorrow so I am here to do you a favor too, okay?” she said looking at me intently as if waiting for my answer

I glanced around, checking if there were any taxis passing by, but there were none. I then returned my gaze to her. She raised one eyebrow and looked at me. I sighed and said, "Fine. Thank you! Really, I am not a bother to both of you?" I asked for the final time.

"No, definitely not," she said and smiled. I smiled back and thought, It's a good thing she's still here. Otherwise, I would need to call Clara, and I would only inconvenience her as she seems to be already sleeping by this time.

We waited for only 10 minutes, and then her boyfriend finally arrived in his car. Diane and I walked towards the car. Her boyfriend got out to open the passenger door for Diane, which made her giggle. I smiled as I watched her. I got into the back seat and looked at her while her boyfriend walked back to the driver's seat and got into the car.

"Hey, Bianca, this is Steve, my boyfriend. Steve, meet Bianca, my co-worker. She's the one I told you about. She's filling in for me tomorrow so we can go on a date," she said, smiling and looking back and forth between us.

"Nice to meet you, Bianca! Thanks for helping out. We appreciate it," he said, smiling as he looked back at me and extended his hand for a handshake.

"Hi there! No worries. As long as Diane is happy, there won't be any problem," I said, smiling and looking at Diane.

"Alright! Buckle your seatbelts, ladies. Where should I drop you off?" Steve asked as he started the car and drove back to the highway.

I gave him my address and Diane put it into his car’s GPS. We started to chitchat a little. The drive was very light and I did not feel any awkwardness, as I am sometimes afraid of being awkward towards new faces. Surprisingly, Steve is just like Diane – funny and easy to talk to.

As we approached my apartment, I saw a figure in the distance sitting in a park. As we slowly got closer, the figure turned out to be the guy "Tony," I blurted out. He was looking our way until we passed by, our eyes met, and it gave me chills. What was that? Why was he in the park at this time and by himself?

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Diane and Steve dropped me off an hour ago, but I still can't sleep because I can't forget the look that guy gave me. It's like he was looking into my soul. I don't know what's going on.

I asked Diane and Steve if they had seen him, but like Clara, they didn't see him and told me that maybe I was just tired and seeing things. I fell silent, but I know for a fact that I did see Tony because our eyes met.

"Ugh! This is driving me crazy!" I said in frustration as I turned to my other side again. I kept on turning but still wasn't able to sleep.

"Please let me sleep! I'm so tired," I whispered, then took my earphones and played mellow songs that would help me fall asleep.

Once I played the song, I closed my eyes and said, "The look on his face... he looks miserable," I whispered.