A Dare With The Player

Chapter 4: Steal His Boxers

I’ve been rolling on my bed left and right since that night, unable to get him out of my mind. I tried to busy myself with reading books, watching Netflix, and baking things, but it wasn’t helping. Each time, his face just pops up in my head.

That stupid, annoyingly handsome face, with perfect well-defined features and his brushed back hair that looked smooth to touch, and-

“Oh, crap! Not again!” I muttered to myself annoyed, throwing my head back on the edge of the bed and slamming the book I was holding shut.

There was no point in reading anything when I couldn’t even get past page one. Merely reading the word ‘him’ has me thinking about him.

It wasn’t very helpful that it’s like the boys were back to normal. By normal I mean before Cristiano had disappeared when they used to hang out together 24/7.

My parents were thrilled when they found out he was back. Well, at first. They were both surprised, but I easily noticed how my father tensed up the longer he stayed in our house talking to them. I could tell he was thinking the same thing as I was.

He’s changed.

This wasn’t the little boy we all used to hang out with. Far from it, this boy was grown up, and not like the way T or the Harries twins grew up. He was somehow, you could say, rougher on the edges. He didn’t smile as much or joked around like he used to. He was just… there.

He had the same name, almost the same face, just more defined, but his mannerisms, the way he composed himself… it wasn’t the boy I remembered back then.

Obviously, his makeout sessions with almost every girl in the game circle the other night proved that.

“He’s a… player,” I gasped to myself in my own realization.

Standing up from my bed, I started to rummage through my drawers for something. Throwing things that were on the way.

“Nope, not that.” I threw a bag of opened chips that was stuck at the side of my socks I must have forgotten during the Dinosaur age. Thank God it hadn’t smelled in my room.

“Not that either. Why is this even here?!” I stared at a tiny hammer, having no idea how that got into my things, as I sure as heck don’t do any hammering in my free time. Or any time at all.

“Ooh, my old tamagotchi!” I squealed in surprise and excitement as I dug deeper into my things and found an old pink game toy where you take care of your tiny pet inside a screen. Nintendo Switch, who?

Ah, stop getting distracted, Thalia. That’s not what you’re looking for! Uh… think. Where would I have placed that thing if I wanted to see it but at the same time not want to see it because I didn’t want to remember?

I looked around my room, staring at a cabinet, a drawer, or a space, for a minute or more, as if I had X-ray vision to determine if what I was looking for was inside it or not.

After a few minutes, my eyes landed on my bed, and then, like a light bulb turning on at the top of my head, I finally remembered.

I ran up to my bed and kneeled down, lowering my head to the bottom and smiling when I saw it - a box. I had completely forgotten I even had this.

When I pulled it out, it was a bit dusty, making me cough a few times, but after a few wipes, it looked almost back to normal.

I couldn’t contain my smile as I held on to the cardboard box I had designed myself years ago. I remember me as a little girl after watching a movie where the character had a box and put things she liked, things she wanted to keep in a safe place, whether it be big or small.

She had candy wrappers, dried flowers, movie tickets, and even just a piece of crumpled paper that had her name on it. During the entirety of the movie, it’s explained why she has such random items. They show each one of them and how it’s related to her and it turns out it’s because they had an impact on her life and she didn’t want to forget it.

In my case, these are things I wanted to keep, but at the same time didn’t necessarily want to remember.

Slowly, but surely, I opened the cardboard box I had designed by using gift wrapping paper around it. I think I was around ten years old when I got this and just started taping and gluing things on it to make it look prettier. Back then, I was so amazed at my own creation, but now it kind of looks like a cheap version of Picasso’s art. Oh well, whatever made young Thalia happy!

Besides, it’s what’s inside that really mattered, because I was right. What I was looking for was right here all along.

I felt a quick tug at my heart when I saw the contents of the box. The one at the top was the last thing I had placed before completely forgetting about its entire existence… a handkerchief. Specifically, a light blue one with the logo of the Brazilian Football Confederation on it.

I pursed my lips as I held on to it, feeling the logo with my fingers and remembering… how this ended up with me in the first place.

Past

“You promised we would watch together!” I grumbled, annoyed at T for leaving me hanging at the last minute.

It was a Friday, and once in a while we would watch a movie together while our parents had their date night. It was just tradition since we were kids and Auntie Alexa would watch over us with the Harries twins and she’d make us watch a movie. Eventually, when the twins got older, it would just be the two of us and we just somehow stuck to it.

Tonight, T was too busy with the twins without me. How unfair.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Is five bags of cotton candy enough?” T asked, knowing full well that there was no way I could decline that.

Urg, darn you and your bribing skills, but mostly my weakness for sweets.

“Make that six, and you have a deal. You’re annoying,” I muttered to him before hanging up, hearing him shout ‘love you’ at the last second.

I shake my head before grabbing the popcorn and placing it in the microwave to cook it for approximately two minutes and forty five seconds. Anything more or less will either not cook all the kernels or overcook them.

Once done, I grabbed my nice-smelling freshly-cooked popcorn and poured it all in the bowl and made my way to the living room. I couldn’t help but reminisce on the days this room was filled with chaos, in a good way.

All the boys would be messing around, jumping up and down, screaming each other’s heads off while doing wrestling moves, while Auntie Alexa and I just sat on the couch, painting each other’s nails and whatnot. It was fun, but now that I was here, all alone… it was quiet, way more quiet than I was used to.

I sighed before setting myself on the couch and turning to my bag of chips and popcorn. “It’s just you and me, friends.”

Now to find a movie…

I opened the television and was surprised to see a movie had already been preloaded. Then I realized it was T’s pick so he must have put this on before he decided to abandon me tonight.

“I guess we can watch this…” I squinted my eyes to try and read the movie title. “Tropa… de… Elite?” Not sure if I even said that correctly because it didn’t seem to be fully English.

Intrigued either way, I decided to press play. The movie starts off with a girl. She is wearing a school uniform. I noticed immediately that this was definitely not filmed in the US, but more so in an Asian country.

She seems to be a very hyperactive and excited character, always messing around and laughing. Somehow, she reminds me a little of myself. Five minutes in, there is no dialogue yet. It’s more so showing how she is in her day to day life without interacting with anyone yet and I’m already glued to the screen.

All of a sudden, she gains the ability to time travel and bumps into a boy. I’m staring at the television screen shocked and appalled at the change of story, but even more so when the first dialogue comes up and it’s not in English and there are no subtitles!

“What the heck?! What did she say?!” I paused the movie and started looking for it in the settings, clicking everything I could to get the subtitles to come out, but for some reason, there was nothing.

“No freaking way! Just when I was enjoying the movie!” I shouted to the screen, frustrated because, amidst my attempts to google on how to put up subtitles or if there were any, nothing was showing up.

I sighed heavily and slumped on the couch, halfway ready to give up when the weight on the other side of the seat got heavier. When I turned, I saw a person I least expected to show up.

“Cristiano? What are you doing here?” I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion.

“You watch. I can translate.” He just said out of nowhere.

Before I could even respond, another dialogue in the movie came up.

“I’ve come from the future to find someone. You have to help me,” Cristiano spoke as he kept his eyes on the screen, perfectly timing the character’s words.

“I don’t even know who you are,” he continued without turning to me, but I just stared at him, my eyes blinking confused.

“My name is Kazuko. There, now you know.” He smiled a little after saying that line and as weird as it was, when I turned to the screen to watch the movie, it was actually on point, the way he was delivering the lines and everything. They were all starting to make sense.

“Are you seriously going to translate the whole thing?” I asked Cristiano and he merely turned to me, a half smile on his face.

“Don’t you want to know what’s happening?” He asked, and although he was wearing a cap, his hazel eyes still managed to look directly at mine.

“Does it have a happy ending?”

He chuckled softly before looking to the side seemingly in thought.

“As happy as it could be,” he replied with a shrug.

I pouted. I dislike it when things don’t have a happy ending, because why would you want to go through so much drama when you already have enough in real life? Just knowing about my parent’s story was actually more than enough. The two have gone through a lot of hurdles to be together and if they had given up on each other, neither I or T would even be here. It gives me the chills just thinking about it.

Either way, I was already too invested in the first few minutes of the movie and something about the way Cristiano seemed to be invested in this made me more curious.

“Fine. Translate away,” I told him and he nodded his head with a small smile before continuing.

Throughout the whole time, Cristiano sat right next to me on the couch, approximately just an inch away. There were times he would change his voice tone or the way he delivered the lines, as if he was actually trying to mimic the characters. It was interesting, and definitely made the movie even more fun to watch.

Sometimes his phone would buzz and I would glance at it, truthfully speaking, try to snoop a little and I would see it was my brother texting him asking where he was. He would reply ‘give me a few’ and then put his phone back in his pocket before continuing to translate again.

We sat there together, Cristiano in my ear in a good way, as we laughed and joked around for what was definitely not “a few”.

I wasn’t much of a crier. On the contrary, T was more in touch with his emotions than myself. I didn’t like the idea of crying, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why I choose not to watch sad movies, because I know I won’t be able to stop myself from crying.

And that’s exactly what I did. As hard as I tried not to cry, the tears fell the moment the female lead in the movie finds out that the boy she had met when she traveled back in time was going to lose his life in an accident she knew of from the future which was her present.

The credits scene rolls in and I am just staring at the names rolling by, tears rolling down on my cheeks somehow by itself too.

“Oh, crap.” I muttered surprised and embarrassed when I turned to Cristiano and realized I had been tightly holding his hand.

I pulled it away and looked at him awkwardly. “How long have I been doing that?”

“Don’t worry about it. This hand has experienced much more pain than a girl squeezing the life out of it,” he said with a small smile.

“Well… that was definitely not the same action movie T thought he downloaded,” I commented, followed by a light chuckle and Cristiano did so too.

“I’d say it’s better,” he commented, which got me curious.

“Do you always like sad love movies or are you just a sadist?” I looked at him with a raised brow.

“It’s a movie about loss… and acceptance.” He answered, his hazel eyes looking deeply into mine and I’ve never seen him this… open.

He and my brother have been friends since we could walk, I guess, but it was always only just messing around together - playing games, swimming at the pool, etcetera. For the first time, there was more than just laughter in his eyes, but deep emotions too.

I sniffled and he passed me his handkerchief that was blue and had a logo imprinted on it.

“Oh it’s fi-” He placed it in my hand and before I could politely decline, his phone rang and he turned around.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming.” He said on the phone and I can only conclude it was T complaining about how it’s been more than an hour he’s disappeared.

I suppressed my chuckle.

“I gotta go,” he turned to me after the phone call.

“How did you learn to be so fluent in Japanese?” I asked, curious.

He smiled. “My father. He was a teacher in an international school in Brazil that mostly had Japanese students and he fell in love with the language, so even when we moved here, he would speak it and I just somehow learned along with him.”

“That is so cool. If I could read and watch anime without subtitles, I think I’d feel very smart.” I told him as we stood up from the couch and he was halfway to the door.

“Well, T knows my number. Ask him for it and text me anytime you want to watch more Japanese movies. I’ll be glad to help.” Cristiano offered in a heartbeat, which confused and surprised me at the same time.

Was he offering to hang out with me more instead of being with my i***t brother? Interesting…

“Catch you later, Lia.” He caught me off guard as he calls me by my nickname only T has ever used.

When he was gone, I passed by the kitchen and saw that he had left a box of pizza in the kitchen. I then realized that he must have passed by to get the food delivered here, but ended up staying with me as we watched the movie. I don’t know why he did that… but it was cool for him to do so.

Before changing into my sleeping clothes that night, I had forgotten that I still had his handkerchief with me and pulled it out of my pocket.

I thought of giving it back to him, but at the same time I didn’t want the boys to think anything of it, wondering how it ended up with me, so I just decided to keep it in my box.

Before falling asleep, there was a particular time with Cristiano on the couch that kept repeating in my head.

Both the leads were looking at Cherry Blossoms and the female lead that came from the future had to go back to her present. The male lead suddenly asks her, “when it’s your time… wouldn’t it be nice if we could see this place together?”

The female lead replies, “Yes. I’ll be sure to wait for you.”

But the sad part is… he doesn’t make it to see the view with her.

Present

Three years later, I still haven’t been able to give this handkerchief back to him. I would choose to give it this time around, but I doubt he even remembers that time or me at all. If he did, it would be the fact that I was his old childhood friend’s sister, nothing else.

For T and the Harries twins, it was like nothing had changed, or in their friendship at least. Tonight they were going out to some convention on Football or whatever guy things to do. They often did that back when we were still little, so I guess it was back to normal for them.

Although enough about Cristiano and his unexpected comeback. Tonight, I was going to have my own fun.

“Yoohoo, knock knock!” I heard shouting downstairs and I instantly grabbed my old memory box and pushed it back underneath my bed.

“Hurry up, Thalia! My hands are still sore from the other night’s party and this pizza box is weighing like ten pounds!” I laughed as I made my way downstairs to open the door.

I knew instantly it was Amber complaining from the sound of her high-pitched and annoyed voice.

And voila, once I opened the door I was right. My two best friends were standing on my doorstep, food and drinks in hand.

“Finally! I thought I was going to turn into a bodybuilder!” She continued to complain and I just chuckled.

“Why exactly are your hands sore from the party, Amelia?” I asked her, brow raised and a smirk on my lips.

Her face turned red and cheeks completely flushed. “Ack, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not it! They made me do a handstand competition and because of that darn alcohol, I actually agreed to it!” She marched her way into the house as Rubi followed her silently chuckling to herself.

“Is that Moscato?” I asked Rubi who was holding two bottles of what seemed like good wine.

I wasn’t a wine person, but when it came to Moscato, I definitely could be.

She smiled giddily. “Pink moscato, to be specific.”

The two of us shimmied our shoulders in excitement. “It’s going to be a wild Saturday night.”

A whole bottle in of our Pink Moscato and a bunch of stupid dares, we were all a little tipsy for our own good.

“I couldn’t believe it at first when I heard it, but it’s true. The new principal is Cristiano’s dad!” Amber, our very own gossip column, was all excited spilling to us the news.

I remembered Cristiano mentioning his father being a teacher, but not a principal. Is that maybe why they want back, because he got a job offer here?

“Why didn’t you kiss him, by the way? We all know you’ve been in love with the boy for years.” Rubi looked at me with an all-knowing smile as Amber stared at me curiously.

I felt my cheeks blush at her very straightforward comment. “Shut up! He is not! And no way would I kiss him! He’s- he’s gross!” I defended myself, making fake puke noises and sour facial expressions.

“He did make out with like… half the girls there. What’s his problem?” Amber commented and we all nodded slowly before taking a sip of our drinks at the same time.

“But we also can’t deny that he is an eleven out of ten, like did you see his body?! Maaaan, now that is a daddy.” Rubi proudly said in which Amber agreed to immediately.

“You guys are so embarrassing! He’s just… okay, I guess.” I shrugged my shoulders.

Both of them turned to me in a swift manner and with a judgemental look. “You know we can tell when you’re lying, Thalia Donovan.”

“I am not lying!” I protested immediately, but neither of them were having it as Rubi just continued to spin the bottle.

Which landed right on me.

“It’s your lucky day, Thalia Donovan. The bottle picks you.” Rubi looked at me with a mischievous smile and I knew I was in for trouble. A big one.

“Steal one of his boxers.”

Shit. That was even worse than I thought it would be.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up hanging from the side of Cristiano Ferreira’s bedroom window at eleven in the evening, and jumping to save my face.

I ran at the speed of light and didn’t turn back. I couldn’t. I shouldn’t.

I prayed to the gods that he didn’t really see me, that when he called out for my name he wasn’t really sure that it was me, but that was the hopeful side in me.

The realistic side, on the other hand, knew…

I was absolutely and inevitably screwed.