S. F. - 16

***

New.

I tightened my grip on the straps of my backpack as I passed by the faculty room whilst stealing glances through the glass door.

It had been three days since he "confessed" and ever since then, we hadn't talked at all. He wouldn't even look at me in the eyes during our classes and that sort of agitated me. Like why the hell would he confess and then ignore me the next day?

"Aren't you getting dizzy?"

I jolted as Nicky, one of my blockmates, spoke behind me.

"Huh?"

"If you didn't notice, you've been walking back and forth in front of the office for a while now. Are you being reprimanded?"

"Uh, no, I mean," I gulped as I thought of a believable excuse but nothing came into my mind. It was then I noticed something in his hands.

"Are you sending them in?" I asked and pointed the papers in his hands.

"Yeah, I'm about to give this to Ms Nook."

I immediately grabbed the papers from his hand.

"I got this. I know you have to go home already so I'll take care of this," I slightly pushed him so he could go on his way.

"Are you sure? You better do nothing ridiculous, New," he replied as he looked at me suspiciously.

"I got this. Don't worry."

"Okay, fine. I'll go then. Thanks by the way," he surrendered and started walking away from me.

I immediately straightened my uniform and fixed my hair. With slightly shaking hands and a non-existent lump in my throat, I slowly pushed the door open.

"Good afternoon," I meekly greeted and went straight to Miss Nook's table.

"Oh, New. Do you need something?" Miss Nook asked the moment I reached her table.

"Uh, I'm just bringing the papers, Miss," I handled her the papers but my eyes were wandering elsewhere. I frowned as my eyes landed on P'Tay who didn't even spare me a single glance.

Tsss. What a snob!

"Oh, why do you have this? I asked Nicky to bring this to me. Anyway, thanks New."

I timidly smiled at Miss Nook and languishingly walked towards the door, hoping P'Tay would somehow call me, but it never happened.

I scowled the moment I closed the door.

"Seriously?? It's been three days? And then what? Three fucking days and he's acting like his confession didn't cost me sleepless nights??" I grumbled as I mindlessly walked in the hallway. It was then that I bumped into something, or someone.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I got back to my senses as I stared at Earth who was already holding my arm thus preventing me from completely landing on the floor.

"Uh, yeah... Thanks and I'm sorry," I muttered lowly as I removed his hand from my arm.

"Wanna go grab something to eat for dinner?" Earth asked out of nowhere.

I just gawked at him, not knowing what to respond when all of a sudden he grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the school's parking lot.

"Wa-Wait, I haven't even said yes," I protested but he never listened.

Why the fuck am I always being dragged??

"I, I brought my car with me," I said as we stood in front of his car.

"We'll get it later, okay. But for now, please eat with me. I've been wanting to talk for you for days but didn't have a chance. So can you? Please?" he said with pleading eyes.

I scoffed as I looked at him.

"Okay, fine," I surrendered as I opened the passenger seat. "But I'm a heavy eater so you better bring me somewhere nice."

***

I gasped as the waiter placed our orders on the table. Earth brought me to a nearby Japanese restaurant and I couldn't help but ogle at the lavishness of food laid in front of me.

"Is this my last supper?" I asked jokingly as I grabbed the bowl of ramen.

"You can order more if you want?" 

"Seriously? You can feed a town with the amount of food you ordered. I'm definitely not paying for this," I exclaimed as I started eating the ramen but he just chuckled.

"Of course. Why would I let you pay on our first date?"

My hand was left midair as I stilled upon hearing his words.  Date? What date?

"I'm just kidding, okay. But if you will consider this as a date, then I'd be so much happy."

I cleared my throat as I continued eating. Earth was just watching me the whole time which made me feel conscious.

"A-Aren't you gonna eat?" I asked him when he didn't move an inch and just watched me eat.

He then broke into a smile and started eating whilst occasionally glancing at me.

"Yah! How am I supposed to swallow my food if you're staring at me like that?" I complained as I was finding it hard to swallow because of the kind of stare he was giving me.

"You just look so good up close."

"Huh?" It was all I could utter. Why would he say that like it was his first time seeing me up close?

"You're just hungry. Go on eat so that you'll have enough strength once you go crazy," I replied jokingly and stashed my mouth with ramen.

We continued eating in silence. We were in the middle of our meal when a very familiar figure entered the restaurant.

I gaped as P'Tay slowly entered but eventually frowned when I saw a woman beside him.

I immediately turned my head away from his direction before he could see me, but the odds may have never been in my favor as they sat two tables away from us and did I mention that one of those two tables was vacant?

"You okay?" Earth asked. He probably noticed me fidgeting all of  a sudden.

"Y-Yeah," I quickly responded and looked at him.

I watched P'Tay in the corner of my eyes as they placed their order. I resisted and tried so hard not to look at his direction but my own body betrayed me. I mentally cursed as my eyes met his the moment I glanced his way.

I just gave him a side eye before turning back to Earth.

"Earth, I want to eat something sweet after this," I softly said and gave him the sweetest smile I could ever fake, hoping P'Tay was still looking at me.

"Sure. It's always a yes when it comes to you."

***

I heaved in a huge amount of air as I closed the door of my car. Earth had already went ahead of me right after sending me back so I could get my car. He insisted sending me home, but my conscience was already eating me as my mind was wandering off to P'Tay whilst we continued eating. Thankfully, Earth didn't ask questions when I said I no longer wanted to eat sweets.

I knew I was being petty, but seeing him eating with someone else after ignoring me for days was definitely something that irked me. And I couldn't even find any logical reason behind his action.

Did he just confess for the sake of it or did I overanalyze his words and actions?

"Ugh. I don't even know why I'm acting like this," I grumbled as I turned on the ignition.

***

I could hear my parents' loud voices even from the outside. They were arguing as I figured. I immediately went inside to check on them but my father already went inside his mini office the moment I stepped inside the house.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked as I approached her. I noticed that her eyes were red even though she avoided meeting my gaze.

"I'm fine, New. Go on. You should take a rest."

I just smiled at her and didn't push the issue further. It was not the first time I heard them arguing, but it was the first time I saw my mom cried.

1 message received:

Unknown Number

Hey, New it's me, Earth. Got your number from White. Btw, thanks for today. Hoping it's not the last time. Good night.

I immediately saved his number in my contacts.

I was about to get a quick shower when I received another message coming from another unknown number.

1 message received:

Unknown Number

Ne

I furrowed as I read the content of the message. Like who would send Ne out of nowhere? Was it supposed to mean something?

"This might be another incident of wrongly sent messages," I told myself and deleted the message.

I was about to throw my phone on the bed, when it rang all of a sudden.

Unknown Number Calling...

I contemplated whether I should answer the call or not, but still ended up swiping the answer button.

"Hello? Who's this?" I asked but the other line remained silent. "Okay, you may have so much time in your hands but I don't. So go bother someone else instead."

I was about to end the call when the voice in the other line made me freeze.

"New."

It was just one word, one syllable. But it was enough for me to know who was on the other line.

I cleared my throat before answering because if I didn't do so, I was sure my voice would quaver.

"Yes...Sir? Do you need anything?" I acted to sound as normal as possible.

"Can I t—"

P'Tay! Can you hand me my phone? It's right beside your bed!

I rolled my eyes as I heard a woman's voice over the phone. I bet it was the same woman he was with earlier at the restaurant.

I quickly ended the call and blocked his number. I tossed my phone on the bed and glared at it.

"Tsss. I'd rather eat shit than answer your call again!" I exclaimed at my phone before stomping towards the bathroom.

***

"You look like shit."

I glared at White who then placed our food on the table. We were currently at their department's cafeteria for lunch.

"Are you trying to make a record of the largest eyebags in the world?" Gunsmile taunted and reached out to poke the bags under my eyes.

"I'm just busy with requirements, okay? And I still need to ace the remaining tests," especially that jerk's exams.

"You already did well on the previous exam," White handed me my food. I actually didn't have the appetite to eat as I was definitely in low spirits, but I was sure they would shove the food down my throat if I didn't eat.

"Tsss. You seriously believe him. Yah, we've been friends for years but I haven't seen you burn midnight candle. I say you're heartbroken," Gunsmile interrupted. I scowled as some of his food flew out of his mouth as he spoke. "So tell us, who is it?"

"Are you crazy? Just-just continue eating. It looks like you haven't eaten for years."

***

I played with my keys as I went to my car. Gunsmile and White stayed a little longer at school to finish some papers so I just went ahead of them.

As for Tay? Tsss. I won't call him Phi or Sir because I want to diss him without the honorifics.

I only saw him during our class that morning. I didn't even pass by the faculty room because I didn't want to see his face.

Tsss. Okay fine. You wanna ignore me?? Then go ahead! Have fun! Have fun with that woman of yours you horny bisexual!

I was about to open my car when all of a sudden, somebody grabbed my arm and dragged me.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" I hissed at Tay as he dragged me towards his car.

I tried whisking his hand away, but he would just tighten his grip on me.

"Oh, come on. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Okay, I was totally disregarding honorifics and was being totally disrespectful, but can you blame me???

"Get inside," he muttered as he opened the passenger seat.

"No...Sir," I said firmly as I crossed my arms across my chest.

"New, just get in, please?"

"And why would I...Sir?"

"We need to talk. Now unless you want your friends to see us arguing..."

I immediately turned around and saw Gunsmile and White coming towards our direction. They hadn't seen us yet but it would just be a matter of minutes before they could see us.

"Okay fine!" I grumbled as I went inside his car.

***