February 7: (Sunday)
FROM: Garfy ;)
Hi! Morning! :)
I was woken up by this awfully short but unexpectedly heart-warming greeting from Andrew. It's only 9:30am so he's exactly at the right time to wake me up. I looked through my inbox, trying to see if Jake has texted me again but I found myself frowning that he didn't.
He isn't even going to explain what he said last night? And he didn't even at least try to lie about it?
You know what, I don't care. I won't fuss over something as ridiculous as him this early in the morning. But then again, maybe I just misunderstood his message. After all, I didn't text him back and asked him about it since I really was pissed. Maybe he was referring to asking another girl friend of his...
But then why did he say he'd "ask another girl out for a date"?
I shook my head to get rid of that thought. I'd just deal with this later.
So I just decided to text Andrew back.
TO: Garfy ;)
Morning! :) Still on for tonight?
I actually have mixed feelings about me and my mom having dinner with Andrew's family. I must admit, I feel excited about the fact that I'm going to meet his parents, who, by the way, were friends with my dad so they have a connection with him and my mom. And at the same time, I feel nervous. The line "what if they won't like me?" kept replaying in my head.
But, just to be realistic here, I think his mom, Lynn, definitely likes me. Hopefully.
No, I mean, since she's so bent on making me and his son together, then her approval ratings of me must at least be higher than her approval ratings of say, Justin Bieber after getting arrested.
I'm not so sure about Mr. Garfield though. I really haven't met him and I've only known so little about him.
I haven't noticed when he replied back, but when I glanced back at my phone, there's already a text notification from Andrew.
FROM: Garfy ;)
Of course! My mom and Trish would probably be depressed for months if tonight got cancelled. Isn't it weird though? Our parents already ate dinner together yesterday and they're going to eat dinner together tonight again. Well, plus us, of course.
I smiled after reading his text. Our parents really our weird...
TO: Garfy ;)
I have a feeling that the ones who are going to do a lot of talking later are both our moms.
FROM: Garfy ;)
Haha no doubt about that! ;)
I couldn't help but giggle.
I was about to reply to him when I heard my mom call from the other side of my bedroom door, "Em, honey? Are you awake?"
I sighed. "Yes, mom. Why?"
She opened the door and stuck her head in. "I was wondering if you could get a quick trip to the grocery store? We're kind of running low on food supplies." She paused, giving me a fake accusing look. "And also, our steak supply suddenly disappeared. I wonder what happened to that..." She trailed, arching an eyebrow at me with a smirk.
I gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I cooked it for lunch yesterday."
And that's when my mother started weirdly smiling triumphantly at me.
"Mom?" I asked a bit hesitantly. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"
She just started to smile at me more.
"Please stop smiling at me like that." I told her, stone-faced.
Of course, being a great, loving, and caring mom, she didn't stop.
I sighed. "Okay, seriously. What's up?"
"Oh, I just figured something out." She slyly told me.
"Mom, can you please just cut to the chase so I can go to the grocery now?"
"Alright, alright! You're no fun." She replied, dropping the teasing look and replacing it with a whiny one. Then she quickly walked in and sat at the side of my bed, looking like she's ready to tell a very interesting story.
Man, my mom really is something.
She continued, "Lynn called in last night when they beat Andrew home and found Trish sleeping alone with a woman––I think her name's Mrs. Greenwald?" I nodded. "She said that Andrew went out again. So, Lynn thought that your day with Andrew's already done and that their son's sneaking out again. They called just a few minutes after Andrew drove away and so of course, I told her that he didn't sneak out. He just drove you home––which I think personally is a very sweet thing, by the way. So then, Lynn felt relieved and of course, happy and proud that his son is casually making moves."
I shook my head to stop her. "He is not making moves."
She raised her hands in a calming gesture. "I know, honey, I know. We were just humoring ourselves, don't fret about it." I snorted but said nothing so she continued. "Anyways, Lynn also told me something..." she paused, waiting for my reaction.
I started frowning in confusion. "Oh-kay? What did she say?"
She sighed, a little disappointed. "I'm kind'a sad that you didn't tell me honey."
My frown deepened. Where is this conversation going? "Tell what mom?"
"That you cooked Andrew's favorite lunch yesterday!" She told me, a little exasperation ringing in her tone. "He said to his mom that he literally had the best lunch of his life."
This time, my eyebrows shot up and a smile started forming in my lips. "I thought he said don't mention that to his mom..." I muttered, smiling.
My mom caught what I said, "Oh my gosh, you did! You did cook for him. Nice one, honey!"
I gave her a look. "Mom, come on. I cooked lunch for myself first and since he didn't have anything to do at their house, he asked to have lunch here instead. That's all, don't fret about it." I mimicked her from earlier.
She stuck her tongue out at me, making me wonder who's the older one in the room. "Still, that's something."
"Sure mom, whatever you say." I said, for the whole sake of humoring her. "So, what do I need to buy?"
"Oh, I already made a list honey. What time are you planning on going to the grocery?" She asked me. Wow, thank goodness we've already changed topics. I couldn't be more weirded out and uncomfortable.
"Um, maybe a little after I ate breakfast. And what time are we driving to the Garfields'?" Hm, feels weird saying that.
"Hm, about 6 or 7." she finally stood up from my bed and started walking towards the door. "Oh, by the way hun, breakfast is downstairs. And if you want to eat them while they're still hot, I suggest you get out of bed right now. You're burning daylight, darling." And with that, she's out of my room.
Seeing that I have no choice but to do what she said, I decided to text back to Andrew first before going down.
TO: Garfy ;)
Hey, I have to go. My mom's making me buy groceries. Guess I'll see you later :)
He texted back while I was just going down the stairs after fixing my bed.
FROM: Garfy ;)
Wow, what a coincidence! Me too! Seriously. Why don't we meet up and just buy them together?
My eyebrows shot up after reading his text. Wow, if this isn't reality, I'd feel like I'm in a very clichéd situation in a romance novel or something.
TO: Garfy ;)
Great idea! Sure, I'm game. I'll just text you the details.
FROM: Garfy ;)
That's awesome. :D Later.
"Well, took you long enough." My mom joked upon seeing me enter the dining room.
"Sorry, years ago, someone raised me to always fix my bed. Oh wait, that's you, mom." I replied back, just as jokingly.
She sighed. "Just take a seat and eat honey." And so I did what I was told.
"Hey, mom? Is it alright if I include a few snacks and chocolates in the grocery later?" I asked her after swallowing a bite of bacon. "I promise I won't exceed over $10."
"That depends." She replied with a sly look.
Aw, man. What is this about now?
"On what?"
"If you'll come with me to the mall later this afternoon." She simply replied before she continued eating.
Well, that's easy. "Sure, mom. Of course I'll come. What are we going to do in the mall?"
She gave me a look and a smirk. "Shopping, of course."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why? For what?"
She smirked wider and that when I put two and two together. "C'mon, mom! My clothes are fine for tonight's dinner."
"Don't fret, honey. Already made up my mind. Now, continue eating." she reprimanded, giving me no choice but to obediently oblige.
***
As I was driving on the way to the grocery store singing One Direction's Midnight Memories at the top of my lungs, I heard a faint ringing inside the car. I frowned and lessened the volume a bit to try and locate the ringing and at the same time, still paying attention to the road. I followed the sound and it led me to the glove compartment. I frowned in confusion again before opening it.
What's in here? I thought.
The ringing has finally stopped.
When I finally got it to open, I rolled my eyes at my forgetfulness. It was my phone that was ringing. I forgot that I put it in here right before I drive away from home. I picked it up and saw that there were tons of missed calls, three voice mails and a lot of messages––18, to be exact.
One was from my phone company. I just ignored them, thinking that they were just sending special offers and stuff. Another one was from my mom asking me where I was. I cocked an eyebrow at this. I clearly recall telling her that I'd go grocery shopping for awhile...
Five were from Maggie, I opened them with a frown. Three of those texts were frantically asking me where I am. The fourth was that she's saying sorry to me. And the last one was telling me to pick up.
I told myself I'd call her later, but I'd read the other text messages first. It's a really hard feat to read messages while driving, I just realized them now.
The next three were from Jake. My eyebrows shot up at seeing that he's finally texted me. Maybe he's going to explain––or at least apologize about what he said last night.
My hopes got crushed and was replaced with wary and confusion as I read that he's constantly saying, "Sorry."
For the first two texts, that's just it. No sad face or anything. Just one tiny word. And for the last text of the three, he said, "Andrew must've told you already so I guess you won't be seeing me much around for the next few months for I'll probably be too guilty and embarrassed to face you. I'm really, really sorry. Still love you though. Hoping one day you'll forgive me. I'll miss you beautiful."
Suddenly, a loud horn blasted outside, making me quickly look back at the road and for the last minute, I jerked the steering wheel away from the other car that I was about to crash into just a few seconds ago.
As the car drove beside mine, the driver's mouth moved––probably mouthing a colorful word––and flipped me off. I just mouthed back, "I'm so sorry."
Great. I was just having a little bit of fun jamming alone in my car awhile ago and these texts really just had to ruin my mood. And now, I almost got into an accident because of these stupid texts. Just great.
What's wrong now? What's the matter? Why is Maggie apologizing? What did Jake do? Is this still about him telling me last night that he's just going to ask another girl out? Why is he going to distance himself from me just a few days after he started courting me? And what does Andrew have anything to do with this?
Crap. Why can't he just text me everything so I that I won't be playing the guessing game right now?
"Still love you though... I'll miss you beautiful." Okay I didn't expect that one coming. And I couldn't help it when my heart started beating fast again because of what he said. To be honest, I'm not that mad about him anymore. In fact, I was about to text him back that I already forgive him but I stopped myself after reading his last text message. I was about to reply to him, ask him what he's talking about, when I remembered the rest of the 18 new text messages.
The last eight were from Andrew, the one and only. Now, because of Jake's seemingly mysterious texts of apology, I'm sort of afraid to open Andrew's.
I slowed down driving as I took a deep breath to calm myself down before opening his texts. The first two said, "We need to talk." The next three started getting frantic saying along the lines of, "Why aren't you answering my calls?!" The next two are saying, "Where are you right now?" And the last text said, "Damn it, Em. Where the hell are you? It's about Jake. Please, Em. Pick up my calls!"
I abruptly slammed on the brakes. The car behind mine honked their horn long and loud before swerving away from me. I hadn't noticed that I was catching my breath. What's wrong with me and my concentration? I almost missed the grocery store's parking entrance. Oops.
After I told myself to calm down, I drove into the lot. Once I've found a decent spot, I parked my car there. After shutting the engine off, I didn't immediately got out of my car. I stayed inside first, thinking hard.
What's happening? Did I suddenly miss something? There's no way Andrew could've known about Jake's text to me last night. I never told him about it. So how come he knew? Unless I was just assuming things and this was about something else entirely different. But seriously, I still have this feeling that my assumptions are right. Jake is one of Andrew's friends. It must've slipped from Jake's mouth when they're together or Jake must've told to someone from their group and the word got passed around until Andrew heard them.
I was snapped out of my thoughts as my phone started ringing again. I looked at the caller ID and it said, Garfy ;)
I pressed answer call.
"Hell––"
"Oh thank God you finally answered! Why haven't you been answering my calls before?!" Andrew's angry tone cut me off.
"I'm sorry, I guess I hadn't heard it ringing when you––"
"Ten missed calls?!" He cut me off, yet again. I sighed heavily. I guess I deserve this for getting him worked up like this.
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know. It won't happen again, I promise. Forgive me?" I asked him with a gentle voice.
He sighed, his voice softening as he spoke. "Fine. You're forgiven. You seriously got me worried back there."
I frowned the slightest bit. "Why?"
"I called the first time to ask where you were." He paused, taking a deep breath. "And also, to tell you something about Jake."
I was staring into nothing as I asked with a monotone, "What about him?"
"Look, I don't want to say this over the phone but, where are you now? And please just tell me 'cause I've been driving around in circles, going to places where you might go." He told me.
"Really? Why?" I raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "I thought I told you that I'd go grocery shopping?"
"I know. I asked your mom what time you left and which grocery store you were supposed to go to. She said you left like more than an hour and a half ago and that you'd go to the nearest store. But when I drove to the nearest store, you weren't there. So I tried calling you tons of times but you weren't answering. I figured you might have told, um, Maggie earlier about something," I frowned when I heard the slight hesitation of his voice when he said her name. "Anything, but when I asked her too, she didn't know so I guess maybe that's why she's calling you too. But then you weren't answering her calls too so I figured you're with Jake again and––" He cut himself short.
"I'm with Jake again and?" I repeated.
He sighed. "This is why I want to meet up with you right now. I need to tell you something. But when I do, please know that I didn't want to hurt you, I told you everything because I care for you, okay?"
"Okay I'm getting really nervous now. What's this about?" I asked with a bit of urgency. "Seriously just tell me."
"Just tell me where you were for the past hour and a half so I can calm myself down now." He told me instead, ignoring my request.
I sighed in defeat. "I just drove over to the downtown area to grab a quick snack."
He chuckled. "A quick snack?" Well, at least his mood's a little lighter now.
"Well my favorite cupcake store is in the downtown area so I really have to drive all the way there. That's why I took so long. Happy? You can calm down now." I told him, a small smile forming in my lips.
He sighed. "Next time you decide to do something like that, at least let someone know where you are." He reprimanded me.
"I'm sorry for making you worried okay? I just don't see the point since it's only downtown..." I trailed. There's still something wrong with the way he immediately worried for me even though I've only been MIA for less than two hours.
"You don't get it. I thought you're with Jake again and that he brought you somewhere by force." He informed me, sounding mad and serious.
My eyes widened upon hearing this. Okay this is getting weirder than anticipated. "Why would you even think that?"
He didn't answer immediately which made my heart quicken its pace. "Because that's what he told me..."
"What? When?"
"I caught him... With someone..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I caught him making out with someone in a park earlier. I was about to ignore them and let them continue when I remembered that he's supposed to be courting you and that you both have feelings for each other now. I got so furious that I walked over to their bench and pulled him away from the girl. Then I was about to punch him and his sorry face hard but I stopped myself at the last minute when I saw who he's with..." Another pause. "Em, the girl... It's Maggie."
I felt like the whole world has stopped right in front of my eyes. Maggie... and Jake? Was I wrong to entrust my feelings to him? And was I wrong when I thought I saw a genuine person in Maggie that's why I chose her to be my friend? I hardly ever let people into my life since I know that most people just come and go but, how come when I find someone I can trust, that's when they start betraying me? I don't know when it started but I just felt tears––lots of them––were streaming down my cheeks. I made no attempt at wiping them away. Is it possible to feel a lot of emotions all at once? I feel mad, helpless, embarrassed, betrayed, hurt, and stupid.
"Hello? Em? Are you still there?"
I stayed silent. Staring into my dashboard while quietly crying is not something I want Andrew to know that I'm currently doing.
"Damn it, Em? Where are you? You're worrying me again. Please, please just tell me where you are." He pleaded.
Still no answer from me.
"Emmy...tell me where you are. Please." The sudden change in his tone must've woken up my senses.
I started wiping my stupid tears. "I'm at the nearest grocery store's parking lot. Just go find my car." I sniffed. "Garfy? I need you. Please hurry."
He sighed in obvious relief. "Already on my way."
***
A few minutes later, I heard a knock on my window. I looked at who it is and saw that it's Andrew. Wow, he wasn't kidding when he said he was on his way. I opened the door and got out with the grocery list in hand.
I tried a smile and said, "So, are we ready to go grocery shopping?"
His serious expression suddenly turned confused. "Are you okay?"
"Well, yeah." I gave him a crazed. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"But I thought you said––"
"So, let's start grocery shopping so that we'd be able to finish early." I told him quite eagerly.
"Okay..."
"You push the cart while I grab the things on the list." I told him. "I want to finish early with this so I can go back home, rest a bit and prepare for tonight. I seriously don't get it why mom had to ask me to shop now when––"
"Em, you're blabbering." He cut me off, giving me a flat look.
I sighed. Guess I couldn't just pretend to forget what happening even just for a few minutes. "Sorry, Andrew."
He took me by surprise by putting his arms on either side of me, hugging me very comfortingly. "It's okay."
I shut my eyes to stop the tears from spilling as I hug him back. "Thank you."
"You know you don't have to pretend to be strong around me. I'm here for you." He started rubbing circles around my back which, of course, gave the undesirable effect of finally making me cry again. I gripped his shirt as I started crying at his shoulder.
After a few minutes, I finally managed to calm down. I don't even know why I'm crying like this. I mean, technically, I shouldn't because I have no right to do so. We weren't even officially together. It's just, I thought what I'd been feeling––what we'd been feeling––were real. Well, mine was as real as it gets. I don't know about his. I guess they were real at some point that's why he got me to believe in him...
I hadn't realized that Andrew has been holding the back of my head then combing and playing with my hair for the past few minutes. I slightly pulled away so that I can look at his face.
"You okay now?" He asked me, his eyes searching mine.
I nodded with a smile before completely pulling away from him. He raised an eyebrow once I did.
"People are already looking." I explained, subtly pointing at some of the people in the lot who were, in fact, staring at us.
He uncaringly turned to look at them and shrugged. "I don't care."
I chuckled at his rudeness. I kind'a find it cute that he doesn't care about anything as long as his helping a friend.
"We can ditch grocery shopping if you want. I'll just make something up to tell your mom why you didn't do what she said." He offered, wagging his eyebrows up and down. "Then we can go to an arcade or a fair, anywhere, just to keep your mind off... you know what."
I seriously contemplated his offer. I really, really want to just ditch this and go have fun with Andrew. I mean, that's what we're good at––having a good laugh with each other. But then again, if I take him up on his offer, then that means that I'm really affected by Jake. Plus, my mom really told me to do this.
Sighing heavily, I unwillingly shook my head. "I can't. As much as I want to, I can't."
He shrugged again. "Alright. Then I'll just help with the groceries and try to have as much fun as possible!" He started fist-pumping.
I laughed at his childish acts. "Let's go inside then."
***
"Stop bumping me!" I jokingly complained at Andrew with a laugh. At the most random moments, he'd bump the cart into me and take me by surprise.
"Hey, don't look at me." He raised both his hands away from the pushing handle of the cart, looking innocent. "The cart's deffective."
"If you keep pushing me, I might as well fall right in." I told him.
Instead of answering, he looked along our aisle and when he saw that we're alone, he turned back to me with a smirk. "You really shouldn't have said that..."
I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you––"
"Hey!" I shrieked with laughter as I felt myself falling into the cart and Andrew started pushing it with force. "Stop it! Andrew!"
"What's that?" He asked, "Sorry, I can't hear you..."
"Please, stop!" I said in between laughter again. "Garfy!"
All of a sudden, he pulled the cart to a stop, making me jump. I turned to look at him questioningly on why he suddenly started quickly listening to me. He usually never does. I almost sighed in relief when I saw that he was grinning at me, but then his grin started turning into a smirk.
"What did you just call me?" He asked with a dangerously low voice, still not dropping the smirk.
"Nothing, nothing!" I replied immediately.
"Oh," He shrugged, feigning indifference. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind that I do this..."
I cocked my head in question. What does he mean...?
"Ohmygod!" I shrieked in laughter again––him joining in––as he started spinning the cart in circles.
"Stop! Please!" I pretty much pleaded. "Andrew!"
"Nope. No way." He replied, sounding pleased with himself. "You deserve this after calling me that."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I immediately apologized. Seriously, I'd say anything just so he would stop this.
"Anything?" He suddenly asked, gradually slowing the pace of the spin. Huh, guess I thought out loud.
"Anything!" I promised. Boy, was I desperate.
"Say I'm the handsomest person you've met." He simply replied with a tone of challenge.
"No. No way." I quickly countered. Sure, I may think that he's very handsome but I don't intend on inflating his already-huge ego by telling him that.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, no? Okay, if you say so." He started spinning me again.
"Um, excuse me?" I heard someone clear their throat.
Fortunately, Andrew stopped the spinning completely.
"Yes?" He asked the young store salesman––probably about two or three years older than us––with an innocent face. How come he can easily fake a face? Here I am, still suppressing my laughter.
"Sir, this is a grocery store. Not a playground." He replied to him. Hm? How come he's only reprimanding Andrew and not me? "I suggest you help your pretty girlfriend off the cart before people might put this off as sexual harassment."
My eyes widened at his words. I quickly turned to look at Andrew and I can tell that he's getting annoyed at this guy. Sexual harassment? Seriously? We were only playing!
"I'm sorry, didn't know that I was sexually harassing my pretty girlfriend." Andrew coldly said to him, giving emphasis on the latter part.
The young salesman turned his head to smile at me, ignoring Andrew completely. "What are you still doing there, miss? Let me help you out." He started walking towards with arms out so I had no choice but to let him help me out.
At first, he had his right arm around me back and the other around my waist. But as he helped me step out of the cart, the arm that's on my back started sliding lower onto my bottom.
Andrew gripped his arm away from me just as I stood up beside him. "Keep your hands to yourself." He said to him, threateningly.
The young salesman raised his hands as a sign of surrender. "Sorry, dude. I just thought since she let you do that to her earlier, then I could give it a try."
"You asshole." And with that, Andrew punched the guy's sorry excuse of a face. And I'm more than happy to let him do it. How disrespectful of him! My fists clenched with anger as I watch the guy stand up, clutching his throbbing cheek in disbelief.
"What the fuck dude?!" He asked Andrew.
"You fucking pervert." Andrew spat back. Then he grabbed my fist, unclenching them and firmly grasping my hand. He gave me a once-over check and said, "Let's go."
I frowned. "Where are we going?"
"To their office and make sure that this asshole will lose his job faster than we get out of this shitty store." He said with so much venom that I almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.
The young salesman's expression turned nervous for his sorry soul. As we walked by him, Andrew gripped the front of his shirt. "And you are coming with us."
***
So, as expected, we got him fired right that instant. The manager was so furious at him and said that he's more than sorry that this happened in his store. He promised to give us free things and lots of gift card just so we could settle this with silence and don't press charges.
Well of course, I'm more than willing to accept those free things but Andrew, as expected, had a different idea. He's really, really pissed at the guy. I guess since Lynn raised him to be respectful, he took it seriously. Plus the fact that I––his best friend––was touched the slightest bit right before his eyes. I literally had to convince that I'm fine and that we should just settle this now 'cause honestly, I'm tired as hell and all I really want right now is to have snacks with him and relax.
I don't know why, but he seems to always do what I want. I mean, when things are serious––when he's not fooling around––he always listens to me. Why can't he say no to me when I'm asking him favors? Well, he did ignore my pleas earlier when he were spinning me. But we were just playing then...
I shook my head. I'm over-thinking again.
Well, at least now he's treating me to Starbucks. It's only four in the afternoon. We have more time than we need before our dinner at their house. He dropped the groceries––which we spent nothing at all–– under our table while he's currently standing in line, waiting for his name to be called and to be given our orders. And guess what, Caramel Frappe are both our favorites! What a coincidence?
"Wow, someone's smiling." Andrew teased, making me jump in my seat.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He chuckled, though he didn't sound that much sorry as he means to say. He took a seat at the one opposite mine. "Anyway, here's a Caramel Frappe Grande for the pretty lady." Pretty lady?
"Thanks." I told him, giving him a cheeky smile. "You don't know how much I'm craving for this right now... What are you doing?"
"What?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I just like to finish the whipped cream first."
"With your fingers?"
"Yeah, is that a crime?"
"Oh, not at all!" I said quickly, too quickly. "It's just that um, uh... I've never seen anyone do it like that."
He smirked at me first before saying, "Well, try it."
"Um..."
He chuckled at whatever expression I have on my face. "Try it, come on. Trust me."
The words Trust Me rang in my ears. They sounded really heavy when he always say them to me. They sound like a deep promise or something... Ugh. What's happening to me?
I realized that I've been staring at him and his beautiful hazel-brown eyes longer than necessary so I quickly looked away and tried to do what he was doing.
"You're right." I told him with a grin once I've tried licking the whipped cream off. "It does taste good."
"Told you so." He replied, a smug smirk playing on his lips.
I mentally smiled at how cocky he is sometimes. I really need to show him up and deflate his ego even just a fraction. Then, an idea formed in my head. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah..." He replied, sounding unsure and confused of my sudden change of reaction.
"Well then, how's this?" I quickly wiped my finger that's completely covered in whipper cream at his nose.
I smirked triumphantly upon seeing his shocked reaction. Ha! I finally took him by surprise.
Suddenly, his finger hooked the bottom of my chin, making me face him and at the same time, pulling my face closer. Our faces are now merely two inches apart. I can already feel his breath on my lips and I resisted the sudden urge to breathe them in. Wait, what am I even thinking? I was silently praying that he can't hear my raging heartbeat. His eyes never strayed from my face. He kept staring at my eyes with an intensity I couldn't understand. Then, he started leaning in closer and I did the natural thing; I closed my eyes. Just a split-second later, I felt something soft touch my nose. My eyes flew open and I was surprised to see that his eyes no longer held the intensity that I saw just a few seconds ago and was replaced with a mischievous glint. To top it off, he started shaking his head with his nose still touching mine. My eyes widened when I realized that he was wiping the whipped cream off his nose and into mine. I quickly pulled away from him and so he started laughing at me.
And while I was too busy frowning at him, he quickly flicked my forehead.
"What good would that do?" I mocked him.
He held up a finger at me while he was fishing out his phone. He then unexpectedly took a photo of me and started laughing again.
I gave him a weirded out look.
"You better wipe out that cream in your forehead." Was his simple reply.
My eyes widened in horror as my reached up to touch my forehead. And he's right. When he flicked my forehead, his finger was actually full of whipped cream. Man, Andrew played dirty.
"Are you done?" I asked him, since he's been laughing for a full minute now.
He held up a hand as he tried to subdue his laughter. "Wait, I'm almost done."
I gave him a flat look which, thankfully, made him sober up. "Why did you suddenly get so cranky?"
"I'm not!" Oops, that's probably not the right thing to say.
He started smirking again. "Now you're in denial?"
I sighed, trying to stop myself from snapping at him, and looked away from him.
He grabbed my hand that's on the table, making me completely look back at him. "Hey, Em. Don't feel bad that you lost our mini whipped cream game. There's always next time you know..."
I raised an eyebrow, a bit expectant.
"Unless you may never take me by surprise." He continued, shrugging.
In return, I pinched the palm of his hand.
"Ow!" He said, quickly pulling his hand away from my grasp. In return, I gave him a triumphant smirk. "Wow, you really are Little Miss Cocky."
"Thanks." I replied, not letting my smirk drop.
It's his turn to raise an eyebrow. "That's not a compliment."
"It is to me." I shrugged, feigning indifference.
I was about to feel proud of myself for not backing up on our little bickering when he started smirking pleasantly back at me. "Huh, didn't realize you were spending so much time with me."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Now you know how to retort to my teasing."
I then started smiling, pleased with myself. "Huh, you're right. Like you, I know how to say smart replies now."
Then he started laughing again. I immediately recounted back on what I said.
I blushed completely when I realized what I've said wrong. I know how to say smart replies now...
"When you're done laughing your head off, can you drive home with me?" I asked him, still a bit miffed and embarrassed at what I said.
"Sure, of course." His fits of laughter turning into chuckles.
***
"Thank god you're here." My mom said as I stepped into the front door. "Oh, didn't know Andrew's with you." She looked surprise when she saw Andrew step behind me.
"Well, yeah. Is it okay if––"
She cut me off immediately. "Oh, no, of course! I'm just surprised that's all. Hi Andrew!"
"Hi, Krista." He replied with a charming smile.
"C'mon in." She stepped behind to let us in. "Oh, Andrew honey. You can put those in the kitchen. I'll take care of them later." She was referring to the shopping bags.
"Of course." Andrew then walked to our kitchen.
"By the way, Em? Someone's waiting for you in the living room." She told me as we started walking towards the living room.
"Who?" I asked.
"Me." A familiar voice replied instead. I turned and saw that it's Jake. I stopped dead on my tracks.
Andrew then came back from the kitchen. "Hey, Em? I just put the–– Oh, shit."
"What are you doing here?" Jake and Andrew asked at the same time with so much anger.
---
Sorry for the long wait! :)
Quote of The Day:
There is nothing more painful than fighting for a person who decided to give up on you.