Get Back To You

Hearing Lillian Grey"s voice, Donna"s attention turned and saw the girl inside the kitchen. She kindly rejected her offer as the process is easy and not too tedious for having a.s.sistance.

"Uh-"

Lillian stammered and moved near the countertop and hopped to sit on it.

She saw Donna gut the fish and pulled out something black like a string in the back of the fish, and again washed it cleanly.

Donna then lay out a paper towel on the table and kept the fish aside to dry.

In the meantime, she looked for flour to prepare the pie crust.

"So, what"s going on?" Donna asked her casually.

"What do you mean?"

"High school is going to end soon, what are your thoughts?"

Donna queried.

"Donna, we still have a huge hurdle before that!" Lillian sighed.

"Exams?"

"Exactly! Final exams are approaching. All I can focus on is only that and nothing else," Lillian explained.

Indeed, the final exams are due next week. Hence, the students are struggling with their studies, trying to earn that credit.

"I"m sure you three will do well, don"t worry."

Donna"s words lifted Lillian"s spirits. She smiled.

"What I was asking was, how come none of you are in any relationship?"

The question startled Lillian, as she instantly jumped down from her position. She moved a little closer to Donna and stood next to her.

"Donna?"

"By any chance, are you worried about your son?" Lillian smirked, knowing Donna"s concern.

Diego"s mother had always been cool with her son. She never objected the boy to date and only expected him to be already in a relationship, which is not happening in reality.

"I could only worry as a mother," Donna groaned under her breath while she kneaded the flour mixture.

Suddenly her movements stopped, her both eyes landed on Lillian curiously staring at her. Alarmed by her move, Lillian Grey, retreated a little.

"What, Donna?" she asked, holding her breath. Something uneasy she felt in her stomach, a feeling she didn"t like it.

"What do you think of my Diego?"

Right away, Lillian got the feeling that Donna is trying to match Lillian Grey with Diego.

"Donna, you should know better than anyone, we"re best friends."

Lillian replied.

"But-" Donna"s interest fell.

"Not but"s- what do you think that I would fall for Diego?"

Lillian"s comment made Diego more gloomy.

"I mean- Donna! What I"m trying to say is that your son is all good, but he is-"

"He is- what?" - before Lillian could complete, Diego stepped into the kitchen as well, joining the rest.

Looking at his solemn expression, both the ladies stopped their conversation and continued with work.

Donna set aside the kneaded pie crust and went to collect the seasonings to add to the dried fish.

Meanwhile, Lillian Grey followed Donna closely as if she was her little helper.

"Finish your sentence-" Diego repeated, his demanding tone frightening the two who started to run into each other while trying to escape.

The two pretend like they didn"t hear yet Diego kept watching them.

"Lilly?" Diego called.

Lillian Grey turned, and saw Diego and yelped.

"D- Diego?"

"What a surprise?"

"How come you are here?" Lillian sounded as if she just noticed him.

"It is my home!"

"Ah- ah- right!"

Seeing Diego"s stoic face still wanting to know what went a few seconds before, Lillian couldn"t help.

She approached him, enveloping him around his shoulders, Lillian spoke,

"Nothing-"

"Your mother worries that you still don"t have a girlfriend!"

It is not like Diego didn"t know what they were talking about; he precisely heard them before entering the kitchen. He only wanted to see the response of certain someone about the topic. But, in the end, his expectation only got crushed.

"SO- why don"t you work hard in getting a girlfriend soon," Lillian expressed.

Feeling extremely shy, Donna waved her hand to signal the kids to leave the kitchen.

Both listening obediently left the place.

Only after they left, did Donna breathed.

She peeked outside to see Lillian still clinging onto Diego on arms. Watching them together, Donna let out a relieved smile.

She shook her head and went to finish the pie.

Adding the seasonings, along with lots of b.u.t.ter, Donna filled the pie with the seasoned fish and added shallots, bay leaves, and more b.u.t.ter.

Closing the pie and carving those marks for letting the air out, Donna placed the dish onto the oven and set the timer.

While the pie was cooking, Donna cleaned the place neatly.

***

Outside, Lillian Grey dragged Diego to the backyard.

There was a basketball spot to play, Lillian picked the ball, and started to shoot. Her first try failed, but as she kept trying, Diego joined as well.

Within seconds, Diego did a three-pointer with ease.

Lillian likes to play but is never a good player while Diego played a lot with his dad as well as cla.s.smates.

"Show-off!" Lillian cursed under her breath.

Diego continued as if he didn"t hear it and scored a second point against Lillian Grey.

His movements smooth and graceful. Soon, it became a compet.i.tion between the two. Without backing out, both of them started to play harder, going up against each other. Their faces lit up in the game spirit.

When it comes to competing, Lillian Grey and Diego would instantly become opponents and play their roles, fighting hard to earn a win. Ever since childhood, these two were the same, only Anna will be the one who stood out and eased. Naturally, the other two excluded Anna for not having a fighting spirit and began to compete only against each other as if in the end there is a trophy awarded to the one with most wins.

That is why it is easy for these two to jump into a contest within seconds.

...

With a score of 20-11, Diego won, the two drenched in sweat fell on the ground.

"You should be playing for the school team!" Lillian said while panting hard.

Diego remained quiet as he too was breathing audibly.

Regardless, Lillian spoke.

"If you played for the team, then it would have been easy to get a girlfriend."

Listening to Lillian"s comment, Diego"s brows twitched.

"Do you think I should get a girlfriend?" he asked.

"Of course, you can"t hang out with us forever, right?" Lillian remarked.

"Why not?"

Lillian stared at the twilight sky, squinting her eyes to spot the stars. When she found one, her smile beamed.

"Why can"t I stay with you- guys forever?" Diego asked once again.

"Because we have our lives to live, we"re not going to be kids forever."

"You should enter the dating game too, Diego!" Lillian advised.

"..."

"Lilly?"

"What- What do you think of me?" Diego asked out of nowhere.

Turning to see his sweat draining face, Lillian stared at him intensely.

Diego almost regretted asking the question as her stare began to stir him up inside.

"You are handsome, in a way-"

"More than that, you care a lot, Diego!"

"You do care about the people in your life, so whoever that girl is going to be, she is d.a.m.n lucky to have you."

Lillian"s words almost attacked the guy, hugging his knees, Diego hid his face inside, refusing to reveal his secretly appearing happy smile.

A few seconds later, he lifted his face to see Lillian, eyes closed, in an exhausted state, she rested.

Confirming that her eyes closed, Diego moved closer to her and reached her face. With only inches away, he stared at her face closely.

Her not-so-lengthy, not-so-thick yet sharp eyebrows, her greek-nose, the sweat dripping on her cheeks started to dry but still giving her moist look, and finally her wet lips.

He skipped her eyes fearing that it might open anytime, restricting him from gazing at her striking features.

As soon as his eyes landed on her lips, Diego felt his heartbeat increase; his whole body trembling against her and slowly heat rising inside of his system.

Just then, feeling a presence on top, Lillian Grey opened her eyes instantly. Startled from the sudden closeness, Lillian jerked up, b.u.mping into each other"s heads as she stood up.

"Are you hurt?" Diego called out immediately reaching out to her.

"No- just- Man, what were you doing?"

"Don"t scare me like that!"

Lillian Grey grumbled in pain from the crash. She reached out to the spot where she got hit and caressed it to ease the ache. She glanced at Diego in awe, expecting answers from him.

However, Diego did not react and only stood up to smack Lillian on her head.

"Loser!" he said and walked back inside.

Not bothering about it too much, Lillian Grey followed him to the house.

Just in time, Donna called them in for dinner. Diego and Lillian Grey sniffed the delicious aroma of the pie filling the air all inside the home.

"Wow, the pie"s ready, let"s go eat it!" Lillian jumped in joy as she dashed to the dining room, following the smell.

Diego"s still racing heartbeats began to ease as he watches her go.
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He didn"t intend to follow her and went upstairs to his room to cool down a bit.

Diego felt odd himself, for his concealed feelings started to leak and take a new form. He, himself, felt scared of it. To calm down his emotions and become the usual self, he decided to stop at his room.

***

Donna"s special dinner tonight became a feast as the Eberto family along with Lillian Grey enjoyed the delicious Lamprey Pie.

As usual, Donna packed some leftover for Lillian"s father, Edwin Grey.

Diego walked her out after she said goodnight to the family.

"How was the food?" Diego asked naturally.

"Did you not see me get that excitement back then at the table?" Lillian Grey worded.

"Donna"s cooking is indeed the next best to my dad"s," she noted.

Diego chuckled.

He knew no matter what, to Lillian, her father"s cooking stays on top forever. He didn"t say anything and kept walking her out.

"Thanks for the lovely dinner I enjoyed it." Lillian greeted.

"You"re welcome," Diego responded as each shared a bow.

"Oh, I wish to bring Giselle sometime, to taste your mom"s cooking. She would love it too," Lillian remarked.

Diego"s facial muscles stiffened from the comment. A raging fire burned inside him, specifically in his heart he felt a twinge.

Without replying to her, Diego only nodded, forcing out a smile to act naturally in front of her.

Despite his efforts, all he managed to receive is that Lillian Grey wished to bring Giselle with her sometime. The lightened mood transformed into a hurricane for the boy. Regardless, he maintained his composure.

"Alright, goodnight Diego!"

"See you at school tomorrow!"

Lillian Grey signaled as she walked out. Diego watched her silhouette disappear into the dark. Standing there for a long time, Diego appeared to be in turmoil; his mind clouded and heart heavy as thousand tons of weights placed on top of it. He refused to head inside and stood under the night sky. He appeared to be thinking so hard.