"You look so beautiful Xhemin Lae""You look so beautiful Xhemin Lae"
"You look so beautiful Xhemin Lae"
"You look so beautiful Xhemin Lae"
"Okay fine, I know I"m pretty!"
I covered my face with my hands to wash away the emotions. His words echoed in my head over and over— it was giving me severe headache!
I looked through the gla.s.s window on my left and busied myself admiring the beautiful waves kissing the sand. The sky was clear and the sun was scorching outside.
I remembered those wonderful summers that me, Huzey and Ziggy spent on beach during our childhood years. How petty we had to grow up fast, our summers these days were spent on academic researches and trainings.
The team was on a seafood restaurant situated along the beach. This place was just few kilometers away from the university circle where we were staying. We were currently celebrating the success of Huzey and Ziggy"s performance.
The view was so refres.h.i.+ng it made me forget my recent predicament.
"What are you thinking?" Huzey asked me when he noticed that I was lost in my own train of thoughts.
"Err.. nothing.." His question crashed me back to reality. I turned to his side and realized there was only the two of us left sitting in the table right now. I wondered where Ziggy and coach went to.
"Not a convincing alibi." He let go of the newspaper that he was holding and stared at me with suspicion. He squinted his eyes while scrutinizing my expression trying to figure out if I was lying or not. Huzey knew me very well, and this time he knew there was something bothering me that I wasn"t telling him.
Huzey and I had been the best of friends, and there was nothing in this world we would not tell each other. This was the first time I felt hesitant to convey my thoughts to him. But the thing that was bothering me was quite complicated. Truth was I was dying to tell him yet, I didn"t know how to tell him these things. How could I convey something that I myself was having hard time deciphering?
"Have you ever been in love?" I asked in my attempt to confess the things running my mind.
"Why are you in love?" He asked in a straight face.
"I don"t know" I answered as I heaved a sigh. I looked at him with a tiredly gaze as I confessed my agony.
How can someone differentiate whether they are in love or if they are just having a system failure in their heart? The beast and I crossed the line earlier. We did something that we shouldn"t have done. The last time I checked, he was my nemesis. From what happened this morning, I didn"t know how to label him anymore.
"With that man?" He asked again.
I lowered my head as my face went red with embarra.s.sment. I did not respond and Huzey knew by then that the answer to his recent question was a yes.
"Do you like him?" He asked again as he pulled out the newspaper again and flipped through the pages.
"I don"t know"
"Do you like seeing him always?"
"I don"t know"
"Does he makes you happy?"
"I don"t know"
I was not lying to Huzey, everything between the beast and I confused me. I was feeling so helpless that I needed Huzey"s confirmation or opinion over this thing. This was what I usually do whenever there was something that I couldn"t figure out, I always sought his opinion. This time, I was dying for him to tell me what to do.
"So tell me Huzey am I in love?" I asked eagerly antic.i.p.ating his answer. I looked at him eye to eye and even moved my face closer to him.
"I don"t know"
He answered in a stoic expression as he flipped through the pages again. However, I saw his mouth curved an angle that he tried so much to contained. He grinned!
PAAAACK!
I managed to s.n.a.t.c.hed the newspaper from his hand and hit his shoulders with it.
This man! He already knew that I was desperately seeking out his opinion yet managed to laugh over my predicament.
"What"s that for?" He was still trying to hold his laughter when he retorted.
"You just repeated my answer!" I pouted in front of him showing my dismay.
"Sorry, last word syndrome!" He winked and looked at me with s.h.i.+ning eyes. He managed to keep a straight face for a minute before he let loose with a loud guffaw.
Since his expression was a bit contagious, a little later, our table was filled with both of our laughter.
"What are you guys laughing about?" Coach and Ziggy appeared out from nowhere in front of us. Each of them pulled a chair and seated themselves.
"What is it?" Ziggy demanded eagerly as if he couldn"t wait to join the fun. He reached out for the gla.s.s of water from the table and drank out from of it. I saw droplets of sweat from his head, I bet they took a stroll in the beach.
"Love" Huzey spoke without oddity in his voice, as if the thing he mentioned was an ordinary topic for us. I glared at him, feeling betrayed over such revelation!
"What! Cough…cough...cough…!" Ziggy almost fell from his seat.
"You okay Zigs?" I reached for the gla.s.s of water that he was holding, afraid he might accidentally let go of it.
"Why are you guys talking about love? Are you two having an affair behind my back?" He yelled as he pounded his chest with his hands.
"Why can"t we talk about love? Is it forbidden?" Huzey answered as if nothing unusual was happening.
"And do we need to have an affair to talk about it?" I responded sarcastically.
"Who by the way is in love?" Coach asked suspiciously as he looked at the two of us. His eyes were demanding an immediate answer.
"He"s gonna kill me if I tell you who" Huzey mercilessly exposed me.
"Huzey!" I yelled in rebellion. My best friend just betrayed me. I can"t believe this!
"She"s not only gonna kill you, she is also gonna throw your soul to h.e.l.l too!" Ziggy threatened him as soon as he recovered from his incredulity.
The three bursted into laughter. I blushed red in humiliation. I was the victim again for today!
"Whoever laughs will face death tomorrow" I threatened them when I realized how pitiful I was at the moment. These three boys were teaming up against me.
"Hahahahaha" They laughed harder when they heard me.
"Whoever laughs will turn into an ugly ogre"
"Hahahahaha" They laughed harder than before. They even exaggerated it this time.
" If you guys won"t stop laughing, I"ll EAT YOUR SHARE OF THE LUNCH!"
Silence engulfed the place. No one dared to laugh. The food threat was effective!
"Are you going finish even the chicken bones?" Ziggy asked with a teary eye. He was like a child being bullied by someone bigger than him.
"Yes," My voice was firm and my expression was icy. I meant every bit of what I said.
"Even the sauce?" He asked again anxiously.
"That too" I nodded hastily while crossing my arms.
"Won"t you spare even a drop of the drinks?"
"No"
"Are you going—"
"I"m going to eat everything in the table including the utensils!" I glared at them with a murderous look.
"Coach, she really is serious!" Ziggy grabbed coach shoulders as he yelled helplessly to him.
"Yes I know so be quiet now…. okay?" Coach encouraged him to be silent, afraid that one more cry from him will make the situation worst.
"I don"t want to die in hunger." Ziggy said sobbing in silence.
Few minutes after, the waiters served our food. The three boys had been so quiet in fear of my threat. They lowered their head and ate hurriedly as they could. They were careful and calculative of their actions making sure they won"t make any sound. I ate my share quietly, enjoying the silence. A silent meal rarely happens when we ate out together.
We were almost finished eating when Huzey spoke again.
"So Xhem do you already have an answer to it?"
"To what?"
"If you are in love with Mr. Lagdameo or not?"
I looked at Huzey in a madman gaze. I wished I was Cyclops so he would die instantly in my stares. I really did think I successfully ended this topic earlier. Guess I was wrong!
"You can eat the plate if you want" He intentionally showed me his empty plate. So he dared to defy me because he was already full?
Sh*t!
"Cough..cough…cough.." Ziggy faked a cough this time. He was amused of what Huzey did. His eyes were s.h.i.+ning bright, saying "it"s payback time!".
"Ziggy boy, I think you have a severe cough already. Do you want me to s.h.i.+p you to heaven right now?" I tried to threaten him again and gave him a sharp-laser look.
"No thanks! Why are you so mad? Huzey was just asking a friendly question and you are acting like a madman. Is that how a person who is in love acts?" He rolled his eyes at me.
"Ziggy. That"s really how it works. Because when you are in love your heart beats faster than normal, giving you intense feelings. That"s why Xhemin is so intense!" Coach said succinctly.
"Really?" The two boys turned their head to coach in unison. They look at him intently. Like me, the boys were stunned with coach"s love expertise. How come he didn"t teach these things to us?
"Coach, since it looks like you have some knowledge, why don"t you tell us a bit about love?" Huzey suggested. I think these guys were doing everything to keep humiliating me. They were enjoying themselves over my chagrin.
"Right! So the academy"s fee for you coach will be worth as well!" Ziggy said sarcastically.
PAAACK!
Coach hit Ziggy"s head without warning. I already had a feeling that coach will do that because of what Ziggy said.
"Coach! Don"t do that to my precious brain!" Ziggy exclaimed helplessly.
"Are you telling me I"m not a good coach?" Coach glared at him.
"Of course I was just kidding! What I meant to say really is that, why don"t you teach us these kinds of things aside from the strategies in the compet.i.tion. I think that will also help us too" He explained like a puppy in front of him while caressing his head.
"Coach I agree. I think that"s better so that we won"t be like Xhem. She seems to be having a hard time, look at those dark circles under her eyes!" Huzey now turned to me and pointed to my face. I covered my face immediately trying to avoid their scrutiny.
"Okay fine. Listen to me it"s like this!"
The boys leaned closer to coach as if they were discussing a secret strategy of the compet.i.tion. They were acting as if the matter was of high importance. Who were these boys fooling too? I knew they were just trying to annoy me.
I opted to ignore them and faced the window where the beach was. I intentionally sat sideways to convey that I was not interested in joining their silly conversation. Not at all!
"This is how you will know if you are in love." Coach heightened his voice. He was intentionally doing it so I would hear his explanation. I refused to give in and focused on looking at the beach.
"How?" Ziggy leaned further.
"Don"t put your mouth near me, I can smell your foul breathing. I knew you didn"t clean your teeth earlier"
"That smell—was the smell of the most expensive mouthwash in town today!"
"Really?"
"Yes, now tell us hurriedly!"
"Okay. First, you will know you are in love with the person when you cannot stand his gaze"
"Slowly coach, I"ll write it down!" Huzey who was joining the fun, intentionally took a paper and pen from his bag and wrote it down. Huzey was a serious type of person, but throughout the years of being with silly people like Ziggy and I, he kind of learned how to join the fun.
"For how long?"
"Ten seconds is the minimum. So if you are in front of that person, look at him in the eye and try counting from one to ten. If you can"t stand his gaze before the count of ten, then it means you are possibly in love with him!"
"Noted" Huzey responded and scribbled something on a piece of paper.
"Second. You will feel an electrifying feeling whenever you touch that person!"
"You mean you will be electrified? I didn"t know love can kill!" Ziggy thought for a moment.
"Silly child. I"m talking of a different electricity. It"s something that you feel running through your veins"
"Okay. Noted" That"s Huzey again.
"Third. If that person calls your name, your heart will jump!"
"Is it possible for a heart to jump?"
"Yeah I think!.. okay coach this is noted"
"Fourth. Whether you close or open your eyes, you will continually see his face"
"The fifth and the last. If you will not be able to see that person, you will surely cry out of loneliness. That"s it bow! " Coach exclaimed and crossed his arms confidently as if he was someone expert in this field.
I continually ignored them, but since we were on the same table, I heard every single word they shared to each other. After coach"s last words, the boys suddenly become quiet. I wondered what were they doing. I wanted to continue ignoring them but suddenly, I felt sharp gazes behind my back. I turned my head to look at them.
Errrrr! My senses did not fail me. They were indeed looking at me intently. They were like big gorillas eyeing a helpless banana in front of them!
"What now?" I uttered innocently.
"Have you tried looking him in the eyes?" Coach started the inquiry.
"Were you able to stand it?" Ziggy said as his eyebrows curled into each other.
"Did you feel an electric feeling when you touch his abs that night?"-Coach.
"Tell me how does a hurt jump?" - Huzey.
"Are you imagining his face when you are watching the ocean"s view? - Ziggy.
"Are you about to cry because you haven"t seen him for the last couple of days? - Huzey.
"Can you guys stop these nonsense!" I rose from my seat angrily.
These boys were really something! I clenched my fist and walk out. I knew these boys will not stop bombarding me with questions so I decided to escape their inquiries.
I ran towards the exit as fast as I can. I was really annoyed right at the moment, I can"t stand them anymore. My head hurts so much and they were making it worst!
"Guard! Don"t make that girl run away!" Ziggy shouted when I reached the exit.
Suddenly a huge man blocked me with his arms crossed. His built was so big and his face frightened me. I halted in an instant in fear.
"What is it this time?" I turned my back to our table and asked them, gnas.h.i.+ng my teeth in fury.
"We forget to tell that the meal is on you since we don"t have cas.h.!.+" Coach responded with a sneer and he looked away.
Ziggy was beside him whistling while looking at the ceiling while Huzey was pretending to be reading the newspaper again.
Toink!
I lowered my head out of frustration. I really can"t figure out why I had been a part of this team!