Scarlet Strings of Love

Chapter 17: Förälskad

"God is such a cruel god for making you so wonderful, and for making me so weak."

—Sade Andria Zabala

"There are 7 stages of love you're likely to experience as you fall in love for someone: (1) Inception. It is when someone begins to have a special meaning, it is when they start to be important in your life, and you then begin to focus solely on them. This is known as salience."

He remembers the first time he saw Orange. Grade 7 sila noon. They didn't interact much because they were in different classes so he didn't pay much attention to her. They were close to Austin so they were almost always seeing each other. Still, they didn't interact much.

"(2) Intrusive thinking. In this stage your interactions with the person you love keeps replaying in your mind (conversations, texts, and even gestures to each other.). At first it only comes occasionally, but then it starts to become obsessive. People actually spend 80 to 100 percent of their time thinking about the person they love. They also tend to have trouble focusing on their work or school."

When they were in 9th grade, their interactions started to increase, and Laurence found himself replaying every single one of them. If he didn't have control over himself, his grades would've been affected greatly. But then he also realised that he already had feelings for her.

"(3) Crystallization. Normally, people would look at you differently when they find out about your faults, but if it is the person you love, a person tends to dismiss them and still love them."

Orange was aloof and didn't care about whatever rumors people created about her. She either handles it herself, or tell the teachers about it. Some people didn't like that she's brutally honest and intimidating, too. Nahuli niya si Orange isang beses noong grade 10 sila na kinakausap ang mga babaeng nagsimula ng issue tungkol sa kanila ni Austin.

"I'm not stupid, you know," she had said. "Kapag may malalang issue tungkol sa akin I don't go into a blind rage. I try to deal with it first, I find connections, the root of the problem, and when I find it I crush it."

"Alam niyo, kung ako sa inyo, hindi na lang ako makiki sawsaw sa mga problema namin. Ano ba ang alam niyo sa akin? Ano ba ang alam niyo kay Austin? Ano ba ang alam niyo sa mundo?"

Nang hindi nakasagot ang mga babae ay nakita ni Laurence ang mga kamao ni Orange na handa nang manapak.

"I heard bagsak kayo sa English, Math, at History," she scoffed. The girls flinched. "Ang bobo niyo sa pag-aaral pero pagdating sa kalokohan napakatalino niyo. Don't expect na makakagraduate kayo ng high school. Wala kayong mararating sa buhay niyo kung puro tsismis at kung ano-anong katarantaduhan ang ginagawa niyo."

"A-ang sama mo naman! Parang tsismis lang," sabi ng isang babae.

"Masama? Ako? Talaga ba?"

"Bahala ka na nga sa buhay mo! Akala mo kung sinong maganda!" sigaw ng babae at umalis na sila. Kumaway si Orange sa kanila para lalo silang maasar. The next week, nalaman nina Laurence na sinabi ni Orange sa mga teachers ang tungkol sa pangongopya ng mga babae. Nakita nila na totoo ito at nasuspend ang tatlong babae. Strict pa naman ang teacher nila sa history kaya ng hindi sila nakapasok sa klase niya, nakatanggap sila ng mababang grade kaya inulit nila ang buong school year.

"Grade 11 daw ulit sila," balita ni Austin sa kanila.

"That's really rude of her," sabi ni Anne. "She should have forgiven them."

"Well, the rumors were pretty harsh so they deserved it, too," Austin said. "Plus they actually cheated. It's not like she just made it up."

"I think she should have just let them."