OUR STORY✔️

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: FOREVER YOURS

During rehearsals, phones are not allowed in the theater. So Angel couldn't get a hold of Tristan since morning and he's been stuck on her head. It was finally lunch time and she hurriedly reached for her bag to check if there's any messages or calls from Tristan and fortunately there was.
"Girl, you are head over heels" Clarissa says, sipping the water in her hands. Angel didn't even bother to reply because she was busy reading the text. "I'm sure very soon she'll stop hanging out with us and maybe even move to California. Who knows?" Zhilan says, pretending to cry. Angel laughed at what she said. "Guys. You hurt me. Come on! There's no guy that can ever come in between us and you know this. We have a bond. Sorry, I'm just so eager to hear from Tristan'' she explained. "Why? I mean you guys were with each other like 5 hours ago. So what is it?" Clarissa asked, staring at her suspiciously. Angel tried to hide her expression but the stares she was getting from the both of them felt like daggers. "Geez! Fine. Don't murder me with your eyes'' she gave up. "The truth is, I took your advice and I am getting my man. I've realized there's no need waiting for him to ask me out when I can just do that myself. So I'm gonna ask him to be my boyfriend today but I'm just nervous" she explains "Wow! Preach sister!" Clarissa shouts and the students look at her with the looks that says keep your voice down. Clarissa rolls her eyes at them then moves closer to Angel. Zhilan does the same thing. "Wow Angel. I am so proud of you. Like, I really am!" Zhilan exclaimed. "Yeah, hold that celebration for later. He just texted me that he wants to talk. Whenever someone wants to talk..." she quotes with her fingers. "...it is never a good thing" Angel sighed hopelessly. "Chill girl. You don't even know what she wants to talk about yet. So don't get so worked up'' Clarissa advised. Angel nodded and sighed afterwards. "Okay," she replied.

"Chop! Chop! Show me what you got!" Mrs. Joan shouts, clapping her hand. She gestured for everyone to resume their rehearsals. "Hey, it's fine. Just relax okay?" Zhilan assured Angel one more time before they head to the stage. "Thank you," Angel whispered with a smile.

Two hours later after the rehearsals. The girls were currently getting to their dorm, tired and exhausted.
"Damn! That lady is crazy. I've never rehearsed this long, my brains are tired, my legs are practically numb and I am starving!" Clarissa complains and hopped on her bed. "You me both. I am starving. I only had the pancakes Tristan made" Angel said, placing her bag on the floor. "Wow! He makes breakfast? I don't think he's real!" Clarissa exaggerates. "Wow! Peter only made me breakfast once. When I was sick, and in the hospital" Zhilan added. "Well, at least y'all got people making you breakfast. I can't even make myself a boyfriend" Clarissa jokes and they laugh. "Clarissa, you literally turn down every guy that asks you out. Your standards are just weird" Angel replied. "What? Have you seen those guys?" She shouts. "You have to give someone a chance before you condemn them, Clarissa. That's what relationships are about" Zhilan says. Clarissa rolled her eyes at them. "Whatever! I'm gonna shower then head out to eat but you can always invite your boyfriend to come over and cook for us, I'd love to see him cook" Clarissa jokes at Angel. "He is not my boyfriend," she defended. "Yeah, whatever he is. As long as he cooks, that's fine" they laugh at what she said.
They take turns to shower and get dressed. Angel's phone started ringing and the caller was Tristan. She picked and replied calmly. "Hey" she says first. "Hey, uh quick question. Do you wanna hangout or something? We can have dinner together and you could invite your friends if you want?" Tristan rushes. "Yes. That'll be lovely" she replies and before she could say anything else. "Okay. We'll pick you up in an hour. Bye!" And with that he ended the call. "Oh, bye too!" She says to herself. "Uh guys? Tristan asks if it'll be okay for all of us to have dinner together and I kinda said yes" she grinned. "That's totally great. Thank God because I was thinking of having cereal before we head out" Zhilan says. "Okay cool. They'll be here in an hour's time" Angel added. "They? Who's they?" Clarissa asks. "Nathan and Tristan," Angel replied.
"Oh hell no! I'm not having dinner with that annoying, obviously spoiled guy who doesn't know when to keep shut!" Clarissa rants loudly. "Okay...." Zhilan trails. "Are you on your period or something?" Zhilan looked at her. "I'll kill you right now!" Clarissa says with a plain expression. "It's just dinner. Not your wedding. Calm down! Nathan isn't as terrible as you think" Angel defended Nathan. "Now I know he's terrible. I'm not going. You go in without me" she objects. "Okay, how about we go together and if you don't like the way he behaves one bit then we'll return home. How about that?" Angel suggested and she looked at them for a moment before she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "Fine" "thank you" Angel smiled.
They got ready and soon it was time for their outing. Angel wore blue jeans, with a white turtleneck crop top and white sneakers. She put her hair in a messy bun and applied colorless lip gloss. Clarissa wore a short yellow skirt that stopped above her knees and paired it with a black tank top and cropped denim jacket, with medium length flats and braided her hair two half paths. Zhilan wore blue jeans, a blue tank top tucked in and a jacket that stopped below her butt and let her hair loose. She had invited her boyfriend to join the dinner earlier and so was expecting him.
Nathan was the one driving and immediately Clarissa saw him, she was beginning to have mixed feelings. He looked handsome as hell, but he's annoying too and wow his hair looked really soft she thought inside. She quickly shakes her head to clear off the strange thoughts. "Hey" Tristan greets Angel and then kisses her on the cheeks. Okay, she didn't expect that. She blushed cutely. ""Hey" she replies. Zhilan,Tristan and Clarissa and Nathan all exchanged greetings except for Clarissa who refused to say hi to Nathan. "Don't tell me you're still mad at me" Nathan speaks softly. Clarissa pretends not to hear him but deep down she loves his voice so much and he doesn't know why. "Hey" Nathan says, suddenly standing in front of her. She raises her head and meets Nathan. His green eyes captivated her and she just stared blankly. She studies his features and realized she never got to see him during the day except now and damn it. He is good looking. "Hey" she finds herself saying, calmly. "I'm really sorry for how I behaved last time. It was irresponsible and immature and I'm sorry" he apologizes.
No! No! No! This was not the plan! You're supposed to be rude and annoying, not sweet and this sexy her mind attacked. "Uh I'm sorry too." Her mouth disappoints her mind. "Friends?" Nathan offers her a handshake. She smiled and took it warmly. "Yeah" she added. Angel and Zhilan gave her the I-told-you-so-look and she rolled her eyes at them.
"Who did you say we're waiting for? Cuz I'm starving" Nathan whines and that made him look cute.
Great! Now everything he does looks cute? Clarissa's mind argued. "Oh he's here" Zhilan chirped like a kid. A blue and very beautiful Mercedes pulled over. "Wow! Zhilan. You never told us Peter was rich" Clarissa whispered so only she, Angel and Zhilan could hear. "Well, we never got to hang out together much I guess" she replied and quickly ran over to hug Peter. They kiss immediately. "Wow!" Angel mouthed and Clarissa looked at Zhilan with a proud look and held her chest. Angel laughed at them.
Peter walks over and they do the guy handshakes with each other then say hi to the girls.
Zhilan drove with Peter, Angel drove herself and Tristan. Clarissa was the only one left to drive with Nathan.
They headed to the spot and within a few minutes they were there. The rest chit-chatted on their way except for Clarissa and Nathan who didn't know what to say.
They ordered their meal and started eating. They made jokes and laughed a lot.
"I have to say, you really do know how to make a fashion statement" Nathan compliments Clarissa.
Oh! he just won her heart. "Well thank you!" She replied smiling ear to ear.
They ate, talked and laughed for hours. "Tristan, there's something I'd like to talk to you about" Angel starts. "Before you do, I'd like to tell you something too." He replied and Angel nodded.
He takes her hands and holds it firmly yet gently. The rest of the squad looked at them.
"After all we've been through, I never thought I'd see you again. But here we are three years later and honestly, I have not been able to stop thinking about you since the night of our reunion. You've been stuck up here..." he points to his temples using his index finger. "... I want to call you mine and me, yours. I want you to be my girl again. Remember when I told you I could make you mine if I wanted to?" He asks and the both of them laugh. "You had to take a gunshot for that" she jokes and they laugh again. The rest looked at them confused. "Well that's not true. I thought I could make you fall in love with me then but right now I am scared of you not loving me. Because I love you Angel and all I want is you m" he finished and Angel smiled heavily. "There's nothing I want more than that too" She threw herself at him and kissed him. They kissed passionately and the squad cheered them on.

*******
Two days later was Zhilan's birthday and unaware of what her friends had planned for her. It was a free rehearsal's day. Luckily for her. They asked her to get ready to just hangout and eat and have some drinks and she was excited for that.

As early as 6am, when Zhilan was still asleep, the girls started singing. "Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday, Happy birthday, Happy birthday to you!" Clarissa and Angel sing, waking her up. She wakes up very happy and surprised.
"Cakes? How?" She asked. "Well we might have a thing or two to do with you staying long at Peter's" Angel confessed. "I knew it! I knew he was behaving weird. Aw you guys are the best!" She replies with a sweet expression. They hug each other afterwards.
"Okay get ready we're taking you out. You'll eat anything you want. Bills on us" Clarissa says, swinging her hands. "Guys! This is too much already but I can't say no to free food so yay!" She sings and they laugh in sync.
By 12 noon, Clarissa was done with their makeup, and the dress she made for Zhilan was breathtaking.
She made a full length dress that brought out her curves, it was red, Zhilan's favorite color. The dress was sleeveless and had a single hand, from the knees down to the floor was flay and the rest was fitted. Clarissa made her hair in a one side braid that landed on her left shoulders, she wore killer makeup to top it all. She looked like a fairytale queen.
Angel wore a black gown that stopped just below her knees, short sleeves, with heels and packed her hair in a high ponytail. While, Clarissa wore a beige loose jumpsuit with wine long sleeves underneath. They looked breathless as usual and were ready to leave. Even though Zhilan felt she was overdressed for just an outing she still didn't suspect anything. Unaware of the surprise waiting for her. But it's her birthday and that's what birthdays are made for, Surprises.