Trials End

Chapter 71

RAVE POV

A girl is waving the flag in front of us. Ginalaw na rin ni Earl ang kambyo at pinapatunog ang kotse. I held on to my seatbelt.

I heard the starting pistol.

That's the moment Earl let his car fly. Bukas ang bintana kaya ramdam ko sa hangin kung gaano kami kabilis.

He's steering the wheel while chuckling. I looked in the mirror and I saw that his opponent was behind us.

"Earl! Try delaying him on the curve then step in your gas!" I shouted.

"A-yay, hon." He followed my instructions.

I saw the car behind us trying to overtake us but sorry dear, the curve is coming.

"I'll step on my gas!" Earl shouted at mabilis na pinaharurot ang kotse niya.

The gap is widening because we keep delaying him and I'm here of course. I'm the lucky charm here.

"Straight." I mumbled.

"I'll drive as fast as I can and block his way if he tries to overtake." He said.

He shifted the gear and stepped on the gas. We both looked at each other and laughed.

We won the race.

Pinaikot ikot ni Earl ang kotse lagpas sa finish line at bumubusina. Tawanan lang namin ang maririnig sa loob ng kotse. He gave me a peck on my lips while he's steering the wheel.

He stopped the car at tumalon palabas. Maraming lumapit sa kanya at pumapalakpak. He went to my side at tinulungan akong makababa ng kotse.

"Congrats!" His opponent high-fived Earl. With the help of the lights, I can see his face clearly.

Handsome as fuck.

Earl chuckled. "Nice race, nice race."

His opponent looked at me. "Kaya naman pala, may lucky charm."

Earl's hand on my waist tightened. "Hindi mo pa ba siya kilala? I brought her here last time."

The guy shook his head. "Hindi ata ako pumunta non." Yeah, hindi ko rin siya nakita non.

Earl nodded. "This is Rave." Nilahad ko ang kamay ko sa kanya.

"J" He accepted my hand. We shook hands habang at nag uusap na sila.

I fixed my gaze to J, trying to figure out this man.

"Let's go?" Earl looked at me.

I nodded.

Pumunta kami sa loob ng hall and cheers from them echoed. They gave us wine at pumunta kami ni Earl sa gitna. We sat on the leather couch while Earl's hand was resting on my back.

"Do you want snacks?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "Hindi na, okay na ko sa drinks."

"Okay, just tell me. Ako na kukuha." He answered then pulled out his vape in his pocket.

I nodded.

We talked about bars, races, cars and motorbikes. Panay ang hampas ko sa kanyang dibdib pag sinasabi niyang kaya daw niya akong durugin.

"Sure ka dyan? Baka nalilimutan mo natalo kita sa billiards." I mocked him.

Binuga niya ang usok na nasa bibig niya, smells like strawberry.

"Parehas tayong hindi marunong non, kaya nakalamang ka." He chuckled.

He raised his wine glass. "Gusto mo hard?" He asked.

I smirked. "Why not?"

He stood up to get us more drinks. I picked up my phone to send a message. I searched for Aiby's name.

To Aiby: I might get drunk. I'm with Earl tonight. You can pass the gate by mentioning Earl's name.

I pinned the location and sent it to her. I can handle my drunk state and I trust Earl. Baka lang na parehas kami malasing at may mangyaring masama samin. I don't trust the people here.

"Shot?" Earl raised his shot glass.

I lifted mine. "Shot." At ininom namin ng sabay.

He chuckled. "Come on, ano, yan lang kaya mo?"

I scoffed. "Ayaw mo talagang magpatalo noh?" He's always like that. Ayaw magpatalo sakin kaya lagi ako inaasar.

I looked at the bottle, naubos na namin ang isang bote.

"Isa pa, puno." Sabi ko sa kanya after drinking my shot. Tss, wala pang tama, para lang akong nag wine.

Humalakhak naman siya. "Here, shot mo na puno." He poured me a drink.

Pagkatapos niyang iabot sakin ang shot. I immediately drank it while looking at him, he's biting a lemon.

I saw how the droplets of the lemon traced his jaw to his neck. He inhaled on his vape at binuga ito kaya litaw ang amoy ng strawberry.

"Aldo and Keith are heavy drinker like me pero hindi lagi umiinom si Keith. Ivo, Ayer and I are the party guys so they're used to drinking. Claud always invite us for a drink pero siya ang mauunang malasing." Kwento niya habang pinaglalaruan ang baso sa kamay niya.

He chuckled softly. "Fabian, that Fabian keeps nagging us ano daw ang masarap sa alak. Tumitikim naman siya lagi pero panay angal naman. Graig is the best for beer pong, that fucker, kay Ayer pinapainom lagi ang alak dahil ayaw daw niya malasing."

Tinawanan ko siya. "Miss mo na sila? Drunk already Earl?"

He looked at me, still smiling. "No, it's just, they're my drink buddies."

"What about your girls?" Tanong ko.

"Hmm, we drink for 2 shots and they're already hugging me." He smirked. "Half naked."

We keep drinking and drinking at panay ang asar namin sa isa't isa. Pag may napapadaan na kaibigan niya ay panay ang kantyaw nila.

"Higher or lower?" He asked me habang nakababa pa ang isang baraha.

We're playing in between while drinking.

I drank my shot. "Lower!"

He flipped the card at tama nga ako. I stuck my tongue out, mocking him.

He leaned closer to me. "So you want it lower, hon?" He's using his damn sexy voice.

"How about we change the questions? Harder or softer, hon." he asked me while his lips were already an inch away from mine.

I smirked. "You already know it."

He looked away and inhaled on his vape. He claimed my lips and let the smoke on his mouth travel to mine.

Strawberry.

I was ready to make it deeper but fake coughs from other people made us stop. I looked at them and my eyes widened.

"Oh." I cleared my throat. Damn, I didn't expect they're both fucking here.

I waved my hand. "Hi, Aiby." She looked at me and smiled.

I looked at the man who's wearing a hoodie. "So Keith, may lakad ka dito?" I asked him while he's still staring at Earl.

He glanced at me. "No, Earl sent me a message." He pointed to Earl.

"Ikaw, Aiby?" Earl asked Aiby.

"Well, uh, Rave also sent me a message." Aiby pointed at me.

When we realized what happened, we all laughed. We invited them to join us and offered them drinks. I gave my iced tea to Aiby 'cause I know she won't drink the wines.