Loving You Secretly

A welcoming sight

Today's Tuesday and a very crucial day for me. It is still 6 in the morning and we are all awake and prepared for traveling back to province, whereas, I told Elle about our comeback but only two days later than today.

I can't hold my smile back. You know, just by imagining Elle's astonished reaction. What will she do if she sees me again and she isn't even prepared? Ya'know, she's not a type of girl we see in cities wherein they always wear classy. Elle is typically simple. She can wear whatever she likes, whether they are old or new or sexy or simple or manly. One time, when I asked her about it, she only told me that fashion is about our emotion, mood, and comfort; not wear to impress but to express.

She doesn't even care if her nails are dirty. She walks barefoot on the ground, sometimes feeling the soil and I often see her plant plants with her bare hands. Most girls do not even try to lay their hands on dirt. Elle's different and I like her uniqueness.

Checking all my belongings, I guess it's ready. I'm ready. Once again, I look at my appearance in the mirror. Wearing a black F&H fitted shirt with purple lining in my armholes paired with my tattered jean short and my pair of walk shoes, I feel relieved. This is simply nice and I hope Elle would like it when she sees me.

I walk over to my bed and carry my full-packed bag using my left hand and jog outside the house where our family driver already sits inside our black Honda CR-V, waiting for us.

When I open the door, I was greeted with glares. "Hey, what's up?" I simply uttered as I walk to my seat which is at the back.

"That's all you have to say after making us wait for you for half an hour?" my younger brother, Stephen, said as he continues to glare at me. I roll my eyes as I put my earphones while saying, "It's not my fault you didn't even take a bath bacause of too much excitement."

I saw him continued talking, maybe even uttering bullish words but the hell would I care as long as I don't hear whatever he says, I'm fine. I scroll to my music gallery and listen to whatever plays until I feel myself dozing off.

I don't know if there's an earthquake or what but it feels like the ground is shaking until, "Hey! Hey!" I hear a voice beginning to get louder and louder. "Wake up, you damn sleepy head. We're already here." a female voice.

The last sentence snapped me out of the dreamland. I simultaneously blinked and rose up from my position. "Ugh!" I only growled. My vision is still adjusting when I see my mom, shaking her head. "Your brothers were already inside the house, unpacking their things and yet here you are, just woke up. She sighed and left.

I began walking my way out of the car and grabbed my bag, grumpily. "Bro!" a sudden greet from Archie, my best friend, as he gets near me. He snatched my bag and led me inside our family house. We're finally in province. I can finally see Elle, I thought.

"Wear your jersey shirt. We're going to barangay hall, now, so change faster." he patted my back and pushed me inside my room. He leave me no choice but to follow whatever this asshole of a best friend says. Everything is going fast and my brain is still fuzzy about the sudden scenarios. Don't blame me. I just got awaken by my mom.

When I finish changing my shirt, Archie immediately excused me to my mom. Well, my effort on wearing my F&H shirt was wasted because just a minute ago, my best friend made me change into my favorite black jersey shirt which is printed with number 13, colored with purple and yellow lining.

We walked all the way to barangay hall which is 500 meters away from the compound and when we got there, the basketball court which is located in our barangay hall was already packed with players and audiences. "What's going on?" I asked and Archie's face changed to frown.

"Haven't I told you?" he asked, his face wrinkled as he tried to recall if he ever told me. "Oh, yeah. Sorry...I forgot to tell you. We're joining in the basketball competition and we're here to watch our future opponents.... "

As he continued to talk, I got puzzled. "When...how did I join the basketball?" I asked, curiously. He grinned and said, "I put your name on the list of our team, 'TIGERS'." then I looked at him, blankly.

We walked through the bleachers and found a space to sit. When I was about to text Elle, a group of noisy individuals came and went straight on the opposite side of the court. Since the opposite side of the court has no bleachers, they remained standing.

I think I know who they are... I kept on staring and saw a familiar face much as a welcoming sight. It was Elle. She wears a blue jersey shirt with black lining and is printed with her name and her birth date, and is paired with a black leggings cut just below her knee.

Her hair is tied in a ponytail. Looking at her, I found something unusual on her appearance—her bangs. I've never seen her with bangs before. I snorted and shook my head when I found it funny that she had messed with her hair again. She cut it the Egyptian way only that her bangs are too high it's already in her mid-forehead.

I kept on smiling as I remember the last time she did, she cut her hair making it look like an octopus. My girl really is something.

I tapped my phone and texted her, "Hi love, nice bangs." I guess, she received my text because she stopped conversing with the people she was with and looked at her phone.
Her eyes suddenly widened and her face pailed as she roamed her sight around until... she found me. Our eyes met and I couldn't explain how the time and the people around us seemed froze.

There was a chill on my spine, an unexplainable chill that I would love to feel everytime with Elle.