Bubble Tea

Reminders of him

Song for the chapter: 1 step forward, 3 steps back by Olivia Rodrigo

Andres' POV:

Audrey left, and my mum started with her weird questions again, "She's such a sweetheart. Tell me Andres, don't you like her? I think she'd be a good girlfriend, right?"

"Mom, please! She just left. What if she hears all this? You're embarrassing me!" I replied, and before she could say something else, I headed towards my room quickly.

I laid on my bed, and I was smiling a little too much today. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard, and that too with a girl. She's so fun to be around. Her cute little giggles are ringing in my head constantly.

But suddenly, someone else's giggles made their way to my head—someone's cute smile, their silly jokes, all the fun we had. All these memories kicked back, and you guessed it right, it was Nicoli who made his way right back into my head.

FLASHBACK

It was the first day of coaching class when we were freshmen, and I sat with Harley. After a week, he came to the coaching dressed up in a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and white Jordans. You ask how I remember? How can I ever forget about the first time I saw him? He was looking so good. He sat in the middle row. Edvin sat beside him, and after 2 days, I discovered that they're sort of besties now!

As time passed, Edvin introduced me to Nicoli. He shook my hand. I felt a spark whenever we were close. I don't even know what happened to me, but when I was near him, my heart started to beat a little louder. I felt myself being flustered with all his actions. But all of this was very new for me. It confused me at first, but the confusion started to fade away as we became friends.

The four of us became inseparable—me, Edvin, Nicoli, and Jeremiah. Girls called us the "IT Boys". We all hung out together all the time, whether it was going to cafes, parties, hosting parties, or doing pranks. We were always together. Although I liked all my friends a lot, I liked him a bit more than the others, and soon after, we became besties.

My family went on a vacation to Hawaii for the summer. I requested my mum to please convince Nicoli's family to send him on vacation with us because his family was busy and they weren't going anywhere. My mum talked to his parents, and thankfully they said YES.

Me and Nicoli went shopping together. We purchased stuff for the beach, clothes, new sunglasses. We even packed our stuff in matching suitcases. The next evening, we picked him up from his house and went to the airport in my car—me, my dad, my mum, and Nicoli. It felt so perfect. Mum and dad treated Nicoli like he was a part of the family.

We both sang songs in the backseat of the car and made funny snaps of each other. Soon we reached the airport. My dad parked the car and took out our luggage. There was still time left for the flight, so we went shopping, clicked so many pictures, and went to Starbucks. Soon after, my dad called us and we checked in.

We boarded the flight. It was a business class, and I must tell you it was a luxe experience. The flight was going to be long. Me and Nicoli were sitting side by side. We made snaps again, talked, and cracked silly jokes. Then the air hostess came to serve food. After she went to serve other passengers, Nicoli commented that the air hostess was so hot! I felt a little uneasy but agreed with him anyway. The food looked yummy, and we dived in.

The flight landed smoothly, and then we met someone from the trip planning agency who would be taking care of us. Along with him, we got in the car and reached our hotel. It was a 7-star luxe hotel. Me and Nicoli were going to share a room, and it was a beach-facing room. The view was to die for.