The Beautiful Thing (Lucky Girlies #1)

TBT 90

"You're preparing something for me, aren't you?" I asked him. 

He looked at me with bewildered eyes, as if he was caught doing something illegal, something he was not telling me. Honestly, I just caught the thought of it when I saw his phone's lock screen lit up and above the photo of him I took for his wallpaper is a Messenger group chat notification called birthday bashers or whatever. 

The funny thing is it was Elle who was chatting. 

At first, I thought it was his friends or something related to family but when Mariezthreia, Riye Azaleah, and Deniel Nikkola appeared after Elliana Angelique something in my head clicked. 

"How did you know?" He stuttered a bit and I could feel his nerves spiking up. 

"You know what, love, you look like a cat caught in an act," I said without thinking. 

"What did you call me?" His mood changed like how fast supercars are. In a blink, he's gone from being shocked and nervous to amused and... flattered. His ears are in a state of bright red, his cheeks are bleeding colors reflected on his moisturized skin. 

"Nothing," I said. 

"No... you called me love! I heard it," He said while using his hand to gesture the whole thing. I like to see him worked up to these kinds of things. 

If he doesn't talk he looks like someone tall who doesn't care about people at all, especially because he wears his headphones often and he has his eyewear or sunglasses with him at all times. 

I chuckled at his behavior, "And what if I did? Is it bad? Am I not allowed?" 

"You... are. You are the only one allowed to call me that," he answered and smiled at me. 

I rolled my eyes at him, "Dalian mo diyan, may test pa tayong dalawa," pagbabago ko ng usapan. 

He giggled in a manly but gentle manner, "You called me love," pag-ulit niya pa. 

"Yes, I called you love, love. Now move on and finish our food, I'm full. May exam pa ako kay Doc ng four and it's quarter to four na," pagdadahilan ko. 

Anton siphoned, as in slurped, all the content from my bowl of udon noodles before looking up at me, "Done, baby," he said easily. 

Pinalo ko siya. 

Tapos pinalo ko pa ulit. 

Naisip ko yung last time he smoothly included the word baby in our conversation, ayun at napalo ko na naman for the third time. 

"Ano ba iyan! Hindi mo ako pwedeng bigyan ng cardiac arrest, hahanapin pa ako ni Doc. Nasa akin yung spreadsheet ng attendance," ngayon ay nagrereklamo na ako. 

Anton laughed at me, "Baby, namumula yung tainga mo, pati rin yung cheeks!" He pointed it out like he was a kid who had seen it for the first time. As if this is actually the first time he's seen a girl blush profusely at him or because of him. 

"Chato naman, e!" Sabi ko sa kaniya. 

I only call him Chato in person but most of the time I call him Anton in front of our friends. I feel like I can't share that with the world because I thought of it specifically for him. If a person, who is not me, uses it without his or my permission then I'm sure hell would break loose. I'm going to curse him before I curse her, I'm not kidding. 

He finished his drink in the glass served to him before he reached out for my water bottle. He opened it in one hand without so much hard work and drank on it like he usually does. I thought he'd be the LC kind but now that I'm thinking of it... maybe he's not.

"Mauna na ako, ah," pagbibigay alam ko sa kasama ko na kumain. He shook his head, "Hatid kita hanggang sa baba ng building, okay?" 

"Sure ka? Malayo pa naman building niyo from ours," sabi ko. 

"My exam's at seven, I still have three hours to walk, it's not like your building's in Luzon and mine's in Mindanao. This is no brainer," he lifted my leathered tote bag I bought from a known brand pati na rin ang laptop bag ko na may laman ng mga spreadsheets for attendance, reviewers, and my gadgets.

"Baby, these are heavy," sabi niya sa akin, nag kibit naman ako ng balikat. 

"I'm used to it, halika give me the laptop bag so I can help you," he tsked at me and rolled his eyes, "Kaya ko nga kinuha para tulungan ka tapos now you're offering to help me." 

"Silly, it's because you're not used to it nga," I reasoned out.

"This is easy, baby, I lift my whole gym journey for a reason," pagmamalaki niya pa.

Ako naman ang tumaray sa kaniya pero sumunod din sa paglabas ng restaurant na kinakainan namin malapit sa campus, "Baka nakakalimutan mo, you're calling me baby like you're free to call me it," pagpapa-alala ko sa kaniya. 

"I'll give you my card number, charge me for every time I call you baby, baby," sabi niya.

"If so, dalawa na kaagad yung charge mo," pag-sakay ko naman sa sinabi niya. 

He shrugged it off, "It's fine, baby, I have money for that."