Distance

Teasing my rival

Yoko's POV

RING....

"Hello?" He answered

"Hey Bright, thanks for picking up! hehe" I called him because I was worried—I haven't been able to reach Faye and I'm not sure what's going on with her.

"Hi! How are you?" he asked.

"I'm good, thanks! By the way, have you been in touch with Aunt Faye?" I asked, feeling like I had no other option but to ask him.

"Yes, we spoke just before I answered your call. Why do you ask?" he replied, curiosity evident in his voice.

"She contacted me yesterday and said Happy Birthday and I was asking her about coming back in January for the Sinulog Fiesta. I tried reaching out for more details but couldn't get through, hehe" I said with an awkward laugh. I was preparing for this response because I knew he might wonder why I was asking all of a sudden.

"Well, just try reaching out to her again. The line might have been busy. Do you have any plans for the weekend?" he asked

 Crap! What should I say? I'm not interested in going out with him.

"This weekend? Oh, I'll be helping my brother with groceries," I fibbed. My call was about Faye, not him.

"Oh, I could help with that, especially carrying the bags!" he offered. I hesitated, unsure how to respond. I'll need to talk to my brother about this.

"Alright, um, I'll let my brother know and get back to you. Bye for now! Hehe," I said quickly and ended the call before he could say anything more.

Phew!

Maybe I'll try calling Faye again later tonight.

I scrolled through social media, hoping to see if she was online. As I browsed, I noticed the woman Faye approached a few days ago in my suggestion list. Her message request was still unread. I remembered that it came in right before my birthday. 

I had been waiting for Faye's call on that day and when I received a message request from someone I didn't know, I usually checked their profile before opening the message. When I checked her profile and realized who it was. I was annoyed and ended up contacting Bright again to ask where we'd meet for tomorrow's birthday date. I turned off my phone that night.

 Ugh!

I still haven't spoken to her since.

Ding! A notification.

"What time will you be going grocery shopping tomorrow?" Bright asked.

Ugh, I need to talk to my brother about this. I went to his room and knocked on the door.

"Oh, look who's here. Need something? hehe," he said with a chuckle as he opened the door. I  walked in without waiting for a response and flopped down on his bed.

"What's up?" he asked, sitting beside me.

"Damn! Bright is asking to join us this weekend, I just made an excuse to avoid him by saying we'd be going grocery shopping," I said. His face turned serious.

"So, what did you say?" he asked, looking concerned.

" Nothing, he offered to help with the bags and all, but I didn't know how to handle it," I replied. He seemed to be thinking it over.

After a moment, he patted my head and said, "Hmm, okay. Let him come with us."

"Aren't you upset? We still have plenty of supplies! Do we really need to do groceries? Or should I come up with a reason to keep him from bothering me? Haha, you know bro, I'm just not into guys," I said.