The sun was starting to set as Sheila and Hanaria walked side by side. Their laughter echoed in the quiet streets as they talked about what had happened yesterday.
"I still can't believe you had to babysit an actual baby with Alexis!" Sheila laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Yeah," Hanaria chuckled, "It wasn't all that bad though, Mika was really cute, and Alexis did a good job. Well, except when people kept calling us a 'cute family'." she muttered,
Sheila gasped, "A family!? Oh my god, Alexis's face would've been priceless! How did he handle it?"
Hanaria chuckled, "Poor guy. Everytime someone called us a 'cute family', he looked like he just wanted to crawl up into a rock."
"You sure that's all there is?" Sheila nudged, "You two looked pretty cozy, sleeping on Alexis's shoulder."
"H-how did you know!?" Hanaria asked, caught off guard, her cheeks slightly turning pink from embarrassment.
"Let's just say.. a little birdie told me." Sheila teased,
"Was it Alexis!?" Hanaria asked accusingly, "If he did I'll—"
"Relax, you really think Alexis would openly share his little lovelife with us?" Sheila laughed as they reached the entrance of the cafe.
"I guess.." Hanaria muttered, "Well, I'll go fetch my wallet now so we can buy a Filipiniana for next week's event."
Sheila nodded, "I'll wait inside,"
Hanaria waved before jogging off to her house while Sheila went inside to find a place to sit. As soon as she looked back at the entrance, she saw a familiar face– it was Zoe, heading in her direction.
Sheila could feel her heart skip a bit as she covered her face with the menu,pretending to be absorbed in reading it and straightening the bangs on her face.
"Oh hey, Sheila." Zoe greeted with a casual smile.
"H-hi Zoe," Sheila replied, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "How was Taekwondo practice?" she stammered, trying to act natural.
"It was great actually," Zoe answered, continuing to talk but then something had caught Sheila's eye. Sitting at the corner was no other than Alexis, bowing down and scrolling through his phone. He was wearing black oversized square glasses, with his usual aloof demeanor.
"Wait a minute," Sheila squinted her eyes, looking at Alexis's direction.
"Hm?" Zoe raised an eyebrow before following her gaze, "What are we looking at?"
"Alexis." She muttered, "Alone.. In a cafe.. Hmm.." she thought to herself.
Before Zoe could respond, the door chimed again as Gabrielle entered the cafe with her usual radiant smile, her bright presence pulling the attention of several customers. She waved at Alexis, making her way to the corner where he sat, sliding the chair towards her before sitting down. Sheila's mouth dropped as she watched the two of them interact, her imagination spinning wildly.
"No way," Sheila hissed as she pulled Zoe's arm, behind a potted plant. "Alexis is cheating on Hanaria!"
Zoe blinked, "Uh.. pretty sure Alexis and Hanaria aren't dating–"
"Details, details! The point is, he's still betraying her! This is classic cheater behavior. I knew there was something off about that guy!" Sheila waved her hand dismissively, peeking over to spy on them, "Wait.. Isn't that girl the president and electric guitarist of the Music Club!?"
"Um.. pretty sure they're two different people–" Zoe corrected.
Sheila shook her head in disbelief, "Just look at them! He's meeting with Gabrielle in secret! It's totally shady!"
Zoe chuckled slightly in amusement, before playing a long, "Okay, let's just say, for argument's sake, Alexis is 'betraying' Hanaria... don't you think we should have some solid evidence before we start accusing people?"
"Oh I'll get evidence alright!" She peeked over, trying to spot some romantic gestures. Their voices were too low for Sheila to catch, "One day, he hangs out with Hanaria, and now, he's meeting with another girl!?"
Zoe looked at Gabrielle who was showing him something on her phone, their interaction was nothing romantic at all.
"Shh!" Sheila shushed, pulling Zoe back down as Alexis and Gabrielle stood from the table, "That little– cheater, cheating on my best friend right in front of me!" her eyes narrowed.
Gabrielle then bid goodbye and walked out of the cafe.
"That's it, I'm giving him a piece of my mind!" Sheila huffed, standing up from behind the potted plant.
Zoe then grabbed her hand before she could walk towards Alexis, "Wait, Gabrielle's just–"
Zoe paused as Hanaria entered the cafe.
"Hanaria! you won't believe what I just saw!" Sheila exclaimed, holding her hands dramatically. "Alexis is cheating on you!"
Hanaria blinked in confusion, "Cheating? Sheila, Alexis and I aren't even together—"
"That's not the point! I saw him with Gabrielle acting so lovey-dovey! From now on I'm no longer a Hanalexis shipper! You should've—"
Before Sheila could finish, Hanaria and Zoe bursted out laughing, "Sheila.. Alexis and Gabrielle are cousins!"
"Wait what?" Sheila blinked, completely thrown off.
Just then, the cafe door chimed again as Gehlai walked in, wearing her usual baggy shirt and jorts. She then spotted Zoe wrapping her arms around her shoulder with a grin.
"Hey Zo, Hanaria, what's up?" Gehlai asked, not noticing Sheila's confused stare.
Sheila's mouth dropped again as she glanced back at the door where Gabrielle had left, then back to Gehlai, "Wait, didn't you just leave with a completely different outfit a second ago!?"
Zoe and Hanaria then bursted out laughing once again, as Hanaria patted Sheila on the back, "This is Gehlai, Gabrielle's twin sister."
"Twin!?" Sheila's eyes widened in shock, "I really need to do my research on this family.." she slumped back into her seat in defeat.
"Mmh, Gabrielle is the sweet one, president of the music club. While Gehlai is the cool one, electric guitarist of a band." Hanaria explained, "Gehlai, this is Sheila."
"Nice to meet you, Sheila." Gehlai chuckled, extending her hand.
Sheila shook her hand, still absorbing what she learned, "L-likewise."
The group erupted into laughter at Sheila's reactions. Even she couldn't help but crack a small smile as she remembered how she completely overreacted a while ago.
