As they arrived in the city, they planned to eat at the mall, where they would also meet up with family members.
Rye had been quiet.
As Rye was busy taking in the sights of the crowded mall, Dwayne secretly stared at her.
"Pretty as ever," Dwayne murmured softly.
"Ano?" Rye asked, tilting her head.
"Wala, do you want to go watch a movie?" Dwayne asked, knowing it was Rye's favorite thing to do.
"Is that a joke? I'll be mad at you if it is," Rye laughed.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Dwayne said seriously.
"Tara na," Rye grabbed Dwayne's hand and started to pull him away, but Dwayne stopped her. He told his parents that they were just going to watch a movie.
As they approached the ticket line, they debated over which movie to watch. They finally settled on "Inside Out."
Dwayne asked Rye to wait right there while he went to get some snacks.
"Rye," Dwayne spoke.
"Hmm?" Rye was busy staring at their tickets.
"I'll just go and buy some food. What do you want?" Dwayne asked.
"Kahit ano," Rye said boredly.
"Okay ma'am," Dwayne said sarcastically and left.
When Dwayne left, someone suddenly appeared in front of her. It was the guy from the debate.
"Hi," the guy said.
"Hello," Rye replied.
"Boyfriend mo?" the guy asked.
"No," Rye said, as bored as ever.
"A friend? Bagay kayo, pero mas bagay tayo." the guy said. He laughed and then left Rye dumbfounded.
Rye stood there for a moment, annoyance simmering beneath her usual bored facade. The guy's words, though delivered with a laugh, had stung a little. She wasn't sure why.
Just then, Dwayne returned, a large bag of popcorn and sodas in hand and one mango graham ice cream, which is her favorite. He looked at Rye and showed what he'd buy.
Rye smiled and took the mango graham ice cream cause that's her favorite. Dwayne smiled at that scenario.
"Tara na?" Dwayne said. "The movie is about to start." He smiled, and they entered the room where the movie was being shown.
When they entered the cinema room, a girl suddenly approached them, but not both of them, only Dwayne.
"Hi, Babe," said the chubby girl. She looked young, cute, and had short hair. I looked at Dwayne and saw a flicker in his eyes, a mixed emotion perhaps? He looked at her the way he used to look at me back then.
"Hi, Marga," Dwayne spoke.
"Who are you with? You didn't tell me you were coming here, love. I should have been with you," the girl, Marga, said.
Rye was confused and didn't know what to say. A minute later, she finally spoke.
"Hi, uhh, Dwayne? Maybe I should go now. Thank you!" She immediately left, and there was no turning back. It really hurt her a little bit. She knew all along that it was just a casual thing between them because they were both legally committed to each other.
When she finally stepped out of the cinema room, there was the guy, Ethan. She ignored him and just continued walking.
"Hey Rye, wait," she heard him say, but she just kept walking and felt like running before she could even shed a single tear.
The guy grabbed her hand and said, "I'll take you home," Ethan said and led her away from that place.
When they were inside Ethan's car, he said, "Told you, he's a bastard," Ethan said. Rye just looked at him and remained silent, her eyes fixed on the view outside. It indeed hurt her, as many questions raced through her mind.
All along, she thought that Elly was Dwayne's new girl, but there were other girls too. He's really just a man, a disappointing one.
(PS. Exam and may mga PETA pa si Author kaya yan nalang muna, mwapsss, don't forget to treat yourselves guys!)
