Let It Be Me

2

"Tito Patrick, come with me! I'm gonna show you the toy Daddy bought me!" Before Patrick could say anything, Thirdy already pulled him to his play room. It was 7:20 PM and Patrick and the Manuel's just had dinner together. Min and Teddy, would always invite Patrick over to have dinner with them when all of Mikaela's siblings are home. Mikaela has a big and happy family, she has 1 older sister, Maine(26) and 3 older brothers, Matthew(19), Mickey(23), and Miguel(28), which Mikaela is closest to. Thirdy, or Richard Faulkerson III, is Maine and Richard's 4-year-old son.

"Bunso, sure ka bang di kayo ni Patrick?" Mikaela almost choked on the red velvet cake she was eating because of her Kuya Mickey's question. Her siblings had always been teasing the two of them because of their closeness, but only her Ate Maine knows her true feelings towards Patrick.

"Kuya, best friends lang kami niyan ni Trick. How many times do I have to explain sa inyo, na magugunaw muna ang mundo bago maging kami niyan." Mikaela laughed bitterly before finishing her dessert.

The evening went by like usual. After playing, Patrick went back downstairs to call his Kuya Richard to put Thirdy to bed. Patrick went straight to the kitchen to help out with the dishes. When he got there, he saw Ella and Maine wiping the plates dry while talking. Patrick didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he suddenly heard his name.

"Why don't you just tell Patrick?" Maine asked Mikaela.

"I don't know Ate. I mean, he and Julia seem pretty close. I think he likes her." Maine was going to contradict her little sister's statement when Patrick decided to interrupt.

"HALA ELLA CRUSH MO KO NO! Sabi ko na nga ba eh!" Patrick yelled.

Mikaela's face was flushed. Her and her Ate Maine were just talking about when she's going to confess her true feelings for Patrick, and Mikaela is 100% sure that right now is not the right time.

"Asa ka Trick. Di tayo talo noh." Mikaela rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen to support the lie she told. She can't afford to lose her bestfriend because of her stupid feelings. She just can't.

•••

'Asan na ba sila?' Mikaela thought as she looked around the busy, and very red cafeteria. It was lunchtime and the student council had another emergency meeting so she was left alone again. Things would've been okay and she wouldn't be alone right now if Gino wasn't away from school. After his three months of going to St. Mark's University, Gino became part of their group. His natural nice and friendly attitude made it easy for the group to feel comfortable around him, well except for Patrick. Patrick still feels insecure because of Gino, but of course, he didn't tell anyone about it, not even Ella.

"Happy Valentines Day Ate Mikaela." Mikaela turned and saw her freshman soccer teammate holding out a red rose beside her. Mikaela gladly took it and gave the freshman a smile.

"Thanks Poppy. Happy Valentines din." Mikaela let out a sigh after Poppy left. Yes, it was Valentines Day and it seems like she's going to be spending it alone. For the past 6 years, Patrick has been Mikaela's Valentine. They would either go to dinner together, or stay at home and watch movies with a tub of ice cream and two spoons in front of them. Of course, for Patrick, it was something that best friends do, but it was different for Mikaela. She took everything differently, and it got her into big trouble. They were only supposed to be best friends, no one was supposed to catch feelings. She wasn't supposed to catch feelings.

Mikaela shook her head and erased these thoughts. She got up and decided to skip her afternoon classes to go to the mall to have some alone time. She took a cab there and decided to shop for herself. This has been her second stress reliever, her first is to be with her best friend. Patrick just always seems to find a way to take Mikaela's problems out of her mind, and this is just one of the reasons why she treasures her best friend so much.

After a couple of hours, Mikaela decided to take a break and eat. She went to the restaurant with the least amount of couples to take her mind off of her loneliness. After eating, she decided to rest a little. She checked her phone, which has a million(more like 16) messages from her friends. Mikaela was in the middle of checking the messages when a bouquet of pink roses landed on the table in front of her. She looked up to see who brought it and saw a very familiar guy with a huge smile on his face, who also happened to be holding a box of chocolates in his other hand.

"Ikaw?" Mikaela playfully hit him after wiping one tiny tear that escaped from her eye, because she really thought that she would be spending Valentines Day alone. She took the bouquet and the chocolates before moving her stuff to let him sit on the chair in front of her.

"Happy Valentines day beautiful. Sorry if your knight in shining armour was a bit late." He said, which made Mikaela giggle.

"Happy Valentines day din. Thank you, Gino."