Operation Centuria: The First 25

Day 7: Cupid "Curved Arrow" by Pauline

People tell me to wait. Don’t rush things. Enjoy life one day at a time. He will come eventually. Love will come eventually.

People tell me to believe. Patience will be rewarded by happiness. Fairytales do come true. Prince Charming exists. There is such a thing as love. Everyone has a soulmate.

But as the years pass, it gets harder… to wait… to believe. People all around me fall in love faster than I do. They live the bittersweet experiences before I do. Seeing something miraculous occur every single day of your life while not being able to feel is… heart breaking.

If love will really come, why not now? Why not for me?

Those are the secret questions stuck inside my head as I walked down the halls of our school. I try to shake them off but I just can’t… especially because Valentines is coming up in about a week.

Oh, did I mention the part that I’m a NBSB kind of girl?

“Venus, are you alright? You seem troubled.” my best friend, Lyka catches my attention.

“Of course I am. I’m just really hungry.” I lie and it gives me a familiar pinch in my heart.

“Don’t tell me that you skipped breakfast again.” I don’t respond. “V, that is not good for you! I don’t want to lose a best friend this early in life.”

“Now that’s a bit extreme, L. I can survive without having breakfast for three days.” I loop my arm with hers as we laugh and head to our class.

That’s Lyka, my BFF forever. She’s the only person who stuck by my side long enough to find out that I bite my nails, snore when I sleep and eat my mom’s specialty spaghetti with my bare hands. Not only that, I also let her know that I insert foam in my bra so that people will actually think that I’m a full grown woman at the age of 17.

Since it’s always been me and Lyka, we’re often considered as one person. To the popular kids, we’re the Neutral ground. But to the other people who actually took the time to get to know us, we’re the “ordinary-gals-who-are-hopelessly-romantic-though-they-pretend-not-to-care “girls.

Obviously, I’m a romantic… as you’ve read in the introduction. But I try to hide that side of me especially because of Lyka. She’s in the denial stage. She doesn’t want to admit how much she yearns to be loved because she experienced a heart break a long time ago.

After class, Lyka and I pass by the bulletin board.

“Oh look. There’s a matchmaking booth opening in three days.” I tell Lyka, trying my best to sound like I’m teasing her instead of being interested.

“Yeah right. I’d rather not go there.” she says.

“Of course. How can you notice the lovey dovey poster when the cooking club announcement is beside it.” I point at the white pinned paper.

“What does it say?” she asks excitedly.

“OMG! It says that they are looking for new members! L, this is your chance!” I immediately show her the poster.