Heartbeat

Chapter 1

It's the first day since someone confessed to me. I walk to the lobby of our school and I'm welcomed by Kate and Iza.

"Hello, Cara!" Kate says cheerfully. "Welcome to our group. You should hang with us some time." Uhm...no. Okay, Kate and Iza are friends with Max, Alvin, Dianne, Albert, and Andy. The two of them were not present yesterday when Max confessed to me. Obviously, they know about what happened that's why they're inviting me. I just smile in response to Kate's invitation, because there's no way I would hang with them.

"I saw the video!" Iza chimes in. Oh great.

"Yeah, I should go. I'm gonna be late for class." I say to both of them. I smile then walk to my class.

That is a sign though. That everything will be changed just because someone confessed to me. I felt so awkward because I know Kate had something with Max. And yet, she invited me to hang with them some time. She even welcomed me to their group of friends.

It was last semester when Kate and I were on very good terms. We were classmates in most of our classes and she would tell me stories about her love life. There was one time, in statistics class, we were seatmates unfortunately, and she was telling me that she thought Max liked her. She said because Max was keep on texting her sweet messages. She was so excited when she was telling me those stories. We saw Max standing outside our classroom. Ann and I teased Kate that Max was probably waiting for her and she giggled. I didn't know Max back then. I just know him because of Kate's stories. He was sitting in front of me in my other class though. I think we were classmates in a couple of classes too. But, I never noticed him and we never talked.

Max and I actually talked when they were rehearsing for the fashion show event. I was there because I was one of the event organizers and he was one of the models. Yep, he was chosen to be a model. He's tall, not very muscular but not very thin. And as for his physical appearance, he's not that bad. Unfortunately, his partner wasn't able to attend the rehearsal so they asked me to substitute just so Max could practice his walk. I refused of course, first, because I was studying for my exam the next day, and second, there were many people watching and I'm an introvert. Alvin begged, and so was the president of our organization. Max started to stand up and he looked down at me, he said, "Let's go!" I just stared up at him. I looked at Dianne and she was just grinning. 

I could hear people saying "just go" 

"it's just a rehearsal anyway"

"It'll just be in a minute"

I was thinking that he's not so bad though. I actually didn't care if he was my partner. I like to try modeling, too. Before I know it, I was already standing and making my way to the line backstage. Kate was there, too, to substitute as well. I didn't feel awkward though. I was just silent in the line and talked to people if they talked to me first.

"What pose should I do?" Max suddenly asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Is this okay?" He posed with his right hand on the back of his head and his left hand on his waist, and then he bit his lower lip. Then he squinted his eyes a little bit, trying to look sexy. This guy is unbelievable. I laughed at him.

"No, no. Don't do that again," I was still laughing. Then he laughed too.

We walked to the ramp then it was over. Finally. They left first and I stayed for a few minutes.

The second time we actually talked was the day after the rehearsal. We were arranging the set up of the venue for the fashion show. Ann and I were together thinking of how to set up the designs for the ceiling. Albert was there to help, and so was Max. Ann and I were having a problem to attach the cloth to the ceiling, so I asked Max to do it, since he was tall. He said okay. He looked up then asked for a table. I found a table then pushed it to him. He said it was not enough so he grabbed a chair and put it on the table. He stood on the table and checked the chair if it was moving. Ann and I were holding the chair and the table in place so that he wouldn't fall. I said, "Be careful," as he stepped on the chair. He looked down at me then smiled, "Someone's concern," He said in singsong. I rolled my eyes at him then walked away. Anyone would say that, right? The chair was not very stable, it was so scary. If he fell from up there, I didn't know what to do. We'd be responsible for it.

I helped Dianne in setting up the designs in the windows for awhile then looked back at Ann and Max. They seemed didn't know what to do so I approached them. I said just throw the cloth up the pipe and then move on to the other pipe. Max was getting ready to throw the cloth but he accidentally dropped the cloth. "Oops, sorry." He smiled. I picked it up and handed it back to him. I left them then roamed around the room for awhile to check if everything was doing okay. Once the ceiling was done, Max walked to Albert to help him again, while I stood with Ann in the middle of the room. I checked my watch and saw it was already 6pm. I panicked because it was already getting dark outside and I was just going to walk home. I overheard Albert that he could walk home together with Max. So I told Ann about it and thinking of a possibility if I could go along with them.

"Max!" Ann suddenly shouted. "Can Cara go along with you? If you go home?" She finished. I looked at Ann shockingly. I didn't expect she would ask that to him.

"Yeah sure," Max answered. Then looked at me.

"What way are you headed anyway?" I asked. I could kill Ann right in that moment. I felt so embarrassed.

"The way to the church," he said. I sighed. But still nervous because I would be walking home alone and it was already dark. "Where do you live?" he asked.

"I'm gonna ride a bus," I said instead of answering his question. "It's okay. I can walk to the bus station alone." I smiled. The bus station is just four blocks away anyway. Ann was silently smiling beside me. I really hate her so much. 

"No, no, it's okay. I can walk you there. It's dangerous." Max said. He looked over at Albert and told him to wait for him in the school; he would be back.

"It's out of the way," I argued. Well, I'm not really get used to walking with a guy alone. Just me and one guy. I felt awkward. I am really an awkward person.

"No, it's okay! Let's go!" He insisted. Before I know it, he was standing in front of the elevator already. He was hugging a 1 liter of coke. I got no choice. I said my goodbyes to the people left there and walked my way to him. We stepped into the elevator and I pressed the ground floor button. We were silent all the way down. When we got out of the school, the sky was not dark! I sighed a relief and told him that it was not dark and I could walk home alone. But he insisted on walking me home. I said I was okay. He said no. He said it was dangerous. As a result, he won because he kept following me while I was walking away. So we walked side by side. He was still hugging the bottle of coke. I caught a glimpse of him and I felt so awkward. We were not talking at all.

"You want to take this home?" He suddenly offered the coke. "I didn't drink from it anyway."

"No, you can have it." 

"Okay then," He opened the lid and drank straight from the bottle. When he was done drinking, he looked at me again. "Will you cheer for me tomorrow?" he asked. Then, I just nodded. I panicked. I didn't want to be rude either. He's a good guy anyway. So, I nodded.

We arrived at the bus station. Finally. 

"Thank you!" I said. I was starting to get in the bus, when he said, "Take care!" he smiled, still hugging the coke.

And that's how I met Max.

It was the day of the fashion show. I was assigned to be in the registration so I was there the whole event until Dianne asked me to go with her in front of the stage so that we could cheer for Max, and I surprisingly agreed. Because there's nothing wrong in cheering a friend, right? So we cheered for him and he won. When I got home from the fashion show, I received a text from an unknown number.

"Thank you for cheering me today. :) -Max"

Then I received another text.

"Max asked me for your number. :P -Ann"

And that's how we started to text every night.