Miss Make-Believe

Chapter 7

The sun had set outside and all of us were commanded to head inside the hotel and into our respective rooms. Since our affectionate confessions to each other, Manuel and I had been attached to one other by the hip figuratively. The time when I thought his company was quite enjoyable was long forgotten and came the hour when his presence was almost unbearable. When he gave me a chaste kiss on the forehead and smiled down at me warmly, I refrained from rolling my eyes and spitting out something blasphemous in his face. Manuel looked behind me at the wooden door of my hotel room and sighed for the tenth time in that small period of love exchange. “I guess I will see you tomorrow morning then?” At least, he had the courtesy to ask me.

He was a great friend, I admitted to myself briefly. But even though I was the one playing him and setting up the entire show, I still disliked the fact that I had to tag him as my first boyfriend, though fake on my part. His existence which was oozing love and warmth for me was simply annoying. But I put on a brave and amorous front and replied reluctantly. “Sure!” He was going to give me yet another breath hitching embrace but I turned around quickly, wincing in the process and unlocked it. Batting my eyelashes theatrically and waving my hand in farewell at him, I dashed inside my safe haven and closed the door behind, without looking at his irritatingly handsome face.

A couple seconds later, Suz entered the room with a shocked look plastered on her visage. I had recovered completely from my fake PDA sessions by the time she eyed me and blurted, “Why the hell did Manuel kiss you on the forehead?”

So much for recovery!

I was starting to believe that the stupid bet was placed in the first place to haunt my existence. It was mocking and challenging me to hop out from the pit of darkness it had created for me specifically. Rather, I had created for myself. I thought about narrating the story that had occurred with me at the beach to Suz but musing that she would think very low and deceitful of me, I changed my course of thoughts and finally decided to hide everything from her. “He’s my boyfriend.” She scoffed and the scoff soon turned into full-blown laughter. I waited for her to stop, bored out of my mind, and when she did; I raised my eyebrows at her, conveying without speech that unfortunately, I was kind of serious.

She whizzed toward me frantically. “Holy Kapoly! When did this happen?”

I shrugged coolly, as if Manuel and I as an item were no big deal. “Today at the beach. We confessed our feelings to each other.” Her eyebrows rose incredulously at me. I clasped my hands and grinned wistfully so as to make my declaration seem realistic. “He was so sweet to me, Suz! God, I’m in love.”

“You are?” Her hands crossed in front of her chest. I nodded, still smiling like a Buddha. I could see how she was fraught to find loopholes in my announcement, claim it as fake but I stood my ground and looked at her with that same goofy, irking smile which suggested that I was completely enamoured by Manuel Wilkinson. She sighed and shook her head after a minute and then, simpered genuinely at my beaming face. My cheek muscles were staring to hurt badly, by the way. “What about Noel?”

Heart-rending feelings washed over me strongly and I evaded from crying my sentiments out to her. I wanted to share a fair amount of time with Noel during this beach trip experience. Knowing that most of the time would be snatched away by Manuel now, made me whimper surreptitiously. “I realized that Noel and I aren’t meant to be. Spending so much time with Manuel made me realize that he’s the one I want to be with.”

If she had the chance, she would’ve dug deep in my brain and seized the truth out because by the sceptical look mixed with an expression of hilarity, she didn’t believe me one bit. I was her best friend and it was obvious for her to read my cruel intentions masterfully. “You liked Noel a lot, Tiny. How come your feelings took a different course in just one month?” Her stern inquisition was starting to petrify me.