I Don't Want to Fall in Love</3

Chappie 28.3: Ghost of Her Past.

--->NICK<---
Now Playing: Collide-Howey Day

Naupo kami ni Mai dun sa bench, tahimik na yung pag-iyak niya ngayon, hindi katulad kanina na halos hindi na siya makahinga. I wasn’t actually looking for her, nagkataon lang na nakita ko siya and seeing as she was so upset, nilapitan ko siya. Hindi ko akalain na si Mai na matapang, taklesa, palaban at mataray e magbbreak down ng ganun.  

“Sorry Nick, nabasa ko pang polo mo.” Sabi niya as she removed her glasses  and wiped her tears. Napatingin ako sa polo ko, hindi ko napansin, medyo basa nga siya.
“Okay lang, ikaw ba? Okay ka lang?” Tanong ko.
“I don’t know.” She mumbled.
“Don’t worry, whoever did that to your painting, I’m sure they’ll punish them.” She nodded, her face was a bit of a mess because of her make up, kinuha ko yung panyo ko and wiped her face with it.
“Thanks.” She mumbled, her eyes and nose were red and puffy, her complexion much paler. We sat there in silence and then she talked.

“Nick, what if… someone from your past suddenly appears?” I looked at her, she was staring off the distance.
“And suppose that someone hurt you badly, let’s say this someone cheated on you, and then… out of the blue he just came back, trying to explain after everything… what’ll you do?” I sighed, I guess she’s talking about that Tom Scott, the guy he dated for almost a year, I don’t know what’s going on but I guess he’s trying to talk to her again.
“Well, I guess it’d be better if I listen to him this time, he wouldn’t go through all the trouble of ‘coming back’ if he wasn’t sincere, right?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged.
“Is this something to do with Hill?” I humored her. She smiled a bit.
“You can say that, and this time a frog prince is trying to get to her.” I smiled.
“You’re a fan of fairytales aren’t you?”
“No! I hate those.”
“Really? Why?”
“Coz they give kids false hopes, fairy tales make us believe of happy endings, of prince and princess’s that’ll be together forever. But that’s just not how it is in real life, there’s no such thing as a happy ending.”
“Wow! you are such a pessimist.”
“I’m not. It’s the truth.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because I once had a perfect example of a fairy tale life, and it ended in they all lived in a pit of broken promises and never ending loneliness.” She replied.

Music Ends Here
 

--->MAI<---
After a few minutes, umalis na kami sa playground, gutom na din naman kasi kami. Naglalakad kami ni Nick papunta ng canteen nung nakasalubong namin si Gino.
“Hoy! San ka ba galing? Kanina pa kitang hinahanap a! Tinatawagan din kita, hindi ka na naman sumasagot!” inis na sabi niya.
“Pasensya na ser. Wala kasi sakin cellphone ko.” Sagot ko sa kanya.
“Taray talaga nito, ako na nga tong sumubok humanap sayo, ganyan ka pa.” He shook his head and wiped his forehead tas pinaypayan niya yung sarili niya, don’t tell me kanina pa kong hinahanap nito? I was about to say sorry since I felt bad but we were interrupted when screams and cheers erupted just a few metres away from us.
“Ano naman kaya yun?” sabi ni Nick. Tiningnan namin yung maliit na mob na naform dun sa may canteen, mostly girls yung nandun and as I looked closer, alam ko na agad kung sinong pinagkakaguluhan nila. Si Tom, seems like they recognized him.

He smiled at the girls who wanted to take a picture of him, I can tell he was getting a bit annoyed since ayaw niya ng mga ganito, then he spotted me. He looked at me and smiled, I didn’t smile back and then he noticed Nick and Gino who were beside me. One of Tom’s trait that I hate and at the same time love is he's very jelous. He frowned as he saw them.

“Tara, kain na tayo?” Yaya sakin ni Nick, kaya naglakad na kami papasok nung canteen, si Gino naman kasunod namin. Nakaupo kaming tatlo sa isang table and as expected yung mga tao sa canteen samin nakafocus. Tahimik lang kaming dalawa ni Nick, si Gino lang as usual yung madaldal at nang-aasar.

We were halfway through our lasagna ng bigla kaming nilapitan ni Tom. I instantly froze, oh no, panu kung mabuko ako nito? Shit! Ngayon ko lang naalala.

“Hi! You’re the artist, right?” he said as he smiled at me. What?
“Yeah, I guess.”
“My name’s Tom Scott.” He said extending his hand to me.
“So what’s your name?” He asked me, I looked at him, is he serious? We shook hands.
“Mai, Mai de los Reyes.” I replied, he held on to my hands, his hands enveloping mine.
“Mai, is that short for anything?”
“No, just Mai.”
“And I’m Gino and that’s Nick.” Hinigit ni Gino yung kamay ko, kaya nagkabitaw na din kami.
“Hello. Well, I just want to say I liked your painting and it’s a pity it was ruined, but whoever it was you painted, I know she’s proud of you.” I looked at him.

Typical Tom, he knows whenever something goes wrong with my paintings, all it takes is an assurance that mom will be proud of me to make me feel better. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I looked away.

“Anyway, here, I thought you’ll like a soda better than a pineapple juice, excuse me.” Iniwan niya yung can ng Sprite sa table namin tapos umalis na siya.

I looked at it, si Gino kasing bumili ng pagkain ko, hindi naman ako umiinom ng pineapple juice pag wala sa bahay kasi madalas sumakit yung tyan ko. He still knows everything, about me.

“OM! So he’s really there?” Exclaimed Alex, katatapos ko lang kasing ikwento sa kanya yung mga nangyari ngayon, yung pagsira sa painting ko and yung pagkikita namin ni Tom.
“Yeah, he’s really here.” I muttered.
“Oh my gosh, I was expecting he’ll eventually find you, but not this fast.”
“Yeah, and take note, he recognized me immediately even with the disguise.”
“That just means he really likes you!” yelled Harper in the background, she always liked Tom, she was really mad at him after knowing what happened but after the news broke out she was back on his side again.
“Sheesh Harper, pipe down.” Grumbled Alex.
“Anyway, so he also knows about your ‘arragement’?” she continued.
“Yeah, Jasper told him, he said its so he wont tell anyone. It would have been better if he just outright told everyone, I'd be back in LA if it happened.”
“Maybe, but I kinda think you like it there.”
“WHAT?! What do you mean I like it here? Alex, nakalimutan mo na ba?! I’m poor, I live alone, I fend for myself, jerks and bitches are all around me AND some stupid asshole ruined my painting!”
“Maybe, but be honest, you’re enjoying yourself even a tiny bit, right? I mean, you like Nat, Jacob and Aria’s company, you like that fact that you spend time with your favorite cousin Josh and your other relatives, your fond of Rick’s antics, you enjoy yours and Nick’s conversation since he’s into Literature and he’s a ‘great psychiatrist’ right?”
“Maybe but that doesn’t mean I’m actually willing to stay here.”
“And lets not forget you love Gino’s company.”
“Please Alex, I hate that morons company!”
“Oh yeah? That’s not how we see it.” Said Harper. I rolled my eyes, yeah right, like I actually do.
“Anyway, that’s not the point here, so guys, anything from Dad and ABItch?” I asked them. 
“Yeah, I guess your plan worked. That legal thing about Smitten’s working.” Sabe ni Alex. 
“Yeah, your dad’s contacting lawyers already.”

Since hindi nagpapapigil si Dad ng pagbibigay ng Smitten kay ABItch, gumawa ako ng paraan and who knew it could be that easy, I made Harper snoop around the company and look for the right papers and documents that shows Smitten cant be given to ABItch without my mom’s consent or a court hearing or something coz it’s illegal and if they pursue it, Smitten might get shut down, and as long as ayaw nilang kontakin si mama, matatagalan pa ng ilang months yung court hearing. Another point for me. At least kahit nadito ko sa Pilipinas nagagawan ko parin ng paraan mga problema ko sa LA.