Stuck in Love

Chapter 4

Every man has that one woman he can never get; while every woman has that one man she can never forget.

For me, there’s only one man—I can never get and I can never forget.

Sandro Joseph.

The man who would always steal every girl’s heart back in high school. He was such a heart throb—from his looks to his personality. #Medyobadboy. Yes, before there’s Daniel Padilla, there was him.

I made myself distant from SJ. I wanted to come up to him and introduce myself as if he did not know me. We’re not close buddies. But maybe he still knew me since we became classmates before he flew to Australia.

Yet, I could not stand being near him. I know myself, I would get tingles and I would not want him to see me blush. Me still blushing after all these years? Oh, come on.

I did my own business and made myself busy with texting. After a while, I just played on my phone app—Candy Crush Saga! Yeah! Everything I saw on that app referred to SJ—sweet! Delicious! Tasty!

“Hey! Care to dance?” someone asked me.

“Teka lang, nagte-text ako. Pwedeng mamaya na,” I responded. I was not really texting, you know. I was busy leveling up on my Candy Crush Saga. I had my mouth on automatic response of refusal to anyone who would ask me to dance because, well, I was hoping SJ would approach me and I wanted to make myself available for him. Asaness!

“Okay, I’ll wait. Hope that would not take years,” he said.

“You know what, why don’t you just ask another girl because I’m waiting for some—“ That was when I looked up and saw SJ standing near me, drinking a glass of wine. I swallowed and felt my Adam’s apple actually went to my trachea.

Seemed like he was drinking all his might to have that lakas ng loob and kapal ng mukha to ask a girl to dance. But he would not need that because oh my God...he’s just so drop-jaw gorgeous. No girl in this world would resist him.

Twelve years.

I didn’t know it had been that long already.

I was in third year high school when I last saw him. I was 13.

And that night he’s standing in front of me. I didn’t know what to say, how to react, to move or not to move. I was stunned, speechless, paralyzed. I could hear nothing just the pounding of my heart going faster and faster. It felt like my veins were being constricted as if I would be having a heart attack any moment. Medic?

“Have you finished Candy Crushing? Do I have to ask you again to dance with me,” he said without even looking at me.

I was still in awe. I could not believe he was asking me to dance with him. “Me?”

Finally, he faced me. “Am I talking to anybody else?”

“Why?”

“Do you really ask every man who wants to dance with you that question? And do you really make him wait like this?”

I scoffed but I bet he did not notice. Ang yabang!

“Come on! Wag ka na umarte, isasayaw ka na nga, eh!” he turned away and brushed his hair smoothly...just like his moves.

Boom! Hiyang-hiya naman ako sa’yo, no! But anyway, fine! I’m dancing with him. After all, it’s sort of a dream come true—perhaps.

For so long, I had never felt that vulnerable again. At the back of my head, I could sense a 10 frames per second movement from everyone in the ball.

I was waiting for him to offer his hand but he didn’t. I knew it! He was never a gentleman ever since the world began. I just stood up before he could change his mind.

He dropped his wine glass and led the way at the middle of the dance floor. Okaaayyy the embarrassment crept on my skin and it’s almost freaking me out.

“Can we just dance at the corner,” I asked.

He turned to me and stared at me for a while—that blank stare. He reached for my left hand and gently pulled me to the center. All the other pairs who were dancing paved way little by little. And there was a loud cheering among the crowd. People were taking a video of us.

Stop, please! I’m flushing! I can’t control it! I’d never been that shy. I was already looking down the floor to hide my face.

“Hey!” he said with an authoritarian voice. “Look at me!”

“Do I really need to do that?”

“You ask a lot, don’t you?” He touched my chin and raised it so I could see him. And for that very split second, I met his eyes closely—the eyes I’d never seen for 12 long years.

He held my hands and put them on his shoulders. He circled his hands around my waist and pulled me close to him, I could smell the wine from his mouth and his perfume. Putang ina, nakakakilig ‘to! I quickly looked away.

Then the song played...”Maybe it’s intuition, some things you just don’t question...”

He might have noticed that I was trembling a little. He grinned. “Just relax. Is this your first dance?”

“Uh-no...” I was really tensed. I could not even look at him again.

“Ako dapat ang kabahan. It’s my first time to dance a girl in front of this fucking crowd. Jeez!”

I laughed a bit. “Why did you choose me?”

“It’s a dare. I picked your table number and since I was not close with anyone from your table, I chose you,” he explained.

I kept on looking down. Napilitan lang pala.

He said, “Don’t mind them. They’re just a bunch of assholes.”

I laughed again. He pulled me closer, intentionally, I thought, so the crowd would cheer louder. He’s such an attention-seeker.

I accidentally—almost intentionally—met his eyes again and we stared at each other for five to ten seconds but it felt like forever. I could not explain what I could see in his eyes. All I know was they melted every piece of me. How could you do that? I looked away again.

“I knew I loved you, before I met you. I think I dreamed you into life...”

A perfect sentimental song for that perfect moment. Thank you, Lord! This is a moment to remember!

He leaned towards me. Sheettt!!! The kilig was already all over my face. I could feel his breath against my ears.

“A thousand angels dance around you...”

It felt like real heaven. I hoped the song would never end so we would keep on dancing forever.

It was real, I was able to touch him, smell him, feel him, and look at him. He was indeed in front of me and we were dancing together. It was as if I could not see anyone or hear anything around. It felt like dancing on air. It felt like falling in love again for the first time.

***