My First Broken Heart

Chapter 3: Yes or No?

                                                                                      THEN

I was already in class, listening to Mr. Reyes droned on about the WWII when I recalled what Nick said to me back in the hall. He said he will call me. But how? I didn’t ever gave him my number. A handful of my classmates knew my digits and I was thinking who among them was Nick’s friend. Looking around, I found my bestfriend Liz frowning at me. I tore a piece of paper and wrote, Can’t wait to tell you.:)

I passed it to James, my seatmate at my left and mouthed Liz, then waited for my classmates to pass it on until it reached her across the center aisle. This is what we call the Great Paper Journey. Every class, countless pieces of paper –notes, answers to quizzes, assignments, even love letters - got passed around. It’s short of a miracle how it all escaped the hawk-like eyes of the teachers. Sometimes, notes do get intercepted and a long lecture about responsibility and respect would ensue. Nevertheless, the Journey would resume after the teacher’s guard is down.

Liz frown deepened as she read the paper, wrote something below my note and the paper made its return journey.

You got some explaining to do, girl, the note said.

I sighed knowing that we’ve got a lot to gossip about later at lunch.

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As soon as I put down my tray of grilled cheese and chicken on our usual table at the cafeteria, she assaulted me with questions. The loud chatter inside coupled with the clinking of plates against spoons and forks didn’t deter Liz from being her nosy self.

“How come Nicolas Madrigal is asking about you? And why are you keeping things from me? “

I had to hush her. Lunch was a crowded affair and the tables weren’t exactly far from each other. Even if it was noisy and the kids were talking amongst themselves, I couldn’t risk them hearing about this and be the subject of the gossip later. 

I frowned. “ How did you know about Nick?”

“ Well, after you went home ahead yesterday, he ran after me as I was getting out of the computer lab. He was all friendly and flirty. Yup, I had the bad sense of thinking he was flirting with me. What with all that smiles he was throwing my way. Then after a few minutes, he was talking about you. About how amazing you seem to be-“

“ What?” I exclaimed. A few eyes darted my way. “ Me? Amazing?He doesn’t even know me.”  I said, turning down my voice.

“You got it. He was telling me about their gig, about Yzabel’s anniversary and he asked for your number.” I looked at her, my eyes bulging.  Liz smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I gave it up. I couldn’t say no to his smiles.”

Uh oh.

She saw my face and tried to explain. “I mean, it’s all good. Look at it this way. You got a chance to go with the band-“

I smirked. “ Like a pathetic groupie.”

“- and get to spend some time with Mark.” Liz finished, shoving some fries to her mouth.

Right. Mark. The lead vocalist of IceBox. One of the reasons why I would say yes to Nick’s request. Mark. The love of my pathetic life. Since when had I been drooling over Mark? Since 5th grade, that’s when. When he gave me a piece of paper during a Math test, I haven’t been the same since. He sat at my back the whole year and would grab strands of my hair whenever he’s bored with the lesson. He would kick my chair at the beat of a song while he sang under his breath. That was pretty annoying but I didn’t have the heart to make him stop. I was imagining that he was singing The Fray’s song just for me.

When we were in first year high school, he had growth spurt and became this hunky boy everyone was going crazy about. Mark never sat near me again. Every day, I stared at his back and strained my neck forward to hear snippets of conversations he had with his friends. Then we weren’t classmates anymore for the next years and I would just content myself with looking at him from afar. At school programs when his band would play, at the grounds when he would play soccer, and during lunch when he would eat with his usual gang, usually with a girl by his side.

Liz was right. This is my time to get noticed again. A few words directed at me weren’t too much to ask for, right? More than that would be a bonus.

“He talked to me before class,” I said as I took a bite of my chicken.

“ Mark?” she asked excitedly.

“I wish but no. I mean Nick.” I watched as Liz’s face fell. “He asked me about covering the gig. I have to ask Trish about it but I think it’s a done deal.” I said although knowing all too well that Trisha basically lets me decide what article to write.

“ Ask me what?” Trisha, the paper’s editor-in-chief asked as she slumped beside me with her tray of food. She was a petite girl with the ever present eyeglasses perched in his nose. A senior like us, she has been a good friend ever since we have worked in the paper together for the past two years. She was a regular in our table, too. Behind her is Jessie, her boyfriend. Both settled in their seats and started digging into their food.

“Nicolas Madrigal asked me to cover their gig for the paper. I told him I gotta ask you first,” I answered.

“ Do you have anything more interesting to feature?” she asked. When I shook my head, she gave me the thumbs-up.

Liz gave me a meaningful smile. I sighed. I guess I had to get it going then. There’s no backing out .