Slowly

Chapter Two

"We're soaring! Flying!"

High School Musical. So much memories. Now Grazz and Darren are singing a duet. Grazz's voice always amazes me, and Darren's is fine. But I still can't help but get annoyed. I sat beside JK, who was actually kind to me.

"Still annoyed with him?" JK asked me.

"About to be annoyed with you," I murmured. "And by the way, based on Grazz's IG posts, I think you-"

"Shut up," JK cut me off. Whoops, he knew where I was going. Meaning, he does like her. But I don't know about Darren. If he likes me, might as well kill myself. Because soon enough, I'll be killed by all other teenage girls in the Philippines. The chick magnet liking me. That is so weird. But I don't wanna be feeler, so I should get over it.

JK started singing along, but I kept silent. But High School Musical songs were the first songs I ever memorized. How will I resist? When the song reached the chorus again, I was too tempted to sing, but I still managed to keep myself quiet.

JK, Grazz, and Darren stopped singing, then they laughed. I couldn't help myself, so I sang quietly. Really quiet, almost like I was just whispering. My voice was being covered by the laughs of the three others, so I was fine. Finally, the song ended, and the three of them continued to watch.

The movie ended at around ten. I know that I'm not allowed to stay after ten, but I texted my mom anyway. I told her it might be a sleepover, so yeah.

Grazz took out her phone, then she opened the camera. She set it to video, then she played it. "Heeeyyyy guyssss!" Grazz shouted. "I'm with Darren and JK again, and someone new in our barkada. Meet Mia, everyone!" she said to the phone, then made the camera face me. I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her, covering the camera before it could focus on me longer. The three of them continued videoing, and when they ended, Grazz stood up.

"I'm gonna go now," she said, then turned to me. "Let's go?" she asked. I nodded with relief. Finally, I can take a rest from these idiots. Darren and JK led us down the stairs, and to the door.

"Hey, Grazz," Darren said. I turned back and so did Grazz. "Give me her number," he murmured. I shoved Grazz in the shoulder, causing me to feel unbalanced and fall. Suddenly, someone caught me on the back, and when I opened my eyes, Darren was the one carrying me. I stood up immediately.

"Uh- Thanks?" I said. Awkward. Darren and JK chuckled as they closed the door behind Grazz and I.

"The more you hate, the more you love," Grazz said, then she winked at me.

"Oh, shut up, will you?"

+++

I woke up the next morning with more than a hundred messages on my phone. It was from a group chat with unknown numbers except Grazz's number. When I opened my cellphone, I read through the messages.

Grazz:// Hey guys!

Unknown Number 1:// it's five in the morning argh

Unknown Number 2:// who cares Darren?!

Grazz:// Mia's here, by the way.

Unknown Number 1:// kay

Unknown Number 2:// HAHA at Darren

I got too lazy to go through the rest of the chat, so I saved both the numbers immediately. I stood up from my bed and stretched, then suddenly, my phone rang. I checked my phone and it was Darren. Probably from the group chat.

Or not. It was a private message.

Darren:// Psst

At first, I ignored it. But I suddenly remembered that I had my "Show Read" on, so he knows that I saw his message.