A Close Second

Fourth

I stared.

I knew it was rude but I still did for some reason. I just didn't expect that he would be who Mommy and Tita Jodi were talking about?

"You're late." Tita Jodi says,
He smiles, kissing her in the cheek. "Am I? Oops, my bad?" He says, at her. "I didn't mean to keep our lovely guests waiting."

I blushed as his eyes landed on me. He chuckles, kissing my Mom on her cheek. She smiles at him, obviously having met him before.

"Andrei, hijo! How are you?"
He smiles at my mom. "Doing good po, Tita."
"And how is college treating you so far?"
"Superb. No flunking grade so far."
"Term break?"
"Yes po." He grins.
"Ah, mabuti naman kung ganon." Mom smiles goodnaturely. "Come, I want you to meet my daughter."

And I took that as my queue. I stood up, smoothing my skirt out with my hands and he smiled.

"My, my. Look at who we have here." He looks at me with a smile. "Courtney Beatrice."
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, what a coincidence this is, Kenneth Andrei."
"So hindi nga ako nagkamali, it is really you." He says good-naturedly. "You look as lovely as always."

I looked at him, giving him a quick playful slap in the arm, causing him to chuckle again.

"Bolero parin kahit kalian."
"Stating a fact, Courtney." He says, giving me a quick hug and a smile. "Hindi bola yun. You really look good."
"Stop it, Andrei." I chuckle.

He smiles, giving me another squeeze. Parehas lang na nakatingin sa amin sila Mommy.

"Magkakilala kayo?" Tita Jodi asks.
I smiled. "Of course. We came from the same school."
"Oh yeah, you came from NVH too!" Tita exclaims.
"Wow, Mom. I go to college for 2 years and you forget which school I graduate highschool from." Andrei says.

Of course, he came from the school I wa in. He was a junior when I got in as a freshman. He graduated when I was in 9th grade.

I smiled at him, and he lets go. He takes a seat on the ottoman, beside the couch na inuupuan namin ni Tita Jodi, facing my mother.

"Come on, son." Tita Jodi chuckles. "This is good, though. You know each other and it seems na komportable din kayo sa isa't isa and that saves us from the awkward introduction."

I smiled while Andrei chuckles.

Actually, in other cases, it would've been awkward, especially with Andrei na manliligaw ko noon.

He was a senior then, and I'm a sophomore. He was by far the most vocal at pinakikilala sa mga nanliligaw sa akin.

I've had a bunch but most of them nahihiyang magpakilala. 'secret admirers' according to Mikki. I've had them since freshman year and I've actually been showered with chocolates, flowers, notes sa lockers, a few cookies and valentine's cakes too.

Then there's Andrei.

He's vocal, a little bit too much to my opinion. Nagpupunta talaga siya sa homeroom namin, when the teacher's still not there, and approach me on my desk.

Imagine a senior, going inside a room full of sophomores, and going straight to someone to delare na manliligaw siya.

Of course, it shocked my system.

He'd leave notes too, signed with his name in big bold letters, deliver flowers and chocolates himself to my room and even wait for me by my locker or outside the room I was in to tell me he wants to be with me.

Nakakakilig sa iba, but I had a different perspective.

I guess I wasn't really that used to direct attention, from anyone. And Andrei didn't really appeal to me as I did to him. I thought of him as a friend, and nothing else. Sinabi ko sa kanya yun pero hindi niya tinanggap, he just continued to pursue me.