My Ex-Boyfriend From Kindergarten

Chapter 12: Tomatoes Are Red

This is yet to be edited.

“Looks like guys are vying for your attention nowadays, sweet pea,” my mom said while I was hugging her.

“Okay mom, first, no. Second, no. Third, if you had picked me up…” I let go.

“What do you mean?” she asked, puzzled.

“I texted you mom, I asked you to pick me up.”

“Oh dear, my phone’s upstairs. Sorry darling. But look on the bright side. Or should I say, look on the cute side?” she teased.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m going upstairs,” I kissed her on the cheek before I left.

“For what it’s worth, he looks hot!” she managed to make me hear before I could get to the stairs.

Just like that night we went out for dinner, I found myself smiling while walking to my room. But this time, it was a different. I was smiling because I’d finally realized why I’d been having a tough time since he’s been back. It was my fault.

I overreacted to the fact that he didn’t remember me. Maybe I was just reminded of the bond we had back in kindergarten. Sure, I missed him. But I think, what I really missed was the friendship we had. After all, we were in kindergarten. Even if he said that I was his girlfriend and he was my boyfriend, did we really even know what those terms meant?

We were friends. We were really close friends. And when we walked home together, I caught a sense of that close friendship we used to have. And I thought that… I want to have that back. I want him back. Not as my boyfriend, but as a friend.

I opened the door to my room and dropped my bag on the floor. My comfortable bed called for me. Who was I to refuse its warmth after a long day? I lied down and took out my phone from my pants pocket. I had two texts. One from was Nairobi, telling me she’d arrived at her grandma’s place and asking where I was. The other one was from Cai… See you on Monday, tomato. (:

 

I exited from my messages and went to music. I decided to shuffle my songs because I was in the mood for any song. Then this played…

You're in my arms
And all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together
And when I'm with you
So close to feeling alive

Then it hit me…

He called me tomato. Tomato! Argh. Honestly? Of all the nicknames in the world, he chose to call me tomato.

And of all the reasons to smile, I chose him.

I spent my whole Sunday trying to figure out chapter five. In other words, I wasted my Sunday. Instead of wasting both my day and night on something I might never comprehend, I decided to allot my time to something that I’m actually interested in. I studied Mr. de la Vega’s reviewer.

After about two hours, I finished the reviewer. I had about an hour left before my bedtime, so I watched some old HIMYM episodes online. The last episode I got to watch was “Challenge Accepted,” where Robin and Barney stopped Ted from meeting up with Zoey. Robin went on to tell Ted that “You can’t just run back to the past because it’s familiar. Yes, it’s tempting…” Then Barney completed the sentence with, “But it’s a mistake.”