Keep Holding On: A JuliElmo Fan Fiction

The Norms :)

After a fourteen hour flight, the flight touches down in LAX. They have to get on another plane to get to Asheville, North Carolina. They touch down in Smith Reynolds Airport, and from there they had to get in a cab and look for a place to stay. The cab brought them to a couple of residential buildings but all of them didn’t have a vacant apartment. “Sir, you sure that they’ve got an apartment for rent here?”

“Yeah. Just go on up the stairs and look for the landlady.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

            Elmo’s got a backpack on, a huge trolley in one hand and another huge sling bag on his shoulder. With his free hand, he takes hold of Julie’s hand. Julie also had the same number of bags but hers were smaller in size since her things didn’t take up much space. He lead her upstairs towards a  door that has a huge OFFICE name on it. Elmo knocks on it and a voice resonates from behind it. “Come in.” When they enter, an woman who was probably in her forties greeted them and asked them to sit.

“What can I do for you?”

“Um… We heard that you were renting out an apartment?”

“You heard right. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes, please.” They chorused.

            They go up another flight of stairs and stop in front of Apartment J-5. The woman opens it and reveals a light green living room, a dirty white kitchen and dining area, the bathroom is tiled with blue tiles and there are two other rooms which are probably bedrooms. Elmo and Julie smile and they unconsciously nod. “This is great. What do you think, Julie?”

“I think it’s perfect.”

“We’ll take it. Umm… How much is it?”

“$200 per month. I’m also gonna need a deposit and an advance.”

“I’ll give you $600. That covers three months, right?”

“Yes, it does.”

            Elmo opened up his wallet and grabbed $600 dollars which he got exchanged during the cab ride from apartment to apartment. He handed it over to the woman. The woman counted it and thanked them. She gave Elmo the key to the apartment and left.

“How long are we staying here, Moe?”

“Siguro, half a year. That’s if okay lang sa’yo…”

“Okay naman… Baka magtataka sila kung bakit six months talaga tayo mawawala…”

“Magcocommunicate naman tayo sa kanila ah. You worry too much sometimes. Alam mo, ako na ang bahala sa lahat.” Elmo said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. But Julie shrugged him off and grabbed her bags. “I think I’m gonna go check out the bedrooms. Ako una pipili.” She opened the door on the right and it revealed a medium-sized room with a double bed. The room was painted in pale pink with white details. “Eto nalang siguro yung room ko. Pero wait! Baka mas maganda yung room mo! Titingnan ko muna ha?” Julie yelled from the room. Elmo sat on the chocolate brown coach, studying the entire room. Admiring it. He was really happy that he was there, relaxing, living a normal life, with the most important girl in his life. His best friend. “Okay, Julie!” He responded. He kicked his shoes off and put his feet up on the coffee table. There wasn’t much furniture. Only a couch, a coffee table, a small dinner table and two chairs that came along with it. There were two end tables, one near the front door and another near the kitchen/dining room. The apartment wasn’t that big. It was just enough to accommodate two people. But it was perfect to him.

“Elmo… We have a problem.”

“Ano?”

“There’s only one bedroom. It’s the one I chose.”

“Ha? Pero you said there were two rooms.”

“Oo nga, pero the other one doesn’t have a bed. Siguro, study room ‘to…”

            “Eh, saan ako matutulog?” Elmo asked. Just then, Julie entered the living room. Julie raised her shoulders and said that she didn’t know. Elmo then thought of a “great” idea. He looked at Julie and raised his eyebrows up and down. “No, no, no, no… Don’t even think about it, Moe! Sa couch ka na matulog.”

“Ang unfair mo naman, Julie! You’re so lucky that you’re my baby! Hay nako…”

“Talaga!”

            Elmo grabbed her hands which made her fall on the couch. Elmo started tickling her until Julie was out of breath. “Did you ever think that we would be here? In North Carolina, just living lives normally?”

“Normal ba ‘to? We’re celebrities from the Philippines, we left our families without permission, and we’re living together. Ginagawa ba ‘yan nga normal na mga tao?”

“Kaya nga… Adik kase tayo eh.”

“Ganun na nga.” Elmo agreed. They both giggled at the thought of it but they didn’t mind. “Julie, do you really want to try to live normal lives?” Julie’s eyebrows raised as her gaze turned to Elmo. “Oo naman.” She answered.

“What if we try? Let’s go to school. Let’s get part-time jobs. Let’s hang out without people looking at us like we’re fresh meat. This is our chance.”

            Julie’s face remained blank for a while. She was digesting what Elmo had just said. A smile slowly formed on her face and she nodded. “Why not? Game ako diyan.” She replied and kissed his cheek. “Ang talino talaga ng best friend ko!” She continued. That was it. That was the start of something new.