Textmate

Chapter 8: 'CALL ME'

Chapter 8: 'CALL ME'

            When Albert confessed his feelings to me, I wanted myself to be invisible. Maybe in that way, he can give me time to think about his proposal. But avoiding him was next to impossible because he was my seatmate.

            I was sitting on the bench, reading a book when I noticed someone seated beside me. It was Rain and I don't know why but my heart started beating twice it's normal beating. I glanced at him and he was smiling at me, revealing his dimples.

            "Yeah?" I asked while raising my eyebrows.

            "So? I heard Albert was into you." He said.

            "I don't think so. I think he was not serious with me."

            "He was. I could tell."

            "How do you know? Did he just send you here so that you can help him about his thing for me?" I asked.

            "Of course not. I think the two of you really look good together." He commented.

            "Yeah? You think so?"

            "Yeah! He was dead serious about you that he keeps on talking about you."

            "Oh! I'm afraid that---"

            "Afraid that he will hurt you?" he finished my sentence.

            "Exactly." I said as I started reading my book again. He snatched it from me. I was taken aback and started getting it as he stood up. But all my efforts were in vain because he was quite tall.

            "Give it back!" I said.

            "Only if you said yes to him."

            "What? No way!" I was tired of getting the book so I started walking away from the bench and maybe just going back to our homeroom. Who is he to decide for me? It was too much to ask.

            He ran and then halted; blocking my way. "Can't you give him a chance? I mean, come on, he is handsome and very in love with you. I know you're afraid but you need to take a risk."

            "I'm sorry but I am not a risk taker," I said and then continue walking. I can't believe this! Rain was mingling with my life. I bet he was so happy now because he had the love of his life, Ariana. Maybe if he was the one asking for my love, then I would give it to him but, it's Albert and Albert is not Rain.

            I arrived at our homeroom and was seated at my desk. As I opened my bag, I noticed a thing being wrapped in a red wrapper. I got it and it had a card. It was from Albert. I opened it immediately, a good thing; my classmates were not there yet. The gift contains another box. What's this? An endless box? I decided not to be too excited and maybe just open this thing when I reached home. I put it back in my bag and immediately closed it and the next thing I knew, Albert was beside me. I shouldn't be surprised at this because first and foremost, he was my seatmate. He was grinning so widely and I really didn't know what got into his mind.

            "Did you like it?" he asked.

            "What do you mean?"

            "My gift to you."

            "Oh! I haven't seen it." I said firmly. He was staring at me so intently that I thought I would melt.

            "What?" I aked.

            "Nothing, it was just, you are so beautiful." He commented. I felt blushed after hearing those words. I smiled deep inside. Although many had complimented me before, it was very different when it comes to him saying it.

            "Of course not!" I said in defense but deep inside I wanted him to compliment me even more. Was that a sin? I think it's not.

            "When you open your gift, just let me know."

            "What do you mean to let you know?" I asked.

            "Give me a call or text, you know, just to let me know."

            I wondered how I am going to let him know where in fact, I didn't even have his cell phone number or landline number. I just shook those thoughts off before I could do something awkward like asking for his phone number.

            As I reached home, I immediately went into my room and opened the gift. Inside the other box was three plastic roses with a note on one of them. It said "I gave you these three plastic roses because I fear that if I might give you the real one, it will just wither and die. I gave you this as a sign that my love for you is for real- that it will not die as time goes by, not that it's fake or untrue. I hope you like my other gift." Under the three roses, there was a phone. Aha! A replacement for what he had broken. I turned it on and the wallpaper displayed a picture of him. In fairness, he was so handsome in the picture.

I explored the phone and look at the phone book. One number appeared. It was named CALL ME! I pressed the call button and I was surprised that it rang.

            "Hello?" a man on the phone asked.

            " Yeah.. Who are you?" I asked because I didn't think I heard his voice before.

            " Albert's not here, he's in the kitchen preparing our dinner. This is his brother."

            I nodded as if Albert's brother could see me.

            "Oh! Just tell him I call. Thanks." I said as I hang up. So? Albert was preparing dinner for the rest of his family. That's awesome.   

            I scanned my new phone and open the gallery. There was a video. I opened it and I saw Albert holding a guitar and smiling. He was wearing a pink t-shirt. He started singing a song, which I did not hear before. In my own opinion, he knew how to play the guitar well, but he was so out of tune. I didn't know what got into his mind at that moment. I was about to press the 'stop' button but I noticed that Albert stops singing that very- out–of–tuned song. He smiled for maybe 5 seconds and then said "Hey Ash! I just want to let you know that I'm sorry for your phone. I didn't mean to break it. And I knew that you really liked KPOP, so I'm going to sing a song for you. I hope you liked it." He strummed his guitar again and it took me a while before I recognized it was a song entitled "Goodbye Summer" by f(x) and D.O. In my mind, I was thinking, how did he know that that was my favorite song?

After the song ended, even though it was still out of tune, I felt like I'm so happy. At least he tried to know the song and even sang it to me.

            "There! I hope you like it. Just let me know what you think. Call me. I love you" he said and then the video stopped. I was grinning like crazy for the first time. I lay on my bed with the new cellphone and decided to call Albert. It rang and my heart was starting to beat abnormally when someone picked it up.

            "Hello" he said. He seemed to be expecting that I'm going to call him for his voice does not sound like he was surprised.

            "Hi. Am.. I- I—justwannasaythankyoufor thesongIappreciateit" I said as fast as I could and then ended the call. I didn't know why I did that. I just felt that I should not be the one who should call him.

            I had a feeling that he might return my call so I turned it off and determined to only open it in the morning.