Frozen Fire

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Be With You

I still couldn't wrap my head around what happened yesterday. The little moment with Phoenix made me feel things.

Really weird things.

Nang umahon ako mula sa pool ay umalis na ako agad dun. Nakasalubong ko rin si Xavier na siya palang tumawag sa akin. He asked me if I was okay, and I just replied with a smile.

Dali-dali kong kinuha ang mga gamit ko. I asked Connor where the bathroom was noong nakita ko siya sa table namin na may kausap na babae. Mukhang seryoso ang usapan nila but I don't who to ask, kaya ay kinapalan ko na ang mukha ko. 

I went to the bathroom and splashed water unto my face. I look quite flustered.

Pagkatapos kong magbihis into a plain maroon loose shirt tucked into my high waisted shorts, ay lumabas na ako at hinanap si Charlotte para magpaalam.

I don't know why I'm so tensed. It's not like we did something other than stare at each other!

But that's the thing! 

The moment felt more intimate than the times we kissed!

Something changed, that I'm sure of.

I just don't know what that something is. And I don't think I'll be glad to find out.

I sighed and hugged my pillow. Tomorrow's gonna be a new day, I'm sure this feeling's gonna be gone by then.

I hope.

The next day, I woke up at 5AM. I decided to jog just to get things off my mind. Nang maikot ko na ang village ay nagdesisyon akong bumalik na sa bahay.

I rested for a while and took a bath. It was 7AM when I went down for breakfast. My parents and Saffron were already seated and was just preparing to eat.

"Good Morning!" my mom greeted with a smile. I smiled at her and greeted back.

I sat on my usual chair and began getting food for myself.

"It's October," my dad suddenly said. Napaangat naman ang tingin ko sa kanya.

Gabriel Alegre does not look a day over 50 kahit na 54 na ito. His hair was still black because he makes sure to dye it everytime the white hair starts to grow. He has also taken care of his health and goes to the gym once a week for his fitness and as an outlet from all the stress at work. He did not look less masculine with age. I can see that it did him good. He has a few wrinkles here and there but it doesn't look bad. It looked more like he was of great experience and is filled with wisdom.

My mom, Soledad Alegre, on the other hand, was just as intimidating as my dad, although the difference is that she has this homey feeling around her when she smiles. She tried to retain her figure when she was younger but giving birth to two children made her gain weight. She's still gorgeous though.

They met when they were in high school. My dad, apparently, was the student council president while my mom was the secretary. They often fought because of the differences in their opinions but well, here they are now, still completely in love at 50.

Sabi nila, I was cut off from my dad while Saffron is a younger version of mom. I think I agree with that.

"Anong meron sa October, dad?" Saffron asked.

"The party, remember?" Napa-oh naman si Saffron at tumango-tango.

"It was supposed to happen this week, but the host had an emergency so they had to reschedule it to the 25th," sabi ni dad. I gazed at my mom and she has an unreadable expression on her face as she looked at me. She doesn't seem so excited about the party when the last time we talked about this, she was so elevated that she wouldn't shut up about it.