Old Times Sake (Patrick & Serena)

Chapter 1

Two infants.

Two teenagers.

Two young adults.

As time passes by, it makes me believe that not all relationships evolve into more intimate, sweeter and the person in front of you will love you more day by day. We grow up, we also grow apart.

Serena and Patrick were childhood sweethearts. Their mothers were crazy enough to birth them into the world just to become a love couple. They were taught at young age that they are husband and wives in the future.

Now, 20 years has already gone by. They still live next to each other's houses. Their parents still expect them to become sweet to each other like they were when they were just innocent children. They expect them to arrive home from school together. They still expect them to be there every Sunday service and Sunday family day.

They were just supposed to be brothers and sisters without the pushy attitude of their mothers. They want Patrick to treat Serena like his girlfriend. They want Serena to act like Patrick's girlfriend. Sometimes they try it, but in the end, they just can't go back to the way they used to be. They couldn't go back to the time when rescuing a friend from the mud is a must. They couldn't go back to grade school when Serena's being bullied by her freckles and Patrick goes to rescue. They couldn't go back to middle school when it's okay for them to attend the school's party as dates.

They just grew up but the relationship also grew farther from the hearts of each other.

Serena

I was checking inside my locker when the basketball team called Cheetahs echoes around the hallway. I close my locker's door and catches Patrick's eyes.

I awkwardly wave my right hand just to say hi but he only nodded his face. This is our real relationship. We act like only neighbors at school and alone, but when we're home or every time our families see us, we pretend we're close for old time's sake.

We still do have each other's phone number because we have to go home together. We'll just meet two blocks from home and walk together. Our mothers always watch. They have eyes in the entire neighborhood.

What's making our lives difficult because of that? We both can't be romantically involved to anyone. Actually, we can. But given the situation in our families since the second we're born, it's hard to be in love with someone else at school, and there's a different person when you are home.

It should be easy because we're young. Like now, Patrick is kind of a hot issue. He's one of the top players in their basketball team and he got few girls lined up. He can pick anyone out of them but he likes someone else. I can only sympathize on his situation even though I think compared to him, no one likes me aside from a few friends.

"Serena!" Olivia Chan. One of my friends. She's Asian and she's one of the girls that will follow Patrick and his group anywhere. Of course, she knows that Patrick is my neighbor so most of the times which is everyday, she goes to my house and sneaks a peek through my window which is just across Patrick's.

She appears from the crowd of students getting ready for the first day of senior year. She's with another friend of ours named Noemi Skurch. She's the kind who likes fashion beyond everything else. She's a terrorist and sometimes she just puts on anything. We're just some of the ordinary girls here at our school who prefers not getting much attention unless someone discovers my talent in collecting antiques that my sister often calls garbage. We have extra one room in our house that instead of being a guest room, it became my museum of old stuff. You'll even see my great grandmother's wedding gown hanging around the corner.

"God! I missed you both!" Says Olivia, "My summer's boring." She adds looking at me creepily. Ah, she used to spend summer nights at my house - my room rather; but her family booked her for some sort of a holy camp. She wasn't able to see Patrick whenever he goes topless and accidentally facing my always open window. Our walls know how many times he texts me to close my window because he doesn't want to close his. Well, I'm not the one who always undress in front of my neighbor's open area.

But here's a secret, when we were 10, I already saw him naked. I've seen them all already and I think the only thing changes was his tummy; from being fat to super hot. Sometimes, I get taken away with Olivia's drools over his six pack abs. Perks of being an athlete; they work-out regularly.

Me? I've worked out my legs running through the streets every weekend, going through some dumpsters to search for old stuff people have thrown out.

"How was your summer? You spent it with him?" Noemi asks.

I nod disheartened, "It'll be a miracle or both of us dead to be not spending every vacation. Our parents even asked this silly thing."

"What silly thing?" Their faces move closer in a blink.

Should I just say our parents are already interested in us spending our lives together? One Sunday when we are just chilling out in Patrick's backyard, grilling some lobster after the mass service when my mom opens up about marriage. I almost got suck up under the ground, Patrick blowed some cola from his mouth straight to me since we were sitting together. Of course, we both expressed our objections. Our main point for them is we're young. But deep inside, Patrick wanted to say 'thinking of our marriage is the stupidest thing ever'. It's obvious, he can't say it in front of my mother. I feel bad but I also agree. I'd want to marry someone I love and someone who loves me back even though I'd probably old when I found the one.

"SO?"

The bell rings and I am proud to say, "Saved by the bell."

Patrick

I still can't move on to what Aunt Beth and my parents discussed that one Sunday in summer. They seriously thought about that thing without knowing my real relationship with her daughter Serena. How I wish I could just confess that same day that all of they're seeing when we're home, every family day, every Sunday services are all pretense. I wished that they could see us at school. We're never together. We pass by like unfamiliar students. We're barely together unless they're around. I wish they know how difficult it was for us to make stories on how we interact at school, that we have the same circle of friends when I don't even know her friends' names. I wish they know that we meet at least a kilometer away from our houses just to be seen going home together. I wish they know that she likes someone else and that's not me, I like someone else and it's not Serena. I wish they know that how we were when we're young is long gone.

It's been years, I don't know how many but it's been years since we realized that we're not robots; we couldn't just do what they want us to do and feel what they want us to feel. We are not a match-made in heaven like our parents' thought we were. We don't like each other anymore. We're just friends and neighbors.

We are just doing this out of guilt, and as Serena suggested, for the old time's sake. We were genuinely happy. We shared real joyful moments but we were just kids. We have a lot more yet to experience.

I saw her in the hallway this morning, she waves a hello while I couldn't help myself but just nod my head. Okay, I saw her but it's kinda hard to act friendly when I am not really friendly at school. We still have good times, but it's just one or two.

"Hey, Chris!" A cheerleader approaches our table as we're busy eating our lunch at the school's cafeteria. "We'll be having a party tomorrow night, seniors are all invited." She hands over an invitation in legal letter to our captain, Christian.

"I'm expecting you! Better show up." I'm not sure if she winked at me or she just had something in her eye.

"Okay. Another point for Patrick." Says Monty short for Montgomery. The teams' small forward.

"I'm losing." The center, Byron adds. We are playing this small, silly game. It was his idea to count every member's admirers. I am pretty sure I'm next to Chris, the best man in the team. 

-A