__Mari__
“wait… Let me get this straight. You went to Wilbur’s house and he kissed you” she said
“yeah. It was spontaneous. I couldn’t even push him away, he just….”
“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh”
Oh great! My ear drums.
“OH my God! Oh my God are you for real?!” she yelled out and grabbed my arms then began to shake me
“hey stop it… I’m still not strong okay?” I said and she stopped
“I can’t believe this! He kissed you! Like he placed his lips on yours. Wilbur Sanders kissed my best friend! Like, I didn’t even imagine any of this would ever happen while we lived in the slums. Who knew we were going to know a millionaire actor personally, talk more of him falling in love with you. And then kissing you! Gosh!” she jumped up and began to dance, wriggling her butt and turning around. I laughed at that funny sight and sat on the couch
“holy moly”
We looked at where that voice came from and it was Simona. She was standing at the entrance to her hallway with her eyes widened and her face pale
“you guys lied to me! So that guy the other day was Wilbur Sanders? You said he was your cousin and he said he was just a lookalike. You guys are liars” she said and we both stared at her for like five seconds then we burst into hysteric laughter
Eliza laughed so much that she had to sit on the floor and I clutched unto my stomach.
Wait… What’s even funny here?
I looked at Eliza and stopped laughing and she stopped too. But we were both grinning
“why were you laughing?” I asked
“why were you laughing Mari?” she asked too. I didn’t say anything but I just stared at her.
She started to laugh again, at first slowly like long chuckles then she burst out laughing loud. I couldn’t help it, I began to laugh too. You know, laughing is contagious. If you see someone laughing in a funny way, you just gotta laugh too
“the both of you shut uppppp!” screamed Simona and we stopped immediately
“where in the world did you two get to know him?” she asked not even in a polite way, but more like a demanding principal
“do you have a right to know? If yes, please tell me you do” Eliza said and stood up from the floor
“of course I have a right to know” she said and placed her hands on her waist
“and why? Who are you to us again? Our mother? Our friend? Our guardian?” Eliza asked and she kept quiet
“just go back to your room Simona and don’t interfere in our private lives” Eliza said and scoffed then she pulled me up and pulled me along to my room
“I know you two are just lying! You think you got me? No way! I don’t get pranked easily!” Simona yelled out as we left the living room to my room
Eliza opened my door and we entered then I closed it. She hopped on the bed
“come and tell me everything” she said and I laughed. I knew that was going to be her next statement
I sat beside her and loosen my ponytail
“well, after my exams I didn’t see you so I waited a long time outside your exam hall. I then heard you guys just started another paper so I decided to go home. When I got home I couldn’t stop myself from having flashes about the nightmare and the real events so I showered, got dressed and took a little money. I went out and began to walk, not really knowing where I was going. Then I remembered the day Will picked me up and took me to that French restaurant. I flagged down a taxi that was coming and went to his house” I said and looked at her. She was really listening with keen interest
“continue” she said
“when I got there, the security man wouldn’t let me in because he hasn’t really seen me before. You know I always went there in a car. So I begged him to call his master and tell him it’s Marigold. Just then Val came to speak with him and she saw me outside the gate and she immediately told him to open it for me, that I was close friends with the master and his sister. So I got in and the security man apologized to me. I went inside and met Wini about climbing the stairs with a tray in her hands. She was so happy to see me. She gave me the tray and told me Will was sick and he needed water. I then went upstairs and knocked on the door, he said I should come in. Then I entered and he was wearing a shirt and facing his wardrobe or closet or whatever it was. Then I walked to his bedside and dropped the tray containing water for him. When he turned, he looked so surprised. He walked to me and suddenly, he pulled me and began to kiss me. He kissed me for a long time” I said and breathed out. What a long story
“awwwwwnnn” Eliza cooed and hugged me sideways
“I feel so giggly” she said and I chuckled. She released me
“did you enjoy it?” she asked
“uhmm… I… Well… I don’t know” I mumbled
“did you enjoy it?” she repeated, laying emphasis on each word
“okay, maybe I did” I confessed and she giggled and clapped her hands
“I’m so happy for you babe. And I can’t wait for you to say yes to him” she said and I sighed
“Elizabeth I’m scared” I said and faced her
“so you even remember my full name? Wow, no one’s called me Elizabeth for years now. It feels so weird. Hmm, can you call me that again?”
I glared at her
“I’m sorry. Don’t mind my immaturity. Why are you scared?” she asked. I sighed and fiddled my fingers
“the nightmare I had. It was just a flashback of my life when I was about 16 to 17 years. Ever wondered how I got pneumonia? Well, there was this guy… Caleb. He was a senior in my school and he was really good looking. He was really rich and famous in school. He always had girls around him and somehow, I began to crush on him. He found out I was crushing and he took interest in me. He began to come around me and I felt so happy. A friend of mine warned me that he was a player and would just sleep with me and leave but I thought she was jealous that almighty Caleb wanted me to be his girlfriend. Caleb and I began to date and I loved him so much. He told me he loved me too and I believed him. One day, just before an excursion we had into the snowy mountains, he asked for sex. He convinced me to do it but right there on the bed, I changed my mind and pulled him off. I said I couldn’t do it and if he loved me he would understand. He just nodded, smiled and left. During the excursion, I caught him kissing and making out with a girl who was bare in wrong places. His hand was into her trousers and likewise hers. I was heartbroken and I confronted them. He just laughed and pulled me away from that place. He took me to the wooden bridge and told me to my face that he never loved me and he just stooped down to try and get into my pants. I was so hurt that I tried to hit him and slap him but he struggled against me and somehow I fell off the bridge into the ice cold river. I couldn’t swim in the current and the river pushed me far away. I was lost for two days in ice and snow without food until a rescue team finally found me. When I told them Caleb was responsible, he denied and said he wasn’t even with me and no one questioned him”
“OH my goodness! Mari I didn’t know you went through all that. I’m so sorry” she said and hugged me. I felt my tears dripping and I couldn’t control it
“it was such a horrible experience and my mom had traveled during that time. I was heartbroken and vowed never ever to fall into the trap of rich playboys again. But I was grateful I didn’t sleep with him because I would have even regretted more” I said amidst sobs and wiped my tears though they kept dripping down
“it’s okay Mari. Stop crying please” Eliza pleaded and began to wipe my tears for me
“you see, it’s not my fault I’m scared of saying yes to Will. It’s not my fault” I said and burst into cries.
“OH my God. Stop this Mari. Stop or I’m going to cry too”
I sniffed and palmed my face. I stopped crying and I wiped my tears out
“look at you, you’ve turned all pink” she said and pulled my hair back from my shoulders
“I’m sorry” I apologized
“it’s okay babe. I’m right here for you. I’m not a playgirl” she said and placed one hand on her chest to show her sincerity. I laughed and she chuckled
“I know you’re not a playgirl.” I said and she nodded
“good. Now I want you to get up, go and wash your face then come let’s drink some coffee”
“coffee? Where did you get coffee from?” I asked
“I won it from a coffee shop. It was a lucky slot”
“oh, okay” I said and climbed down from the bed.
“do you know Eduardo’s girlfriend was arrested for sexual abuse on an unknown guy? They said she drugged and raped him. It was even Eduardo who caught her and called the police on her” Eliza said and opened her bag then brought out coffee sachets
“Will told me” I simply said and entered the bathroom to wash my face. There’s no need telling her who the guy is cause I feel Will told me a secret and it wouldn’t be nice telling it to another person.
Though it was funny that he got raped. I laughed a little and he just chuckled. I apologized for laughing though but he said it was actually funny.
***
“Eliza, stop buying too much of these movies. You’re wasting money” I said as Eliza wouldn’t stop selecting films
“they’re not movies dumb dumb. They’re seasons of one drama. Six seasons and I’m buying all of them” she replied
“are you gonna have time to watch everything? You’re gonna spend most of your time helping your mother out”
“I can watch it every night when we’re back from the shop”
I rolled my eyes and looked through the collected of movies. I won’t be going to Aunty Denny. She’s a nightmare that I wouldn’t want to repeat. Simon has already gone back to her hometown so it’s gonna be me and me. Eliza has promised to always visit me though, every weekend.
“hold this for me Mari. I need to use the restroom here” she said and gave me the seasons of her so called drama.
I continued to look through the movies and my eyes caught sight of one with Will’s picture on it. The title was You Only. I picked it up
“how much is this?” I asked the man selling
“it’s just twenty peso ma’am. It’s quite lovely to watch” he said and I nodded. I paid him and put it in my bag.
*
*
*
The telephone rang and I picked it up
?hey Mari, you won’t believe this
?what is it?
?your aunty is now dating Pacquiao
?what!
?unbelievable right? My mom just told me today, she said they’ve been together for about a month now
?she just wants to ruin her life with drugs
?she’s already ruining it. She looks so skinny and pale and weightless. You need to see the way she moves
?OH God. What has she gotten herself into? This is bad
?well, I hope they break up for her own good
?I hope so too
?well goodbye. I’ll call you later, my mom is coming and she doesn’t want me near her phone anymore
?hahaha, bye Eliza
?bye Mari
I dropped the phone and sat up on the bed. So aunty Denny has decided to start following the number one drug dealer in Tondo? That’s too dangerous for her. He has lots of enemies and besides that, the drugs are going to ruin her.
I sighed and shook my head. I picked up the magazine I was going through and looked through the pages I had already gone through.
Today is just boring
I closed the book and stepped out of the bed. I look through my window and saw that the sky was pitch black, no stars at all.
I decided to go and watch TV and that was when I remembered that I bought a movie. I rushed to my bag and pulled it out
“yes!” I screamed and ran to the living room. I brought out the DVD player and inserted the disc then hastily sat on the couch.
“I need candy” I said and stood up then ran to my room, I grabbed the bag of chocolates and ran back to the living room.
I sat watching the movie for two hours and I was finding it interesting. Will was an arrogant guy who was fighting for a girl with two other arrogant guys. Three different arrogant guys over a girl. They didn’t actually love her, they made a bet as friends to get her but along the way, they began to hate each other and tried to dispose themselves. Well, Will fell in love with the girl and bla bla bla
“Benedicta I love you… I know I’m arrogant and stubborn and crazy and whatever it is you wanna call me. It’s all true. But I want you to know that I truly love you. I love you and only you” that was Wilbur telling that to the girl
Somehow I got pissed off and stood up
“shut up! You said you love me! Now you’re telling that to another girl!” I yelled at the television
I crossed my arms and stared at the TV. A knock came on the door and I wondered who it was. Should be Will, he said he was gonna check on me this week.
__Will__
She opened the door and I smiled at her
“hey” I hailed
“come in” she said and I entered
“what are you up to?” I asked as she closed the door
”television” she replied and I looked at the TV
Oh she’s watching You Only?
“nice movie” she said and looked at the TV.
The next scene was awkward. I was kissing that girl.
I bit my lower lip and looked at her and she was smirking at me
.
.
To Be Continued
