Aila "…" Aila bit her lower lip, not wanting to respond to Yhuan's confession.
"Hello, Aila are you still there?"
"I told you to stop flirting…" Aila rubbed her temples, as she let out a deep sigh.
"I was not flirting; I was just answering your question honestly."
"Okay, so can we stop asking questions about our feelings for each other?"
"I can do that… my next question is, do you have a crush?" Yhuan cackled thinking it is a good way to work around the new rule Aila just made.
"Yes, I have a crush on Tony, my schoolmate."
"Ouch... You're so honest, it hurts"
"Hahaha... Why? You were the one who asked… I'm being honest, well, I find him most attractive"
Aila finds Yhuan attractive, but she can't really consider it as a crush… When Aila thinks of the word crush, it is someone who you find attractive but it should be unrequited, that's why Tony is the one that comes to her mind when asked about crushes. Tony is one guy that does not show interest in her.
"Okay fair enough, I know I'm not that attractive, I just did not expect you to rub it on my face. Hahaha," Yhuan was obviously trying to keep it cool with his fake laugh.
"My turn, how many girlfriends have you had?"
"I had one… how about you?"
"I've never had one."
"Really? Not even that guy who you ate lunch with at the grandstand?" Yhuan could not believe that he waited for so long when he could have competed right then with Ken.
"Hey, don't judge me… I also ate lunch with you and you know you're not my boyfriend."
"Ouch… your tongue is too sharp for a pretty lady like you."
"Hahaha, I was just stating the truth"
"What if Tony confesses to you, does he stand a chance?"
"No... as of now, I don't want to be in a relationship"
"Okay, great! Hahaha!" the happiness in his tone is undeniable
"Eh, why are you so happy?"
"Well, it gives me a sense of triumph, even if I don't win you over at least no one else does... but I get to be close to you, which is more than enough for me."
"Crazy guy, do you know how weird that sounded? Okay, that's enough for today; I would like to continue sketching my cypris morpho ...."
"What's that?"
"My favorite type of butterfly"
Aila loves butterflies, for her the symbolism of the life cycle of the butterfly somehow represents her life. Wrapped in a cocoon to prepare you for the better days to come, like her life where she's hidden as a princess but when she's ready and capable enough, she will be able to spread her beautiful wings and awe people with her grace.
Monday morning Aila was already in her classroom, but their professor was late. She peeked outside their room and to her surprise, Yhuan was there waving at her.
Aila went outside the room to meet him.
"Hey, how did you get inside the campus?" Aila scratched her head in disbelief at how Yhuan can just sneak inside their campus just to be with her.
"I have my ways; look at what I brought with me." He showed the guitar bag behind him.
"Wow, you brought a guitar with you."
"I want to serenade you." Yhuan looked like a professional with the way he carried the guitar with confidence. Aila smiled with the thought of someone serenading her shamelessly like Yhuan.
Yhuan started to play the guitar, he was good Aila was impressed. She raised her brows when she realized Yhuan was not singing.
"Why are you not singing?"
"I'm not a good singer, do you want to?"
Aila, came near Yhuan she fixed her hair up using the pencil she pulled out of her pocket, there were a few strands of loose hair, she tucked them behind her ears.
Yhuan fixed his collar and gasp for air as he found Aila's action rather seductive. It clearly wasn't Aila's intention but to her being alluring to the eyes is effortless.
Aila picked up the guitar and played a familiar tune. The intro of the song is quite long, that some students inside the room peeked outside to see who was playing the beautiful tune.
"look into your eyes, so far away
There's trouble on your mind
You're losing faith
Hey now, let me hold you
It'll be okay
Coz I will love you
Till they take my heart away
Believe
I'm here to stay
I will love you
Till they take my heart away"
Aila closed her eyes and smiled while playing and singing, she has not been able to do this for a long time since that traumatic night on the beach so doing it now safely, and somehow it felt great.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed a good crowd already gathered near them, feeling embarrassed she stopped right away and returned the guitar to Yhuan who was still in awe.
"Oh, why did you stop? You're so good."
"Haha crazy dude, my professor is here already, I'll go ahead."
As Aila left him, she took out her pencil to undo her hair updo and shook out her hair to fall back in place.
Yhuan stroked his freshly shaved chin and let out a deep sigh and thought to himself.
"This woman is unbelievable, how can you affect me this much."
When Aila entered the classroom, she lowered her head because her professor came in at the same time.
"Ms. Rodriguez, you have a good voice, maybe you should join the music club."
"Oh, I don't think I am that good enough sir, anyway thanks for appreciating..."
After class
Rey approached Aila again, "Is that guy walking you home again?" pointing at Yhuan who was waiting patiently outside their classroom.
"Yes, why are you asking?" She tugged at her earlobe, waiting for an opportunity to reject Rey again.
"When will you give others a chance, you went almost exclusively with him these past weeks," Rey answered with frustration.
"Hahaha… seriously? I don't think I am obliged to make a schedule for you guys, it's just that I feel more comfortable with him than anyone else right now… so that's about it."
Aila gave a mirthless laugh with the entitled attitude of Rey. As she went for the door where Yhuan was waiting, she saw Vince, who looked like a complete mess.
"Vince, are you okay?"
"We have to talk." Vince grabbed her arm and dragged her inside the room. Aila saw Yhuan's face turned sour because of displeasure because of Vince's action. Aila did not want a confrontation between the two guys, so she tried to calm down Yhuan.
"It's okay, we'll just talk." She raised her hand, seeing Yhuan's fists were clenched with anger.