"So what should I call you?" His statement caught me off guard as we stepped foot out of our condo.
"Huh?" I replied, as I gave him a questioning look, feeling bewildered. For my brain failed for like a minute or two, I paused for a little longer than what I originally thought that 'caused Kiefer to give me the stink eye.
He stopped in his tracks and looked back at me, "Aren't we a couple already?" he stated that only made my face become more wrinkled.
"Since when?" I asked him and once again, saw his side eye.
"You know what? You're lucky I love you." He murmured under his breath and walked right past me. I let out a low chuckle after noticing that he really is upset.
"Really Kief? That's not what I recall you saying years ago." He stopped walking that caused me to halt too. Then he looked back at me and oh, if only looks could kill, I'd be six feet below the ground, "What? I'm just asking if this time you really love me because I'm not the girl you wanted to be with as far as I can remember."
Shock shot through me as he marched in my direction without any warning and pulled me close. As if he doesn't mind that we're in front of the elevator and it might open anytime soon. He slowly eased his way to my face, making my heartbeat go into chaos as I realize that our faces are only inches apart. "That was one of the biggest regrets in my life, Keira. And like I said, I will never dare do that to you again."
Then our lips met, it was so unexpected that I froze in place. He didn't bother moving away even when the elevator announced itself and the doors slowly revealed the people inside.
One, two, three minutes. I lost count of how long his lips were on top of mine, but I felt myself run out of breath. I could feel his smile through the kiss, the ends of his lips make it a lot more evident. When he finally backed up, he displayed a toothy smile that made it seem like he won the lottery.
"A perfect way to make you shut up, hmm?" He teased before grabbing my hand. Everything was a blur, I nearly forgot how we dashed through the fire exit as we glanced at the closed doors of the elevator, running and huffing as we were both about to be late for our first class.
"Something is weird." Kiesha commented whilst observing me like a hawk. "Tell me the truth, Kei, do you wanna say anything to me and Shai?" She shot me an accusing stare to which I only avoided by pretending to look at something else.
As a response, I only shook my head and kept my silence. Shai took the opportunity to lean closer and look at me the same way as Kiesha did, "What are you two doing? You look stupid."
"Nothing, your aura today is just different, I guess. You look…blooming." Shai showed a teasing grin and whispered something to Kiesha.
Sometimes I really don't regret being mean to them, they really would whisper about me face to face huh? "You really couldn't wait 'til I leave to whisper about me?" I stated and gave them a bored look. These two honestly.
Kiesha then proceeded to come closer and told me what Shai just told her. Ugh! This is definitely not school appropriate. I didn't think twice and pulled the ends of her hair as she laughed at their dirty joke. Shai is almost down to the floor and sounding like she's about to have asthma. "Guilty! So it's true?!" They push on.
"Witch! Your minds are so dirty!" I shouted. When she found an opportunity to escape from my grasp, she quickly ran off and without hesitation, I ran after her with the pair of small scissors I snatched from the hands of our classmate. I can see Hanna slowly getting irritated from the corner of my eye, but before she can kill me, I'll bury Kiesha alive first.
"Well, what exactly did you and Kiefer do during the weekends that got you blossoming like a flower in the spring huh?" They start again as me and Kiesh both calm down and catch our breaths.
"Other than we almost broke all of the glassware in the kitchen, nothing." I answered. As if I'll really tell them that I finally gave in and decided to give Kiefer another chance and that he stole a kiss from me this morning.
As if I'll spill how warm and soft his lips felt against mine and how I missed it dearly...
As if!
"Okay! fine, we won't push it anymore if you don't want to share anything." The sigh of relief I let out was quite evident after I heard that from Shai, "but don't forget to take us as Godmothers, okay?"
It seemed like they pestered me the whole day that I felt exhausted right after class as I waited for Kiefer to finish his training. Yes, he became part of the school varsity the moment he entered the school. Besides his talent in composing, one can't deny that he's also a great player for basketball. It's not so surprising as to why he's good at making girls fall for him too.
"Are you okay?" I heard him ask as I came back to my senses. "I was talking to you since earlier but you're not responding, are you feeling okay?"
"Oh, since earlier?" I asked to confirm and he nodded, looking at me weirdly. That's when I realized that there were only a few people left in the gym and he was already in his spare clothes.
Okay, did I really take that long to space out that I didn't even notice what was happening?
"Are you sure you're alright?" His palm landed on my forehead, he was just trying to feel my temperature but here I am feeling sparks and my cheeks turning red. God, this is a bad sign.
Come on self, hold on. You are not going to be easy to the guy who hurt you before.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Shall we go?" I asked as I fixed my things yet he looked like he was unconvinced. He was looking at me intently so I looked back at him with my grumpy face, "What? Let's eat, maybe I'm just hungry."
I was the first one to go down from the bleachers and he only followed behind me quietly. As usual, our schoolmates will never lose their judgy attitude, almost everyone that we passed by would make an effort to look at us.
It only got worse when Kiefer decided to suddenly intertwine our hands.
You could clearly hear the whispers now, if you can still call it that. Ha! Who's jealous of who now?
"Where do you wanna eat?" He asked while holding the car door open for me.
"I miss a specific eatery." My craving just popped out of nowhere, it was these noodles that we used to have at a cute and small place. Near the park that we used to hangout at.
"Is this at Nana Esther?" He smiled at me as he asked and I nodded furiously at the thought of eating there again. "Nana will be happy for sure once she sees you with me again!"
"Do you visit often?" He gave me a proud smile and nod.
"I remember the first time I came back without you, she asked where you were and she nearly shoved a ladle down my throat once she found out what happened between us." He laughed as he was telling the story while driving to the eatery. "And oh, don't be surprised if the place looks different. Over the years, her business boomed so it's like a semi-restaurant now."
"You know, it'll be my first time coming back here." I calmly told him as I looked out the window, taking in the familiar scenery that I haven't laid my eyes upon in a long while. I was just badly affected about what happened that I tried to forget every detail that would make me remember us or him. "Cause I thought that I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face if I went alone. And I didn't want her to worry about me if I suddenly started crying in the middle of a meal."
I sensed that his mood was slowly changing so I turned back to the lighter topic, "Anyway, it's good that you didn't get banned from the eatery. As far as I can remember, I'm the favorite."
"Oh, if only you knew" he chuckled. "We're here!"
From my side of the car, I could clearly see outside was a restaurant in place of the small eatery that I grew to love. It was still the same place, just an upgraded version of it. From a simple bamboo house, it expanded into this. A lot of people were already having their meal inside, mostly people with jobs and students.
My eyes immediately scanned for the old, lovely woman who owned the place. The smile on my face was enough to tell me that I was happy to recall my memories here with Kiefer.
"Why isn't it good to see you again, young lad?" I turned back to the familiar voice that was conversing with Kiefer. Years have passed and it really did make me realize that I haven't been here for too long. She aged so well, the wrinkles on her skin and her white hair actually looked good on her.
She slowly made her way to me, like a mother welcoming her child back home from college. My eyes couldn't help but water. I was about to hug her back when she lightly hit me with her crane, "Oh you kids! Good to know that you missed me and thought of visiting here! Even I was in the middle of your lover's quarrel!"
"Nana!" I tried to dodge her crane until I ended up hiding behind Kiefer. She stopped eventually and smiled at us, "Nana, I'm sorry! Peace, okay? I missed you too!"
"Well, I'm glad that you two made up. I prayed long and hard for this day to come." My heart melted at her statement, I swear she's the mother I never had. "Come on, I made the beef noodles you both love very much."
Nana was very enthusiastic in serving us the food, she even gave us a free hot bun because she's so happy that we got back together. You couldn't wipe off the smile on Kiefer's face even if you tried. I couldn't help but stare as we ate at our usual spot.
After we ate, we decided to get some groceries along the way. A handful of girls would stop and stare at Kiefer at the grocery store, especially when I turn my back against him. I'm not surprised, he was good looking back then and even more so now.
We were both quiet as we lined up to pay at the cashier. The lady before us had a lot in her cart and it was kinda crowded at that time too.
I was busy playing with my phone when I overheard a comment from someone behind me, "Shame, he married so young and his wife isn't even all that." They giggled at the same time and paused when Kiefer looked at them.
I was tempted to look back too, however he stopped me by putting an arm over my shoulder and giving me a kiss on my temple, the reason why the two behind us were left in silence.
After paying, I murmured under my breath before leaving, just enough for them to hear, "Don't make your jealousy too obvious."
"I almost yelled at them." I blurted out right as we got back to the car. "People are so disrespectful, it's annoying."
"Don't mind them, you're far more beautiful than any other girl. Maybe they lack love from their mom." His joke made me chuckle and take my mind off the scene. He really can be judgemental at times. "And, even if you do become ugly, you'll still be the one I'd wanna spend the rest of my life with."
And maybe, those words were the reason for my mini heart attack.