CHAPTER 15 - GOTCHA
"Do you like him?" He asked.
It caused me to turn my head on him. Sensing my bewildered expression, he chuckled at me. "Why? You looked surprised." He continued.
I ducked my head and started fidgeting the hem of my cardigan. "I just didn't expect you to ask me that."
He didn't reply to that so I just continued pretending to have an interest in my cardigan. Then I felt the car slowly halting, so I looked out the window and noticed that he pulled up to the side. I looked at him to ask what happened, but found him unfastening his seatbelt and came out of the car.
I thought he was going to check the bumper if there was something or what, but then I was surprised to see him walking towards my door. I started to panic. Is he gonna leave me here?
He opened my door and I started becoming skeptical, looking around the place to see if I could even find a ride home if ever my assumption was right. I unfastened my seatbelt so I could get out of the car too. But he stopped me by putting his hands on both edges of my seat.
I gulped as I looked at him, only to find him intensely staring at me. Our proximity was the closest we've ever been aside from the kisses on the cheeks he had done before. His breath was hitting my face while I, on the other side, was trying not to breathe that much so he wouldn't smell mine.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked, stuttering cause of our distance.
He didn't mind my question, cause he had a question of his own. "Do you like him?"
I found myself holding my breath. "I.. Why?"
He closed his eyes and leaned away from me before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He croaked while shaking his head. "I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"
I looked away and nodded, "A bit."
"Sorry." He repeated then pulled me into a hug. His body was warm-- of course, and buff. He smelled like mint and chocolate, it wasn't too strong for my liking though I still prefer Clarence's baby-like smell. His fingers were brushing my hair, somehow calming my nerves.
"I like you." He whispered hands were still wrapped around me. "And I'm not sure if you like someone else but please give me a chance to prove myself to you."
I didn't know what to say. He liked me, but my feelings for him were anything but. And I wasn't also sure if I was starting to like Clarence or nah.. All I knew was I'd rather binge-watch Buzzfeed Unsolved with Clarence in our pajamas, piggin' out.
"You don't have to answer me now. You have the whole day to think about it, yeah?"
I smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah."
He patted my head and told me to fasten my seatbelt as he walked back to the driver's. He handed me his phone with his music app open and asked me to pick an album or songs I wanted to play during the whole drive. I find it somehow cute, but I was being a little playful so I decided to play something he wouldn't-- Taylor's Lover.
I could see the wince on his face at my choice of the album but he couldn't do anything about it now since he gave me his phone.
"On the second thought, I think we should just talk throughout the whole drive." He suggested, but we both knew he was just teasing me.
The drive wasn't that long-- much to my disappointment, though I think Harry really did drive purposely fast so he didn't have to listen to Taylor Swift that long.
Upon entering the bar-- Yes, we're dating at a bar. Yay! Romantic. We were escorted by Harry's friend. He introduced me to Camila, who was scrutinizing me from cap-a-pie as if I was one of her rivals.
I shrugged it off cause it takes to move 6 eye muscles to eye-roll and she's not even worthy of that. And I'm not gonna describe how she looked cause like what I've said, she's not worthy of it.
We went inside the Break Bar and I thought at first it was just a regular bar, but it wasn't. It's a place where you could actually break or smash things-- Rage room. Very romantic. Note my sarcasm.
Harry and Camila were talking before she gave us a paper, which I think was a waiver. It said that we needed to wear gloves, helmets, as and such for our safety. Camila led us to a room with bottles, vases, electronics, glassware, and everything breakable.
She told us to have fun and enjoy breaking things. And of course, she winked at Harry and flew a kiss then raised a brow at me while pouting her lips when Harry wasn't looking. I would surely enjoy breaking her face instead of these.
Don't get me wrong. I don't like Harry and I was positive I wasn't jealous. But she just gets on my nerve.. You know that feeling when you're not doing anything to someone but they started mocking you, you just wanted to punch their face until your hand sink in it.
I jolted up when I heard something was being smashed and found Harry smashing a printer with a baseball bat like he was so used to smashing things with that. It suddenly reminded me of Niegan in TWD and how he smashed Glen's head to death. It gave me goosebumps.
He looked at me with a satisfied smile on his face. Fck am I dating a psycho?
"Come. You'll enjoy this." He said positively like he was just asking me to eat creme brulee. Yup, he said it like it was a normal thing to do.
I reluctantly walked towards him. Honestly, I felt like I was in danger and this never happened whenever I was with Clarence. Here we are again, thinking about Clarence when I'm out on a date with someone.
I didn't know I was taking so much time walking so he came to me and grabbed my hand. He brought me to the vases and pointed to the smallest one. "Go and break that one. Start with the little ones for your warm-up."
But the vases were cute.. My minimalist heart was crying.
"Go." He said, encouraging me with a smile on his face.
I raised the sledgehammer slightly and closed my eyes tightly as I dropped it on the vase.
"Come on. Don't hesitate." He mocked. "Haven't you been mad for something lately?" He asked, making me wonder. Aside from Camila, what upset me lately?
"Your professor who gave you so many handouts or a surprise quiz you got a low mark on? Your flat car tires? The traffic.. What? Think of something that angers you, upsets you, or stresses you." He suggested, but none of those became my problem for the past weeks. He must've sensed I was thinking, so he tried harder.
"That guy you're with who trapped you into dating him." He continued.
I looked at him and chuckled. We both knew he was talking about himself. "You didn't force me into this. I agreed to it." I consoled.
"Cool! Thanks.." He grasped for words and scratched the side of his head, "Good to know." Then chuckled to put an end to his discomfort and changed the topic, "Let me think something else." He said as if he was thinking what could really upset me. "How about your bestfriend ditching you for someone else. Your past relationships.. No?"
He kept on blabbing but my mind suddenly wandered to Clarence, Lairi and their picture. We've eaten breakfast almost everyday this week but he didn't bother mentioning this to me. Are they dating?
I started ruminating our relationship-- I mean, were we really friends or was I just another research partner to him. Was he dating Lairi even before we started being friends? Why didn't he tell me? He could've told me when I confided to him about Lairi and my ex.
My mind were full of unanswered questions and the next thing I knew, I lifted up the sledgehammer and smashed the bigger vase in front of me.
"Woah. I didn't know you have grudges towards the cheerleaders." He mentioned, probably referring to the last suggestion he said that I didn't even hear because my mind was occupied by Clarence.. And Lairi.. And the picture.
I just shrugged my shoulders and let him believe what he was thinking.
"Let's move on to the next one." He then grabbed me by the waist and guide me towards the kitchen wares. "I know you're still hesitating but once you get to it, you wouldn't wanna stop." He gave me an encouraging look and nodded.
I took a deep breath and raised my hammer to smash the teacup but it was too small so I thought of something else. I rested the hammer on the floor and took the teacup before throwing it on the wall, making Harry jolt from where he was standing.
"He-hey!" Harry chuckled, "I didn't know we had a pitcher here."
He took some plates and did the same thing. I took the pile of plates he was holding and threw them all at the same time on the wall. I chuckled at his reaction, looking like he was robbed. Well, technically, he was.
"You greedy monster." He feigned anger and threw a small bottle just near my feet, he was careful enough to not let it reach me or even get to me.
"Bring it on." I challenged, making him snicker. I took the bat behind me, raised it mid-air and ran towards Harry who looked panicky for a bit so he ducked his head. Little did he know, I was aiming for the monitor behind him and swing my bat in it.
I laughed at his bewildered face when he thought I was going to hit him with the bat. I mocked his cowardice. "Gotcha!" I chirped while continuously laughing. "Really? A football player afraid of getting hit by a girl?"
He glared at me but I didn't mind him and just continued laughing. He just kept on staring at me and the next thing I knew, he pulled the bat I was holding, dragging me with it. He then grabbed my hips and leaned me against the wall with his arms on either side of me.
He was staring at me as if he was calling out to me. My eyes were squinting because of the proximity. His, on the other hand, traveled down to my lips. It was as if something took over my body and made me bite my lips.
I saw the ghost of a smile on his face when he realized that he somehow affected me.
"I always kiss your cheeks." He croaked while his finger was tracing my jaw. "But what would it feel like if I kiss your lips?" He then slightly raised my chin so our lips were only a few inches away.
Slowly, he was taking the spaces between our faces and I found myself closing my eyes, anticipating his kiss. But then I started having a strange feeling. I was searching for his scent. That baby-like smell.
I wanted to push Harry but he beat me to it.. "Gotcha!" He chirped. Then like a snap, I could no longer hear his breath but it was replaced by his boisterous laugh. He thought I fell into his trap, but I didn't.
Thanks to Clarence, all I could think about was him.