POEM THREE: LEADING
(Here I am, the 'Me' that was longing.
How do you suppose to enact a play like this?
Thy concept is nigh close but is quite a burden that I chose.
It opened another engagement that is yet to be disclosed.)
Peyg wanted to cool himself. He remembered that he hasn't eaten yet and that's why he hastily moved towards a nearby café.
The busted AC from the library was no different from outside's scorching heat. Since he really wanted to cool himself earlier, he went inside as quickly as possible.
The icky sweat that had accumulated didn't seem to bother him. More so, he was too focused on other stuff to mind.
Getting inside the café, the breeze from the AC brushed over his skin. He sat on a vacant seat near the window aisle. A waiter went towards him to get his order.
He waited patiently for his order to come and so he brought out his notebook to continue where he left of.
As he was doing so, a girl saw him from outside the window of the cafe. That girl had a bag full of cupcakes and looked like she just left the café as well.
With a hesitant look, she paced back and forth. After much contemplation, she turned around and entered back inside the café. She slowly walked towards Peyg.
Peyg was too preoccupied with his notebook that he didn't even realize that someone was looking at him intently as that said person was also approaching him closer and closer.
The girl sat on the opposite side of where Peyg was sitting. Even though she was already in front of him, he didn't notice her one bit.
She had a wave of pent-up anger that started when she saw him behind the window. She was already done eating and take out some cupcakes to eat at home and yet she came back for him.
Being forced by her own volition and choice, she was still reluctant on how would she approach the situation when it was thrown in front of her.
She stood up and slammed the table with both her hands.
"Peyg!"
She screamed. As she said that, people began to look in their direction and she was flustered with embarrassment.
She sat down and covered her blushing face.
She knew she messed up badly. Although it backfired, it made its job to caught Peyg's attention.
"If it's about my work, Lyrica, I'll just get my order and leave."
Peyg stood up.
Lyrica was the girl in question. She wanted to apologize after that shameful scolding back in the clubroom but instead, she made things worst.
Not only did she embarrass herself, but she also couldn't fulfill her plan of talking things through.
She knows that she has a lot of things to fix with herself. Just like how some people struggle to open up with people, she is also a captive of such demeanor.
Although this time, it was different. She deeply wants things to happen, to change, to move forward.
"Please, just stay."
She grabbed Peyg's hands. He looked at her flustered face and sat down.
"I'm sorry but I'm continuing with this."
Peyg started it off with a strong upfront with his objective.
"I know. It's fine."
She came here to apologize and she was met with an even harder task to deal with.
Are my emotions up to the task?
"You can continue with want you want to do for one of the club's entries in the festival. I will not stop you."
Is this really want I want?
"Also, I'm sorry from earlier."
I need to open up more often.
Peyg didn't say a word.
"Uhm, your order."
Peyg looked at the waiter and smiled. The stalemate was broken as the waiter handed over what he ordered.
"I came here to get a better piece of mind."
Peyg looked at Lyrica and saw her slightly revealing yet reserved facade.
"I accept your apology as well. Although in the first place, I will continue with this even if you are so against it. Besides, I'm already used to your bashful and cold outlook."
He picked up his drink and took a sip.
"Is that so, huh?"
The emotional mixture that she was experiencing earlier suddenly began to calm down. Her normal attitude began to show.
Before she can put in another word, Peyg picked up his notebook and looked around the café.
Lyrica looked at Peyg as he looked around.
She smiled and blushed a little.
A person who doesn't look at me and yet is so daring in his own way of achieving what he wants in life.
She brought out some of the cupcakes and ate them. Even though she already ate earlier, her tummy seems to have unlimited capacity when it comes to sweets and enjoying what she loves most.
Peyg continued with his writing.
***
The boy went to the donut shop that he heard from the people back in the library.
"I'm here. They said it was close but it was actually a couple of blocks away."
The skinny boy wasn't cut out for such long walks. He often stops by convenience stores on the way home after school to replenish his energy.
It was a rare moment that he will enter such a shop and so his hands were sweating. To a normal person, opening a door shouldn't be much of a task but for him, it was a moment that needs more attention than what he was used to.
As he brought out his hands to open the door, he looked at the window and saw a person that he looked forward to.
Yes, it was the person that he loves. She was inside with her friends eating some donuts.
Retracting his hesitation, he quickly opened the door. He expected that people would look at the door when a person opens it but it didn't happen.
He looked at everyone and saw smiles, laughter, and a variation of expressions piling up from one person to another. Each group of people has its own world and recreational bubbles.
He lived a life of being the one left behind that the first thought he had when nobody looked at him opening the door was because he was who he was. When in fact, everybody was just acting who they are as they are. He realized this as he sat on a vacant table that was adjacent to the girl's table. The place was just far enough so that he could gaze towards her from afar but not close enough that she would notice him.
A waiter suddenly approached him. He got startled for a bit as the waiter began to ask him his order.
He wasn't very familiar with this kind of shop so he didn't think that a waiter would suddenly go to him as he sat at the table. Although he thought that normally this would have been convenient, it didn't help the fact that he wasn't familiar with it.
He looked at the counter and saw a board where all the menus are. He wondered why is there a waiter getting my order. Since he wasn't familiar with it, he went along.
The waiter seemed to pick up on him.
"Maybe you are not familiar with this kind of service because we are a donut shop but we are also a restaurant. If you don't know what to order yet, I suggest our recommended blueberry milkshake with our cream-filled original donuts."
He ordered the recommended menu.
After a few moments, the waiter happily gave him the milkshake and donuts.
He tasted the milkshake first for he was not so familiar with such a product in a sense that he hadn't tasted one. He was surprised by how tasty it was so he ate the donut as well.
The look on his face emitted an aura that says, "I haven't tasted such a delicious delicacy".
A normal person would've normally said it was tasty and get on with it and probably a couple of pictures here and there. But because it was his first time to a shop like this, he savored the moment.
Every bite from the donut was divine and never got old. Every sip from the milkshake felt like he was swimming in a pool of sweetness. And yet, this sensation was stopped in the middle after he saw someone who was not comparable but transcends what he was feeling.
Yes, for a moment he forgot about his agenda but the moment he was reminded of it, he instantly got hooked.
While eating, he accidentally looked on his side and saw her. He saw the girl who was the reason for his change of pace, the reason that gave him this new taste, and the reason that gave him paradise.
While eating, he stole glances at her. It was the ultimate combination of pleasure, from food to fantasy and from a peaceful afternoon to paradise.
He didn't want this moment to be wasted so he brought out his notebook and began writing.
***
"Peyg! Uhm, you see… do you want to go out sometime? You know, my treat. As, sorry… Yes… sorry for earlier."
As Peyg was preoccupied while writing, Lyrica blurted those words.
Lyrica was looking at Peyg the whole time while he was writing. That face was something special to her.
Even after saying that, Peyg didn't respond at all. He was busy looking at his notebook and writing stuff that came to his mind.
Lyrica's face began to look saddened. She felt the difference in importance of her towards what Peyg was doing. But even though she did, her angst nature prevented her from backing down on her offer to Peyg. She went close to Peyg and touched his notebook.
Peyg looked towards Lyrica as she got his attention.
In a blushful expression, she shyly said.
"As a form of an appropriate apology, I will treat you tomorrow."
After saying that, she immediately sat down and looked at Peyg.
Peyg thought for a moment and didn't give a quick response to what Lyrica said.
"At least say something."
She was already embarrassed earlier and she kept feeling so this whole time.
Before she could say another word, Peyg responded.
"If you're going to treat me at least invite Vol with…"
Before Peyg could finish his sentence, Lyrica butted in a reply.
"No, I... It's personal. And I said I wanted to apologize for earlier. So please, I want it to be just the two of us."
Peyg knew that although Lyrica acted out of character from time to time, this wasn't one of them.
"Okay. But I'll still be bringing my work tomorrow even if it's a weekend. We only got two weeks to prepare before the festival starts after all."
Peyg was that type who will be left doing something else even though the whole class was tasked to participate in an event.
Without hesitation, Lyrica replied.
"I do not mind you bringing your work."
Nonetheless, she was happy enough that Peyg agreed to her.
***
The boy asked himself, should I go there?
Just like before, he was asking himself questions that adhere to such possibilities.
Even though it will all end up in a constant denial towards himself.
Although this time, he didn't falter. But before he could move, his imagination stole his first move.
The notebook was closed as it ended:
-"The battle that started a war shall spark the new tale that is yet to be finished."-
He quoted.
***