"Girlfriend?" Harold and Celine, and I asked the man who suddenly appeared.
I also got confused because I don't know him so why would he just say that I am his girlfriend? Is this man crazy?
"Excuse me--"
He smiled at me. "Let's go?" He held my hand and was about to drag me out there but he stopped. He looked at Celine while being calmed. "Make it a hobby to listen to your boyfriend's explanation before jumping to conclusions, huh?"
And we walked away from that place... Still he's holding my hand. As much as I wanted to walk away from this strange man, I couldn't. I lost my strength because of what happened, my brain just couldn't process things easily as of the moment.
"Thank me later," as he stopped from walking, he started talking. "I deserve it, don't I?"
"Why did you do that?" I went straight to the point. "I don't even need your help, so why did you do that? We don't know each other in the first place, so what right do you have to interfere in my life?"
“Is that the way you thanked people?" He smirked at me. "I saw that there was a disturbance going on, so I came closer. It's not my job to interfere with others... But because I feel that the girl doesn't know how to listen to the explanation her boyfriend is trying to say, I've come up with that… way."
"And that's the way you’re saying and acting like you did a big favor to me?!" I asked. "You told them I’m your girlfriend and you think the problem has been solved?"
"Exactly!"
"Do you think it's funny?" I rolled my eyes. "What you did was not a good idea, stupid! What if Harold asks me about you? What am I going to answer? What-"
"Why do you tend to make everything a big deal, Miss Beautiful?" The smile on his lips was indelible. "Just go with the flow, the problem will be solved. But if you don't want to lie to your friend, we can make this work into reality."
My jaw dropped at the last thing he said. What he said sounded serious, but... His annoying grin made me think he was just tripping me.
"By the way, my name is not Stupid." He held out his palm in front of me. "I'm Israel Villagas… honey bunch, sweetie pie for short."
I shook his hand. "I guess you don't recognize what is long and short, huh." I rolled my eyes at him for the nth time. "We shouldn't cross our paths... Again."
I immediately turned around and walked away from that man. Even though I wasn't completely away from him, I still heard the last thing he said.
"We'll see each other here, right? I'm studying here, too!"
I didn't choose to pay attention to it anymore and left the campus completely. I don't have anything else to do there other than find out which place I'm going to do OJT. Even more unlucky because something unexpected happened... And I even met that man. He's handsome... however I don't like the aura of his personality... Smells like a playboy.
"Hi, Irene!" When I finally got out of campus, I met Magi with a girl I didn't know. "Do you also study at this school?"
I nodded. "You also?"
"We've graduated here." She looked at the woman beside her. "By the way, it's Delancy, my friend."
"Hi, I'm Irene." I extended my palm to shake hands with Delancy, she reached for it before smiling sweetly at me.
"Are you going home?" Magi asked. "We are planning to invite you for coffee first. Is that okay with you?"
I would have liked to say no because I really had to go home. I want to rest at home because the bed is dragging my body. However I’m afraid I might look rude if I reject Magi, while I owe them and Dylan so much.
"Sure," I agreed.
They put me in the car and definitely took the road to the coffee shop they were talking about. Magi also insisted on taking me to our house after that. I just agreed and it's still the same... they will drop me off at the exit of our village.
I'm quite amazed that Delancy was driving the car because Magi doesn't know how to drive. I'm just in awe of women who know how to drive a car. 'Cause one thing I wanted to learn in life is to drive a car. But… How can I learn to drive a car if I am not allowed to use our car?
"Delancy and I are secondary teachers at the public school. We just passed by the campus to pass some requirements that we didn't pass last year," said Magi, while I was busy drinking coffee in the middle of the day.
"You? What is your course, Irene?" Delancy asked.
"Uhm, BSHM," I answered, "and I'm in my 4th year as an HM student. Next week, I'll be participating in OJT."
"That's great!" Magi exclaimed. "One of our friends is your batchmate. He's in his fourth year now, he's in engineering."
I just nodded at what Magi said and continued drinking the coffee I was holding.
"Irene, do you have a boyfriend?"
I almost drowned in the coffee I was drinking because of Delancy's question. Because of that, I suddenly remembered the incident earlier that I was trying to forget.
"N-None," I answered. "Having a boyfriend or getting into a relationship is not on my priority list. I promised my father and my mother in heaven that books before boys."
"Because boys bring babies?" Delancy chuckled. "Just kidding. But seriously, you haven't been in a relationship yet? Are you NBSB?"
"NBSB?"
"No boyfriend since birth." Magi laughed. "It looks like nothing really... She's a good girl, Delancy."
"But I had a crush," I uttered. "Just in case, he has a girlfriend now. I couldn't admit to him that I have a crush on him because I'm afraid of rejection."
"Rejection is always part of our life, Irene," Magi replied. "If you won't experience being rejected, you will fail to innovate to become the best version of yourself."
"How do you know your shortcomings if you don't get rejected? How will you know the things you should change about yourself if he doesn't like or reject you? People should set their mindset of not taking as negative things if someone rejected them. Be motivated and accept the rejection, so you could be able to change yourself for the better," she added.
"I was once afraid of being rejected. Who wouldn't be afraid of that, right? It's a pain to be rejected," Delancy spoke. "But you know what, Irene? Even though it was difficult for me to accept his rejection... Still I managed to accept it."
"They’re saying I’m brave enough to accept the fact that the man I used to admire won't really like me. It's pretty normal to feel pain at first, trying to accept the reality that the man you like doesn’t feel the same as you, believe me that shattered my heart into pieces. But the central idea here is that when I accepted his rejection towards me and learned to accept that we were not meant for each other, I began to be determined to change myself.""Upon realizing the things that I should eradicate in my life, I changed for the better. I've been rejected once but I'm still thankful because that happened… Because that was the way for me to find a man who can accept me completely. Being able to love the real me... The old me, and the new me," Delancy said with a smile.Did they approach me on purpose? To lecture me about rejection. If that's the case, I owe these two a thank you. Indeed, people tend to learn from others' experiences… And because of what they both said, I learned anoth
I smiled a little. I didn't expect that I would suddenly feel good about Israel. Maybe his confession to me that he was my secret admirer helped, so I stopped being mean to him. He looks like a sensible man... And maybe I'll just wait for the day to come when, through his old-fashioned courting style, I'll fall for him.I don't think it would possibly happen... But I don't want to spearhead destiny."Who is that man I saw here earlier?" I was about to enter the gate, only to be greeted by Stacy's surprised face. Obviously, she's referring to Israel. "Who's that guy, Irene?"I raised my left eyebrow at her, giving her a bored look. "Why do you even care?""Of course, I care!" she exclaimed. "Because that guy looks familiar."Israel looks familiar to Stacy? Do they know each other?"You're not answering my question, Irene! Who is that man?!"I came back to my senses when Stacy spoke again. All I can do is to stare at her blankly, finding the right word to utter at this moment."Whoever
"Are you a service crew here?" she asked, very amused. "Are you a working student?"I immediately looked away, I felt like she was insulting me by the way she said those words. This is one of the disadvantages of being a working student... When your acquaintances or classmates see you working.Never did I imagine that it could also possibly happen to me. That feeling when Celine saw me struggling to wipe the tables, I felt insulted. I felt downgraded."Irene," she mentioned my name again. "Look, I'm just asking you a question, but I didn't mean to offend you. Well, the answer to the question is obvious, so why did I bother to ask anyway?" She laughed at her own statement. "I'm sorry if I ever stepped on your ego. But seriously, I'm not here to poke fun at you.""Of course, you're here to order a meal, aren't you?" I faked a smile. "Can I take your order?""Irene…" She held my hand. "I want to apologize for what I did to you last time. I was just so angry when I saw you and Harold toge
"Is that funny?" Now he is the one who is getting mad at me. "I'm just saying, Irene... Stop working. You’re living in such a pretty and huge mansion, so why do you need to work? You look rich-""I work for myself. Is that bad? When you can afford all expensive goods or you’re rich, you're not allowed to work?""Unless you have a deeper reason for doing that," he said. "You must have thought I had forgotten your confession to me before... When I was still Teddie, The Teddy Bear.""I think it's my obligation to provide for my family's needs," since he already unleashed what I’m trying to hide, I stopped from telling lies. "Let’s cut the superstition that parents are responsible to provide what their children need forever. They’re job won’t last long. It's too early, but I think this is the perfect time for me to hand over money to them.""Almost two years ago, I decided to combine studying with working... 'Cause I think I have to. My life was not easy, but look at me now, I am survivin
"You know them, Magi?"One by one, the group of men who were playing ball in the pool came up one by one. Those men I also stared at for a minute because of their attractive abs."Ahh, yeah!" Magi replied."It's a long story if we talk about here how we met Irene," Delancy said, she looked at me then smiled. "One thing I can assure to all of you... She's nice. And so, she became our friend."I was shocked by Delancy's description of me, especially when she said that I am now their friend. I can't explain my joy once I hear those words from her tongue. It's just a fun feeling to have someone like them that is willing to flex me as one of their friends."Do you know them?" Harold asked me in a whisper, I was busy putting down the tray I was holding on the table."Long story," I whispered back to him."She just doesn't look nice," said a man while busily brushing his hair."Pretty."The compliments I receive from them are so great, maybe my head will suddenly grow bigger!"Distance bro,"
I'm busy cleaning the second floor since I haven't been asked to do anything yet. My image would really turn bad if the staff caught me being lazy at work and having no initiative, it can lower grades, or otherwise, lower wages.One thing I learned as a part-timer is that... I learn to initiate work. Waiting for a command from your superior is an epitome of being dependent. In the working world, I learned not to wait from their command. Instead, start to be initiative to work without waiting for their orders. It's not like a person will always act based on the orders of his superiors. We are not robots that will move when dictated.My attention was caught when I reached the veranda, I could see from here where Magi were. They are still here but now, I can see that Eli is with them.How I met him... Because he’s an actor. I admired him so much when they were singing at school with his bandmates... I didn't expect that it was Alec and friends. Since then, I have been following him until
My first day of OJT is over. When I left the resort at eight o'clock, I had a half-hour travel time before arriving at the jeep terminal. While waiting for a jeep to arrive at the terminal, I briefly distracted myself from Facebook.But surprisingly, someone disturbed me from scrolling at my newsfeed... Who else is the first placer for disturbing me if not Israel?"What are you doing here?" I asked him in wonder."Do people do anything else at the jeep terminal besides riding jeeps?" He's pretty obvious that he's trying to tease me."Really?" I pretended to be surprised by his answer. "Don't tell me, you're also riding the same jeepney---""Why not?" he replied. "You don't want to, do you? You'll be going home with someone from now on."My forehead suddenly creased. "What are you saying?""Is that how you welcome your new villager?" He pouted at me, acting like he's baiting me to make me feel guilty. "We just moved a while ago to the same village where you live, so yes... I can always
"I live here too," he answered me innocently.And that's when I remembered what he told me earlier... that they had just moved here to our village. W-Well, I guess I’ve gone insensitive for a little while."I'm sorry if you're already irritated by what I'm doing, Irene. I just want to show you how sincere I am in courting you, but I'm not expecting my actions to be nothing but an irritation to you."His face was serious when he entered the gate of the house where we stopped walking, it seems like this is their house. Before he finally entered, he looked at me and smiled. "I don't want to cause an issue between us just because you are already irritated with me. From now on, I will limit myself from doing this that will irritate you. Take care, Irene."And just like that, he left me in front of their gate stunned.I should be happy with what I heard from his mouth... but it was the total opposite of the feeling I'm expecting. I was hurt, saddened by what Israel said. I feel like I'm thr