Chapter 22 (1/2)

Oh, yes!

Let's end this today!

Are you ready kids!?

#BlastOfFeelings

“When one learned from mistakes, the inside will lift from drowning.”10

-x-

It was some sort of a guilty wish that Jhing wanted to be a protagonist of a drama in TV or movie. She was jealous because they seem like they don't have any responsibilities so they have lots of time for dramas, revenge, love-life, and emo.

Unfortunately, Jhing couldn’t do that.

She has bills to pay, attend to family needs, and to live her own life.

Good thing though, she didn't get any headaches from the ma.n.u.scripts she was editing. So far, the stories were great. It only needed a bit of polis.h.i.+ng.But the thing is, even though the ma.n.u.scripts are turning better, her works are just getting increased.

When Miko's birthday came… Jhing could only send a text.

Happy Birthday, Miko! :)

Jhing doesn't know which one hurts the most: the friend request that hasn't been accepted, the seen, or the cold reply.

Thanks.

Anyway, because he already replied… she'll take the chance to add more lines.

I heard you helped Tatay to choose a laptop for me?

It's late but, thanks! I've been using it

for these past few weeks. Thank you.

The excitement Jhing felt vanished when she read his reply.

Welcome.

She ignored the pain.

But how can she ignore the pain when Halloween came?

Jhing was clad in a red hood to imitate red riding hood. July felt gloomy. It was the first time Jhing attended Halloween party, and there she was, looking as if she only grabbed a red curtain to cover herself. Ah, the effort.

The Baymax in their party reminded Jhing of Miko so instead of getting excited, she sat still while her office mates rushed to hug the mascot. He looked cute and round and ready to be hugged.

“Jhing!” Yayo called as she pointed toward the Baymax she was hugging. ”It's Baymax! Don't you like him? Come on!”

She didn't move. She heard the other department's amazement from the person who wore the huge Baymax costume. In the end, Yayo pulled her closer and she didn't bother to argue.

Jhing stared at Baymax’s eyes while her heart pounded in her chest. Her mind started to work again—maybe… maybe the person inside the costume may be him but here she goes again… expecting something impossible.

“Hug him!” July insisted. “Maybe you'll feel better!”

She even pulled Baymax himself. “Come on, hug her!” she said to Baymax.

The person inside Baymax didn’t speak or even made a noise.

The others who wanted to hug Baymax gave them s.p.a.ce. It opened its arms, wide enough for Jhing to fit in the embrace. Jhing clutched her hands before walking towards Baymax and embraced it—round, soft and warm.

She suddenly had the urge to cry.

She wanted to hug him tighter, depend on him, say sorry over and over again, but the hug she expected to last longer didn’t happen.

The person inside Baymax was the first one to let go before taking few steps back and went out of the function room.

The Baymax and the hug didn’t sit well for Jhing.

”Star V CineFilms have chosen their top three novella finalist. The winner will be chosen via trend voting on Twitter and will get the movie deal that will be released next year.”

Even though everyone became hyped as Miss Mary Zue announced the finalist— “You Had Me At Seenzoned by Jhing Blanco,” and her novella was one of them, Jhing couldn't make herself laugh or cry in happiness.

It's just the Finals. She is still one of the options.

But Jhing didn’t mind as she went out to look for the Baymax.

Unfortunately, he was long gone already.

She should have said no in the first place. Jhing should've just turned emo in her apartment alone or think about how to promote her Novella to win—instead of joining Anaw.a.n.gin escapade when November came.

Jhing accepted Fall’s offer to forget the problems at hand for a day or two—not knowing that Miko was there too.

The first time she saw him after a few months, the bags under his eyes were evident and the stubbles were still there. There’s familiarity but yet a stranger in his eyes.

Miko was smiling at everyone but her.

And so, the ride in the van was really awkward.

Jhing pretended to be asleep even though she wanted to join her co-authors' conversation. The two also couldn't make any eye contacts when they rode the boat. Jhing wanted to sit closer to Fall but her crazy friend is always sticking to Miko like a glue so Jhing didn't dare to take a step.

Even when they reached their site and fixed their tents, Miko and Jhing's pair of eyes never met.

Oh, f.u.c.k this.

When lunch came, they prepared all their cooking utensils. Miko was with Fall, discussing what to eat for lunch. It was at that moment when Jhing saw Fall glanced at her direction and smile. That smile made her nervous. Miko also turned his head but his sight didn't stay even for a second before hitting Fall on her head.

Fall was laughing when she called Jhing. “Come here!”

Jhing’s heart wanted to explode. Miko stopped Fall but the woman was so pushy, she pushed Miko and walked towards Jhing.

Before Jhing could complain, Fall shouted, “JHING AND MIKO TOLD ME THAT THEY'RE GOING TO COOK OUR LUNCH!”

Everybody shouted their “Yehey!” except for Miko and Jhing. Both of them looked pale as if they heard a horrible news.

Fall practically dragged Jhing near the kitchen where Miko was. She even pushed Jhing which made her stumble and hit the table.

Fall clicked her tongue as she helps Jhing pick up the utensils that fell. “Don't fall for the table, Jhing.”

Jhing glared at Fall and mentally talked to her, shut up, Fall but the rolling of eyes did the trick. It was a good thing Fall left her, but the bad thing is—she was with Miko. Not alone, no, but it felt like everyone else disappeared as her system panicked.

”W-what are we cooking?” she asked. And by looking at the ingredients, she mentally facepalmed herself—common sense, Jhing: barbecue. “Nevermind.”

Jhing started piercing the wooden stick through the meat and some vegetables while Miko was starting the fire on the grill. When he was done, he helped Jhing without a word.

Maybe it was the lack of concentration or the pure stupidity that her finger bled. Jhing accidentally p.r.i.c.ked her finger from the wooden stick's sharp end. She started sucking on the blood before glancing at Miko who suddenly walked away. Jhing tensed muscles gradually relaxed. She wanted to go home already if he won’t talk to her again.

And he wasn’t talking to her.

After was.h.i.+ng her bleeding finger… Jhing's eyes widened when Miko appeared behind her like a ghost. Before she could react, the man gave her a band-aid before going back to check the grill.

She stared for a long time without her knowing. When Jhing snapped out of her daze, she finally noticed that her finger started bleeding once again so she opened the band-aid and stuck it on her wound.

When they started eating, Fall noticed the band-aid and the blood stain. “What happened?”

“Got p.r.i.c.ked.”

Fall nodded. “Oh, it's good you got a band-aid,” and smiled.

Jhing felt Miko who was sitting at the other end of the table looked at her, but when she turned her head, he was only looking at his own food.

They took a lot of group shots before spending their day at the sea. Because a lot of them join the escapade, a chaos started—fun chaos, of course. Jhing had enjoyed it, especially when Miko almost drowned because the others treated him like a lifebuoy. Miko was good at swimming but if so many people started putting their weight on his body… of course, he—they will start sinking. On the other hand, Jhing stayed near the sh.o.r.e, enjoying the view of nature.

Everyone only stopped swimming when the rain started pouring.

“Who suggested Anaw.a.n.gin in November?!” Fall asked for everyone.

“You,” Miko answered. “You're really a fall-lure.”

“Ah, was it me? I wasn't aware.”

Everyone laughed.

Some of their bags got wet while most of their stuff was saved by their tent. Unfortunately, they failed to save the supposed to be a bonfire. Because they were wet in the first place from the sea, everyone started taking pictures and enjoyed the pouring rain. They also tried to remove the sand sticking to their clothes and body.

When the rain stopped, they ignored the coldness of the night and played instead.

“Let's play a game—a scandalous game where I can flirt!” Fall suggested that everyone laughed about.

Sadly, some of them rejected the drinking session. Their playing cards also got wet. In the end, while the others were drinking and singing, Jhing's group started playing Nanay-Tatay¹. The group looked silly and childish.

But who would have thought it was hard to play Nanay-Tatay?

“CHEATER!” Fall shouted because she already lost in the third round of clapping. “You're all laughing! It's making me laugh too and lose my concentration ah!”

But no one gave her attention because they started their childish game once again.

They clapped and counted and laughed until the person next to Jhing got distracted at clapping for the 34th time. The other author was out. Three players were remaining, and Jhing looked at her side to see Miko who was still in the game.

As the counting and clapping continued, Jhing felt bolts of electricity everytime her hand and Miko’s touched during the game. Her nerves tingled but Miko was the one who got distracted.

If he did this on purpose in order to lose, then that goes for the both of them.

Instead of the winner, Fall was the one who suggested what Jhing should do: ma.s.sage Miko’s hand.

Jhing quickly rejected that though but her group forced her to do it. Her eyes avoided Miko's and stared at his palm. The moment she touched his hand and ma.s.saged it with care, her heart jumped out of her chest.

Jhing popped his knuckles, bent his wrists backward and forwards, turned it from side-to-side, and pushed her thumb on his palm.

After she finished ma.s.saging his hands, she was taken aback when she realized Miko was staring at her.

“Your turn, Miko,” Fall started. “Truth or dare.”

Miko said, “Dare.”

Jhing wanted to shout at him to choose truth but who was she to tell him what to do when even she herself would avoid choosing truth.

“Jhing, he chose dare. What do you want Miko to do?”

It was a spur of the moment when their eyes met and she blurted “Tell me the truth—are you mad at me?”

Her question made everyone, even Miko, held their breaths.

Miko quickly answered ”No” which made her confused.

“No? But why—”

Miko smiled. “I already did my dare.”

It felt like freezing cold water was poured over her body when she heard his words so Jhing went silent while the rest of the players who lost was asked for dares and truths. Because Fall was the first one who lost the game, her punishment was the most difficult one. Everyone gave her a dare which she obliged.

Then Facio asked, “One event that changed you in a bad way.”

Fall’s story started with a laugh and a few jokes until her voice croaked and her eyes gleamed. “I learned not to ask. I don't want to ask anyone's story anymore because the last time I did for a person who was depressed, all my friends thought I was being goody-two-shoes. They told me that I love to poke into other peoples' business—that I only asked because I love gossip and I needed the inside scoop.”

“What the,” an author commented.

Fall was all smile but the tears that fell were saying otherwise. “It's okay. We made up already. Past is past… but that experience scarred me. I only wanted to help but my friends, who I thought was close to my heart, thought of me as nosy.”

She blew her nose on her s.h.i.+rt before laughing, “So yeah. I stopped caring about other people. About everything. I tried to return to who I was before—someone who's like an advice corner, but—I don't know. I also got scared of making friends because of all the drama I experienced. It may seem small to others but to me, it was a huge impact that changed my life.”

Jhing wanted to hug Fall. She never knew that. They often talk but she never realized that her friend went through something terrible.

It was amazing that Fall moved on from crying as if nothing happened a few minutes later.

After showering, drying, and eating their meals, Fall invited Jhing for a chat near the sh.o.r.e.

They both got scared on crossing the wooden bridge but it was worth it. The view on the other side made them gasped in amazement. Fall and Jhing stayed there with silence as they listen to the cras.h.i.+ng of waves.

After a while, they started talking about random topics. Jhing noticed that Fall didn't mention Miko—maybe to lessen the tension.

After a few topics, Jhing suddenly asked, “How did you do it?”

“Ha? Do what?”

“Cry in front of other people?”

Fall smirked. “Staying true and honest. I couldn't stop it ah. It fell before I knew it.”

The two of them both stared at the horizon. It was such a beauty to see the sky and sea blended like they were a part of each other.

“I'm amazed,” Jhing commented silently.

Fall got surprised by her words. “You can do it too ah,” her friend said. “You know, it's just like writing on Wattpad. Even though you feel like it's a trash, you will show your first draft—your weakest form— to other people. You will ask for their opinions and comments so you can improve—so you can find out if your trash is actually a beautiful art.”

”I don't think that's it.”

“It's the same.” Fall laughed. “The difference is, in our stories, we choose our characters to explain ourselves.”

Jhing looked at the starless night sky. She sighed and laughed. “But it's so difficult to explain myself,” she admitted. “Are they going to believe me? They’ll still judge everything, even my emotions.”

She crouched and started playing with the sand. ”I prefer to be judged when they don't know anything about me, instead of getting judged even though I've already explained myself. It's a waste of emotion.”

“Is it because of a waste of emotion or because it hurts?”

Wow. The right question punched her in the gut.

“Both.” She sighed.

Jhing stood up and grabbed a branch to use as a pen to draw. ”Maybe that's why I seem like a b.i.t.c.h because the others think of me as a b.i.t.c.h. Might as well hug that perception of others. It's better than trying to prove myself but get rejected in the end. It's exhausting.”

“That's why you don't want to cry in front of others?” Fall asked while looking at her.

“Revealing myself scares me,” she finally admitted to herself.

“You're not really a b.i.t.c.h. You're just cold.” Fall laughed and Jhing rolled her eyes. “Let them see what they see. Unfortunately, they can't see what we can see on you.”

“What can you see on me anyway?”