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“Yes Mr. De Guzman!” my Analytic Geometry professor called out.
“Ma’am…” I stood up and continued. “It is a line with a value that a curved line will approach but never obtain as it continues to infinity…”
“Yes! Very good!”
I saw her glanced back at me with a sweet smile just a few seconds after I sat back on my chair. And she… She was the loveliest goddess I ever graced my eyes on.
“Wow! Another easy +5 points for the next quiz!” she joked as we walked out of our room to head for the next subject.
“Haha! You know me and my study ethics…” I replied.
“Every bonus point is as important!” we said in unison and laughed.
“Where will we go for lunch?” she asked.
“We can go with any of the usual…” I replied. “Or we can check a place we’ve never tried out yet along the way…”
“Good enough for me…”
So our daily routine continued as usual. Having lunch together, then getting back in the campus to each of our classes.
I first met this goddess last semester. We were taking different courses but we ended up being classmates on two minor subjects. We were like two introverts who wouldn’t want to talk to anyone. I would get in the class room and look for an empty seat on the last row, claim it, and just keep on listening to my rock songs through my headphones. She would get in, get a seat and then read a novel. Both of us will only stop the moment our professor would get in.
We started talking to each other when our professor implemented a seat plan and she ended up being seated on the chair in front of mine. We would occasionally talk just to check if there was a homework due for the day. It was during those moments that I started noticing her beauty and charms.
But we actually became friends by the start of the midterms. Our professor wanted us to be grouped by pairs. A lot of guys tried to ask to be her to be their partner, but then she rejected them all.
“Sorry guys… But I’ve already paired up with him…” she said while pointing her hand to me.
“Aahhhh…” I saw her smiling with that look on her face obviously telling me to just say yes. So I did. “Yeah… We’ve… already paired up…”
She got up from her chair and transferred to the empty chair beside me. I felt stinging glances and stares from the guys she rejected.
“Sorry ’bout that…” she whispered. “And thank you!”
We grew closer by the finals. As questions and requirements raised their difficulty level, we spent more time to work on them. By the time finals have finished and we have successfully submitted our requirements, we agreed to have lunch together.
“Why did you pick me as partner?” I finally asked her. It was a question bugging me but I couldn’t seem to dare ask her back then.
“I don’t know…” she replied while munching her food. “I guess it’s because I just feel comfortable being with you…”
Cliche. But I saw sincerity in her eyes. And then our friendship geared up to higher levels. Every passing day, we grew closer and closer to each other. She would make me pretend to be her boyfriend when some other guy would try to hit on her. And she would do the same for me although that rarely happened. Almost everyone around us mistook us as an actual couple. And we never even made any effort to deny it just to set things straight. We just agreed that it will be best to keep it that way.
Then came the first Valentines since we became friends.
“It’s Valentines tomorrow!” she said while we were hanging out somewhere inside the campus.
“And?”
“You’re not gonna date someone tomorrow?” she asked.
“Nope!” I quickly replied. “Probably just going to be me and my trusted right hand!”
It took her quite a while to get the joke.
“Eewww!” she yelled and started hitting me with a textbook. But she was laughing. “You pervert! You pervert!”
Then we continued laughing.
“How about you?” I asked.
“Well…” she replied. “I’m left-handed…”
And we both laughed again.
“Seriously, no date tomorrow?”
“Who would I date?” I jokingly replied. “I have nobody to date…”
A long dead silence followed that.
“Let’s date tomorrow!” we both said at the same time.
“Jynx!” she followed up right-away. “Since everybody thinks we’re a couple… Yeah, let’s go out on a date tomorrow…”
“Alright…” I said. Deep inside, I was happy about that.
“Let’s show them how it’s done…” she added.
“Good enough for me…”
And so, that’s how we started being each other’s date every Valentines throughout our college student years. Then came our last days in school.
Graduation ball. We were supposed to be each other’s date. But since we were from different courses, we were forced to be seated on different tables. We didn’t paid that much attention for the actual program. We were busy exchanging text messages with each other. But then the time I’ve been waiting for finally came.
The ball dance.
“Which table are you at?” I messaged her.
“Table 26”
So I studied the table layout in the venue, and set out to look for her. I saw her. She was with her batchmates. I was just a table away when a guy approached him and asked her for a dance.
“Aayyyiiiiiieeeeeeee…” her batchmates teased her.
I was about to turn around and walk away when I heard her response.
“Sorry… My date’s going to be here soon… He might misunderstood…”
“Date?” the guy exclaimed. “C’mon… I’ve been watching you the whole night and I never saw you with any guy…”
“That’s because he’s from another department…” she replied back. “And he’s about to be here…”
I saw her look around and then she saw me.
“There he is!” she said and then waved her hands to me. “He’s finally here…”
I’ve never felt any happier in my life before that. It felt like I was the most handsome guy in the world. I can feel the guy’s anger through his stare as I walked towards her. So I retaliated by sending him more pain.
“Dance?” I reached out my hands to her.
“Of course!” she replied with a sweet smile and held my hands.
So we left her table and we danced. We danced like we were the king and the queen of the night. We danced like we were the only fucking people in this whole fucking world.
“You’re so pretty tonight…” I said while we were dancing.
“Oh thanks!” she replied and again, with that sweet killer smile. “It’s probably my dress that made me pretty…”
I giggled. “No… It was actually your dress that became pretty because of you…”
She blushed. Yes! I just made her blush.
“Fine!” she replied, still smiling. “Gosh! I didn’t know you’re such a sweet talker…”
“Excuse me! There is a difference between a sweet talker and…” I replied and I stared deep into her eyes. “A guy who just can’t stop expressing a very beautiful truth…”
She bit her lower lip. We were just staring at each other as our feet moved in unison to sway with the sweet music. It took a while for her to respond.
“Okay… I’m convinced that you’re not a sweet talker…” she said while she kept her gaze on my eyes. “Women should be careful of you…”
“As if I plan on dating anyone anytime soon…” I replied. The next sentence that should have followed got locked up inside my head instead. As if I would want to date anyone other than you.
“No, seriously…” she replied. “Women should be careful of you…”
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Because you are simply good with choosing your words…” she replied. “With your words, you can make any woman’s heart flutter…”
Another long moment passed as we just kept on staring at each other’s eyes. Our feet still moving with the sweet music.
“Then… Did I just made your heart flutter?” I courageously asked.
She smiled. “You’ve al-“
A body slammed on my back. And then the crowd went to a frantic. It appeared that the guy asking her a while ago have changed his target. Being a dickhead himself, he tried hitting on another girl, right in front of her boyfriend. The dickhead is with his gang and so is the protective boyfriend. Thus a fist fight broke loose and the entire event just completely fell into chaos.
“That was crazy!” she said while panting.
“That guy was such a dick!” I replied while panting for air as well.
We actually ran off when the incident escalated. But, I landed a punch on the dickhead’s face first before we ran off. And I’m not the only one. It appears that the dickhead and his gang were the resident dipshits of the school and people just got a free chance with that incident to vent out and earn themselves their well-deserved free hits. We checked the time and we saw that it’s too early to call it a night. So being of legal age, we didn’t give a damn and looked for a place to get a drink.
We talked about our plans while drinking. What is in store for us once we got infused to the so called “real world”. We exchanged goals and objectives. The moment we ran out of everything we could possibly talk about, she was already tipsy drunk.
I got us a taxi and dropped her to her home. It was not the first time that I met parents. Her parents had me stay for a while and offered me a mug of coffee. I apologized to her parents because she got drunk under my watch. They were chill about it saying we at least have a valid reason to celebrate and getting ourselves drunk. I was about to leave when her father asked me if I intend on dating their daughter.
“I honestly don’t have an answer for that Tito… At least, not just yet… To be honest, I am enjoying what’s in between me and her right now… I want to savor it first before I make a decision…”
They found my answer quite convincing. But the truth is, I really do. I really want to date their daughter. But I don’t have the confidence to push for it. I don’t feel like I deserve dating her. Not just yet.
I bid her parents my goodbye and they bid me a safe trip back home. The way her parents bid farewell made me felt that I have earned their trust and respect. I got home safe that night. And there was this question running in my head before I completely dozed off.
Should I have given them my more honest answer?
We remained friends after graduation. But because we both work on our own different fields, we started seeing each other less often. We could only manage to see each other at least once a week. But we still made sure that we make time for special occasions.
One Friday night, we decided to hang out after work. We had dinner. We then went to Baywalk. We walked while feeling the breeze from Manila Bay. We found a spot where we could just sit and talk some more while enjoying the night view of Manila Bay.
“You’re still not into dating?” she asked.
“No… Haven’t found someone worth dating yet…” I replied. Again, I couldn’t stop myself from locking up things I want to say. Asides from you…
“You’re so picky!” she teased.
“Shouldn’t I?” I jokingly replied.
“Okay… Tell me what kind of woman you would want to date?”
“Whyyy?” I asked while laughing.
“So I could see if I can find one for you…” she replied then she started laughing.
“Okay…” I started to enumerate the kind of girl that I would like. “She’s got to be simple… You know, not the kind of super fashionista…”
“Uh-huh” she replied. “Go on..”
“She should be fun to be with… Someone who have a good sense of humor…” I continued.
Then I started adding the things about her that…