To meet You Again (5 page)

               
“Chocolate is on sale,” Don smiled.

               
I nudged him, “Aside from what ideas you stole from me and Angelo.”

               
“Well,” he began, “you have an excuse to be bitter and curse at everything.”

               
“I like the way you think, Vernal,” I high fived him.

               
“But there really are some good things about it,” he mused.

               
“Like?”
I challenged.

               
“You get to be affectionate.”

               
“Every romantic gesture after pales in comparison, and therefore the rest of
your relationship will flop.”

               
Don stared at me, wide-eyed. He blinked once. “Um… Well… You get flowers.”

               
“Kills the environment.”
I smirked.
“Any
other bright ideas?”

               
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” Don was in slight disbelief.

               
“I don’t believe that’s possible,” I tilted my head side to side playfully,
“but more or less. And if I haven’t thought about it, I will eventually, and
then I’ll have something for it.”

               
“What made you such a cynic?” Don asked.

               
“What do you mean?” I stopped with my head tilted on my left.

               
“What happened to you that was so bad it made you hate Valentine’s?” he
clarified.

               
I shrugged.
“Nothing really.
I guess I’m just like
that as a person. I don’t like commercialized things, I guess. Like
Valentine’s. It’s supposed to be a day where you honour romantic relationships.
Now, people hold more material value to it.
Roses.Chocolates.Cards.Balloons.The
colour
red.The
colour pink. It’s all too much about
the outside, and not enough about the inside. All of those things are for
show.”

               
“Ah, I get it,” Don nodded. “That makes sense. But I still like Valentine’s
Day.”

               
“I wasn’t trying to convert you…” I looked at him. “But why do you like it?”

               
“I believe in romance,” he looked up thoughtfully. “And I think it’s cool that
there’s a day where people remember that love is what’s important.”

               
“What if it was sunny and there were no clouds?” I smiled wryly.

               
“Huh?” Don asked.

               
“On Valentine’s Day.
If it
were
really sunny and there were no clouds,” I repeated.

               
“It would be hot, I guess?” Don paused. He shook his head when he realized what
I’d said. “Ha.
Very funny.
Cool. Hot.
Very funny.”
I grinned widely as he nudged me.

               
“Hey, Ruby.”

               
“Yeah, Don?”

               
“Could you be my girlfriend for a week?”

               
I turned to face him, confused. Unsure if I’d heard him correctly. “What?”

               
“Let’s be together for one week.”

               
“Why such a specific time frame, and why all of a sudden?”
I raised an eyebrow. My heart beat fast.

               
Uh, Ruby, what’s the matter with you? This guy led you on and then hung you out
to dry for the next two years. You shouldn’t even be entertaining things like
this. He’s a jerk. Why else would he do such a thing? There’s no way that he
was just being friendly… Or is it possible that overanalysing that moment has
altered the version I remembered? Well, give him a chance.

             
“I want Melissa back,” he began. No. “And she seemed to be really jealous when
we were at the classroom earlier.”

               
“So you want us to pretend we’re together so that she’ll get jealous and get
back with you?” I clarified. Jerk.

               
“Yeah… If you’re up for it,” he looked down sheepishly.
Huge
jerk.

               
“Umm…” I looked down. Biggest jerk in the world…
But…
“Okay.” Oh, Ruby, what are you doing?”

               
“Really?” he looked at me, surprised.

               
“Why not?”
I shrugged, despite the upset feeling in my
stomach. “I’m bored. No big deal.” I lied. It was a huge deal. Finally, I was
going to be able to play out moments that I had only imagined, and with the
very person I’d imagined would be in it with me.

               
“Thank you, Ruby,” he hugged me, and my eyes widened. I paused for a moment
before putting my arms around him,

               
“No big deal.” But it was. Maybe, just maybe, I could use this time to convince
him that he should give me a shot. That’s all I wanted.
A
chance.
The chance I should’ve gotten that first moment on the field
trip.

               
“I’m back,” I barely made out as Angelo stepped in. He had a Snickers bar in
his mouth, and held two others in his hand. His eyes widened when he saw us.
“Well, well,” he seemed annoyed, “looks like some people are getting some
action this Valentine’s. You
guys
an item now or
something?”

               
“Yes,” Don replied, and I wanted to smack him in the face for it.
“Just a few moments ago.”

               
“Huh,” Angelo looked down. He tossed the bars to Don, “I got you guys
chocolate.
Just like I promised.”

               
“Thanks, man,” Don smiled and opened his bar.

               
Angelo and I exchanged a look. He seemed disappointed… Hurt, even. I didn’t
understand why.

               
“Congratulations, I guess,” was the last thing Angelo said before looking down
and chomping on his Snickers bar angrily. As if he
were
imagining biting someone’s head off or something.

               
I looked down, ashamed as well. And I couldn’t really understand why. Of course
Angelo always berated me for my preoccupation with Don, saying it was
impractical, pathetic,
useless
. But this was
different. He should have been happy for me. But he wasn’t. And it frustrated
me because I couldn’t be completely happy if Angelo wasn’t happy.

               
So I decided to talk to Angelo about it as dismissal came around.

               
“Hey, Angelo,” I walked up to him as he was at his locker. “Listen, about
earlier-”

              
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” he didn’t look at me. The whole
thing was odd. He was clearly annoyed, but he wasn’t insulting me or giving me
his opinion, or even teasing me. He was just tense or something.

               
“I think I do,” I continued. “Don and I aren’t really together.” That seemed to
strike a chord with Angelo for he had stopped, frozen. “Well, you see, I’m just
doing this to help his girlfriend get jealous so that they can get back
together.”

               
Angelo pressed his lips together, and his eyebrows scrunched together. He shook
his head, “Well, good luck with that, then.” He slammed his locker door shut
and then began to walk off.

               
“Hey,” I
called,
my irritation showing. “Can you talk
to me please? Why are you so upset?”

               
“Why wouldn’t I be upset?” he turned to face me. “You’re letting this guy walk
all over you! And for
what
?A
chance to be with him? It’s stupid. It’s insane. And, frankly, it’s pathetic.
And what do you think you’re even doing? Making intrigues by faking a
relationship.
Ridiculous.Petty
. There’s everything
for you to lose, and for what? Some guy who has ignored you for years. You
really should learn to mind your own business.”

              
“Oh,” for some reason what he’d said hit a nerve, and I was angry, “so all of a
sudden you know what’s best for me, huh? What happened to expanding my horizons
and experiencing new things?”

               
“Not things like this,” he looked serious. “This is really just a waste of
time. That guy doesn’t deserve how nice you’ve been to him, especially after
he’s made you feel for the past year or so. It really is pathetic that you’d go
through all this trouble.”

               
“Look,” I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself. “I know you’re
looking out for me. And I really do appreciate it. You care about me. I care
about you, and if you were in the same position, I’d probably be doing the
exact same thing you’re doing. I’m not asking for you to understand, or approve.
I just need you not to be mad. I just… I need to experience this. I want to
know what it’s like to be with him. I’ve wondered for such a long time, and now
the opportunity has presented itself.”

               
“You’re going to get hurt, Ruby,” he warned.

               
“No pain no gain,” I smiled.

               
“Please don’t try to make light of the situation by turning it into some lame,
clichéd attempt at a joke,” he turned around again to walk away.

               
I stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, “Angelo, please. So maybe
I’ll get hurt.”

               
“You will get hurt,” he corrected, turning around. “I’m sure of it.”

               
“You don’t know that,” I disagreed. “Nobody does.”

               
“Yeah.
Just like you don’t know how this will turn
out,” he countered.

               
“Yeah.
It could be good or bad,” I raised my
shoulders. “Fifty-fifty.”

               
“Life isn’t like that,” his smile was bitter and aimed towards the ground.

               
“You’re right, it’s not,” I agreed. “But I’ll never know unless I try, right?”

               
Angelo looked at me, and then down at the floor. He looked at me again, and
then to his left. “Sorry, Ruby. I really just don’t believe it’s a good idea,
and I really think you shouldn’t do it. There’s no way you’re going to change
my mind about this.”

               
“Okay,” I sighed.

               
“See you later,” Angelo turned and walked away. And I let him. I wanted to make
one final argument, but of course I couldn’t think of any good ones. Besides,
that’s the way Angelo was. He was open to things, but was a decisive person.
When he says he’s not going to change his mind… When he says he’s absolutely
sure… He means it. Always has. Always will. He was rarely wrong. But I hoped
that, on this particular matter, I would be the one who was in the right.

*    
*     *     *     *

“Okay, stop!”

               
Don and I turned around to face Angelo.

               
“What’s the matter now?” I complained. Angelo had been like this ever since we
all met up at my place for rehearsal.
Agitated.Nit-picking.Perfectionist.Perpetually
annoyed.Annoying
.

               
“I need to pee,” he stood up and left. Oh, ok.

               
When Angelo had gone, Don turned to me. “Is Angelo okay?”

               
“What do you mean?” I didn’t look at him.

               
“Ruby.
C’mon.”

               
“Maybe he just had a bad day.”

               
“How?
You and
him
kept making
bets, and it seemed he was enjoying even when he was losing.”

               
I took in a deep breath. Technically, Don was my boyfriend now. And
technically, we weren’t. So did I owe him an explanation? I don’t know… No. I
didn’t. I would respect Angelo’s privacy.

               
“He always gets like that as Valentine’s approaches,” I lied.

               
“Oh,” he said. “So you guys take this Valentine’s thing really seriously, huh?
That’s unhealthy.”

               
“Yeah, maybe,” I said passively. I wasn’t in the mood to interact with Don,
especially since he was the reason there was tension between me and Angelo.

               
“Do you both become more sad and angry and
things as
Valentine’s comes
closer?” he asked. “You seem upset, too.”

               
“I’m just tired,” I lied again. “We’ve been walking around and performing all
day just to come home to practice and then do the whole thing over again
tomorrow.”

               
“It wasn’t because Melissa talked to you?” Don asked.

               
“What?” I turned to face him. “She didn’t come to talk to me.”

               
“Oh?” he looked down. “I just assumed since she went to talk to me. She asked
me if there was something going on between us.”

               
“And then?” I pressed.