Episode 21

EPISODE TWENTY-ONE

After that talk, Arden and I were in good terms, we no longer try to avoid each other but we still don’t talk as much. We still sit far away from each other and we only hang out with each other only if the gang is with us, there were some awkward moments but we got over that quickly

“So what plans do you have for the big so-called monthsary tomorrow?” Kevin asked

“Monthsary?” Ryan asked “what’s that?”

“It’s like an anniversary but celebrated in months” Jamie answered Ryan before turning to me “dude, you’re celebrating a monthsary?”

I nodded and turned to Kevin “how did you even know that?”

“Brooke and I are textmates, she mentioned it to me and she sounds really excited” he answered

“That actually sounds like a fun thing to do” Cindy interjected then turned to Ryan “we should do that too Ry”

“I like to have money at the end of the month so no thanks” Ryan answered and Cindy pinched his nose, making us laughed at the weird noise Ryan made

“What about you Arden?” Kevin asked “what do you think of this whole monthsary thing with Nicky and Brooke?”

I stopped laughing and Jamie then smacked Kevin’s head

“Ow!” he reacted “why did you do that?”

“There’s a fly on her head, I was trying to get it” Jamie simply replied but I knew why she did that

Arden looked tense and uncomfortable, uncertain whether to answer or not

“…I think it’s cool...” Arden managed to say “it’s a nice way to show you someone you care…” she noticed me looking at her so she forced a smile before turning away

“Exactly” Cindy commented before rolling her eyes at Ryan

“What did I do now?” Ryan asked, noticing Cindy’s irritated look

“You’re Ryan” Jamie said “that’s what you did”

And the others started laughing, while Arden and I just smiled

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“I want to have a Movie marathon day” Brooke said through the phone

I was in the cafeteria when I called her, one of my classes got cancelled because the professor is absent. Good thing Brooke’s at her apartment so we can talk without interruptions

“We’re gonna watch movies the whole day?“ I asked

“Yeah, I’ll cook breakfast, lunch and dinner” she answered

“So I should be at your apartment tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, and bring clothes ‘cause you’re staying the night”

“Okay bossy pants” I teased and laughed “this is a new side of you that I’m seeing” I said “what happened to the outgoing Brooke?”

“Oh I’m still outgoing, I’m just exhausted” she giggled “but you know, I’d rather spend the whole day with you in bed and watching movies than going out and partying”

I was about to answer when I heard a familiar voice in the background yell ”Does that mean you’re not going to party with me later?? That’s so unfair!!”

I giggled a bit and asked “Is that Emily?”

“Yeah, she’s going to a party later and she wants me to go with here” Brooke answered

“And I’m sure you want to go, right?”

”Well...yes” Brooke giggled “but I won’t go if you don’t want me to”

“That’s good because I don’t want you too” I said “you’ve been practicing really hard so I think you should sit this one out and rest”

“Okay, I won’t go, I’ll tell Em, wait a sec”

I listened and heard Brooke telling Emily that I didn’t let her go to the party

“Okay, I told Em I’m not going” Brooke said after a few minutes

“And what did she say?” I asked

“She’s standing next to me and asking me if she could talk to you”

I laughed “hand her the phone, I want to know what she wants to say”

Brooke handed Emily the phone

“Hello there, wonderful giving person” Emily greeted

“Hey Emily” I answered with a smile on my face

“I’ll get to the chase, scratch that, I’ll start begging” she said “please let Brooke go with me to the party, please!!”

I laughed wholeheartedly “sorry Emily, maybe next time”

“I’ll let her go home early, please Nicky, let her go with me!” Emily pleaded “Brooke really wants to go too! If you could only see her now, she has her fingers and toes crossed! Please let her go with me!”

Again, I laughed, Emily’s begging is kinda funny “can you give Brooke the phone”

I heard her squeal when she handed Brooke the phone

“Do you really want to go?” I asked Brooke

“Honestly, yes” she answered

Maybe I should let her go, it is our “monthsary” tomorrow, this will be my gift to her

“Okay, you can go but you have to go home early and call me when you get home okay?”

Brooke let out a huge excited happy squeal

“Thank you!! and I promise I’ll go home early” she exclaimed “I love you babe!!”

I laughed while listening to her and Emily squeal with delight, I love how Brooke makes me laugh when she’s not even trying to, she’s just being her

Then my phone gave a low-battery warning tone

“Oh hey I have to go, my phone almost out of battery, I’ll see you tomorrow okay?” I said

“Okay, bye, I love you so much!”

“I love you too”

I smiled and hang up my phone,

“You guys sound so lovey-dovey”

I turned around and saw Arden standing behind me, she was smiling but her eyes show a different emotion

“Hey” I smiled

She then sat next to me, “hey”

This just got a bit awkward, what do I say now? “so, how are you?”

“I’m good, just getting use to, um, things” she answered “how ‘bout you? How are you and Brooke?”

“We’re great, just being happy together and such”

“That’s great” she smiled

And we’re back to being a bit awkward

“Since we have an hour left before our next class” Arden spoke

I looked at her, waiting what she’ll say

“Want to go play basketball?”

I giggled and stood “yeah”

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“I don’t want to get too sweaty so let’s just do free throws okay?” Arden said while dribbling the ball

“Whatever floats your boats” I said and gave her a smirk

She smiled and made a basket, I took the ball and threw it to her and again she made another basket and another after that, it went on for a while until she missed one basket

“I missed” Arden said while picking up the ball “you’re turn” throwing the ball at me

I positioned at the free throw line and began shooting, every basket I make, she gets the ball and hands it back to me

“Here” I said as I threw the ball back to her “Make a shot”

“Why?” she asked “you’re not even done shooting”

I made an excuse and said “I got bored”

But what I really want is for us to be comfortable again with each other so I figured a game of one-on-one could at least lighten up the mood, so I gave her the ball and waited for her to shoot

When she was about to, I rushed in and tried to block her shot, she stepped back but kept on dribbling

“Hey! We’re suppose to do free throws remember?” she reacted

“Yeah, but that’s boring” I said “don’t think I forgot that you beat me before, time for me to get even” I tried to steal the ball but she guarded it well

“You want to play? Okay then, let’s play” she smirked “I’ll just beat you again”

I smiled “not this time” then I quickly snatched the ball, ran towards the basket and made a lay-up which went in easily, I looked at her and motioned a “one point for me”

She raised her brow and gave me a smirk “someone’s been practicing”

“Who me?” I replied “Nah, I’m just better than you, that’s all”

Arden laughed and picked up the ball “we’ll see about that” and made a 3 point shot which easily went in, I looked at her as she motioned a “two points for me” and stuck her tongue out

“Race to 10 points!”

“You’re on”

And we started playing seriously but at the same time, we we’re having fun, the awkwardness was gone and it’s like we’re in a flashback were nothing was wrong between us, when we’re so happy just spending time with each other and after a few rounds of shooting and guarding, I won.

I sat on the floor, still panting “we’re even!”

Arden giggled and sat next to me “yeah, for now”

We looked at each other and laughed hard

“So, when is round three going to happen?” I asked

“Don’t know, maybe if another professor of ours decided to be absent again“

I giggled and placed my hand on the floor, unaware that Arden’s hand was close

Our pinkies touched, the laughter stopped and all the feelings within and for each other came surging back in, that single touch was like a spark that ignited something within Arden and I and maybe made it even from powerful than before.

I stared at her eyes, trying to read it but it was blurry and mysterious. My gaze went from her eyes to her lips, I want to kiss her, I want to so badly but I won’t, I love Brooke and I won’t ever cheat on her, even if it’s just a kiss

I looked away and quickly stood “Let’s go to our next class“

Arden nodded and stood. We then walked to our next class.