Chapter 35: The Bet *Double Trouble

The song for this chapter is Don’t Let Me Fall by Lenka. You can watch the trailer of the ACLTCL on the side. If you want to watch the whole movie, it's posted online. Just search it. Don’t forget to like the Facebook page :)

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Chapter 32 *Double Trouble*

~Sophia

“What movie do you want to watch?” Parker asks.

Draky shrugs. “Anything,” he says, flicking his hair away from his eyes.

I don’t know why he agreed to come with us; he doesn’t even look interested in watching a movie.

Three movies are playing today; It’s Kind Of A Funny Story, Life As We Know It, and A Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

“I think Life As We Know It is funny,” I suggest.

“It’s Kind Of A Funny Story is funnier,” Draky says amusedly.

“I like A Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” Parker says.

Chloe smiles – a sure sign she’s agreeing with him.

“You’re asking what we want but you’re the one who gets to choose,” I protest, crossing my arms over my chest.

Parker smiles and ruffles my hair.

“A movie from Thailand?” I ask incredulously.

“We need subtitles,” Chloe informs me.

“Why watch a movie if you’re just going to read what they’re talking about?” asks Draky.

“You’ll see," Parker says smugly, "you’ll thank me later after we watched it.”

“I doubt it,” I mutter.

“I’ll buy tickets,” he announces.

“No,” Draky protests, “I’ll—“

“I’m the one who chose the movie we’re going to watch,” he interjects.

He’s right, but I want Draky to spend his money so that Parker can save his.

“I’ll buy snacks then,” he offers.

“We just ate,” I say.

What am I doing? I thought I want him to use his money? And now I’m saying that we just ate snack even though it was a few hours ago. Oh, right, because I want him to feel useless.

Unfortunately, Chloe is disagreeing with me because she says, “That’s a good idea!”

Is she really this optimistic?

“Four popcorns then?” Draky asks.

“Just two,” Parker comments, “I’ll share with Chloe and you share with Sophia."

My eyes widen at that. I have to—

“Anything else?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Drinks,” Chloe adds.

“Okay."

As soon as he goes off to the popcorn booth, I turn to Parker. “How could you do that?” I demand. “You invited him already and now I have to share my popcorn with him!”

“Why are you acting like it’s a big deal?” he asks bemusedly. “It’s as if there’s something going on.”

When I don’t respond, he repeats, “Is there?”

Chloe gives me a meaningful look.

“Nothing,” I say evasively, shaking my head and dropping the topic.

Parker rolls his eyes and goes to the counter to buy tickets for us.

We sit on the upper part of the theater. There are a lot of people inside. I didn’t expect it, considering it’s a movie with a subtitle. Usually people are lazy when it comes to reading so they tend to disregard foreign movies. I mean, foreign movies with a different language.

Chloe is on the first seat because she says that she’s not comfortable in sitting between people. Parker’s next and then me. Last but not least is Draky. Yeah, he’s sitting beside me. As if I can tell him to choose another seat. Before the movie starts, they play trailers of incoming movies.

“I’ll just go to the rest room,” Draky says, standing up from his seat.

When he’s out of sight, Parker starts to get up as well.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Rest room," he says, not looking into my eyes.

"Really?" I have a feeling he's going to do something.

"Yes."

"Why don't I believe you?" I wonder aloud, narrowing my eyes.

"You want to come?" he says amusedly.

"Jerk," I mutter, loud enough for him to hear it.

He grins, not a bit offended at what I called him because he knows I don't mean it. He turns back his head as he walks away and says, “Kakausapin ko lang siya.”

“What?” But he continues walking without a backward glance.

I hate it when he speaks Tagalog! He knows I don’t understand it. Parker is half Asian. His mom is from Philippines, that’s why he knows how to speak their native language. When we were kids, he used to teach me how to speak Tagalog but now I only remember a few words like Kamusta which means How are you, Mahal Kita is I love you, and. . .

Ugh! I don’t remember the other words he taught me! Speaking Filipino is so bizarre. My tongue is not used to the language so it’s kind of hard speaking it. Parker’s mom doesn’t want them to forget her native language so she requires them to speak it at home. I stop blabbering when I see Chloe looking at me amusedly.

“Is there something on my face?”

“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head. “Are you curious about what Parker said earlier?”

“When he said . . .“ I trail off, not remembering the exact words.

“Kakausapin ko lang siya,” Chloe finishes for me.

“You know how to speak Filipino?” I ask excitedly.

She grins, her eyes glittering in delight. “When I knew he can speak Filipino, I forced him to teach me.” She laughs, and then says, “In return I taught him French.”

Whoa. They really do belong to each other. “Do you speak fluently?”

“Not really,” she says sheepishly, “Just a little. My tongue isn’t comfortable when I’m speaking Tagalog. I have to practice more.”

“At least you know something,” I encourage.

“Yes.”

“Can you translate what Parker said?” I ask quickly, glancing behind me to check if they’re already coming.

“I’m not sure,” she says slyly, “maybe the reason why Parker spoke in Tagalog is so that you wouldn’t understand.”

I stare at her, stunned. I don’t know why I feel betrayed. Suddenly she starts laughing.

“What’s funny?” I ask dryly.

“Your face,” she says between laughs, “it was priceless!”

“Chloe!” I exclaim. And then I understand that she’s just teasing me. Heaving a sigh, I say, “What did Parker say?”

She bites her lip for a second and then finally tells me, “He’ll talk to him.”

“That’s it?” I ask incredulously, “he’ll talk to Draky?”

“Draky?”

I’m so surprised of what I’ve heard, I forgot to change Draky’s name when I talked.

“You have name for each other,” she continues, “that is so sweet!”

Name for each other? Pfft. “That’s nothing.” I won’t slip again.

She purses her lips, not believing me.

“What did Parker want to talk about Drake?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Our conversation ends at that because Parker and Draky enters my line of vision. They both take their seats on either side of me. I look at their face but it’s like they didn’t have a conversation. Perhaps they just know how to conceal their expressions.

“Parker,” I whisper, turning to my side so my back is to Draky. “What did you do?”

He looks at me innocently. “What did I do?”

“Kakausapin ko lang siya.”

He grins sheepishly. “So you know what that means.”

“Of course,” I say, even though Chloe helped me in figuring it out. Speaking of, she’s looking between me and Parker. Maybe she’s wondering if she did the right thing. I smile at her reassuringly.

Parker snorts. “You just asked Chloe.”

“At least I know,” I say confidently. “So what did you—“

“You’re so loud,” Draky muses.

Glancing at the screen, the film starts its opening credits. Parker is obviously avoiding my questions. He’s seriously watching the movie. Maybe he really likes it.

“You’re going to tell me later,” I mutter.

His mouth twitches upward. He twists in his seat and gives me a wink.

I think I’ll like this movie. The actor is so handsome! I can stare at his face all day without getting bored. I may not know what they’re talking about but thankfully there’s a subtitle at the bottom part of the screen.

“Want some popcorn?” Draky asks.

“Sure,” I say putting my hand in the bucket and grabbing a handful.

It’s getting colder and colder. If I knew I’ll watch a movie, I’ll bring a jacket. Thanks to Parker who did last minute thinking.

“It’s cold,” I murmur to Parker.

“Want me to take my shirt off?” he asks amusedly. “So you can wear it.”

“Ha ha,” I say dryly, “funny.”

Twisting in my seat, I face the screen and watch, rubbing my arms to have body heat.

“Here.”

Looking at Draky, I see him giving me his jacket. “I’m not cold,” I lie.

“Really?” he asks sarcastically.

Parker glances at us and says, “She’s shivering.”

I glare at him and mouth, “Why are you doing this?”

He just smiles. That traitor!

Suddenly I feel Draky’s arms as he puts his jacket around me. I have the urge to slap his hand away but I control myself. I have to act cool.  Remember, you’re playing with him.

“There,” he says, nodding his head in satisfaction.

His jacket smells like him. It’s warm, it’s like I’m not even shivering a while ago.

“Thank you,” I mumble.

“No problem.”

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I see him smile before he turns to face the screen once again.

A tear escapes from my eyes without my notice. It’s the part when Nam and her friends sing a song. It’s so heart-warming! I’m glad they talk to her again. Their friendship is the kind that lasts long.

I admire Nam. She’s strong, true to herself, and beautiful; even before she changed. Being beautiful doesn’t mean you have to look good, that you have amazing physical features. Beauty is sincerity. It means loving what you do and being inspired of the good things that comes to you.

“Sophia’s crying,” Parker teases me on the part when Nam proclaims her love for P’Shone.

It’s so heartbreaking! Especially when he tells her that he’s already with someone else. Isn’t that hard? Loving someone for a long time secretly and then when you finally have the courage to tell them, they shut the door to your face.

These are good actors; they portray the characters really well. That’s why I feel what they feel. And now I’m sobbing quietly when Nam slides on the pool. When P’Shone asks her if she’s alright, she smiles and tells him that everything’s fine. Albeit she’s dying inside; her world just crashed down on her.

This is so sad! My tears flow freely from my eyes. Wiping them away with the back of my hands, I see Draky extending his hand to me. He takes my hand and gives me a handkerchief.

“Thank you,” I mumble.

Chloe’s crying quietly too.

“Girls really like this kind of movie,” Parker says thoughtfully.

“Yes,” Draky agrees, smirking.

“You guys,” Chloe says, scowling at both of them.

Parker puts his arms around her and wipes the tears from her eyes. Draky and I lock gaze accidentally. Awkward.

All of us are surprised when the next few scenes center on P’Shone. Oh my! He likes her too! He’s just too sheepish to admit it! Being a photographer, he made a photo album all about her. And then he walks to her house and leaves the album at the doorstep because he’ll go to another city while Nam will study in America.

A few years later, they see each other again in a talk show. The host interviews Nam because she’s a famous designer. All of a sudden, P’Shone comes and then she asks him if he’s married. He says he is . . . he is waiting for someone to come home From America.

“Aww,” I murmur, “wow.” A big smile is plastered on my face. Unfortunately, that’s the ending of the film.

The movie is so sweet, romantic and cute. I feel delighted after watching it. I think a lot of teens are inspired because of this. It may sound cheesy but I love it! Parker did a great job choosing this movie. The ending; it’s perfect, one of a kind.

“Is there a sequel?” Chloe asks, smiling from ear to ear.

The movie changes the mood of everyone, leaving us with feelings of love, hope and inspiration.

Like a blast of a cold wind, I realize something. It feels like me, before, when I had a crush on Draky. He’s famous; I’m just a simple girl. He’s out of my reach and then now, all of a sudden, we know each other. We learned a lot of things from each other.

Nam made P’Shone her inspiration to look beautiful. She studied hard because of him. So that he’ll notice her. I . . . I can’t believe I’m not the only one like this. No wonder they said that 89% of the people who watched the film experienced the same situation.

It shows that there’s hope for everyone. You don’t know someone out there is falling in love with you because of you. Not because of what you look like, not because of what you do, and not because of what you are. It’s simply because of you.

Turning my head, I find Draky staring at me. "Why are you smiling?" I ask, looking at him suspiciously.

"What's wrong with my smile?" he asks, flicking his hair away from his eyes. Those blue eyes gaze at me like they can see through my soul.

I squirm in my chair uncomfortably, not liking the attention he's giving me. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I say, "It's sort of a devilishly smile."

His mouth pulls upward and then he leans down to brush my hair away from my face.

My heart thuds in my chest. How can he be so so so confident in touching me? It’s getting on my nerves! Removing his jacket, I hand it back to him. He accepts it with a smile on his face.

“Let’s go,” Parker says, “I’m starving.”

“Ditto,” Chloe agrees.

We talk about the movie while walking towards McDonald’s. Parker and Draky are so annoying, teasing Chloe and me for crying because of a movie.

“Didn’t I say you’ll like it?” Parker says smugly.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, “I like it. Done fishing for compliments?” And then I remember that I have to talk to him. Grabbing his arm, I stop him from walking furthermore.

“What?” he asks.

“I need answers.”

Chloe and Draky stops walking and they look at us questioningly.

“We’ll follow soon,” I say, nodding my head, signaling that they should continue walking.

Draky is still standing, his hands inside his pockets. Thankfully, Chloe tugs his arm and they both move forward.

“So?” I ask when they’re out of hearing range. “What did you tell him?”

“That you like him.”

“You . . . you told. . . him. What?” I stutter.

His mouth pulls upward. “I didn’t tell him anything.”

“Parker!”

“Why are you curious?” he asks.  “You like him, don’t you?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t like him?” I grumble, “I’m not even interested.”

“Why do you keep asking what I told him then?” he retorts.

“Because it’s my business,” I mutter.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” he says, tugging at my arm to start walking. “If he takes my advice,” he mutters under his breath.

“What do you mean?”

He playfully zips his lips and throws away the key.

Sighing, I let the topic go. Parker can’t be budge. I learned it from experience. I just want to know what he told Draky because I have a feeling it’s about me.

We find Chloe and Draky sitting on a booth beside a window. It’s already 4 in the afternoon. Time sure moves fast when you’re having fun.

We stayed at McDonald’s until six in the evening. We talk about how’s college life, my high school, and everything in between.

At the parking lot, I hug Parker tightly. “I’ll miss you so much,” I say.

“I’ll miss you too,” he replies, “I’ll visit soon.”

“I’ll wait for it.” My eyes are starting to water at the corner but I do my best to hold them.

Chloe and I hug too. In the limited time we have, it feels like she’s my sister. “Thank you,” I say.

“Thank you too,” she returns, smiling at me.

Parker gives Draky a meaningful look. “Take care of her.”

“Parker!” I scold.

Draky ignores me and says, “I will.”

“See you soon,” Chloe says, smiling amusedly.

“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. Before I forgot, I give my gifts to them.

They are both surprised and overwhelmed at the same time. "Thank you," they say simultaneously.

And then we hug each other again because we’re not yet ready to say goodbye. In the end, Draky and I watch them leave in Parker’s friend’s car. And that’s when a thought hit me.

“I don’t have a ride!”

Draky snickers. “I’m here.”

“Oh well.”

As soon as we get in, he starts the engine of his car. It’s starting to get dark outside. Stars are slowly showing from the sky. I can’t wait to go home and ask Aunt V about my parents.

“There’s a place I want you to see,” Draky says, snapping me out of my reverie.

“Where are we going?” I ask curiously. “Don’t tell me it’s one of your secret places.”

His mouth twitches upward. “Sort of.”

I really am curious now. I didn’t know he has a lot of secret places. He’s very different of what I think about him. Is this his true self, or is he just pretending? It’s hard to fathom especially when I don’t really know him. He stops the car on a secluded part of the road, beside a river.

“Let’s go,” he says, unbuckling his seatbelt and sliding out of the car.

I follow and stand beside him, looking at the beauty in front of us. Across the river are different colors of lights emanating from the buildings in the city. I can’t believe this kind of place exists.

“This is amazing,” I breathe.

“Wait,” he says, “it’s not even starting yet.”

“What?”

“You’ll see,” he says slyly.

The sky is cloudless so the stars are visible tonight. The moon is shining brightly.

“Do you want to sit?” he asks.

“Where?”

“Here,” he indicates, tapping the hood of his car. “Come on.”

He puts his hands on my waist and helps me up. Finally I’m sitting on his car, my feet outstretch in front of me.

Boom!

A loud sound makes me startle. Glancing up, I see different kinds and colors of fireworks starts to engulf the sky, giving it with colorful lights beside the stars and the moon.

“Wonderful,” I say slowly, staring at the different fireworks above and in front of me. The sound of every fireworks make my heart beat fast.

This something precious should be shared with someone special. This is a magical night. There are already lights across the river; the stars are twinkling in the sky and now the fireworks who add more beauty to it. What more can I ask for? Even the wind is not cold. It goes with the mood tonight. It’s like when the ending of a fairytale. When the prince and the princess live happily ever after, fireworks start to show in the sky.

What am I thinking? I don’t even believe in fairytales. Maybe I did, when I was a kid. Now? I know real world. It’s not just about finding your prince charming and then happily ever after. It’s so far from that.

Nothing stays forever; even the fireworks stops after a few minutes, leaving the sky with fog and cloud smoke.

“There are always fireworks here every Saturday, at 7 in the evening,” Draky states.

“Draky,” I start, “why did you bring me here?”

“Look!” he exclaims, pointing upward. “There’s a shooting star!”

Glancing at the sky, I don’t see any shooting star anywhere. “You just want to cha—“

He leans down and gives me a peck on the cheek.

It takes a second for me to realize what happened. What he’d done.

“How de-dare you,” I stutter, “You stole a . . . a kiss!”

He grins, showing his perfect white teeth. “Let me take it back if you don’t want it,” he says, leaning down again.

Before he can kiss me again, I put my hands on my cheeks. “Why did you do that?” I demand.

My heart is drumming painfully in my chest. It’s so loud, there’s a buzzing sound in my ears. Why doesn’t it beat normally? It’s as if waiting for another kiss, which is stupid!

“You kissed me the other night,” he says, “without my permission.”

“But that’s for a thank you!” The blood is rushing to my cheeks in slow motion, making my face scarlet.

He raises his eyebrows and takes a sit beside me on the hood of his car. I hope it will break down. Wait! That means I’ll be stuck with him again.

“Think of it as a thank you then,” he says.

“For what?” I ask, scowling at him.

“For everything,” he says softly, leaning down again to smooth my frowning eyebrows.

He is so good at this game. In the meanwhile, I don’t make much more progress. Ugh! I should make him fall in love with me, not the other way around. Based on what I’m doing, I’m clearly ignoring him! I don’t know what to do.

I don’t have an— Aha! Why don’t I copy his every move? I feel excited and nervous at the thought. Let’s see if I’m good at acting.

Scooting closer to him, I feel his body stiffen beside me. Finally, our arms are touching. If my heart is beating loudly before, it’s having a somersault right now, beating wildly in my chest.

I have to do this to win! Swallowing nervously, I move my fingers and trail it down to his hand. They’re kind of shaky but I continue it up to his arm.

“What are you doing?” he asks. The sound of his voice is different. Very different.

“Don’t you like it?” I murmur. “Do you want me to stop?” I make my voice kind of sexy. I bite my lip to stop the smile threatening to form on my lips.

Draky shakes his head.

That just makes me confused. Tilting my head to the side, I ask, “Stop or not?”

“Not,” he murmurs, pulling me towards him and putting his arms around me. He brushes my hair absent mindedly. “Your hair is so soft.”

A shiver runs down my body. “Thank you,” I whisper. Oh goodness! What am I getting myself into?

I have to be honest. I like the feel of his arms around me. It’s strong, reassuring and warm. I miss this feeling, being in someone’s arm, leaning on his shoulder. . .

A thought comes to my mind in that second; I think I’m starting to lull Drake Swift into my charm.

*****

Finally, I put some Filipino words in the story! I always wanted to do that :)

~~~The “Beauty is sincerity” is from Taylor Swift. She said that in Youtube Presents.

Thank you so much! :)