Lie A Little Better, Honey

Lie #5: Of Course We Can Be Friends

I am so happy that I can update chapter by chapter every week. Guys. Can you please make some noise on the comments section? I feel like I am talking to myself alone in my room.

Bibiii! Dinedicate ko ito syao dahil gusto kong dumugo ang ilong mo. Nyahahahah. De joke Hindi lang ikaw ang ipapadugo ko ng ilong. Pati na din yung mga kakulitan natin sa chat. Just you wait.

*~NF~*

     The night is getting old as the food starts to get cold yet the beer remained as it is. We tried kill time by watching TV but we always thought of topics to discuss. In the end, we decided to turn down the volume and continue talking instead.

     The hours passed by with us laughing about the recent happenings at the office. When the conversation rolled onto how we got back at each other, guilt crept up to my conscience and my laughter slowly died down.

     My hair curtained both sides of my face. I couldn’t explain what came over me afterwards. It's maybe alcohol. Maybe not. "I'm sorry," my words kept slipping out but it was only louder than a whisper. I doubt he could catch on.

     Dave squints his eyes at me curiously, "Are you drunk?"

     Immediately, I start to doubt my actions. There was a reason why I couldn’t apologize: I was too prideful. Even when I was wrong, I knew he doesn’t deserve to hear those words but it’s too late now.  "No," I scoffed, brushing off the slight pang on my chest then added "Don't underestimate me."

     Dave laughed softly at my remark then pauses. I grabbed a diced piece of crispy pata and ate it, leaving an uncomfortable noise of me chewing to fill the silence.  "I'm sorry too," he exhales then takes a gulp on his beer. My head snapped at him. I feel my face soften until I feel a warm fluttering feeling on my chest.

     "You have changed a lot Emery," David took a long look at me before taking a swig at his beer.

     I took a few gulps to flush down the food and sunk myself confortable in his sofa. "I haven't heard that in a while," my eyes fixated on the rim of my bottle.

     "Haven't heard what? That you changed?"

     Shifting my legs to an indian sit, "That and being called Emery."

     "Of course they wouldn't. You told them from to only call you Em. You might stomp them with your shoes," we both laughed. I took a sip from my bottle. "But still," I looked at him. He was the only one I let him call me by that name. For him to call out my nickname felt like an edearment. 

     "Why did you change?" I could not reply. My thoughts were choosing from my memories for a proper answer to his question. "Is it because of me?"

     "God no!" I may have said that too defensively. "It’s just that certain events shaped me as I grew older. They made me more rational. I guess."

     "I don't know about rational," he arrogantly reassured me so I shook my head in disbelief. "But you lost something since I last saw you," he slightly scratched his jaw with his thumb. He always does that wherever he tries to remember.

     "Weight?" I joked, breaking in the tension.

     He gave me a sad smile and weakly shook his head, "No. Hope." I took a big gulp on my beer then raised my knees to cover them with my shirt and hug my knees.

     "So going back to the question, what happened?" He scooted closer.

     "I guess. I thought of it as a punishment to what I have done."