heart strings♥

chapter 37: Unexpected Help

He frowned, "No they're not. A man is superior in everything except crying like a sissy."

"But you're not a man, are you?" she said with a smile.

"No, but I will be," he said. He pounced on her, tickling her while she fought through giggles to tickle him back. They collapsed exhausted and out of breath, laughter lingering on their smiling lips.

A comfortable silence fell upon them, at peace with each other's presence, not knowing that that peace rooted to something deeper, more powerful emotion that had already started growing inside their hearts...

"I really don't know why I like you," little Raysa said after a while. "I just do."

Alex smiled while his eyes remained closed. "I guess I feel like that too."

"Alex?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you still feel lonely in your empty house?"

Alex didn't like being asked that, but since it was only Raysa, he answered truthfully, "A little."

Raysa closed her eyes as well. "Don't worry, I'm sure that if you marry me, you won't feel any more loneliness afterwards."

"Marry?" Alex asked wrinkling his nose. "Why do I have to marry you?"

"So that I can spend everyday with you," she smiled. "You don't want to?"

"It's okay I guess... I mean we like each other unlike my parents. I guess we'd have a better marriage than them."

"And then we'll buy a baby from the baby shop," she suggested.

"Do you even know where the baby shop is?" he asked.

It was another one of those peaceful days in her childhood, her favorite times. How nice it had been. And Raysa couldn't think of anything better to get herself to relax.

But someone had other ideas.

"Raysa, wake up," said an urgent voice.

"Five more minutes..." she murmured.

"You don't have five minutes!"

She realized that she was being shaken violently.

Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at a face she vaguely recognized through her foggy vision. "I'm awake, I'm awake!" she said to make the shaking stop.

Once it did, she was released and she rubbed her eyes, forgetting that they were painted and she cursed when she say smudges of makeup on the back of her hand. "Dammit, Kayla's going to kill me..."

"I'll help you fix that once we get out of here," said her rescuer.

Once her eyes cleared she stared at the slim form that hovered beside her in the shadows of the room. She stared in bewildered surprise when she recognized her rescuer. "Suzie?" she asked with curious eyes.

Susan looked at her, startled by the nickname given to her on a whim. "Why did you call me that?"

"Well, I was telling my friends about you and I liked calling you that cute nickname."

"You... why? We're not even close and yet you're gving me nicknames so familiarly?" she asked brows knitted.

"Why not? It's cute."

"That reason is just strange," Suzie said. "Anyway, come on and get up, the talent show had already started ten minutes ago."

"WHAT!?" Lurching to her feet she started heading for the door when Suzie grabbed her wrist. "Let go of me! I need to---"

"You can't go out there looking like that!" she told her. Her tone made Raysa stiffen and swallow her protest. It was a tone Raymond, her brother, rarely used on her. It was an authorative tone that warned people to hold their tongue or die. "Now sit down and let me fix your makeup," she ordered.

Raysa unwillingly sank down into a sitting position.

Suzie leaned down to apply something that she took out of her bag and went to inspect her. "Thank God you didn't ruin your hair, or else you'd be performing on stage inviting even more bullying..."

"Why?" Raysa asked.

"Oh, I'm not good with hair. My sister always does mine, and if I had to do yours, you'd look like some homeless---"

"No, I mean, why are you here," Raysa asked.

Suzie went quiet as she continued to fix Raysa up. And then finally, with a sigh she said, "I hate to admit it, but you were kind of right..."

"I usually am," Raysa said cheerfully, "but what was I right about?"

"The things you said about me..." she said. "I just don't see what's right with locking you up when I was looking forward to your performance."

"Did Sheela and the other B's plan this?" Raysa asked curiously.

"B's?"

"It's represents a bad word," Raysa replied with a slight grin making Suzie laugh. "Yeah, she did this."

"Why?"

"Do you really have to ask?" she sighed. "Sheela had always been in love with Alex, ever since he rescued her from some perverted thugs that cornered her. Alex back then always jumped into fights, hating those who bully. But no one ever thanked him, a lot of people blame him and accuse him of starting the fight in the first place. Sheela ran away once he came. And she never got the chance to thank him. She entered his school and approached him. At that time, Alex was the kind who dated on a whim, or just out of boredom. He never spared a thought for her feelings and once she became clingy due to his lack of paying attention, he dumped her and moved on to the next girls in line."

"That girl never forgave him after that. And she sought after others who had similar contempt for Raven. Well, they had been fine adoring and hating him from afar, pitying the next airhead who threw herself at him. That was until you came along."

"Me?"

"Everyone could see is attraction to you as clear as day. From the moment you came to school with him, Sheela and her gang had pinned you as their enemy. Alex had never gone after any girl, and when everyone could see how he couldn't take his eyes off you, the girls were filled with ridiculous jealousy."

"But I loved Alex way before they ever even met him!" Raysa puffed.

"Really?"

"Yes. We met when we were still little kids. He was my best friend and the most important person in my heart. So if they think that---"

"Wow, that long?"

"Yup. He was different back then and---"

"Wait. We'll take later. You're makeup is done and we've got to head to the auditorium," she said quickly grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the room.