My Imaginary Ex (COMPLETE)

Chapter 2

Zack was in a Management course, and I was in Psychology, so we hung out with other people.

He would drop by my usual tambayan, asking if I felt like a burger/coffee/loaning him money for photocopying, but he wouldn't hang out.

"Who's that?" my friends would ask each time he came by.

Something we discovered we had in common was that neither of us felt like joining a tight-knit barkada right away. He wanted to remain a "free agent" because he thought that his friends from high school (somewhat geeky smart boys) held him back from exploring his less geeky interests (basketball).

I was just not comfortable with a huge clique.

I preferred a few close friends that I really liked hanging out with. That gelled well with Zack's own quirk of keeping his friends separate.

Like, he never ate lunch with the guys he played basketball with. Or he never studied with his friends from his org.

I asked him why he did that.

He looked at me like duh. "So no single person knows everything about me."

I rolled my eyes. "You have intimacy issues."

Those intimacy issues were put to the test when my friend Zack met Lena Mallari in Zoology class, second semester. I wouldn't have known if he didn't say anything, since I never saw him if he didn't seek me out. Apparently, they had started having lunch together.

The first time I met Lena was when she approached me while I was in line at the copy machine.

"Are you Jasmine Salazar?" she asked.

Being taller, awkward, and having to look down at her self-assured, tiny frame did not make things easy for me. I had grown three inches in a few years and didn't know what to do with my arms. I seemed to be forever outgrowing a bad haircut, so the default hairdo was a ponytail. She was petite, and at that time, the only girl I had seen with wild Keri Russell hair who wasn't straightening it in any way.

But what stood out for me was how she was so naturally friendly.

"Yes," I said, unsure of what was happening. "I'm sorry, are we classmates?"

"No, no. Sorry. I'm Lena. I was... I saw you and I'm not sure if this is proper but what the hell, I'm here anyway. Zack Tomas asked me to Freshman Night this Friday. Are you okay with that?"

Freshman Night was a party that was going to be in one of the campus dorms. It was an annual thing, usually early into the second semester. I didn't think it was formal and required dates, but I guessed that was what people did in college.

But what confused me was why she sounded like she was asking my permission. "Of course I'm okay with it."

She let out a breath, so relieved that she actually hopped a little. "Cool! Thanks. I know you two still hang out together, so I wanted to check if you were fine with it. He didn't tell you that he asked me?"

I still wasn't sure what she was talking about, and by now I was very aware that the five other people in line plus the copy girl were listening to us.

"No he didn't, Lena, but he doesn't have to tell me if he asks anyone out."

"That's nice. I was just making sure. Thanks, Jasmine."

She pretty much skipped away, and I was left in line, blushing, trying to pretend that didn't just happen.

That day, Zack left a message at my tambayan and on my locker. Two identical messages in two different places, informing me that he needed to talk to me. He finally caught up with me as I got out of my last class.