Me and My Fake Fiancé {HIATUS}

Chapter 8

FRELE

   I froze. Did something like that happened? Holy shit! Wala akong maalalang ganun. At tsaka, engaged kanino?

   "I deeply apologize but I don't remember being engaged to anyone. If I may ask, I am engaged to whom?" tanong ko sa kanila.

   Out of nowhere, tumawa si auntie. "Dear, have you forgotten little Nikolas, your childhood best friend?"

   Nikolas? Of course hinding hindi ko siya makakalimutan. How can I? It would be a grievous sin to forget him. Malayo na nga siya ngayon, he currently lives in the States, but we still have contact. From time to time, nagkukwentuhan kami sa Skype. Pero sa totoo lang, wala akong ma-remember na naging engaged kaming dalawa.

   Na-amused ang relatives ko sa naging reaction ko 'coz I was literally gapping at them like a fish. My mouth trying to let out some words but none. There's none. Hindi lumalabas yung words. 

   "So, it seems nakalimutan mo nga yung promise niyo noong bata pa kayo," nag-nod si uncle in acknowledgement.

   Promise?

   I decided to clear my throat first bago ako nagsalita. "Please enlighten me about this matter, auntie, uncle."

   "Very well, Frele," ang sabi ni uncle. "15 years ago, before Nikolas permanently lived in the States, he visited us to properly say goodbye, mostly to you. And like always, the both of you ran off to who knows where."

   Ah! Of course hindi niyo kami matutunton dahil kadalasan nasa secret base kami, in the past. Adults don't want us around if nagkukwentuhan sila, adult stuff daw. That's why, naghanap kami ng aming headquarters, as we call it. "No adults allowed!" of course. It's actually nothing extraordinary. Just an abandoned theme play tree house in an abandoned playground near our summer house, kung saan kami nakatira for years before ng accident.

   Could it be, it was at that time...?

15 years ago...

   "Hey! Wait for me!"

   "Not in a million chance, slowpoke!"

   As if I'll wait for him when the reward is ice cream. Ganito kami parati ni Niko, his nickname. If we are bored enough, we'd race to our HQ while having our favorite treat as the reward para sa unang makarating doon. That favorite treat is ice cream! We both love ice cream. Strawberry para sa akin, vanilla sa kanya.

   And as usual, I won our little race. Between sa aming dalawa, ako yung mas athletic. My dad got me into sports, specifically lawn tennis. On the other hand, Niko swings on the creative side. Yeah, he play sports from time to time like frisbee or lawn tennis, kung saan lagi siyang talo.

   "No fair. Ikaw na naman yung panalo, El," he said, annoyed.

   "El" is what he calls me. To be honest, siya lang yung tumatawag sa akin ng ganun. We have been together since we were babies, our moms were best friends so we weren't surprised kung paano rin kami dalawa naging best friends.

   "Ang panalo ay panalo. You owe me ice cream, Nicky." Yep, that's how I call him... "Nicky". Why? Long story short, I combined his name and "picky" dahil isa siyang picky eater.

   It took a few moments before ko na-realize na hindi parin siya pumasok sa HQ namin. Nakaupo lang siya sa bottom ng slide. Hay... Nandito naman si matampuhing Niko. Sa totoo lang, it's as if may personality switch kaming dalawa. Siya yung babae, ako yung lalake. Pero syempre, hindi ko siya inaasar dahil taboo yun para sa amin. Especially right now na aalis sila patungong States in 2 days.