ALEXIS and the Bet

Chapter Fourteen: Group Date

“Pa, ‘yan ang napapala mo sa kakapanood ng mga teleserye, eh,” I joked.

Mom chuckled and thankfully intervened. “Pa, male-late na sila. Siga na, umalis na kayo. Enjoy!”

Did I ever mention how cool my mom was?

We were going to use two cars: One belonged to Alicia’s father with kuya Anton, their family chauffer, as our driver; and the other was Benjamin’s. I was about to join Alicia in her car when suddenly Robyn grabbed my arm and pushed me inside Benjamin’s car.

“Diyan ka. Samahan mo si Mads,” she said with a wink.

I glanced at my side where Madie was already seated, wearing a scowl on her face. Dave was beside her, sitting near the door.

“Lumayo ka nga ng kaunti sa akin, geek,” he was telling Madie. “Baka mahawaan ako ng geekiness mo.”

Madie looked as if she was ready to commit murder.

Benjamin sat beside me and closed the door. “Kuya Boyong, doon po tayo sa amusement park.”

There was an awkward silence inside the car. Dave and Madie were facing away from each other, with a clear disliking for each other on their faces. I was staring ahead. Benjamin was staring infront of him as well, but I could have sworn he was stealing glances at me when he thought I wouldn’t notice. I gave a small smile to myself.

Benjamin. THE Benjamin Lucero. One of the cool kids in school was sitting beside me, with less than half an inch of space between us. I could feel my stomach churning with so much nervousness and excitement at the same time. It was like this was something impossible to happen and yet it did happen. My very first date (well, sort of date). And it was with a popular and cute guy! If only everything were real…

We arrived half an hour later to our destination. Like I said, the amusement park was just near. From a far, I saw a girl waving her hand towards us. She was standing beside a boy who looked to be in a sullen mood.

We approached them and I later realized the girl was Francheska, the only nice member of the Pink Angels. And the boy was Arthur. This could be Alicia’s lucky day.

I was actually nervous the moment my friends decided to be scarce. Really why did they have to leave me alone with this awfuly cute guy? I mean, what would I do? I had no idea what to do! And my comrades had left me, giving me a wink, a thumbs up and a “good luck!” message. So much for the friendship!

So why did I feel nervous complete with knees buckling and hands turning cold? Simply because it was my very first time to have a sort-of date with a boy. I wasn’t sure what to do. What do you do in a date?

Last night, I was on the phone with Alicia. I had told her my problem.

“Hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko, Alicia,” I said to her last night. “First time ko… ano… lumabas na may kasamang mga boys.”

“Okay lang ‘yan, Alex. Kasama mo naman kami, eh. Hindi ka namin iiwan,” Alicia had said.

Now, however, they were nowhere in sight. What happened to “hindi ka namin iiwan”?

Benjamin cleared his throat. “Alexis?”

“Huh?”

“Are you okay?”

My knees were trembling; my palms were sweaty; my stomach was rumbling with too much nervousness, I was beginning to get afraid I might seek the comforts of the CR and deliver something nasty inside the toilet. And what would happen if he touched my hand and feel the slimes of my sweaty palm? Would he even touch my hand in the first place?

“Natatae ako sa sobrang kaba ko,” I said absent-mindedly more to myself than to him.

“Ha?”

“Ha?”

“Na a-ano ka?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

What did I just say? “Uhm, saan tayo?”

He suddenly smiled and said, “Tara, try natin ang mga rides. Gusto mo sa roller coaster?”

I already wanted to puke with too much anxiousness, and he wanted me to ride the roller coaster with him? “Sige…” I couldn’t exactly tell him I was on the verge of vomiting. I needed to act cool.

It was a near death experience once I stepped inside the cart of the roller coaster and the ride began. All the loops, turning and the “plunge of death” when the cart would drop from the highest track were nerve-wrecking. I thought my heart already jumped out from my mouth with my constant screaming of “ayoko na!”

That was so uncool.

But the coolest thing was, all those time I was screaming at the top of my lungs, Benjamin was laughing playfully at me while he held my hand and reassuring me I was safe.

Benjamin Lucero held my hand. For real. I could die and gone to heaven and it would be alright. Benjamin held my hand!

Snap out of it Alex! Why was I thinking like that?

When the ride ended, I thought my knees turned to jelly. My knees suddenly gave in and I was about to fall when I stepped out of the cart, but Benjamin was able to grab me by the waist and prevented me from making contact to the ground.

As I stared at his smiling eyes while he held me, I suddenly realized it wasn’t just my knees that wanted to give in and fall –my heart was already starting to fall as well.

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