KAYLOR
I looked at Empress during and after dinner while half focusing on Mr. Ainsley's lecture tentatively at the table like a father of five children. She seemed to be in a bad mood since she came back from the festival. Something was bothering her and I wondered what it was.
"So... how was your day?" I asked.
We were both in my room because I invited her for a sleepover to try and lift her spirits. We've had been in awkward silence for quite some time now. I was desperate to burst the silence bubble.
"It went fine." She replied shortly.
I looked at the girl lying on the other side of my bed. Empress was flipping some magazine and did not look in my direction at all. I couldn't take this treatment anymore. I walked to the bed and kneeled in front of her.
"It was me! I admit it! I was the one who spilled the lemon juice on the couch. I was the one who left the candy wrappers on the floor. I was also the one who destroyed the stapler in the living room. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. So please don't be mad. I couldn't bear it if you are mad at me." I exclaimed in an exaggerated dramatic pose.
Empress looked at my antics and chuckled loudly. "Stand up, you loony! I wasn't even mad at you." She pulled me crouching up to the bed. We smiled at each other.
"Then why are you in such a bad mood?" I asked the younger girl.
"No, I'm not," Empress replied not meeting my eyes.
"Yes you are," I raised my eyebrows
"No am not!"
"You are!"
"Okay, fine!" Empress stopped our petty argument. "I was a little mad. But not because of you being such a slob." She said and I faked being offended.
"Then what did I do?"
"Nothing! Eh, just forget it. I was being immature. Let's just go to sleep." Empress was about to hide under the sheet but I stopped her.
"Come on, it was obviously enough to bother you."
"Why did you choose Morgana?" Empress blurted out suddenly. She was blushing now. No wonder she thought that I must think she was being immature and childish.
"What do you mean?" I asked, touching the base of my neck.
"It's just that you didn't ask me for help. I thought we are friends. You know I'll be willing to help you with it. So why didn't you ask me?"
"I didn't ask for your help because I don't want to trouble you. Besides, I am awful in it, even Morgana wanted to chuck me with her camera." I said. I did found Empress's reasoning to be a little childish, but it was kind of endearing.
"That's nonsense! I'm your friend. It'll help both of us if we study manual settings together." Empress insisted.
"Alright, I'm sorry. You are my friend and I should just have asked you. I appreciate it." I smiled, my eyes shining, locked on her.
"Of course I will help you silly!" Empress was beaming.
I flopped onto the bed and we were lying on the mattress side by side staring at the ceiling. Empress started playing with my hair.
"She wasn't mad at you about Jeon anymore?" Empress asked.
"No, we sort of uh... reach an understanding." I yawned; tears squeezed my eyes when I did.
"That drama queen went through boys like changing clothes."
"Hey, don't call her that. Respect girls who aren't like you." I felt obligated to defend Morgana like I had defended Empress before.
"What? It's true. Jeon happens to be her latest conquest."
"That's not true. Maybe she likes him."
"Why are you defending her?"
"I wasn't. I was just being objective."
"Fine... Oh hey, maybe we can help her."
"How?" I turned to look at her, curiously.
"We can switch partners for tomorrow's group assignment. I can be your partner and Morgana can have Jeon."
"Eh..." I was rendered speechless. I didn't expect this. Do not meddle with this kind of love affair! Repeat, stay out of this! My brain screamed.
Jeon wouldn't be happy to be partnered with Morgana. Most importantly, I don't want to be in any part of the triangle anymore.
"I don't think Jeon would like that." I blurted out.
"Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I hate to be the next recipient of Morgana's evil glare."
"But how about your feelings? How do you uh... feel about Jeon?" I tested.
"Jeon?" Empress began pensively. "Indifference I guess."
"What kind of answer was that?"
"What do you expect I say?"
"I don't know... like do you uh... have a crush on him or something?" I asked.
"No. Do you?" Empress shot back.
"Me?" I say rather defensively. "No, no. We are just friends."
"Great. Then we shouldn't have a problem with changing partners." She insisted.
Of course, that would be a problem! I was getting a massive headache. How am I going to say this? Changing partners would be good for Morgana but bad for Jeon! My Operation Matchmaking as Cupid was a total disaster.
Who am I kidding?
I'm no Son of Venus and Mars or even the primordial deity, depends on which version of cupid you preferred.
"I uh, maybe this isn't a good idea. I mean Morgana and I had started working already and we've had plans for possible assignments." I lied.
"Oh... okay then," Empress said looking a little disappointed.
"So... uh, you don't have feelings for Jeon?" I said, drowsily.
"Nope, he isn't my type." Empress looked at me. "I find Jeon to be a boring person."
"Ooh... so who's your type?" I started to roll closer to her when Empress suddenly pulled me closer by the waist and whispered in her ear.
"You," I was caught off guard by this, my eyes went wide. I felt the heat rising to my face. Then suddenly, Empress laughed. "I was only kidding Kaylor! Oh my, the look on your face was priceless!"
"Oh! This will teach you for teasing me!" Without thinking, I flipped the younger girl over and tickled her mercilessly while Empress wriggled around trying to escape the torture.
"Stop! I'm sorry!" She continued giggling and gasped. "Sorry! Stop! Please!"
I stopped tickling the girl and stood up. For a brief moment, I had forgotten myself and got carried away. I admonished myself and lied back down on her side of the bed. The younger girl was still breathing hard and trying to catch her breath.
"Let's sleep now. I'm really tired and we have to get up early tomorrow." Emphasizing my point, I let out a huge yawn. I switched off the lights on the night desk and burrowed under the sheet.
"Goodnight Empress." As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was fast asleep.
EMPRESS
"Night Kaylor," I smiled softly at the sleeping girl.
I was far from kidding when I said that Kaylor was my type. I just wanted to see Kaylor's reaction. Not the reaction I was expecting but then Kaylor thought I was joking. I frowned and fell into a restless sleep.
Okay. So I had been in denial for the whole afternoon until I saw Morgana and Kaylor together. I decided to check the two outside the huge glass window using a telescope I borrowed from Iko.
I'm not a stalker. I'm a spy... doing this for the greater good of my friend.
I had expected to find them in a shouting match but instead, I found the two girls sitting close together in what looked like a deep conversation. Then I felt it, a pang of irrational jealousy. I left and ran to my car. I wasn't sure about my feelings toward the new girl. But one clear thing was that I didn't like to share Kaylor.
* * *
"So after I sent those texts, she didn't reply immediately like she used to," Iko said in frustration. "Even worse, she lied to me about where she was yesterday. I asked my sister to verify her statement. Well, she did seem a lot distant lately. Em, do you think Desi is cheating on me? Hey, are you listening to me?" Iko looked at the blonde sitting beside him.
It was six in the morning; two weeks had passed after that night. Iko and I were already awake watching the national news trying to understand what the news anchors and reporters were saying.
Mr. Ainsley was on medical leave on the 13th day of our club activities. He didn't even tell us why he's sick. He just looked fine but he promised he'd be back by the third week of April. So the members of the club get to spend the time on their own, under the condition that they would be studying the Filipino language to make use of the time before Mr. Ainsley can continue and supervise their activities.
Iko had been telling me about his girlfriend, Desi, back home in Indonesia, who he suspects might be seeing someone else. He had hoped to get some advice or words of reassurance from me. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention to his plight. Instead, I was busy looking in the other direction. More precisely at where Morgana and Kaylor just arrived after Kaylor woke up early to visit Morgana in her room. Both of them were talking in low voices.
Iko pinched me to get my attention.
"Ow!" I yelled, startled while Iko just looked pleased with himself. "What the heck Iko? Why did you do that for?" I said, rubbing my arm.
"Well, I called your name a couple of times and you didn't respond. I was telling you about Desi but instead of listening, you were busy looking at Kaylor." Iko accused me while speaking in a low voice.
"What? No, I was not! I was listening to you." I sputtered in denial.
"Oh please. You were staring at Kaylor like all the time. It was blindingly obvious." Iko had noticed me stealing glances at Kaylor now and then. At first, it was rather discreet, but lately, I had been blatantly staring.
"Eh... was I that obvious?" My face was red now, embarrassed for being caught.
"Yep, you got it bad this time. Recently, all you talked about was Kaylor." Iko teased me after seeing me blush more.
"Okay. I admit it. I have a crush on her and I don't know what to do about it." I threw my hands up to emphasize my point.
Kaylor had been with us almost a month now and I had never met anyone like her before. I thoroughly enjoy the company of the New Girl. With Kaylor, I can be myself and not afraid of being judged. Just yesterday, Kaylor taught me how to play certain Filipino games like Sungka. Kaylor had offered to teach me how to play other recreational games but I had politely declined it.
Ever since I was young, I had to learn to be a proper young lady. With Kaylor, I felt like I can do anything. Be free and brave without worrying about what other people think. Maybe Kaylor's I don't give a damn attitude is rubbing on me. My feelings for her had been growing throughout each day. Now, I was having a hard time hiding them. Every time I closed my eyes, I can see Kaylor's smiling face, her plain brown eyes, straight black hair, and adorable face of mixed descent, when I had started drifting off to space Iko decided to bring me back to earth by slapping my shoulder.
"So does she know about your feelings yet?" Iko asked. We watched her as she and Morgana went out for a walk.
"No, I don't think so." Then suddenly, all horrible possibilities rammed into my head. "What if she feels disgusted by it? Or worse, she could get angry by it? Or maybe I just simply wasn't her type?" I was babbling now.
Iko looked at me in sympathy. I hadn't acted like this since the last crush I had on a girl who just used me for favors.
"Do you think she is gay?" I asked him in a low voice.
"How should I know? You are the one with the gay optical target path." Iko replied.
"It's gaydar. Where did you even get those words?" I asked. "I know she doesn't have problems with gays but... I couldn't bear it if she'll reject me."
Iko looked at me sympathetically. "Just tell her already! I have seen the two of you and I am sure she must feel something towards you too. Both of you were almost inseparable. Wherever you are, Kaylor can be found within the vicinity. I am pretty sure that Kaylor felt the same towards you and the both of you are probably too shy to make the first move."
"It's confusing. I feel like she was giving me mixed signals. She is so hard to read." I confessed to him.
He nodded, agreeing. "By the way, Kaylor had been rather friendly towards Morgana lately," Iko commented and I frowned at the fact. Of course, I noticed. Those two had been spending quite a lot of time together whenever Kaylor's not with me. Although, Kaylor often complained about how evil Morgana was.
"Do you... do you think Morgana is prettier than me? Or maybe Kaylor likes Americans? I know loads of Filipinos prefer Americans and Koreans when it comes to foreign lovers."
"Stop it Em. You are being absurd now. Morgana Cross is as straight as an arrow, nothing to worry about, which is why the reason the both of you are foes-American and Canadian-Rude and Friendly-Gay and Straight." Iko slapped me lightly on the arm.
"Are you stereotyping all Canadians as gay?"
Iko frowned. "That's not what I meant.
"I know." I sighed. "It's just that two weeks ago they hated each other's gut. And look at them now! Taking a morning walk together and being civil." I had noticed the changes in Morgana Cross too.
"Well, if you want to know how she feels, you must do something," Iko suggested.
"Eh? Like how?" I asked.
"You know, make her jealous to see her reaction."
"Does that work?"
"Of course it works. I watch Sinetron, Koreanovellas, and Teleseryes all the time!"
I just looked at Iko skeptically questioning his logic. "You mean like flirt with other people to make her jealous?" I had seen so many movies with a similar plot before.
"Yes, and if she has feelings for you, she'll be upset. Just a tiny flirting in front of her will do."
"And who should I flirt with?" I asked quizzically.
"Well, for starters you can try Jeon. You know he has a crush on you." Iko supplied to me and Jeon would be an easy target.
"Jeon," I thought about it. He had been hitting on me subtly since they got paired up for the assignments. It might be a tad cruel but a little flirting should not harm, right? It's not like I purposely lead him on. Maybe I should give it a try, anything to get a reaction out of Kaylor.
KAYLOR
I was in the middle of writing a piece of hard news for a local newspaper to raise money when Morgana suddenly blurted out, "Did you sleep with Mr. Ainsley?"
"What?" of all the things she'd ask me, my eyes bulged out at that. Where the hell did that come from?
Morgana blew an exasperated breath. "I just can't believe someone like you can become a member of this club. It's impossible!" She is sure that there must be elaborate conspiracy theories about how I landed in this class.
"Well my friend, you don't have to question it. You just have to tolerate it." I patted her on the shoulder.
"Tolerate someone like you? In your dreams! You will drag me down," Morgana snorted. She looked at her watch and noticed that it was almost lunch. "Can you speed up your writing please?" she drawled.
She had helped me write for a local newspaper to raise some cash while I in return teach her the official language of the Philippines.
"Yes, a little bit more," I replied. "Gah... this stupid article is equally tedious as stupid paperwork," I muttered under my breath.
"So, where do you live?" Morgana asked her.
"I'm not from this city if that's what you're wondering," I replied without looking up.
Morgana rolled her eyes at not even getting the information too well. "So they say you're a Marine Biologist?"
"Yep," I replied without looking up.
"Really?" she asked, a hint of recognition crossed her face. "My cousin Gavin writes about Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity of Southeast Asia! What a coincidence! Have you heard of him?"
"I might have had, but I don't remember, but okay, that's cool," I replied.
"Oh no, she didn't!" She exclaimed suddenly.
I looked up. Morgana's glaring at Jeon and Empress. The two of them were sitting on the couch and looked like they were sharing a private joke. Empress was giggling at something Jeon said.
Whoa! Way to go Jeon! That boy is making progress already. I was genuinely was pleased to see the beaming young man talking animatedly with Empress. I turned back and saw the girl sitting in front of me was ready to explode. I winced in sympathy.
"It's always that ice bitch!" Morgana growled.
"What do you mean?"
"She's cold and distant yet every boy's after her!"
"You are jealous of her?" Some things are coming into lights now. That would explain Morgana's hostility toward Empress, although the feeling is mutual between the two.
"Of course not! There's nothing to be jealous for."
I could tell that she was lying and hiding something, but I decided to let it go. Somehow I understood the woman's feelings. Unrequited love hurts the most. Seeing someone you love loving someone else. I had gone through a similar experience during high school.
"You know; if you like him, do something! Fight for it! Don't just sit here and glare at all the girls who were approaching him." I advised her. She can't take the immature behavior from the girl anymore.
"I can't. It's contradicting with my ethic!" Morgana replied.
"What's ethics got to do with this?"
"Well, I never fight for anyone." She said indignantly.
Oh no, not this again. I pinched the bridge of my nose. This girl is so stubborn.
"Fine then, it would be 100% your fault if Jeon and Empress became an item."
"Shut up, y-you don't understand!" Morgana snapped at me. I had hit a nerve. Morgana shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She hated the thought of Jeon with someone else, especially with Empress Kovall. She had envied the blonde since the beginning when they met.
Empress seemed to do things effortlessly while she had to work hard for it. Empress was well-liked and popular among the photographer enthusiasts and that girl acts like she didn't notice it at all. This only annoyed Morgana further. Everyone is always charmed by the blonde's charisma and air of elusiveness.
"Just pass me the paper I need to translate once you are done!" she stood up and stormed off the dining room.
I watched the retreating figure sadly. I looked at Jeon and Empress who were still talking animatedly. "Well, at least something good came out of this mess. Ah... love, so appealing." I smiled in their direction.
Empress had begun to show interest in Jeon maybe the triangle of doom can be broken. I too brightened at the thought and continued writing.
I was unaware that the triangle had become a rectangle.
A/N
Whoa. This is a longer chapter. Anyway, I'm still working on getting their accents, okay? You can talk to me, I'm friendly. Please excuse the mistakes. I'm a second language writer.