This is yet to be edited.
You know how, sometimes, you do something... and at the moment, it feels like it's the right thing to do? But then, after you do it, you immediately regret doing it... you start thinking about the alternatives, other things you could've done that would've had better results... Well, when I hugged Sunny back, that didn't happen.
At the back of my mind, while I was hugging him, there were some doubts. I didn't want things to get awkward. And you know what? Things didn't get awkward. Things actually got pretty comfortable. And you know what else? I realized that at the pool party, he held my hand when we were heading to the pool.
And I didn't object. Or anything. I let him hold my hand. And I didn't even realize it until way afterwards because... well, it didn't feel wrong. I was just that comfortable with Sunny. And it feels nice. I haven't felt this comfortable with a boy since...
Well, you already know. He's the guy who's making paper roses with our other classmates backstage. It's been three weeks since the pool party. Now everyone's gotten over the Nutrition Month celebration and preparing for the play and reviewing for the exams.
I haven't got much to do now that the costumes have been arranged. Today's rehearsals are gonna be cut short so that our classmates could go to Caitlin's Closet for a fitting. I'm glad I'll get to see Mr. Cruz again. The thought of him brings back the memory of the time Cai brought me there. And a smile grows on my face. You look... the way you always look... beautiful.
“My lady,” I was snapped out of my thoughts by, who else, the guy I was thinking about. He bowed in front of me like a prince. Great. He just always knows what to do and what to say and with perfect timing. I couldn't help but smile, though. He laid on the accent thick.
“Did someone steal your royal clothes, dear prince?” I played along.
“On the contrary, I stole you a rose,” he held out the hand he'd been hiding behind his back and presented me with a paper rose. The gesture instantly made me smile. I took the paper rose from him and, as if that was his way of asking and my way of permitting, he sat beside me on the long wooden table. “And, I'd actually prefer to be a knight in shining armor.”
“You're saying you'd rather be a knight than a prince?” I asked as I looked at the paper rose.
“You heard it right,” he said, complete with that infectious smile of his.
“And why is that?”
“Well, I guess... there's just something about... fighting for the ones you love, you know?” he looked me in the eyes, like he wanted me to know he meant it. But I wasn't sure what he meant.
“Hi guys,” I suddenly heard an all too familiar voice speak and I had to break my eye contact with Cai. It was only then that I realized I was able to hold eye contact with him. “It's time to go to the fitting,” Sunny said with a smile.
Somehow, somewhere inside me I wished I had more time to talk to Cai. Everyone's just been busy. Gwenevere's been on Sunny and Nai's tails for a while now. She's making sure her two leading stars are gonna rock the show. I think Sunny's handling it pretty well. He handles almost everything pretty well. Nai's been struggling, though. I don't know if she's been able to put down her script and pick up her textbooks. Then there's the fact that we haven't gone to see Miguel in a month or so. Although, according to her, they talk every night. And now they're Facebook friends.
I've started thinking that maybe it would have been more fun if I was put in charge of props. And it is definitely not because Cai was also in charge of props. Nope, that's not it. Really. It's just that I see them, Cai, Jael, and a few others, working together. They just seem to be having loads of fun putting materials together and painting the props. They've really taken advantage of the fact that Gwenevere's had little to no time to supervise them. They'll probably finish all the props two days or three before the show. So, they have something relevant to do for the next couple of days of rehearsals, unlike me. I've just been loitering around. The first couple of rehearsals, it was fun just watching. But now, Gwenevere makes everyone repeat every scene about four or five times. And that gets tiring to watch.
Well, maybe I shouldn't be complaining. After all, I've been able to review for my exams. I hope this play doesn't affect Nai's studies too much. If she fails in her exams, Mrs. Villanueva will probably take away her phone again.
“I'll finally get to see the dress you picked out for me,” Nai said as we walked to Caitlin's Closet, together with some of our classmates. The others had to stay back to finish the props.
“She picked out a lovely dress for you, Nai. Trust me,” Cai said with a smile as he passed us by, catching up to Jael. He didn't stay behind. He said he'd done all the props he needed to do and he was just assisting the others. But now he felt like assisting us at Caitlin's Closet. And that's why he was walking in front of me.
“Oh, that's right. You spent some quality time with Prince Charming here while the rest of us were stuck rehearsing in the auditorium,” Nai teased me.
“If spending quality time is code for finding you and the others costumes to wear, then yes, we spent quality time here,” I said.
Soon enough, we were inside Caitlin's Closet. Just like the first time Cai brought me there, there wasn't a staff. However, my classmates didn't really mind. They busied themselves checking out the costumes. Cai went ahead and walked towards the green door that read, “Authorized personnel only.”
“Cai,” Gwenevere called out to him.
“Yes?” he turned around.
“It says 'Authorized personnel only',” she said.
“Don't worry, the owner's given me authorization,” he smiled at her before disappearing behind the green door. I saw Gwenevere shaking her head, clearly doubting what Cai said.
“Dune, is my dress one of the dresses on display?” Nai asked as she looked around. I checked to see if her dress was on display and I spotted it amongst the dresses off to one side of the store.
“It's over there,” I pointed it to her. She quickly bounced off to where I pointed and picked out a dress.
“This one?” she asked, raising up a lovely purple ball gown. It was off-the-shoulder and it had a v-neck layered embroidery.
“No, no. The other one,” I said. She turned and raised up the dress which was on the left of the first dress she picked out.
“This?” she asked. This time it was a white ball gown with pink accents. It had a sweetheart pleating and embroidery lace.
“No, no. The one on the other side,” I said. She turned again and I couldn't suppress my laugh.
“This?” she asked, raising a blue ball gown. It had a scoop pleating and a beaded waistbelt. After seeing me laughing, she immediately raised an eyebrow. She put the dress back. “Oh, I see how it is,” she faked hurt. Her first guess was actually correct.
“Guys, guys,” I heard a familiar voice call out. I turned to see Cai standing next to Mr. Cruz in front of the cash register. “I'd like you all to meet Mr. Frederick Cruz, the best tailor to ever set foot on this city.” The old man simply smiled. Gwenevere and Sunny were the first ones to formally introduce themselves to Mr. Cruz, while the others just said 'Good afternoon.' I dragged Nai with me, who was busy looking at dresses, to meet Mr. Cruz.
“Hello, Mr. Cruz,” I said with a smile. “It's nice to see you again.”
“I'm glad he brought you back, Dune,” he said, returning the smile. I'm pretty sure I blushed because of the way Mr. Cruz put it and because both Cai and Sunny were right there.
“This is my friend, Nairobi Rivera,” I said, hoping nobody would comment on what Mr. Cruz just said. “She'll be playing Laura, alongside him,” I looked at Sunny.
“Hi. Your dresses are wonderful,” Nai said to Mr. Cruz. “Actually, everything here looks wonderful,” she smiled.
“And you are one of the most wonderful things here,” Mr. Cruz said. I understood a bit more why he and Cai got along.
Soon, the fitting started. Since there were only two fitting rooms, it took about an hour to get everybody in costume. Well, everybody except me, Cai, and Gwenevere.
When everybody was settled with their costumes, Mr. Cruz asked if it was alright for him to take a picture of everyone. Sunny agreed to it. So did Cairo and Nairobi and me. In a matter of minutes, we were all in position. Most of the girls were sitting down. Gwenever, Cairo, and I sat on the floor in front of the girls who were sitting down. Some of the other girls and the guys were standing in the back.
Afterwards, people started changing in the fitting rooms. I sat down on one of the chairs in the corner as I waited for Nairobi, since she got to be one of the first ones to change. Sunny was talking to the other boys, they'll probably let all the girls finish changing before they do. I was about to take out my phone and distract myself by playing games when someone approached me.
“Dune, I almost forgot to give you something,” Mr. Cruz said.
“What would that be?” I asked. Then I noticed that he was holding a picture frame.
“Well, isn't that a surprise? Seventy-four years old and I still have a better memory,” he joked before handing me the picture frame. “You asked if you could have a copy, I said yes. And a man must stay true to his word,” he raised a finger.
I looked at the picture frame and saw that in it was the picture that Mr. Cruz took of me and Cai while we were in costumes. I have to say, we looked cute together. It was like I was looking through a frame that showed me a different dimension, in the past, where there were two people who looked like us and they were a couple... but I guess even in this dimension, in the past, we were a couple.
When I looked up, Mr. Cruz had already disappeared in front of me. I looked around and saw that he had joined the company of the boys.
“Missed me?” Nai said as she sat beside me. “Whatcha got—ooh...” she said after seeing what I had in my hands. She looked at me with a meaningful smile.
“What?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
“Nothing, nothing...” she said. “Just that... it looks like a certain someone spent some quality time here with another certain someone,” she added.
I put the picture frame inside my bag before anyone else could see it. It's not that I was ashamed of it or anything. It was a good picture. But I just didn't feel the need to share it with everyone. And maybe... I just didn't want a certain someone to get hurt if he saw it.
“Thank you, Mr. Cruz,” I said to the old man as my classmates started walking out the door. “Both for the beautiful costumes and...”
“The beautiful moment caught in time?” he smiled at me.
“Well,” I smiled back. “I guess that's one way to put it.”
Before long, I was already at home. I went to the kitchen to hug mom, and then I went up to my room. I sat on my bed and placed my bag beside me. I took the picture frame out and put it on display on my bedside table.
I couldn't help but stare at the picture. It's like it put a spell on me.
When I managed to finally take my eyes off of the picture, my mind drifted to Sunny. When he held my hand, I didn't even take notice. It just felt natural. I was comfortable with him. But... when Cairo held my hand, I was aware of it the entire time... because I felt like there was a burst of electricity coming from my fingertips and speeding to my heart.
Is it a good thing that I was comfortable enough to hold hands with Sunny? Or is it a bad thing that I didn't feel anything extraordinary when we held hands?
I looked over at the picture of me and Cairo and couldn't help but wonder... do I smile like that when I'm with Sunny?
With Sunny, I feel safe. I feel secure. I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I trust him. And I know he trusts me. I don't want to hurt him because he's had enough hurt. To tell you the truth, Sunny is probably the nicest person I know. He's selfless and he's reliable. He's the perfect guy. And I feel so blessed that he's part of my life. No matter what happens, there will always be a special place in my heart for him. I'm sure of that.