The incessant ringing from my phone ultimately made me get up from my comfortable bed. I thought it was placed on my bedside table but after many blind-patting and pushing things off of the wood, I realized it was still tucked in the front pocket of my backpack.
I forgot to unpack last night, hell; I didn't even change into my pajamas because as soon as I laid down my bed, I was fast asleep. I hastily pulled it out and didn't bother looking at the caller ID.
"What?" I huffed, pushing my messy bed hair off my face and plopping back on my bed.
"Good morning to you too, sweetie." I suddenly sat up straight as soon as I heard the sickeningly sweet voice of my dearest (not really) mother.
"Mom? Uhh.. Good morning." I mumbled. "Why'd you call me?"
"Always going straight to the point now, are we? Well, don't you think I need to know how my little daughter is doing after she almost drowned?" I could hear a slight tinge of anger on her last word.
I flinched. I never really cared if my mother is upset with me but strangely today, I felt like a little girl getting a good old scolding from her parents. I knew that my mother was faking it. I mean, I know she still cares for us but not in a motherly way.
More like, I brought-you-into-this-world-so-I'm responsible-for-you-and-that-I-need-to-make-you-as-presentable-as-I-can-so-that-they-wouldn't-notice-my-messy-past kind of way.
As I've said before, she's a manipulative and arrogant woman. She always think for herself more than us; always thinking if her appearance will make her likeable by the upper and rich society or if what my sister and I are doing will make her look good.
"I'm fine, mom." I deadpanned.
"I bloody know that you're alright." She snapped. "But the fact that you almost drowned? Samantha! Gosh, what were you thinking?! Never mind. I don't want to talk about this over the phone. I'm already on my way to your apartment. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
The line soon went dead. She didn't even say goodbye. Not that I care. I angrily stomped my foot against the wooden floor and groaned. I really don't like it when my mother visits me at home or even scolds me, period.
Really?! Getting mad because I drowned? Oh, jeez, I'm sorry mother. I should've asked for your permission first. That's so f.ucked up to get mad at your daughter for almost dying.
It suddenly dawned at me that she'll be here in less than fifteen minutes so I scampered off my bed and started cleaning my apartment. I know how she hates it when she sees a disorganized place. I also don't want to be scolded for having a dirty apartment. I picked up stray pieces of clothing here and there as I made my way around my apartment with a small basket against my hip.
After that, I managed to clean up a bit in my kitchen by washing a few plates, pans and glasses that I left before we camped out and wiped the counters clean. I glanced at the clock and found out that I had less than ten minutes before I encounter the wrath of Titan.
I dropped the kitchen towel and went inside my bathroom to take a quick shower. I chose to use the cold water so I could be as alert as I could be as I faced her later. I yelped at the biting cold as it hit my skin.
I managed to finish showering in record time and made my way to my closet. I decided to wear a pair of leggings, a long shirt that ended mid-thigh and a sweatshirt. I was in the middle of drying my hair when I heard the sharp knocks on my front door.
"Coming!" I yelled as I dropped the towel on my drawer and trudged towards the door.
"Mom!" I faked my smile and leaned forward to hug her.
She reciprocated my hug, all tight smiles and being prim and proper. As soon as she let me go, her nose scrunched up in what I thought was disgust while her eyes scanned the inside of my apartment. I watched her walk further into the living room.
"Honey, since when did you clean your apartment? There's a thin layer of dust on your table. See?" She swiped a newly-manicured finger on my coffee table showing a layer of dust that could only be seen by a freaking microscope.
Is she really serious right now?
"I didn't have time to really clean my place through. The university's holding their finals right now and the teachers are busy as h.ell." I padded towards my kitchen and started to pour water into the kettle. "Coffee? Tea? Water?"
"Coffee with cream and no sugar."
I made myself busy by putting the kettle on the stove, pulling two mugs out and getting the tin full of coffee. I also asked her if she wanted anything to eat but she just shook her head as always.
"So, how's dad?"
"Eh.. Doing well. Busy with the restaurants. He's actually in Australia this week. There were some mishaps with the management, I gathered."
"And Claire?" I glanced at her.
She was busy typing on her phone as she told me all of what my sister has been up to.
Apparently, she already knew that Claire was expecting (mother's instinct, she claimed) and instead of making it a surprise to Claire's husband, she downright spilled it. I say, the aftermath was hilarious. I was giggling as I imagine Claire accidentally spitting her cranberry juice at Romeo's lap as our mother asked what they'll name their baby to Jacob, and Romeo hysterically crying right after. I would ask Claire about that later on.
"Enough about them. Will you tell me what the heck happened to you yesterday?"
I bit my lip as I told her that I'm fine and it was just an accident. That I'm alive and kicking. She didn't acknowledge that and kept on ranting about my recklessness and stubbornness.
"How would it be fine when you're busily proposing a business to Mr. Harmon, that you'd, might I add, been wishing to be funded about for months now, only to have it interrupted and postponed because you to got a call about your daughter being in an accident, huh?"
"Excuse me?" I was gob smacked. "Mom, I was in an accident! You should be thankful that it wasn't anything serious."
The screeching noise of the boiling kettle was added to the voices of my mother and me as we answered each other back and forth. I blindly turned the stove off beside me.
"Jeez, Samantha! You're really hard-headed, you know? I don't want you to die or anything but your 'little' accident could've caused us a fortune! Thank goodness, Mr. Harmon understood and rescheduled our meeting." She abruptly stood up, the stool almost toppling behind her.
"I could've drowned!"
"That's not the point, Samantha. It's because of your recklessness and this dream of yours of being adventurous and whatnot. It's making you do stupid things."
"I'm not reckless. I didn't do a stupid thing. Swimming to get a really sentimental bracelet that my best friend gave to me wasn't stupid."
"I thought sending you to boarding school in England were enough. It's still isn't." My mother shook her head disapprovingly at me.
I didn't reply.
Memories of me being sent away from my family because of what I did when I was young still haunting on my mind. I watched as my mother's phone vibrated and flashed for a second before she glanced at it.
"Don't mind the coffee. I'm leaving. I have a meeting with a supposed franchiser in less than two hours." She huffed, puffing out her hairdo and fixing her dress before walking out the kitchen.
I followed her to the main hall and the front door. She yanked the doorknob and pulled it open. We both stood in shock to see who was standing at the other end of the door with their hand held up like they were about to knock on my door.
"Uhhh... S-Sam." Harry stammered as he took me and my mom's appearance. "Hey."
"Excuse me but who're you?" My mother asked, her arms slowly crossing in front of her chest and her stance changing to the one she usually uses when she doesn't like the person she's talking to.
Which is Harry, as of the moment.
"How do you know my daughter?" She pushed.
Weirdly enough, I stood behind her and was just watching the strange and awkward interaction between my neighbor and my mother.
"Harry. My name's Harry. I'm Sam's neighbor?" His last word sounded like a question more than a sentence.
"Hmm... Sam? Do you know this person?" My mother looked back at me.
"Y-Yeah. He's really my neighbor. No need to interrogate him." I answered quickly, stepping up between them.
My mother looked like she was about to say something but decided against it. Instead, a small frown was etched on her lips as he looked at Harry from bottom to top. She glanced back at me with what seems to be a warning glare before telling us that she's on her way out. I was supposed to follow her out but I remembered that Harry was just beside me. I gazed at him while he was still watching my mom step into the elevator and quickly averted my eyes when he looked back at me.
"Uh.. What're you doing here, Harry?" I asked.
"I heard you shouting earlier. Thought something bad happened so I went ahead and checked up on you." He shifted from one foot to another as he explained to me why he's outside my door.
"Yeahhh... I'm all good here. That was my mother, by the way. She's really like that. Don't mind her."
"S'no problem." He quipped. "Anyway, since you're doing fine, I'll get back to my kitchen and attempt to make some delicious omelet."
"Attempt? Really? Is it really hard to make them?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Anything I try to cook, bake, fry or every verb you can think have that relates to making food I always fail at but I do try and practice. I don't know. You're the chef here!" He chuckled.
"I'm not a chef, for your information. I just love cooking." I defended, crossing my arms across my chest and frowning at him.
"Woah. Getting touchy with the subject. I'll make a note to avoid it as all cost."
"Very funny. I'm just passionate with it."
"Hmm.. Since you're really good at these stuffs, wanna go and help me?"
"What? Me? Help you.. With making omelet?" I was caught off-guard at his sudden invitation.
He nodded, telling me that he doesn't mind at all and he wanted to know what happened to me last night. I told him yes and let him led the way to his apartment. It's been a few months since I was last inside his apartment and it looked exactly as it is, more organized and cleaner, if I may add.
I was too distracted with exploring his house again when he called my attention and pointed at the mess of cracked eggs, different sized chopped tomatoes and such. There was even a plate beside the stove that looked like he flipped the omelet too soon and half of it wasn't even thoroughly cooked.
"Are you sure you're making an omelet or scrambled eggs?" I joked as I pointed at the half-cooked eggs on the countertop.
"I was considering doing just that before I went to your door. If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and your mum? She looked really mad." He carefully pulled out another egg from the opened carton and handed it to me.
I started to scrape of the remaining pieces of omelet he did earlier and started with a fresh batch. Harry knew better than to mess with me while cooking and offered to make drinks for both of us. We made small talks as we busied ourselves in his kitchen and soon enough, we're sitting side by side on the kitchen island with plates of omelets topped with tomatoes and herbs (I had to get the said 'herbs' from my apartment, obviously) and cool glasses of cucumber lemonade.
"So, as I said a while ago, my mother is really annoying. Trust me, you won't last a day without wanting to stab your ears with a fork. She just won't stop talking and complaining." I said in between sips of my drink.
"It was sort of obvious with how she studied me when I was in front of your door. She looked like she was about to strangle me when she found out I was your neighbor. Imagine if she found out that I'm the guy that you're dating. Hah!"
"Then I would be a witness to a homicide." I laughed as I re-enact the scene in my head.
I would love to see my mother's reaction to that.
"Speaking of dating, Meg and I broke up." He quickly said.
"Wait.. What?" My eyes widened at his sudden announcement.
"We never really clicked. It didn't work out. We did try but after your hospital trip, we decided that it's not working anymore." He briefly explained, keeping a watchful eye for my reaction. "I know what you're thinking and no. It wasn't your fault. We knew that our relationship will come to a stop before and coincidently it happened the day of our camping trip. It was a mutual decision"
"But... you two were all lovey-dovey and puking PDAs everywhere that day." I tried to connect the scenarios in my head and see any reason for them to break up.
"Meg wasn't the only one acting. We couldn't tell you guys yet and spoil that day further. We had enough problems to deal with that afternoon."
"I don't know what to say. I guess.. I'm sorry to hear that? I don't know. Oh gosh, sorry. I'm not good at this kind of stuffs." I rambled.
"That's alright. We're still good friends." He smiled. "Also, are you feeling good now? I never got the chance to stay in the hospital and I heard you got home at the wee hour of the morning so I didn't want to disturb you anymore."
"Oh yeah. I'm really thankful for you, Harry. Thank you for saving me. I really owe you one." I softly placed my hand on top of his left forearm and pushed the plate away from me.
"You're much welcome, love. It's really no problem with saving you but may I know what the bloody hell you were doing at that time? Jeez, Sam! You were so far away from us. What if I didn't swim fast enough, huh? What could've happened then?" He turned his body so that he was facing me, my small legs between his larger ones.
I cringed at his serious tone. I knew swimming to get that bracelet was not entirely smart to do but I couldn't help it. I know I'm hard-headed but I never knew that it could reach to this extent until now that I risked my own life for some measly bracelet. Harry must've noticed my internal battle and my slightly scared expression and he softened his gaze. He reached his right arm towards me and I was suddenly wrapped in a strong pair of arms.
"You're lucky I got to you on time. You scared me. I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you that day." He murmured against my hair.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I truly am. I didn't mean to scare all of you. I just wasn't thinking clearly. I was trying to get my bracelet back." I hugged him tighter before we let go.
"It was a gift from my best friend since childhood. She made it herself and I'm really sentimental about it." I added as I lifted the thin silver bracelet on my left wrist for Harry to see.
He touched it gingerly and glanced at me. The way he looked at me was too long to be called appropriate for but oddly enough, I felt comforted by his light emerald eyes.
"Just don't do it again, okay?" He sighed and dropped his hand to his lap.
"Okay. I promise."
-
I'm slightly unstable right now because of someone named Harry Styles.
Also, it's been one year since I went and saw the boys (minus, Z, obvi) live for the first time. Agghh! How time flies! Take me back to OTRA Manila please. :(
Thanks for reading! Vote, comment and share if you liked this chapter, please! Thanks.
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