Catherine McMillan
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We arrived at some deserted place from nowhere. The rain was getting lighter. The clouds were still gray and the air was cold. I was alone with Dylan.
“Dylan, where the hell are we?”, I asked.
“I don’t even know myself. I had to take you somewhere fun.”, he replied. Is this place fun for him? Confirmed, he really is a geek.
“You consider this fun?”, I asked.
“Why? Are you scared? I heard rumors that this place is haunted.”, he looked at me seriously.
“Shut up Dylan. I’m not afraid of ghosts.”, I replied.
“I can tell. Let’s go out. The rain has stopped already.”, he went out of the car. Thank God the rain stopped. I went out of the car and looked for Dylan. He wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“Dylan?”, I called out.
“I’m over here Catherine.”, he waved. He walked that far already? I followed him and when I reached him, I saw him watching the rocks that were beside a pond. It was nice. Though it was just plain old huge rocks and a pond, it looked somewhat nostalgic and I didn’t know why.
“I used to come here when I was in junior high.”, he said. Wait, I thought he didn’t know where this place was and now he’s telling me that he’s been here? What a confusion.
“My parents expect a lot from me. That’ why I’ve been studying non-stop until now.”, Dylan continued.
"What are your parents like?”, I asked. I hope it wasn’t too personal.
“You see, my parents own the school.”, he said. Wait, hold it right there. Your parents own the school? Then that means, your family’s the one paying for my tuition? How embarrassing could this get?
“That’s...shocking.”, I replied.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t want to be treated as some popular kid and rich kid. I just wanted to be like a normal kid. But unfortunately, girls flirt around me and I feel disgusted with them. People treat me like I’m royalty or something. I didn’t want any of that affection. I just wanted to have a normal life with normal friends and with no great expectations. Just a casual kid who goes to school everyday.”, he opened up. I didn’t know he wanted a life like that. He must be stressed because his parents expect greatly from him.
“Good for you that you still have parents.”, I said and he looked at me.
“They didn’t die, for your information. Actually, I ran away from home. They didn’t expect from me or anything. They treated me like I was nobody. I’ve had enough so I ran away from home. I tried to live independently. At first I had a hard time coping up with the bills so I sold my iPhone to lessen my bills. Then Jacob lent me his phone, though it’s a cheap kind but at least I can text and call. But once I found that job, I can already pay for all my bills on time. But,”, I paused.
“But?”, he said.
“I was saving up for this watch for how many months now. But just recently, I went back to that watch shop and saw that the watch wasn’t there anymore. It’s like my whole world went crashing down. I really liked that watch and I worked so hard for it. But in a flash it wasn’t there anymore. I always prayed that nobody would buy it. But hey, past is past. I’m sure there are a lot of good watches out there.”, I said. Wow, why am I suddenly opening up to a person I just met three months ago? Though we do share a lot of memories with Stacy but I guess this is okay.
“I’m sorry.”, Dylan apologized.
“Why?”, I asked. I wonder why he apologized.
“I mean.. I’m asking sorry in place of the person who bought it. I just felt like saying sorry. I think it’s probably because I knew how hard you worked for it.”, he replied. I just remained silent.
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Dylan Wilson
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Guilty!
I am not!
Yes you are.
No I’m not. Well, maybe I am a little guilty. I mean, maybe a whole lot guilty after having heard of how hard she worked for it and saving for it for months and then I just bought it in a flash. Isn’t that kind of unfair? Should I just tell her the truth? Maybe later.
“Catherine? What kind of person do you hate the most?”, I asked.
“Liars.”, she replied. I made a gulp as to thinking that not telling her about the watch made me a liar and once she knew that I was the one who bought the watch, then she’d hate me! I didn’t want that but I didn’t know how to say it to her. It made me speechless.
“Let’s go home Dylan. We can still catch up for the afternoon classes if we go home and change.”, she said as she stood up. I nodded in response and stood up. We went to my car and dropped Catherine to her apartment.
“Thanks for the ride home Dylan.”, she said.
“You’re welcome Catherine. Mind if I pick you up later?”, I asked. I wanted to go to school together with her.
“Sure. I’ll be ready in twelve.”, she smiled and closed the door. It made me feel happy that she accepted my offer. I drove home and after entering the gates, I went to the parking lot. I parked my car and turned it off. I saw Katrina and Milly, her maid, made their way to me. I got out of the car and approached them.
“Hello there cupcake.”, I smiled as I patted her head.
“I thought you have school Dylan?”, she asked.
“I do. I just need to change then I’ll go.”, I replied and went inside. I went to my room and locked the door. I opened the windows and fresh air filled the room. The wind passed as it cooled my face. I sat down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. My brain wasn’t functioning, I think. I heard the birds chirp and Katrina running down the hall. It was a usual morning but my mind was unusual. Then the sudden thought about the watch stabbed me. The watch was inside my closet. I took it out and stared at it. It’s a nice watch though. “Liars.”, that statement echoed inside my heart. Should I just tell her? Maybe I should. Then she’ll hate me? She’ll just forget about what you did and forgive you. Now I was even arguing with myself. I returned the watch from where I took it and closed the closet.
“There’s no use on thinking too hard about it though. Might as well change and go to school.”, I muttered to myself. I changed into my uniform, fixed my hair and neck tie, and went out of my room.
“Are you going to school already Dylan?”, Katrina said.
“Yes cupcake. I have to go or I’ll be late.”, I replied. I kissed her cheek and went down the stairs. I took an apple and went out of the house. It’s a good thing that the sun was shining again but my mind was full of worries. Should I really go and tell her that I bought the watch? I hope she won’t get mad at me. I arrived at school and parked at the parking lot. I went out of my car and went in the school. On the way to my locker, I saw Stacy.
“Oh hi Dylan.”, she greeted me.
“Hello.”, I replied.
“How come you weren’t here this morning? Never mind that, it’s already twelve twenty and Catherine isn’t here yet. She’s gonna be late.”, Stacy stated. Shit! I forgot to pick her up at twelve! Oh my. Now she’ll really be mad at me. I was too busy thinking about how I should tell her about the watch. I got nervous all of a sudden. There’s still ten minutes. If I go and pick her up now, we’ll arrive on time for class. I decided to go but when I turned around, there she was. She stared at me like she wanted to kill me.
“Catherine! Where have you been? Class is about to start. Also, why weren’t you here this morning? I was starting to get worried.”, Stacy went to Catherine. I just stood there; motionless and speechless. I wanted to talk to her but what would I say? My voice won’t even come out.
“It’s a long story. Oh hey Dylan. I didn’t expect to see you in school. I was expecting to see you somewhere else. Come on now or we’ll be late for class.”, she sarcastically smiled at me and walked away with Stacy. Yep, she was really mad at me alright. I could tell by what she said and how she sarcastically smiled at me. I felt so guilty. Now how can I face her? I didn’t even know what to do first. I took my books and banged my locker. Dammit! I’m so stupid! I cursed myself while walking to my next class. I entered the room and saw Catherine sitting on her desk and looking out the window. God, can I run out of the room? But if I did that, she’ll even hate me more that she hates me now. I sighed approached my desk. I sat down and placed my books on my desk. Catherine probably knows that I’m already here but she didn’t even bother to look at me. I hate myself.
Catherine McMillan
I know I shouldn’t be acting this way but he forgot about picking me up. It hurts. It doesn’t feel good when you’ve been waiting for ten minutes for someone to pick you up and your class starts at twelve thirty and you only got another twenty minutes before class starts and you know that the travel time between your house and school is for thirty to forty minutes. I was willing to wait any longer but my house was a bit far away and class was about to start. So I had no choice but to ride a taxi, talk about last minutes, and pay thirty bucks for it. Gosh that was a waste of money but the important fact was, I still had ten minutes before class starts. Then walking towards my locker, I saw Stacy talking a guy I didn’t want to see, Dylan Wilson. I composed myself and walked towards them.
“Catherine! Where have you been? Class is about to start. Also, why weren’t you here this morning? I was starting to get worried.”, Stacy asked me. I smiled at her and said,
“It’s a long story. Oh hey Dylan. I didn’t expect to see you in school. I was expecting to see you somewhere else. Come on now or we’ll be late for class.”, I sarcastically said and walked away with Stacy. While walking, Stacy whispered,
“Hey girl, you owe me the buzz.”
“I’ll tell you later after class.”, I told her and went inside the classroom. I immediately sat on my chair and looked out the window. It’s a nice weather today. I hope it won’t rain again. I forgot to bring my umbrella thanks to him. Later, I sensed that the desk beside me was now being occupied. I didn’t bother to look since I knew it was Dylan. We were seatmates ever since the first day and in all our subjects. Hours later, the school bell rang signalling that school’s over. Finally I stood up, placed my things in my bag, and went out of the room. I went to my locker and placed all of my things there. I shut my locker and immediately went to the oak tree since me and Stacy were always hanging out there whenever we had secrets to tell. I arrived there and saw Stacy kissing some random guy.
“Eew Stacy! Do it at your house, not in school!”, I shrieked since it was so disgusting.
“Oh hey Catherine. Wait a sec.”, she said. I couldn’t even look at them for one freaking second. She whispered something to the guy. He smiled and walked away. I sat beside Stacy.
“Let me guess? ‘Tonight at my house okay babe?’ was what you said huh”, I asked.
“Shut up Catherine.”, she said as she rolled her eyes. She continued,
“So, tell me about you and Dylan.”
“You see. He picked me up this morning and we went to this place where he used to hang out when he was a kid. We were wet because of the rain. He dropped me at my apartment which I consider as my house, and told me that he’ll pick me up at twelve. It was twelve already so I waited at the lobby. Ten minutes had already passed but he still wasn’t there. You know that my apartment is far from school and I only had twenty minutes before class starts so I had to leave and ride a taxi. It cost me thirty bucks Stacy. Thirty bucks! And thirty bucks is a big money Stacy, well for me at least. I got mad because he forgot to pick me up. That was harsh Stacy. Good thing I arrived early in school or I would’ve gotten my ass kicked Mr. Frankenstein.”, I said and Stacy giggled. What did she giggle for? To the fact that I label our teacher Mr. Franklin as Mr. Frankenstein? Or the fact that Dylan ditched me? The second fact isn’t funny though.
“Mr. Frankenstein? Good one Catherine.”, she laughed.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever Stacy.”, I said as I rolled my eyes at her.
“Look Catherine, about Dylan. People make mistakes, right? Besides, this is still the first time it happened. Give him a chance Catherine. It’s not like the world would end just because he made a puny mistake. The world doesn’t end there you know. Talk about over reacting.”, she said as she looked at me and crossed her arms.
“I wasn’t over reacting!”, I replied.
“Then what’s with the sarcasm during lunch break? That wasn’t funny you know. I know you had the right to do that but that was way over board Catherine. I think you also need to apologize to him. It’s not good to make fights last for more than a day you know.”, Stacy said. Maybe she was right. Maybe I was over reacting. It was still the first time. It’s not like he ditched me for countless times already. I just sat there and remained silent.
“Hello? Earth to Catherine?”, Stacy said as she waved her hand in front of my face.
“Oh. You’re right Stacy. Maybe I was also wrong. Do you know where Dylan is by now?”, I asked.
“You know where he is Catherine. Don’t play dumb.”, she smiled at me. I smiled back and ran to the library. It was the first thing that popped in my head. I arrived in front of the library and I opened the door. As usual, it was like a ghost town. I wonder why people don’t go to the library and study but still they have high grades? Maybe they study non-stop at their houses? I searched throughout the library and I came to a corner where I saw Dylan sitting down in front of a book shelf and reading a book. I approached him and said,
“Can I join you?”, I asked. He looked at me and nodded.
“Sure.”, he said. I sat beside him and took a book out of the shelf.
“You never read books here in the library.”, Dylan said.
“Maybe I do now.”, I replied. He didn’t talk so we remained silent for how many minutes. I couldn’t bear it any longer so I started to talk.
“Dylan. Look, I’m sorry about the way I acted towards you.”, I apologized.
“That’s okay.”, he said. We remained silent again but he started to talk a few minutes later.
“I’m sorry too. I forgot to pick you up because I was thinking about something and it made me forget to pick you up.”, he apologized.
“What were you thinking about?”, I got curious so I asked.
“You see Catherine. The truth is, I was the one who bought the watch you’ve been saving up until now.”, he said. Wait, did I just hear it right? Maybe I didn’t hear it right.
“Back then, I passed by the watch shop and saw you staring at the watch. I got a hunch that maybe you were saving up for it. So I bought it and I planned to give it to you. But I thought that you’d get mad at me for buying the watch you really liked and had been working hard for. So I chose to hide it and give it to you when the right time comes. Then you said that you hated liars and when I knew about that, I started to get worried as to how I should give it to you and explain. I’m so sorry Catherine. I really am.”, he said. I looked into his eyes and saw that he got teary eyed. Wow, he was sincere about it. He looked so adorable. You don’t see, a handsome guy getting teary eyed in front of you, everyday right? You only see that in movies or read it in novels and stories but I’m actually seeing it now. This handsome geek sincerely apologizing to a bully and unimportant person like me. It was something unusual. Though knowing the truth about the watch mad me mad but I just couldn’t bring myself to hate him. He was my friend and friends shouldn’t grudge each other. I placed my left hand above his right hand and smiled at him.
“It’s okay Dylan. It’s no big deal.”
“But you’ve been saving up for it. You worked so hard for the watch.”
“I expected for someone to buy it anyway. That’s why I kept going to that watch shop to check whether it has already been bought or not. Don’t worry Dylan. Though it made me mad and hurt a little, it’s still okay. I can’t bring myself to hate you just because of the watch and with what happened awhile ago.”
“Thanks Catherine. You’re a good friend of mine.”, he smiled at me and I smiled back. He took a lollipop out of his pocket and gave it to me.
“What’s this for?”, I asked.
“Peace offering.”, he smiled at me and it made me smile and blush at the same time. Somewhat, it made me happy and it was cute of him to give me a peace offering. You don’t see a friend like that everyday.
“Thanks.”