Chapter 3 - Stars
Counting Stars - One Republic (Cover by Alex Goot, Chrissy Costanza & Kurt Schneider)
"So what're you guys planning to do this weekend?", Jerric asked after he took a slurp of his soda.
Electric blue eyes.
"You know my father too well, people.", Rolling her eyes, Louisa said and snatched some french fries from Clarence.
Mint and apple.
"Xbox?", Jorenz said as he munched his hamburger. Clarence just shoved a piece of his french fries in his mouth,
"Movies? I guess.".
Deep and husky voice. Why does that jerk needs to be s-
"Hey fruitcake! Max! Are you okay?", I was dragged back to reality when Louisa spoke while snapping her fingers in front of me. I jolt in surprised and the four of them laughed.
As you guessed, it's friday and we're in the cafeteria with the usual chatterings and laughters of the students. We're in our usual table near the farthest window together with the twins.
Some girls and groups of students either smiled, said Hello, or waved past at our group. We do have enough the looks but meh, it's more on that the twins and I are three of the five aces of the volleyball team, Louisa as the dance club president and Jerric, well has a charisma to girls.
Im sitting between Louisa in my left and right is Clarence, while Jerric is sitting next to Louisa who seats beside Jorenz. Wth that Erickson just wont leave my mind at peace! Why does he has to be so damn attractive?! And worst, why do I have to feel those shits when Im seeing him and whenever he's around? And yesterday he just told me I looked better without glasses! Am I intimidated? Oh no, not that. Should I be affected with what he said? Scratch that. Ugh just forget this Max.
"O-oh. Yeah. Sorry. Was just thinking." Jerric and Louisa gave me a glare and they looked at one another. Louisa stared then back at me with a surprised look.
"Oh my god!," Oh no not that Louisa.
"Were you still intimidated by that Erickson?!", she said in a whisper just capable for the five for us to hear. Oh good.
"Huh?! No! Im not intimidated! Much less 'still'!", I answered while waving my sandwich in the air for denial.
"You know after what happened from yesterday, you seemed to be more spaced out. Are you sure you're fine?", Jerric spoke.
"Yeah, I noticed that too", Jorenz agreed. Clarence was just staring at me with a worrying look. He then stared down at his food and looked...hurt? I sighed. These guys are really worried about me, but I think they're overreacting sometimes, especially Clarence.
"Guys, look Im okay and you dont need to worry. It's just this upcoming band contest event that's been bugging me", I lied, well, partially true since most of my bandmates weren't able to practice much for two weeks now.
Clarence looked up to me and I found his glance. He flashed a smile and seemed contented with what I said. Phew.
"Oh you mean the Battle of The Campus Bands? Oh I get it.", Louisa nodded slowly and took a sip of water.
"Hmm... Rough time, huh? That's like," Clarence paused for a second, " 2 and a half month from now."
"So Jerric what were you asking a while ago?", I asked just to change the subject.
"Yep, anything to do to make this weekend a 'something'? Well Louisa's out of the picture for sure".
"Why not hangout to the twins' again? Play volleyball, movie marathon, indoor picnic and burn the kitchen to ashes. You know, the usual.", I suggested and they all nodded very slowly.
"Oh hey! Now that you talked about it, one of the seniors in the table tennis will be throwing a birthday party on saturday! How about it? Huh? Huh?", Jorenz said with all excitement, looking at us while playfully wiggling his brows on us.
"Sounds fun but hey, it's a SENIOR you're talking about and man, you know what always happens in those sorts of parties. Might just watch and finish Toukyou Kuushu and Avatar then." Jerric said and finished his soda. Well he might be obssessed with anime stuffs and a computer geek but he's not the kill-joy type. I finished my sandwich and threw the wrapper in an empty plate.
"Yeah. Alcohol, underage drinking, loud-banging music, and well, sex and drugs were mostly involved.", I said.
"You guys are sooo kill-joy,", Jorenz said and faked a tear.
"Max got a point and it's not like Mom's gonna let us do so, isnt she?", Clarence patted his brother's shoulder.
"You and Clarence just turned 17 a month ago, Im seventeen in next 2 weeks and oh same with Maxxie here. Jerric's still 16, though. Remember that Jorenz.", Louisa said while fiddling the fries in the gravy.
"Tsk. Im not giving up." Jorenz threatened and he fished out his phone from his pocket.
"Oh no. Not that again, brother.", Clarence said and just facepalmed. Louisa, Jerric and I groaned.
Something- or rather someone suddenly popped out from my head and I quickly looked up and glanced around the cafeteria still with the usual scene during lunch, but this person was just nowhere to be seen.
"So he's not here huh? That jerk.", I muttered under my breath."
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The bell rang, indicating the end of our last period for the day. Man, I really hate Geography, what's worst is that it's in the afternoon schedule. Most of my classmates got up from their seats and began swarming in the door to get out from the hell they call a 'classroom'. I remained in my seat and fixed my things before I leave.
I bid goodbye to our Geography teacher and left. Heading towards the school gymnasium, I walked the hallways full of bodies of students. I can't believe Tita Cecil permitted her twins to go to the party.
(A/N: From the above, the word "Tita" is a tagalog word that means "Aunt". Max then refers to the twin's mother. Filipinos have this tradition of calling their friends' mothers also by "Tita" for respect and familiarity. Since he's currently living in the Philippines, I think Max applying some filipino stuffs will be good.)
So the saturday birthday boy is named Kenson and happened to be a son of Tita Cecil's friend. A while ago back at lunch, Jorenz took out his phone and called her mother for approval. Their mother didnt permitted them at first but after hearing that it was this Kenson guy's party, she seemed relieved and let the twins to attend.
Jorenz felt so proud being triumphant and the rest of us just groaned in defeat. In the end, we all agreed to attend, except Louisa due to his strict father's rules, but in one certain condition: finish all the homeworks first, no alcohol, no drugs, no sex, and we must go home before the hell in the party break loose.
I sighed, "Meh, I hope mom and dad would let me.". I might be in the Sports Division of our school but I never left my studies behind. Im not being bossy but me being the second student with the highest overall grade for the last 3 school years, next to the first plac-
I was shoved in my shoulder by somebody and that broke the thoughts in my mind. I noticed that I was at the back of the Sports Division Building where I used to go to take a shortcut to the gym and of course, there was no one around.
"Oh Sorry 'I' wasnt looking", Erickson said with all sarcasm referring to me. I thought I just shivered and felt happy with his sudden appearance but right now he's with a girl, hands entwined. Ouch. Seriously? I thought my whole body shut down all of a sudden and the look on my face fell after seeing their hands.
I rolled my eyes, due to the fact that he's with a popular slut in school and not with me. Huh?! Did I just-?! Ugh Scratch that.
"With all my sincerity, my apologies for ruining your 'time'", I retorted with sarcasm and emphasized the word "time" as I adjusted my eyeglasses.
I saw the girl chuckled and kept laughing on inside, while I saw Erickson in his eyes taken aback, shocked with amusement and.... hurt? Nah, impossible.
"Hello there Kenji boy", Casey, the girl, greeted and winked at me. I just groaned internally. I waved a hand and faked a smile at her. I felt myself getting my nerves on and a pang of an unfamiliar feeling striked my chest.
"Aww, baby, I thought it was me? Are you dropping me now for Maxwell?", Erickson said faking a tear and cupped Casey's face with his hands. Casey elbowed him lightly in the ribs causing Erickson to wince.
"Idiot! We're gonna have fun tonight, right remember?", she said while facing him. Oh, so they're really gonna do 'that'? Gross. They're both just 17 years old for heavens' sake! Ugh, it's not like it's my business afterall.
"Look, Im sorry if it's my fault but it you're gonna flirt in a public and open space, go get a room or a hotel at least.", I rolled my eyes and started walking past them because im already running late for the training.
"Be sure to come on Saturday, Mendiola! We'll be expecting your group!", Erickson shouted behind me and I didnt bother to look behind with my face flustered. I heard Casey giggled. First I was confused at what he meant, but then I just realized it.
"You'll be there t-". I cut off myself as I quickly turned my back to see nobody. I sighed and felt my adrenaline rushed.
"Mom should let me go on saturday". I said to myself, found smiling, as I took my way to the gym.
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"Finally! Ahohoho!", Jorenz cheered as he raised a fist in the air. Clarence stretched his arms, then turned off his netbook and stuffed it inside his bag.
"Yeah", I groaned. I let my left cheek touched the wooden desk and felt really tired. Together with the four of us, we decided to come over to my place after training. Not just to do our homeworks in advance but also for these guys to help me convince mom and dad to let me go with them to the party.
Two hours ago, mom and dad arrived from work. I didnt want them to stress out especially they have just arrived home, but the party is on tomorrow!
Surprisingly, mom permitted me to attend while dad hesitated but this Kenson's dad is one of mom's co-workers, so dad finally gave up.
"Are you guys really sure about the stuffs we wrote?, Jorenz asked while texting.
"Yeah and pretty sure. Our class already took that one yesterday.", Jerric suddenly spoke as he entered my room with a pack of Piattos and a soda in hand.
"Ah so both the Sports division and the Regular Division have the same lesson plan?", I asked and I laid down beside Clarence on the bed. I actually didnt realized it until our skin came in contact with each other. I stared in the direction just to see Clarence staring at me. We quickly averted our eyes like nothing happened.
Jorenz was sitting at the edge of the bed still busy with his phone while Jerric took the seat in my study desk. An awkward moment of silence rang in my ears. Well I guess it was just me. The silence in the room is just too deafening that Jerric's munch could pierce it.
"Everything's settled, right guys?", Jorenz finally spoke and stuffed his phone in his pocket.
"Yeah, but it costs a headache in return. By the way,", I glanced at my wristwatch and saw it's already 7:03pm.
"...it's running late mofos." You might say, 'huh? It's so early!', well mom always wanted the house to be lightless and her children to be asleep by 9pm. Strict, right?
They grabbed their backpacks and we headed downstairs. We met mom and dad walking to the direction of the kitchen. Mom was wearing her yellow apron and dad on his blue apron. This was unusual for dad since cooking isnt one of his fields and he rarely helps mom.
"Hey boys, going home already?", mom said. I was about to answer when Clarence did it anyway.
"Yes, Tita Rose. It's already late and we dont want mom to worry."
"Would you like to eat dinner before you leave then?", father spoke this time. Seriously, here we go again.
"We would loved to, Tito, but next time I guess? We promise.", Jerric answered.
"Dantes, if the children are going, let them be. It's running late anyway.", mom patted dad's shoulder.
"Okay, just be careful on your way boys, got that?", father spoke. I couldnt help but to be proud for him being a father because he treats my friends as if they're my siblings.
Mom and dad went to the kitchen and we made our way to the door.
For the past 30 minutes, I think I've shifted my seating position in the sofa several times already waiting for dinner.
Jorenz sent me a message containing the details about the party. So it's gonna be 6pm, huh.
I turned on the TV and couldn't find any decent channel with interesting stuffs. I grabbed my phone beside me and decided to open twitter and facebook. After a couple of minutes, I felt bored.
Mom and dad were in the kitchen and Yuki's still nowhere to be seen. I sighed and felt really really bored. Suddenly my mind went off to Erickson's words.
He couldn't possibly be expecting me to be there! I mean, yeah, he's the campus boy and of course he'd be invited but for Erickson De Leon to expect somebody like me? Meh, dont think too muchMax. You know expecting too much will end up breaking you down to pieces, and for the great heavens' sake, he's straight! Straighter than any pole you'd se-
"Ouch..." I winced with the sudden pain. My train of thoughts was derailed back to reality when a can of Coca-cola was thrown, landing on my stomach.
I heard my sister laughed from a corner. I glared at her and rolled my eyes. Yukino, or Yuki for us, inherited mom's eyes just like mine, the asian white skin and her black hair but she had it longer. She's still in her uniform so probably she'd just arrived. I opened the can.
"Kenji, you silly! I was calling you over and over and you seemed spaced out again!", she said as she took the seat beside me.
I took a couple of gulps of the softdrink and brought idown in the table.
"Tsk. Anyway, you're late. Mom said you're not answering their calls. You're dead after dinner for sure."
"Yeah yeah save that for the dinner, otouto (little brother). So are you going?", she asked and I just raised my brows at her.
"Huh? Going where? Me? What are y-" She cut me off with her hand placed infront of me.
"Baka! (Idiot)". I know it's tomorro-"
This time, I cut her off and finished the sentence for her. "Yeah yeah, tomorrow's this Kenson's birthday party and yup Im going.", I said while I boringly stared at the coco cola and drank some.
"Omg! For real?! Yaaay!", and there, Yuki engulfed me in a bear hug. I couldnt help but to roll my eyes and grin at how sappy she always was.
I hugged back my sister and in just a second, my eyes widened in realization. I pushed off a bit from the hug.
"Oh no Yuki. Dont tell me,you leaving home this early in the morning, has something to do with it?!", I whisper yelled at her. I know Yuki isnt one of most of the girls in her age. She's this "college girl" type who excels in her classes, but whenever she's invited to a party, without any second thoughts she'd come no matter what just to loosen up and have some fun sometimes. She doesnt drink alcohol because of her allergy, and with her sanity intact in every party she had gone, she never got involved to any bad influence so far.
"Exactly. Ron and I helped them decorate the place before and after school. That's what being a future event planner is, right?" She smiled and winked at me. I just grinned at her excuse.
"So lady, you have a lot to explain for the dinner". Yuki and I froze in our seats and turned to see dad on his apron with his arms crossed in his chest.
I looked with a smirk on face at my sister,
"I told you you're dead".
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"Uh uh. Try this one", Yuki dropped the shirt and grabbed another one. I just groaned.
"Andrea Yukino, for heavens' sake! Im might be confused for now but im a guy, not a girl! A..and..I c..can dress o..on m..my o..own!" Yes guys, my sister is fully aware of it.
Yuki just giggled. "Okay okay. Aww, Kenji you're so cute when you're mad, you know! No wonde-"
I gave her a death glare and that made her stopped from talking. She just chuckled playfully.
"So I see you still haven't forgotten what happened during the party that night." She spoke with seriousness in her voice.
"Y..yeah. It was so fast and blurry and... way too complicated." I replied and muttered the last part. Bits of memories of the party that night flashed in my head and I just closed my eyes, trying not to process them.
"Sorry I brought it down, Kenji I didn't mean to-"
I opened my eyes and smiled at her, "No, it's okay."
Yuki finally stopped bothering me on what Im suppose to wear at the party. Ugh, one thing I hate about girls.
Afternoon came and I didn't realized it because I got caught up listening to my ipod.
I made my way to the kitchen and went to the fridge. I grabbed a can of pineapple juice and drank it in one go.
I removed the earphones and the silence around the house was deafening. Yuki left before 10. Dad left for work and mom went shopping.
The doorbell rang and I went outside. With the correct guess, it was the twins. I opened the gate and I ushered them to come in.
I noticed they were wearing almost the same clothing design but Jorenz's is green while Clarence's is white.
I didn't realized I was staring at Clarence's broad shoulders. Something from that night flashed in my mind and I couldn't help but to watch the fragment internally from my mind.
"When? Just when?", tears started to fall down on my cheeks.
"Ever since the day we met", he said softly with deep voice while head cast low and he's sobbing. I could smell the alcohol in the air between us. I shook my head. No, this is impossible.
"You're drunk. You should ta-"
"No! I-" He hiccuped. "I..I've been feeling this since then and it's all just you Max. It's just you-" He hiccuped again.
"Max! Max! Hey!" Jorenz was calling me and I jumped back.
"You okay?" Jorenz said. My eyes suddenly fell on Clarence who's sitting in the sofa. He looked like he knew what im thinking and he averted his eyes to the floor.
"Y..yeah. I'll go change now", I marched upstairs and changed.
We rode the Fortuner the twins brought. They told the man in the driver seat to pick up Jerric on the way.
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The house was filled with mass of teens and they waved at me and some said Hello. I recognized most of them were from Elli Cam. I also saw some of my classmates there.
Some girls and some boys invited me to come with them but I just refused since Im getting a bit dizzy with the atmosphere, and also Im thinking about Clarence.
The ride a while ago was awkward. Well for me. Jorenz and Jerric were really pumped up about the party while Clarence was surprisingly silent like me. To make things more awkward, Clarence and I were seating next to each other. I felt my face turned red that time and just stared in the window.
As soon as we arrived here, the twins were dragged by Kenson, who introduced himself, to somewhere inside. And there I was left alone.
"Ugh. This is what I get after 3 months without any party." The loud music was banging all over the house and it's getting on my head now.
I finished the Dr. Pepper I was drinking and got up from the stool. I made my way out to the backyard after I bumped several times on some random people.
Inside were just what Im expecting. People were having fun with drinks in their hands. Some were eating one another's necks and I was shocked when I saw a couple in my age were doing it! Tsk. I shouldn't be shocked by this.
I sat on the grass and I took a deep breath. I looked up and saw the night sky. It was priceless. It was clear and I could see the stars and the constellations they form. I couldnt help but to smile at the wonderful scene in front of me. It was chilly on the outside and a wind blew hastily.
Jerric was playing Tekken with other boys. Sure the twins were having fun after I saw them a while ago on a table with a lot of teens around them.
Jorenz was having a good talk with them while Clarence was just smiling and nodding. We even made eye contact. I just smiled and gestured him that I was just going to be outside and he nodded.
I sighed. I wish Louisa was here. Too bad today's the day for a fencing with her father. He might be strict on her, but still she loves him so much.
I fished out my phone and looked at myself on the reflection.
Grey hoodie topped on my blue v-neck, jeans and a matching grey converse.
I stuffed my phone in the pocket. The wind blew again but gently this time, causing the grasses to rustle.
I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Im not overdressed, am I?", I muttered to myself.
"Nope, you're not", and there I heard the voice of this one person I almost forgot this day.
My body tensed up and my chest became rigid, while throbbing like hell.
I opened my eyes and turned to the direction of the voice.
"E..e..e.Erickson!", I stammered. Geez, man up Max or you'll freak him! He shouldn't know you're gay or else...
"Hey.", he said with his usual smirk while approaching me.
Act normally Max! Man up! Dont let him see your trembling hands!
"Wtf, cant this night be worse?", I thought to myself.
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A/N: Wooo, so how was that? Did you guys liked it? Is it good? Bad? Sorry for my lame writing, aye? Im just starting so please forgive me french breads T_T Again, THANK YOU for reading 'IsNJaP!". It really meant a lot to me already :)
Atleast Yukino finally made her appearance! And starting now, I'll be inserting a song title (of my favorites!) for every chapter! Well to add more in the atmosphere.
Anyway guys, I had 2 storylines in my head and decided to take them down as drafts. One is also a bxb and fiction, while the other is, well, about Louisa :) What'dya think? Should I give it a try to publish them on wattpad? Will guys read it? I..it's..not..l..like im..forcing..y..you guys! *Covers face*
Vote if you liked it and want more from Max/Kenji and Erickson :D Comment if you want to ask/say/suggest something! It'd be a pleasure for me if I could see some feedbacks from the 25 reads this book had so far :)
Next chapter will be "something"! (Oh no, it's not the next chapter's title XD) Hmmm.. I'll be looking forward to it. Heh :D
See ya next time, french breads!