“Are you okay?” Benjamin asked me as he helped me found my steady.
“Okay lang ako.” I blinked several times. I’m confused. How could a jerk and a snob like him act like a gentleman? With the way he held my hand earlier, and the way his eyes were smiling, I knew he wasn’t faking it. He was really a nice guy. And maybe he was just influenced by his buddies to be a jerk. Maybe he was really a decent guy. I was not sure of what to do anymore…
He gave me another one of his dazzling smile. “Let’s get something to eat.”
I only gave him a nod. Those smiles could literally strike you mute.
Last night, I read some dating tips in a magazine for teen girls. Avoid messy food as much as possible, the article had said. Number one food to avoid was spaghetti, unless you wanted to have its sauce smear your face and dress. Darn. I loved spaghetti. Avoid messy burgers like sloppy joe. Oh men! Sloppy joes were my favorite. I never knew one could starve to death on a date!
So I settled for fries (which was the safest food to eat thus far) and a cone of ice cream (which was a bit messy to eat especially when the ice cream would start dripping from the cone and ran to my hand, but I refused to suffer starvation any longer so I ordered the chocolate flavored ice cream).
We were now walking around, enjoying sight seeing and checking out the booths and all. Benjamin bought me a pack of cheese-flavored popcorn. He also bought one for himself. My fingers were already covered with cheese powder, and I was so tempted to lick my finger. Darn. I was so tempted to lick all those cheese sticking on my finger.
So uncool.
I should act lady-like and all.
So not me.
But then, I suddenly saw Benjamin licking the cheese powder off his thumb, looking unsophisticated and cute at the same time. I couldn’t help but burst into fits of laughter as I witnessed Mr. Cool Preppy Boy licking his thumb.
“What’s funny?” he asked.
I shook my head and tried to control my laughter. “Wala naman.” Then I started licking my finger as well. I was worrying and stressing myself out on how to act properly on our sort-of date, and here was Benjamin licking his thumb! All those worrying took the fun away. And so I decided just to act the normal, Alexis way.
I smiled at him brightly and said, “Punta tayo doon sa booth na ‘yon.”
I did not wait for an answer from him since I already grabbed his hand and pulled him to follow me. I could have sworn I saw him from the corner of my eye smiling as he glanced down on my hand holding his. I wasn’t really sure.
I led him to the booth. I had my eye on that big, honey-colored teddy bear as the prize. All I needed to do was throw three hoop rings into one of those poles. Easy. Piece of cake. That teddy bear was mine.
I was so wrong.
I almost emptied my purse coin with my obsession for winning, but I never managed to shoot the hoops into those poles. I was really bad at this –I should have dragged Joey with me. She was good in basketball, so maybe this was easy for her.
“Gusto mo subukan ko para sa ‘yo, Alexis?” Benjamin offered, trying so unsuccessful to hide his smile.
“Hindi. Kaya ko ito,” I told him with firm determination. “Magiging akin ka rin, Honey.”
“Honey?” he asked, looking surprised and confused at the same time.
“Oo, Honey. Honey magiging pangalan ng teddy bear na ‘yan once naging akin na siya.”
I was determined for the win. I was an obsessed girl.
I saw Benjamin turned his back on me, as if he didn’t want me to see what he was doing. But I knew he was checking his wallet. Maybe he wanted to see if he had enough money to supply and support my obsession to win? Or maybe he wanted to try the game as well? But he suddenly excused himself, saying he needed to make a phone call.
I only gave him a nod, not even bothering looking at him. Like what I had said, I had my eyes on winning this one.
Benjamin came back a couple of minutes later. And I already gave up on snagging that teddy.
“Tara,” I told him. “Ayoko naman talaga sa teddy na ‘yan, he. Hindi naman ganoon ka-cute ‘yan.” I lied. And I knew that he knew I was lying with the way he was chuckling.
“Sige. Andoon sa may booth na ‘yon si Alicia,” he said, pointing to a not-so-far booth. “Hinahanap ka niya. Mauna ka na doon. Bibili lang ako ng softdrinks.”
“Okay.” I said, still feeling bitter and sullen. Goodbye Honey!
I approached Alicia. She was standing beside Arthur while gawking at him. Arthur seemed uneasy with the way Alicia was staring at him.
As if grabbing my appearance as an opportunity, Arthur suddenly smiled brightly. “Hi Alexis! Okay lang ba sa ‘yo na samaham muna saglit si Alicia? Pupuntahan ko lang si Dave doon. Mukhang nagkasagutan na naman sila ni Vincent.” He did not wait for me to ask who Vincent was, since he dashed away in a blink of an eye leaving me and Alicia alone.
“Sino si Vincent?” I asked Alicia.
“Ha? Ah… Si Vincent Fajardo,” Alicia said as we both looked at a tall boy in black shirt smirking at Dave. “Bagong student din siya tulad mo. Classmate ni Cheska. Basagulero daw ‘yon at panay nasa detention.”
Since Alicia mentioned Francheska’s name, I was curious to know as to why she seemed kinda close to her. So I asked her.
“Friends kasi parents namin,” she answered me. “’Wag ka mag-alala. Kahit member siya ng Pink Angels, mabait ‘yon.”
I believed her. Francheska, or Cheska as what she was called at school, was actually very nice.
Benjamin suddenly appeared beside me, wearing a weird smile. “Ready for another ride?”
I was not ready for another puke. “Sure,” I said. “Pero pwede doon tayo sa less intense?”
“Sige,” he agreed. “Sa Ferris wheel na lang?”
Ferris wheel I could handle. So we both went to our ride. I invited Alicia to go with us, but she refused, saying she needed to check where Arthur had gone to.
We sat facing each other on the Ferris wheel. He was still wearing that weird smile, as if he just did something that was exciting or he found something funny. It was starting to annoy me. What if he was sending a group message of all our dating details to Dave and the rest of his friends and they were, like, making fun of me? All those horrid images popped in my mind.
“Pare, grabe, kadiri si Alexis. Dinilaan ba naman ang daliri matapos kainin ang popcorn!” imaginary Benjamin said.
“Yucks! Pare, ang baboy naman ng ka-date mo. Walang manners,” imaginary Dave replied.
“Kapag ‘yan sinama mo sa mga lakad natin ‘tol, iiwanan ka namin. Nakakahiya,” imaginary Marco added.
“Alexis?”
“Ha?” I asked. I spaced out again.
“Ang sabi ko kanina, nakatulala ka na naman. May problema ba?”
“Ah… eh… wala naman. May iniisip lang ako.”
“Nag-enjoy ako sa book club niyo. I like books. Mahilig din akong magbasa kasi.”
“Talaga? Anong klaseng mga books naman ang hilig mong basahin?”
“Mostly classics. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Alexandre Dumas…”
I was impressed with his choices of books. It was rarely I get to meet a boy who loved reading classics. Even Peter was more of a sci-fi fan, although he read classics for the sake of reading.
And I just realized that it was one thing we had in common. We both liked reading classics. Did that mean anything? Why was my heart suddenly making triple somersaults with excitement? Why was there a rush of electricity running through my veins? And why was I happy knowing that Benjamin and I had something in common, even though it was just books?
“Mahilig din ako sa classics,” I told him.
“Talaga? Eh, ‘di may something in common pala tayo. Mahilig ka rin ba magsulat?”
“Oo. Actually, dati nagsusulat ako. Contributor ako sa school paper dati sa old school ko.”
“You should try for our school paper.”
“Actually, nilapitan ko kayo para mag try out. Kaso sabi mo walang vacancy.”
“Hmm… You’re right. Pero pwede ka pa rin naman magsubmit ng mga articles bilang contributor.”
“Talaga? Sige, magsusubmit ako. Baka makahabol pa sa next issue niyo.”
An awkward silence suddenly fell. The silence was okay –I could tolerate that. But what made me uneasy was the way Benjamin was suddenly staring at me, as if he saw me for the very first time. His stare was sending wonderful chills down my spine again and it made butterflies reappear inside my stomach. A warm blush crept on my cheeks as I met his gaze.
“May dumi ba ako sa mukha?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious with the way I looked.
He shook his head. “Wala naman. Hindi ko lang inaasahan na masaya ka palang kasama, ikaw at ang grupo mo.”
“So akala mo boring kami porke’t nerds at geeks ang tingin sa amin ng mga tao sa school?” My insecurities suddenly resurfaced. Why now? I was already having a great time and I suddenly felt like I was not fit to be a cute and popular guy’s date. Was our date turning for the worst? Was Benjamin showing his true colors as a first-rated jerk?
***
#TheNerdClubAlexis
#AlexisAndTheBet