Not a Curse

"Hey, Hedwig!"

I had my head down on my desk, trying to sleep, when I heard Joshua's voice call out from across the room. I was feeling cold and my head was aching. And I was just not in the mood to humor him now because I've been having stomach cramps since an hour ago. But knowing that he wouldn't stop pestering me until I go to him, I sat up and glared at him. Only to find that some of our classmates were looking my way, giving me meaningful smiles when they heard Joshua call me again with this 'pet' name that he gave me.

"Hedwig!"

This all began a two weeks ago, when we were grouped together for our role-playing presentation in Literature.

*flashback*

It was really awkward because our groupmates kept on stealing glances at us, obviously itching to tease us. But then Joshua decided to break the awkwardness by shocking everyone with his question.

"Do you like me?"

I lifted my head from the book and found him frowning at me.

'He must be out of his mind.'

"No." I answered flatly and with all honesty.

His frown deepened. "Then why did you tell everybody that you like me? It's annoying."

'Excuse me??? Me liking you is considered annoying??? You should be flattered you pipsqueak!'

"Let me get this straight, I did no such thing." I leaned back on my chair, fully aware that we're getting all the attention from the other members of our group who seemed to have decided to just sit back, relax and enjoy the show that we're putting. "Imagine, how annoying that is for me?"

He also leaned back and crossed his arms. "You never told anyone, but they all know that you like me? Wow. You must've been pretty obvious about it then."

'How can this guy be so full of himself?!'

"Listen here, handsome." I put my hands together and tried to hold back all the sarcasm that was building up inside me. "Sure. You're cute. And smart. I'll give you that much. But I just hope that you won't let that, or whatever people tell you, get to your head."

He scoffed in disbelief. "Are you saying that I'm just being arrogant?"

'Impressive! At least you know that much.'

I smiled. "I'm just saying that you're being too full of yourself. And that's a big turn-off."

"That's the same thing, stupid!" He seethed with gritted teeth.

'Ssschupeed??? Ha! Ha!'

"Oh, Em ssorrey." I put a hand on my chest, mimicking Mia's annoying accent that could get on anyone's nerve. "Please pardon me for my lack of vocabulary skills. I didn't mean to offend ya, pipsqueak."

'Uh-oh... did I just say that word?'

"Pipsqueak?! Did you just call me PIPSQUEAK, you Hedwig?!"

'HEDWIG? As in that snow-white owl in Harry Potter? You think that would kill me?'

'Me, who's been practically immune to Arthur's years of teasing?'

"Did you just call me an owl?" I chuckled and bit back with the same reference. "Come on. You can do better than that, Dobby."

'Take that pipsqueak! My life hasn't been a bed of roses. I've had years of training in this department. Ha!'

*end of flashback*

And that's how our wonderful and very amicable relationship started.

Sarcasm fully intended.

But after working on the script together for a week now, we've managed to learn how to be civilized with each other.

Somehow.

I'd even consider him a friend now. But, unfortunately, the nicknames' just stuck.

"Hedwig!" He called again when I didn't answer.

'Ugh!'

I stomped towards the teacher's desk where he scattered the papers for our final script. "What is it this time, Dobby?"

"We should change this one. This one. And this one." He circled a couple of lines with a pencil. "They sound so redundant. They're too plain and simple. And there's no impact."

'Redundant? Then why didn't you point that out yesterday before you asked me to reprint the entire script! For the third time!'

I looked down at the papers that we reprinted just this morning. "You do understand the word final, don't you? I know it's plain and simple but it should be enough to get the meaning across."

"I know. I know." He waved his hand dismissively. "I know that we already gave this an okay yesterday. But when I read it this morning, I saw that there's still a lot of room for improvement. My conscience couldn't afford to submit a mediocre output like this."

"For Pete's sake Joshua, just leave the script alone! This is the third time already! Can your conscience afford all the trees that has to be cut down to produce these papers?" I snapped at him unintentionally.

I fully expected him to fire back at me like he usually does but he just made an apologetic face as he started erasing the scribbles that he made on the paper. "Sorry. You're right. It's not that horrendous."

'Well great! Now he just made me look bad.'

"No, I'm sorry." I apologized then took a deep breath before taking the paper from him. "You're right. We can still improve these lines. But you should also understand that we have to submit this today. I'll make sure to check with you after proofreading and printing next time."

He immediately brightened up and organized the scattered sheets. "Roger that!"

'Thank God!'

I was about to return to my seat when he called me again. "Hey, Hedwig."

I lazily turned to him. "What?"

"Sorry. And thanks." He smiled, so I smiled back.

Joshua can be nice on his good days. And I can perfectly understand his obsession over our script. He loves writing and he's actually great at it. I just hope he stops using over-complicated English words in normal conversations. It can be really disconcerting. There were a couple of times that I was tempted to take out my pocket dictionary just to check what he was talking about. But overall, he's a nice kid.

As soon as I got back on my chair, Mia asked. "LQ?"

"Huh?"

"Lovers' Quarrel?" She teased.

I looked at her warily. "Har-har."

"Don't be such a spoilsport. Who knows? You two might end up with each other." She nudged me on my side, looking all excited.

'Not that again.'

"You do remember saying the same thing about Arthur and me last year, don't you?" I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "That was last year."

I smiled at her, finding her obsession with love stories almost adorable. "Then I guess I'll end up with someone else again next year."

"Depends on who you end up liking next year." She chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe that person might just be the one for you and you'll date him. Then marry him. Then have kids--"

"Hold up there, Fairy Godmother! Don't go around cursing me like that!" I put a finger to her lips, and she moved her head back then swatted my hand. "You freaked me out for a second."

"I'm not cursing you. I'm just--"

"Stop. I've decided not to like anyone next year. So, I'm officially out of the Crush Hunting game. You hear me?" Marry? Have kids? Is she out of her mind? For Pete's sake we're still playing tag!

"But--"

"No. And that's final." I said firmly.

"What if--"

"Tsk."

"It's just--"

"Tsk. Tsk." I waved a finger at her. "Listen, Mia. Just because you like someone, doesn't mean he'll like you back. Just because he likes you back, doesn't mean you'll date each other. Just because you date each other, doesn't mean you'll get married and have kids together. Life is not a bed of roses and even if it is, they're not worth the thorns."

"Whatever! Become an old maid you spoilsport! I really don't get why you're such a pessimist when it comes to love." She stuck out her tongue at me, annoyed.

'Wait until you've vowed 'Until death do us part' and life really shits on you; you'll wake up from that crazy fantasy then.'

I just chuckled. "I told you, stop cursing me."

"It's not a curse." She muttered inaudibly, which I still managed to hear. But she didn't protest about my withdrawal from the Crush Hunting game that she loved so much and that's more than enough for me.

***

Dear Dairy Milk,

When Life throws a lemon, it's most probably rotten.

At the end of the rainbow is W and never gold.

Promises of forever will soon be forgotten.

And Eternal love is a story that's just getting old.

P.S.

I'm considering getting an operation done to stop these monthly sufferings once and for all.

What do you think?