TBBM LIX. Felt Hot, A Little

We stayed quiet for long. The wind was cold but the sky was clear. It was very nice to have somebody like Red to open up. He was the type to always put on a face that said so much of how he had got everything under control. It felt like he had been keeping things in his chest for long. He was even more handsome when he showed his vulnerabilities; it made him look more accessible… more human.

"Ma'am Jing always said, 'Sometimes people are taken away from us because they've already fulfilled their purpose'... Just think of it like that."

Red looked at me like he completely understood what I said. His face beamed placidly. I felt his stare light on my skin. He kept at it, but he didn't say a thing. Strangely, I thought that was nice.

It was just me and Red and Earth in peace.

Dub dub. Dub dub.

Dub dub. Dub dub.

+++

About thirty minutes passed and the main group started to arrive little by little. As the students poured into our place, the noise picked up and suddenly, my peaceful little niche with Red felt ours no more.

"Assemble per section. Assemble per section," the head instructor announced.

Red put his hand out, offering me help in standing up. Oddly, that made him appear really gentlemanly in my eyes. He pulled me up as we headed to our group.

"Hey, Sis," Roma came forward, looking red in the face. I forgot that I was supposed to avoid them. "You took a different route. I thought something happened."

"Uhhh," I saw her broke away from James' hands when she saw me. I gripped the back of my shorts to muster some strength. "Yeah."

"Jap!" James inched closer to me, inspecting my arm. I didn't know how I'd behave around him. "You got wounded. What happened? Did your Class President---"

"Red," I cut him, not looking. "Please call him by his name."

"Hmmm..." I saw Red smiling from my peripheral.

"Are you upset? Can we talk?" James came closer.

I took a step back.

"Jap," James' voice broke, almost pleading. "Let me sort this out with you."

I turned away from James and faced Red. But as I did, the crowd suddenly started buzzing like some bees making their loudest noise to avoid their enemy. I could hear people sighing and muffling laughter at the same time.

"Sis," Roma almost squealed. "Your back."

Ceccie and Phao approached me. Angie was at their back, obviously trying to avoid me and James because of the last incident.

"Show it! Show it!" Ceccie let out an evil laugh. "She is indeed marked, isn't she?"

"Or should we call in SWAFO?" Phao supported her.

"What?" I faced them wondering what was wrong. It was getting really noisy. I felt like running away. I tapped my hands on my body to check what was wrong. "Did I catch some larvae again or something?"

"Disgusting," Angie howled arrogantly.

James threw him a stare.

Angie stopped. But her two girls wouldn't.

"Take it off! Show it off!" both Phao and Ceccie aimed for me.

"Bad luck," I heard whispers circling around.

I was starting to get really goosey. I hated that kind of attention. I could see even the leads and some instructors craning over to see what was happening. I ducked my head, trying to figure things out.

I ran my hands again to my clothes, trying to figure out what was wrong until I thought I reached the point of conclusion: my shorts had gotten torn right where my birthmark was located.

I gasped.

Ceccie and Phao held me in the arms as they struggled with James and Roma who were both trying to stop them.

Ceccie and Phao turned me around successfully. My blood climbed to my face in utter embarrassment.

"I'm dead," I closed my eyes in defeat---until I heard the crowd shrieked even louder.

"I told you to effin' fight," that familiar voice said. I heard him very close to me. I could smell the scent of his skin.

There was that brief moment of utter silence, like some halcyon in the middle of the storm.

Slowly, I opened my eyes---only to see Red infront of me, without his shirt on. He was half-embracing me as he tied his shirt around my waist, covering the tear behind me.

"Don't readily accept defeat," he whispered to my face.

Dub dub. Dub dub.

Dub dub. Dub dub.

I thought I was either just running out of air or I could also had just forgotten how to breathe altogether. I thought I was going to faint. Red's face shone brightly amongst the disaster that surrounded me. He gleamed confidently as I grabbed his arm for support. His chest was close enough to my face for me to hear that his heart was racing, too. But none of it showed on his face. He still looked so cool and collected.

"I felt hot a little," he grimaced.