Chapter 11: Yes I do the sulking!

Luke's POV:

I still remember the first day that I met him... It was almost a year ago... I came to this school for the Open Fair. My friends Mike and Jessie invited me to come. I had nothing to do that day and I really wanted to ditch my class. As time passed by, I got bored and decided to go home... I was walking towards the parking lot when I heard someone singing. I looked over to where the voice was coming from and there I saw this guy sitting with his friends. He's playing his guitar and singing the same song that he's singing on the stage right now. And like the song says... I was mesmerized.

His smile made my heart fluttered and my face got warm. He gazed towards my direction but I turned around... I was scared that he might think I'm a freak staring at him.

After that moment, I can't forget his face even his voice... He kept running in my head that it drove me nuts.

I decided to transfer to their school because of him. I wanted to see him. I want him.

-----

"Hi Luke, finally, we meet." This girl I knew by the name of Claire came out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"I'm the one who's been texting you for the past weeks." She said as she raised her cellphone.

I pulled out my phone and called the number... In my dismay, her phone rang.

I looked over to Kris who just finished his song. His eyes were sad then he suddenly stormed out of the stage... I wanted to go after him to ask him questions... Why does this girl have his number? Why did he do this? Why is this happening?

-----

Kristofer's POV:

I was not looking back, I just want to get away as far as I could until I made my way out of school.

I was wandering with my head down and my guitar on my shoulder. I don't wanna go home yet so I decided to go to the park. I sat on the same bench where I sang to Luke. I heard my phone rang, so I pulled it out of my pocket... it's Jen.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for you for hours." She said. Her voice sounded a bit angry.

Oh yeah! I supposed to meet her at the maid café, I totally forgot about her.

"Sorry, Jen, I got tired and went home."

I heard her let out a small sigh and then she said, "Luke was looking for you, he looked furious! Did something happen?"

"N-No... Nothing happened."

Then I remembered how it started.

(Flashback)

"Hey, little sister! You were great out there" Claire's brother greeted her as she walked closer to us.

"Glad you made it, brother," she said then she noticed me, "Do you know each other?"

"No, I just helped your brother find his way to get here, " I said still can't believe that they're siblings. 

"Let me buy you a drink..." Her brother offered her

"Thanks..." She uttered then he went ahead towards a stall that sells juices.

I'm feeling a bit awkward with both of us just standing there. I haven't talked to her since what happened at the bar.

"Uhm. I got to go as well. See you!" I excused myself but she stopped me.

"Wait... Can we talk?"

I just swallowed a lump on my neck and we moved back a little, away from people, to talk.

"I don't want to give up yet on Luke... I still want my date with him..." She said those words with arms across her chest, her left eyebrow was slightly raised, and her tone was aggressive.

"Uhm... I think it would be better if I just return your payment." I said thinking that it will be harder for me since I know I got feelings for Luke.

"Do you have the money now?"

"Well... I need to wait for my salary from the café and I might need another month or two to come up with the amount." I explained hoping she would understand.

"Oh... Too bad... I want it now... As in... Now!" She demanded.

"What?"

"If you can't pay it back now then our deal is still valid."

"But..."

"Hey! You listen to me... Do you want me to tell everyone that Mr.SweetTalker is nothing but a fraud... That he takes money from his client doing nothing? And... do you want me to tell the school director that it's you who tried to sneak in the faculty room?" She's being savage.

"I did that to get Luke's information for you," I tried to defend myself.

"Well, I still didn't get what I wanted. You can say goodbye to your good record once the school board finds out about it." She's being unreasonable now.

I can't let that happen. My brother will definitely be devastated. He's supporting my studies... I can't let him down.

"Okay! I got it... Meet me backstage of the open mic performance...you will get what you want."

(End of flashback)

"Are you sure? Because with Luke's reaction, I know something is going on, " Jenna said, and I know she will keep on bugging me about it so I decided to tell her what happened.

"Fine... Claire got what she asked for."

"What?" She uttered.

"I'm finally done with our deal."

"You still continued with your plan?" She sounded very disappointed.

"Yes, I had them meet each other and I gave her the sim that I used to message Luke..." I explained. Knowing Luke, he would probably call that number and in fact, he did.

"But why? I thought you and Luke are getting along pretty well."

"Well, Claire is still my client and we had a deal. I did what I was paid to do... I got no choice."

"But Kristofer..."

"Sorry Jen, I got to go..."

I was hurt deep down inside. I felt my heart being crushed. I wanted to cry but held it in. I guess... It's for the better. That's how things supposed to be. A cool hot guy ending up with the campus crush just like in the love series that I watched. There was never a chance for us. I browse on my contacts and stopped at Luke's number. I thought I may not need his number anymore so I deleted it.

I pulled my guitar out of its case and played random chords. I wanted to sing out my emotions but I can't think of any song.  I just let out a sigh and put the guitar back in its case.

I laid my back on the backrest and closed my eyes to clear my head but then...

"So... Can I help you with your problem?" I recognized the voice...

I opened my eyes and saw him with his face close to mine. I got startled and I hit my head on his forehead.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as I instinctively rubbed the pain in my head.

"Aw! Tsk... You surely have a hard skull!" Claire's brother said as he rubbed his forehead as well.

"Sorry! Don't scare me like that!," I said then I realized he's really in pain. "Are you okay?" I asked. I got worried that he might have bled.

"I'm fine" he removed his hand on his forehead and I saw a big swollen bump.

"Oh shit!"

I assisted him to sit on the bench and asked him to wait for me till I get back. I bought some ice from the nearest convenience store and I used my hanky as an ice pack.

"I'm really sorry, if you didn't scare me like that, this won't happen," I told him as I put the ice pack on his forehead. I saw him winced so I let him hold it himself.

"Well, I never thought you would react like that." He said as he continues to flinch with the pain.

I'm really embarrassed about what happened to him. I must've hit him very hard but I'm fine. Is my skull really that hard?

"Wait... Why are you here? Uhm..." I tried to address him but I still didn't know his name.

"Chad... You can call me Chad..." He said. That's a nice name.

"I saw you dashed your way out of the school and followed you here. You seemed to be in deep thought that's why I didn't bother to call you out," he added.

"Oh, I see... My name is Kris..." Then I remembered Claire. "Is it okay with your sister to just leave her like that?"

"Well, I saw her talking to a guy before I came after you, so I guess she's fine."

Hmmm. So they did get along well then. It was a success, I guess.

"Uhm. So what's bothering you?" he asked as he moved to face me.

"You don't need to know," I answered. I opened a beer in a can that I bought along with the ice and offered him one as well.

"You drink?" He asked.

"Hell yeah!" I answered after I took a gulped on my beer.

"Well, a can of beer won't help you forget."

"Huh?"

"Let's go to a bar and get drunk!"

-----

We went to a bar and seems like he's a patron here. He knows everyone from the security, the barista, and even the waitresses. We sat at one of the tables near the counter and ordered a bucket of ice-cold beer.

"You seem to be quite famous around here, everyone knows you," I said as I looked around. The place was not bad.

"My friends and I used to hang out here from time to time since college, " he explained. He opened a beer and offered it to me.

"Oh okay, that explains it."

I gazed on his forehead and I can't stop myself from giggling.

"What?" He blurted out then took a gulp on his beer.

"I'm sorry... about that, " I pointed at his forehead. "..they got nothing but those," I added.

I bought adhesive bandages to cover his bump and place it like an 'x' mark.  The worse thing was that they didn't have the regular skin-toned bandage so I had no choice but to buy the red colored ones. He looked like someone's target and will get hit by an arrow anytime.

"I don't mind having this in my forehead as long as you can tell me what's bugging you?" He asked leaning closer to me.

I can't tell him it involves her sister Claire. "Nah... I can't tell you that... besides, we just met this morning."

"Well... Why don't we use the time we have now to better know each other."

He just stared at me and I felt a bit awkward.

"Uhm. I just want to enjoy the night and all of this beer," I said then took a sip on my beer.

He laid back on his chair and didn't bother me again about it. I can sense his eyes pinned on me. I just kept on drinking, not looking his way, until an indie band walked onto the stage and introduce themselves. I'm not familiar with the band's name but they're good. They played some of my favorite songs and I applauded them every after the performance.

"You want to be in a band?" Chad asked suddenly.

"It's not that I don't want to be in a band, it's great! You can go to places for a gig and share your music... But... I play just to express myself and not to impress."

"I get what you mean, in fact, I did feel you with your performance today."

"You were there?"

"Yes, And I got to listen to your voice, you were great."

Then I remembered everything again and I got silent for a moment. Then I heard the band playing a familiar song... They're singing the same song I sang for Luke at the park.

Hindi ko man maamin

(I can't even confess)

Ikaw ay mahalaga sa akin

(You are so precious to me)

With just those two lines, I felt my eyes got stingy. I looked down and rubbed my eyes. Chad must've noticed it.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I need to go to the comfort room... Excuse me..." I stood up and rushed my way to the comfort room.

I washed my face to calm myself down. I pulled out some paper towels from the dispenser and wiped my face dry. I looked at the mirror and started to ask myself why. Why do I have to feel this? Why it has to be him? Why?

My phone rang and an unknown number was calling me. I'm not in the mood for some prank caller so I ignored it.

I shook my head to get rid of Luke's image. I came here with a new friend. Why not just enjoy myself? Yeah... Luke and Claire might be enjoying each other's company somewhere else so why can't I? I just have to enjoy the night.

I went back to our table and apologized to Chad. I opened another bottle of beer and drunk it till it's halfway done. An hour and so had passed and we were on our fourth bucket. I drunk more than half of the total bottles of beer. I'm more than tipsy but I kept going. Chad had stopped me from time to time but I told him to just let me get a kick out of the night. I remembered picking on him with his hilarious bump and we just laughed out loud about it. During the whole time, I felt my phone rang over and over again. The same anonymous number had been calling me but I kept on ignoring it.

"That must have been important to keep on calling you every now and then." He asked.

"Well... I got... everyone's number saved on my phone... everyone that knows me... everyone that truly loves me... It's a prank caller... I'm sure..." I tried my best to not mixed up the words as I felt the alcohol kicking in.

"I think you had enough, Kris," he said. He sounded normal. Was he drinking or not?

"No... No... You (hiccup)... haven't got enough... You're cheating... Here (hiccup)... Drink this..."

I opened it and gave him another beer.

"Cheers!!!" I took another gulp and heard a message alert from my phone.

-->It's me, Luke. Pick up the phone.

"Eeeeeh!" I exclaimed then the phone rang again. I answered it.

"Why are you not picking up your phone?" The guy said on the other line.

"Hey... Mr.Prank caller... I know someone named Luke (hiccup)... and he's not a weirdo like you."

"Where are you? Are you drunk" The guy said and I finally recognized his voice?

"Oooh... You sound like Luke (hiccup)"

"It's me... Where are you? Let's talk." His voice sounded worried.

"I'm having... fun out here... Just go out... with your girlfriend (hiccup)... and leave me alone."

"What?" He uttered.

"Go have fun with her... Bye!" Without further adieu, I dropped the call and put my phone back in my pocket

"Who was that?" Chad asked me. I just shrugged and proposed another toast.

I got dizzy all of a sudden after I drank my beer and felt the urge to pee.

"I'll... just go to... the comfort room... Stay here... We're not yet done," I said. He just nodded then I stood up and slowly walked my way to the comfort room wobbling.

While walking I lose my balance a bit and bumped into a big guy.

"Watch where you're going, pal!" He said with a thick voice scowling at me.

"You're the one... who's on my way, jerk!" It's the alcohol who's talking.

"You want to get hurt, huh?" He said as he clenched his fist.

"Bring it on! Musclehead!" the alcohol really got control of myself.

Then I felt a rushing force hit me on my cheekbone. I got hit so hard that it knocked me down on the floor. I remember staring at the ceiling before I lose consciousness.

-----

I felt a jolt of pain in my head as I opened my eyes a bit... It must be the hang-over from the load of beer I consumed. I closed my eyes again and rolled to my side and noticed the soft pillow my head is lying on and the warmth of the comforter covering my body. Wait... I'm on a bed?

I opened my eyes and I got up. I'm not in my room and I can't recognize this place at all. I looked down and I realized that I don't have a shirt on. I looked under the comforter and I don't have pants either but I still got my underwear on. I'm safe... I guess.

I got out of the bed and wrapped a sheet around my waste. I tried to look for my clothes but I can't find it. Then I heard the shower turned on. Shit! Someone is taking a shower. I gently walked over to the bathroom and noticed the door was slightly open. I pushed the door lightly to check. My face went red as I saw a guy butt-naked. The guy turned off the shower and took the towel off the grab bar. I quickly moved away from the bathroom and ran back into the bedroom. I lift the sheets up to find my clothes but they're not there, I pace from side to side hoping to find my clothes but found nothing. I'm screwed. I was panicking with the thought that someone must have taken advantage of me, my pure self (sniff... sniff...).

"Oh, you're finally awake."

I recognized the voice, it was Chad. I turned around and saw him with a towel wrapped around his waist. His body is in great shape, his pecs, his abs, his arms, and even got that V cut abs on the lower side of his abdomen. I swallowed a lump in my throat and was not able to say anything at all. I got conscious suddenly and covered my chest with my arms.

He just laughed and walked over to his closet.

"Relax, Kris. I didn't do anything. I slept on the couch." He said as he picked out clothes from his closet.

I looked over the couch and saw a pillow and a blanket still unfixed. He's telling the truth. I was relieved.

"Where are my clothes?"

"I had them washed at a laundromat downstairs." He said as he picked out his underwear.

"Why?"

"You were so wasted last night..." He said then dropped the towel down on the floor. I quickly looked the other way and wait till he got his undies and pants on. What's wrong with this guy?

I peeked on him and saw him smirk as he put a shirt on. He grabbed some of his clothes and lent it to me.

"You can wear that for the meantime". He offered a white shirt and a pair of loose pants.

"Thanks"

I wanted to get dressed already but he's just standing there watching me...

"Could you turn around?"

"Oh come on, Kris. I already saw everything..." He said.

"What a pervert!" I was a bit annoyed when I heard it.

"Sorry... I can't help it. You got puke all over your clothes so I had to strip you down."

"Oh... Really?"

I was really wasted.

"We'll talk about it later... I'll just prepare some breakfast..." He walked out of the door, "..go get changed, and head out to the kitchen," he added then closed the door after him.

-----

Chad told me everything that happened, from things that I can remember to those I can't recall. He told me how I picked a fight with a bigger guy and got knocked out with just one blow. That explains the small bruise I have on my cheek. He wanted to bring me home but I totally passed out. He tried to check on my phone to call anyone but my battery died. So he had no choice but to bring me here to his unit. He laughed throughout as he shared the story and I was really embarrassed by how I behaved last night. I just met this guy yesterday and the way we talked to each other seemed like we knew each other for a while. He is an easy person to be with. Well, there were times for the last twenty-four hours that I got this weird vibe coming off from him, same as Luke's but overall he is a nice guy with a sexy body.

"Uhm... You mentioned someone named Luke last night, who is he?" He asked.

"He's a... friend," I answered then I took a sip on my coffee.

"Oh... Okay..." He didn't ask further about Luke and that's a good thing for me since I don't have to explain everything.

Then I got a message from Jen.

-->Where are you? You're already late!

Wait... what? I looked out the window and saw the sun was already up and shining. I looked at the clock and it was already 9:39 AM. I browsed on my inbox, and I got several messages from my brother. Oh shit!

"I'm screwed!"

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