MACE: Why Does He Even Worry?

I sat straight on the chair, eating my breakfast (or should I say brunch) of rice, hotdog and scrambled eggs, feeling my grandmother’s eyes on me as she sat across, drinking her coffee. The time was a quarter past ten in the morning.

“There was a rather insistent boy who kept looking for you last night Mace,” she said slowly while stirring her spoon. “He called at least three times; consequently, disturbing my sleep.”

I groaned inwardly. Why did Luke have to call so late at night? I mean, I knew he said he would call to make sure I got home safe but I didn’t think he’d go through with it considering I arrived home way past midnight.

“I’m sorry Lola,” I said trying my best to look contrite. I called my grandmother ‘Lola’ as it suits her far better than ‘Grandma’ because she looks younger than 66 years old. “Luke told me he would call to make sure I got home safely but I didn’t expect he would still do this even after midnight.”

“Oh, so Luke is his name?” Lola asked raising an eyebrow. “Where did you meet him?”

I winced at the guarded tone of her voice but I didn’t find this surprising. Ever since my parents separated when I was still in middle school, my grandmother took me and my two younger sisters under her wing. Hence, it’s only natural that she be concerned of some nameless guy who is calling her granddaughter at such a late hour.

“Yes Lola, his name is Luke. Luke James to be exact,” I answered honestly. “He’s part of the youth group at Church and he lives in another subdivision not too far from our house. We’ve actually known each other since last year.”

“I’ve never heard you mention his name,” Lola remarked.

“That’s because we don’t really hang out together,” I hurried to explain. “Considering that he’s a guy, he naturally hangs out with the other guys. I’m a girl of course, so you get the picture.” I paused at a sudden realization. “It was just during elections when we got thrown together. In fact, it was the first time we got to eat together.”

Lola eyed me carefully. “Well then, so long as he’s from Church,” she said. “But it would be good if you could teach this Luke that it’s not good to call repeatedly for someone at a very, very unholy hour.”

I cleared my throat. “Yes Lola,” I answered meekly. “I’ll tell Luke that the next time I talk to him.”

After finishing my meal, I made my way to the living room where I planned to search the directory for Luke’s phone number. As I skimmed through the list of residents that lived near their part of the neighborhood, the phone suddenly rang. Needless to say, I jumped at the shrill sound.

“Hello,” I said breathlessly.

“Hello, good morning,” came the voice that was unmistakably Luke’s. “Mace, is this you?”

“Luke!” I exclaimed, quite taken aback at the fact that he called me at the exact moment I was looking for his phone number. Talk about sheer timing!

“Thank God I finally got a hold of you,” he said the relief in his voice evident. “I’ve been kinda’ worried.” I heard some movements and I figured he was probably sitting down to a comfortable position. “What time did you get home?”

What he said truly baffled me. I mean, from the time we went home last night until now, he seemed really worried and I wondered why. Sure, we may have hung out together but that doesn’t mean we’re close friends or anything like that, right?

“I got home around 5:00 AM,” came my honest answer.

“Woah, that’s like the time for sunrise already,” he whistled. “What took you guys so long?”

“Friends from my zone decided to stick around and help with the rest of the ballot counting,” I replied also getting into a comfortable position on our couch. This was going to be a conversation that would last more than ten minutes so might as well sit down and stretch my legs. “I really didn’t have any other choice since leaving them would mean I’d be going home alone.”

Wait, why do I sound like I’m explaining myself?

“So that’s what happened,” Luke said thoughtfully. I heard him clear his throat. “I actually called you as I promised but the woman who answered said you weren’t home yet.”

I’ve heard,” I replied dryly.

“Huh?”

“I know you called… three times to be exact,” I explained. “The woman who answered the phone was my grandma and I’m sorry but I have to say this, she wasn’t happy with the disturbance of you calling me repeatedly.”

“Oh shoot, I’m so sorry!” Luke said apologetically. “I don’t know what came over me last night but I just really wanted to make sure you got home safely Mace.” His voice took on a more pleading tone. “Will you forgive me?”

There it is again. Those baffling words. Why he worried about me when there is no need to be. More importantly, when he doesn’t have to be.

“Just don’t do that again,” I muttered. “I mean seriously, there is no reason for you to be worried.” Before I knew it, my thoughts suddenly became my words. I closed my eyes and chided myself at my carelessness.

“It’s but natural to worry Mace,” Luke answered in a matter of fact voice. “You’re a girl after all. And it’s dangerous for girls to be outside at dawn.”

“What I’m saying Luke is you don’t need or have to be worried,” I spelled out. “We were never close friends for you to be this concerned. “

He didn’t reply.

This wasn’t what I wanted to happen. I mean, I just wanted to clear things out, not hurt him. I closed my eyes, counted up to three and tried again.

“I’m sorry Luke, that didn’t turn out right." I took a deep breath and plunged on. “Please don’t get me wrong. I do appreciate everything you have done for me last night. Like I said, you saved my life twice and you acted… well, you were really sweet. And I guess this is what got me confused because you were never like that before. Up until we went home, you were a real gentleman and although I think calling me three times late last night was going a bit overboard, it showed that you were concerned about my safety. So, in conclusion, I can’t help but feel flattered; but, all this has got me flustered as well. I mean seriously Luke, what gives?”

I paused, suddenly out of breath at the rush of words that just flew out of my mouth.

He still didn’t reply.

“Um Luke?” I asked uncertainly. “Are you still there?”

I heard him exhale. “Yeah, I’m here,” he answered with a chuckle.

Is he laughing? I thought. Does he actually find my confusion funny and something to joke about? I could feel my cheeks heating up.

“I’m sorry,” I said hastily. “I shouldn’t have said those words. Forget I said anything okay? Erase, delete, send to trash bin!”

Luke made a muffled sound and what started as a chuckle gave way to laughter. Yeah, he was probably holding it in and he couldn’t take it anymore. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t find his reaction rather rude. I felt insulted actually.

“I’m glad to know you find my bewilderment just a tad amusing,” I said sarcastically. “Why did I even bother to ask you at all in the first place?”

The hurt in my voice must have been evident because Luke immediately sobered up. “I’m sorry Mace,” he said in the same apologetic tone earlier. “I wasn’t making fun of your confusion. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to be so frank. You caught me off guard there but you know what?” He paused and his voice suddenly lowered. “I’m wondering the same thing myself. I wonder why I can’t stop thinking of you, why I worry about you and why I just want to hear your voice.”

An unexpected image of Luke lacing his fingers through mine suddenly came to my mind, followed by him holding my waist as he saved me from falling off the chair. I shook my head horrified at these thoughts and slapped my cheeks. I could feel them heating up.

I closed my eyes, suddenly alarmed at what he was saying. “C’mon Luke, stop joking around,” I said a little nervously.

“But I’m not joking,” he answered ever so softly. “I understand it now… I like you Mace.”