Special Chapter

"I want to bake a cake for Oliver, but I don't know how to!" I am frustrated yelling at myself now. I can't bake a simple cake for him Darn it!

Wait! I'm gonna search for some procedures on the internet! Yeah, that's right. It will be helpful for me.

I found the mocha flavored cake and I try doing it. I add some egg, flour, sugar, salt, and the mocha flavored powder to the bowl and mix them all because that is what is written in this blog. I put them in the oven and waited for a few minutes and when I take them out, it produces a bad smell. Wait a cake wasn't supposed to smell like this. I take a small part and I taste it.

"What the fuck!" I cursed after tasting the cake I baked. Yeah guys I'm cursing.

"This tastes so bad! I can't let Oliver eat this kind of food!" I mutter to myself.

I tried the other flavors because I thought it is only because of my ingredients.

I tried Chocolate... Failed

I tried Vanilla... Failed

I tried strawberry... Failed

Lastly, If I failed this one I will not bake anymore.

I tried black forest after I mix all the ingredients I put them in the oven and waited for a few minutes. When I heard the loud Ting! I open the oven and I take out the cake. I taste it and...

"I give up" I mutter because I failed again. I can't do it by myself I need help from my friend.

I grab my phone and texted Matthew to come over because if I called him he would not answer the freaking phone call because it is literally 4 am in the morning. Matthew is lazy I know, but I need help and it's an emergency so I know he will come even if it's an hour late.

A few hours Later

It's already 6 in the morning and Matthew didn't come over. Is gonna bail me out or something! Is he dumping our friendship!

Just kidding. I am overreacting again.

I felt my phone vibrates in my pocket and I immediately fetched it. I receive a text message from Matthew.

It says.

"Sorry Jess, I can't come over now. I have some important things to do. More important to you so BYE!"

I can't believe this guy! Well if he has "something important to do" then I can't force him to help me. Geez.

Tomorrow is Christmas and I didn't have any gifts for Oliver. I don't know what kind of gift he wants and if he really did want one.

Geez. Now I am seeing my current state and I realized how miserable I was. My kitchen is really dirty now. I clean it anyway because it is the only thing I can do now.

I finished my cleaning and proceed to bed with heavy feelings. I felt useless darn It! I wonder what I can give to him tomorrow.

--The Next Day--

The day starts and it is Christmas. I woke up and prepare myself for an unknown reason but I can feel my heart beating irregularly I don't know why though.

Buzz Buzz

I heard my phone ringing and when I saw who is calling I wonder why he is calling me now?

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"You are free am I right?" Matthew asked me immediately.

"Yeah? Why are you asking me?" I asked him back.

"Come to the central park near the fountain at 8 O'clock and my gift for you is waiting there." He said.

Wait! A gift? Matthew wasn't like this and I know if he would give me a gift then he will just come here and give it personally.

What on earth happens in Matthew's head now?

"What gift?" I asked him. It gives me a curiosity about whatever idea running in his mind.

If the pranks me I will definitely kill him.

"I will not say it because it is my surprise to you and also I want to apologize because I can't hang out with you this time because our family will celebrate Christmas together. I am actually on my way to my family's house so you should enjoy your Christmas without me but I guess you'll enjoy it." He said making me wonder about that surprise or gift.

Aw, my best friend is really kind. He really does prepare me a gift before he leaves. Maybe he told some of their butler or maid to meet me in the park. They have that kind of personnel yah know. Well, we do have that too.

"Aw, Thank you, Matt, you still remember to give me a gift. Don't worry, I will enjoy my Christmas. As for your gift, maybe when you get back here." I told him.

"I'll wait for that and I bet you will definitely enjoy your Christmas," He said before hanging the call.

I am happy that even if I will spend my Christmas alone, I will not be sad because of Matthew's gift. Wait what time is it already.

I look at the wall clock and I saw it was already 7:45 am. Shit! I still have 15 minutes left. I don't want to make that person wait so long.

I take a quick shower and wear a red polo shirt and rip jeans then Jordan shoes. I didn't style my hair because I will just take a gift and I grab my phone, also I didn't forget to bring my wallet for an emergency of course. I locked my apartment and waited for a taxi outside.

After a few minutes, I saw a taxi and make it stop. I am already inside the taxi when I saw the time. It is already 8:8 am, shit I'm late but I think that person wouldn't mind if I will be late for a few minutes.

We are now at the central park and it is already 8:10 am. I literally run my way into the fountain and I saw a guy standing there.

"I'm sorry I am late" I am catching my breath because I run fast and I can't see his face because my eyes are closed and I'm bowing my head.

"It is okay, you are just 10 minutes late" When I heard his voice. My heart is doubled- no- tripled its beating.

I immediately look up at him and I saw the person I really want to see.

"O-Oliver? What are you doing here?" I asked him. Surprised.

I just realize that we have matching clothes and jeans. He wears a red t-shirt and rip jeans like mine. I felt my cheeks heated because of the situation I am in right now. Is this the gift that Matthew was talking about?

"Yeah, your friend told me that he can't be with you this Christmas and he asked me if I can accompany you, I agree because I don't have anything to do now and I think going out this time is a good idea" He explained.

Shit, I can't say a word. I am utterly shocked because I didn't think that Matthew will do this kind of thing. I am not mad at him. I am surprised. Really surprised that I think after this day I can die happily.

"Hey? Jesse?" He called my name and I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Y-yes?" I stuttered. Stupid Jesse! Why are you stuttering?

"I am asking you where you wanna go?" he is asking me like we are on a date. I feel like I am going to explode at anytime.

"What about in an arcade?" I suggested.

"Perfect! I have the same idea in my head" He said that made more feel heat in my cheeks. Did he just say that we have the same ideas?

We go to the nearest arcade here and I saw the arcade has a Christmas decoration and it's cute. We enter the arcade and a guy approached us.

"Misters, we would like you to try our new toy machine here, and here is the manual for that," He said and gives us a flyer.

"Why don't we try it?" Oliver suggested and I agree by nodding my head.

We search for that machine and after a few minutes of searching, we found a machine that exactly the same as the illustration here in the flyer. It is like a vending machine that has hanging toys inside it and some pictures of toys, but the most interesting is that the toys inside are very expensive. How do I know? Because it is not only an ordinary toy that you can buy in a market it is imported to another country that can rarely see here in the country. I have secrets to tell you. I am addicted to toys.

"Let's see, how do we play this?" I heard Oliver Muttering to himself.

I watched how he pushed a button.

"WRONG!" the machine yelled to us.

"This is nice! The machine is talking hahaha" Oliver is like a child enjoying the game.

"It says that we have to follow the rules, first we have to listen to the machine's question and push a button after he says the choices.

We only have 3 tries and the machine will automatically turn off for 20 minutes after the 3 attempts. If we failed then we will not get any toys and if we won then we surely will get a toy. Now I get it!" He said like he was determined to have a toy.

He is so cute being desperate like this.

"Jesse I promise I will get you one." He said that made me blush hard.

Darn it! I can't bear the feelings anymore.

"Just-Just Good luck!" I said.

He presses the white button.

"Everyone has this, every person has the right to receive it, everybody needs to give it and anybody will share it with you," The machine said the riddle and buttons started to light.

"Green; Toys, Yellow; launch, Red; Love, Blue; gift" The machine started to say the choices.

"Hmmm" I heard Oliver

"What's the matter, Oliver?" I asked him. His eyebrows are furrowed and I think that he is taking it seriously.

"Nothing" He smiled at me and then presses the Red button.

Wait Red button is "love" right? I thought he'll gonna press blue because I think it is the right answer. Gifts are shareable right? The machine stops producing lights. Did we lose?

"Congratulation you answered it correctly!" The machine surprised me.

"Yes! We did it" Oliver said smiling at me.

"Actually you are the only one who did it" I replied because he didn't even ask me what I will answer.

"No, you cheered me up earlier, so thank you," He said and once again I feel my cheeks heated.

The picture came out in the machine. In the picture, there is a color blue teddy bear.

"What are we going to do with this picture?" I asked Oliver. Is it our prize?

"We have to bring it to the staff here and then we will receive our reward," He said then we go to the entrance and we saw the guy earlier.

"Sir, this is what we got in the machine" Oliver showed the picture to the guy.

The guy took the picture and went inside the room behind us. Then after a few minutes, he went out with a big teddy bear with him.

It is color blue and it is exactly what we saw in the picture.

"Give it to him" Oliver gestures at the staff to give the toy to me.

The guy nod and handed me the toy. I felt my heartbeat quicken because of so many reasons. Then the guy left us. Is this a gift?

"Thank you, but you should keep it," I said because he is the one who won this toy.

"It's my Christmas present to you, please keep it." He said. His eyes, there is something that I really I wanna know about the way he looked at me.

I am too shy to speak right now so I just nod at him to sign that I agree.

"Should we try another game?" He suggested then I agreed.

We tried so many games like shooting games, 'just dance' and other games. I left my teddy bear on the counter so that it cannot disappear.

When we felt exhausted playing at the arcade we go to the Ice cream parlor. Of course, I have the teddy bear beside me

"What flavor do you want? I'll order for the both of us." He said when we found a seat outside the shop.

"Cheese!" I literally said it like an excited child. Then I realize what I have done when he smiled at me like was about to laugh. I feel embarrassed and I just bow my head.

"You like cheese? Okay, Order took!" He said it with the same energy.

He left me. Shit, when will I stop blushing really?

I am happy because I spend the whole day with the person I like for a long time. I owe Matt a big-time this time.

After not so long time, he came back with 2 ice creams in his hand. One is cheese and one is chocolate. He gave me the cheese-flavored ice cream. He sat across me.

"Are you enjoying your day?" He asked me. I smiled at him.

"Of course! We've done so many activities in the arcade and it is really fun" I answered him honestly.

"Good," He said like he was satisfied with my answer.

"You? Did you enjoy it too?" I asked him. What if I am the only one who's enjoying this? It will be a shame for me.

"Of course, doing this with someone is very fun," He said and he eat his ice cream

I eat mine too and I am just enjoying the view in front of me. His words are repeating in my head and I am so happy that I am the one who's with him now, doing fun things together.

"After this let's go to the amusement park" He suggested and I felt something in my chest exploded.

Darn it, it looks like we are dating. I am so happy. Very happy that I can't even answer him back because I will definitely cry if I let out a single word in my mouth.

"We should enjoy the remaining hours of Christmas." He said and I looked at him smiling widely I don't care if my face looks ugly because I know I am blushing now. My face is very hot.

He smiled at me too and we continue eating our ice cream without anyone speaking. I am just listening to my heartbeats that are beating so hard because of him.

We finish eating our ice cream and we went to the amusement park. We immediately try the rides here like the carousel, bump car, and other rides that are only for kids. I am always carrying the teddy bear with me and I kinda feel embarrassed because other people are looking at us.

We tried the other extreme rides and luckily I don't have any fear of this kind of ride so I enjoyed it but I am already tired so we search for a bench to sit and when we found one, we also saw a lady that selling cotton candies.

"You like that?" Oliver asked me referring to the cotton candy.

I nodded and we went there together.

"2 please," Oliver told the lady and the lady nodded then immediately make cotton candies.

After a minute our cotton candy are ready and she handed it to Oliver and Oliver pay it. He gave me mine and we are about to leave when the lady speaks.

"You looked lovely together, are you lovers?" The lady's question made me choke at my own saliva.

"No, we aren't" I immediately answered. I won't ruin the day because of such a question. I don't want Oliver to feel disgusted about the idea even though I like hearing it

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were" She apologize and I just smile at her awkwardly then we left.

We are sitting now on one of the benches here and I am nervous because Oliver is very quiet. Is he mad about what he heard earlier? I can't ask him now, I am afraid. I just looked down and eat my cotton candy.

"Wow, this candy is very sweet!" he suddenly said that making me look at him surprised.

"Y-yeah" I stuttered. He is not mad. I am relieved now because he is not in the bad mood.

It is already 7 o clock in the evening and we are walking in the area that has many mini-games in here. I saw a shooting game where the prize is toys too.

"Let's go there, Oliver! I want to play it" I pointed to the mini-game.

I walk towards the tent and Oliver followed me.

"Can you hold it?" he took the toy in my hand.

"1 ball please," I asked the guy here and he gave me one ball.

I am so concentrated on the big colored blue bear on the shelf but it is not big as what Oliver had given to me. I throw the ball on the net under that bear I am targeting and it was successful!

"Congrats, here is your prize!" the guy gave the bear to me. I thank him and we left.

"Uhm Oliver this is for you really my exchange gift" I handed him the beer and I take the blue teddy bear in his arms. He takes my gift and stares at it.

"Really? Thank you so much" He said and he looked at me like he was so grateful.

"It is nothing, compare to what I had received from you" I explained because it is true. His was bigger than mine.

He smiled at me and then looked away, when I followed where he is looking I saw the Ferris wheel.

"Let's go there," He said pointing at the Ferris Wheel then we started walking.

I am just following him from behind. We are so quiet while walking and we finally reach the station of that ride. Oliver pays the staff and we proceed to the ride.

While we are inside the Ferris wheel, we are just quiet and Oliver is only looking outside the window. I looked outside too and I saw the different lights of the city.

"Beautiful," I said. This is really amazing.

"Yeah, and by the way Jesse" he finally looked at me. I look back at him.

"Thank you for today, it was a blast," He said gently while looking at me, I blushed and I realize something.

"I should be the one thanking you, if it wasn't for you, I am celebrating alone my Christmas," I told him the truth.

He stares at me and then looked outside of the window again. I looked at him while I'm embracing the teddy bear tightly. The one that I gave to him is sitting beside him.

I do realize something.

'It must be love'