Chapter Twenty-Three

Four stores later...

The evil snake finally decided to take a break. We were able to return to that bench where we met earlier. We were both sitting on the bench. I was slouching and trying to relax. She, on one hand, is reviewing the notes I took.

I hope she's satisfied with what I wrote there. I am tired now, both physically and emotionally. I interviewed three out of six businesses. The last two entrepreneurs that I interviewed were so intimidating. They are like going out of their way to show me that they are great in business and I don't know a thing about what I'm doing. Well, I don't know anything about business. But, they didn't have to rub it in my face.

Out of nowhere, I felt my stomach grumble. I looked at the time on my new phone. It was already 10 minutes before 1 pm! I only ate a piece of bread this morning since I was rushing my way here.

What now? Are we still going to do more interviews? I want to eat now. Should I ask her to join me for lunch? Oh damn! Why did I even think of that? I don't want to be with her when I eat.

But wouldn't it be so rude of me if I told her that I was going to have lunch and not invite her? Or... I could try to ask her for an hour's break. I'll say that I need to do something. But before I could decide on what to say to her, a group of teenagers came to us.

"Excuse us, Ate and Kuya. Can we ask you for a small favor?" a teenage girl asked us.

"Please! We really need your help." another girl pleaded.

"Why? What favor are you talking about?" the evil snake beside me said as she closed the notebook and placed it down on the bench.

"We are students from Asian Computer College in Laguna. We are here for our field trip. And we were given a task to do." a teenage boy answered. He even showed his ID that was hanging on his neck by the lace.

"We have a Photo Scavenger Hunt Contest. They gave us a list that we had to complete by taking pictures of the items listed. If we were able to get all the photos, we'd get a perfect score and additional points in all our school subjects. So it says here that we need "a couple dating at the park". So, may we take your picture? Please!!!"

The students begged us with their raised clasped hands and pleading puppy dog eyes.

It's official. I HATE MY LIFE NOW. The assumptions of these people had already beaten me into a pulp. Why did all the people that we met today think that we are a couple? We aren't smiling at each other. We are not even talking to each other. All we did was just sit and walk by each other at a VERY appropriate DISTANCE!!!

"I'm sorry. But you are mistaken. We can't help you because we are not a couple." She explained to the kids in a tone that seemed apologetic.

"Oh? Sad. But we don't have much time left. We need to be at the parking lot by 1 pm. We won't be able to find another couple in time. Can you please just pretend to be a couple? Please!!!" one of them explained.

"Please, Ate and Kuya! Just for the cameras only. We really need it. We won't post them online."

"Please! You look good together anyway. Please!!!"

The students were almost on their knees begging with their boss-level puppy dog eyes. As much as I didn't want to, I felt my resolve wavering. How can you even say no to that? I looked at the evil conflicted snake beside me.

Hay...

"Well, what do you think? it's just one pose. It will be a pity if they weren't able to complete their school task."

She looked at me with that expression of hers. Her expression is a mixture of aggravation and defeat. Then she said...

"Fine."

"Yehey!" the teenagers cheered while clapping their hands.

"Okay! So if you could just scoot a bit closer to each other..." one of the girls who was holding the camera requested.

We scooted closer to each other until there was no more space between us. Then, suddenly, I felt my heart race in nervousness. What's going on?

"Uhm... Ate, Kuya, you don't look like a couple. Something is missing."

They mistook us for a couple earlier and now they're saying that we don't look like a couple!

Then, Claire did the unexpected.

She lifted my right arm and placed it on the backrest of the bench. Then, she positioned my hand making me hold her upper right arm. Then, she draws closer to me. She placed her head on my shoulder and pressed her forehead on my neck.

The student shrieked in delight when she did that. Never had I ever gotten this close with a girl who I didn't date. It feels so awkward in a way that I can't explain.

And she didn't end there. She even guided my head closer to hers and covered my eyes.

"Close your eyes." she even said. I subconsciously followed her instructions.

"So... is this convincing enough for you?" she asked the teenagers.

"Yes, Ate! We might even get the Best Photo Award with this!"

I heard a couple of shutter sounds. My heart didn't calm down. I felt like I was losing oxygen even though there were no hurdles on my breathing. It felt as if it took for hours when I heard them say...

"And we're finished."

Swiftly, I opened my eyes and removed myself from her. I even scooted away from her. And she did the same but in a much calmer way.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much, Ate and Kuya! We're sorry for disturbing you. Bye!"

Then, they left us so fast. Without another minute to pass, we were left alone on the bench. None of us talked, which was so awkward. I don't know how will I begin to tell her about my leaving to have lunch.

But suddenly, she stood up.

"Stand up. Let's get going," she said.

Oh no.

"Ha? Weren't those enough? Can't we do the other interviews next time?" I said in a complaining manner.

She raised an eyebrow at me before answering.

"The interviews are finished. I just need first-hand testimonials to support the points of my research paper. And based on the data we had gathered, these are sufficient."

"So we're through? If that's the case, where are we going then?"

She gave me that look as if she was mentally saying, 'Are you stupid?'.

"Ah... lunch? It's already 1 pm, right? Aren't you hungry yet?"

Oh...

"I-I am."

"Then, let's go!"

She turned her back on me and began walking. I'm glad she did that or else she would have seen my dumbfounded face. I seriously thought we would go through another torturous set of interviews. But the truth is she was indirectly inviting me to have lunch. To think I was planning how to escape from her earlier to have lunch.

She's not bad. Not bad at all.

We walked together towards wherever she wanted to eat. Of course, we weren't walking side by side. She was a few steps ahead of me. While walking, I pulled out my new phone to send a text to Ryan. I told him that I was eating out and I'd be back in a few hours.

I was waiting for the message to confirm that it was sent when someone bumped into me. He also held my hand. Before I could even react, he took the phone from my hand and ran away fast. That's when I realized what happened.

"Hey!!! A thief!!! He took my phone!" I screamed.

The thief had just run past the evil snake when she heard me scream. She saw the running thief. In an instant, she grabbed some stones by the sidewalk. Then, she runs after the thief. I bolted towards them.

When she was close enough to the thief, she threw a stone as big as a fist at the thief. It hit his shoulders. Though he was hurt, he kept running. But his pace was slower than before. This gave the evil snake another opportunity.

She threw another stone at him. This time, it hit him on the head. He stumbled to the ground by the intersection. But before she can even reach him, a motorcycle appears with two riders aboard. They were wearing fully concealed helmets. The one at the back took my phone from the thief. Then they bolted the motorcycle away until they were out of sight.

And just like that, I lost my brand new phone worth 20,000 pesos that I just bought yesterday.