Chapter Forty-Four

"Oh? Too bad she already got a boyfriend."

My head took a sharp turn at the person who talked behind me.

No way!

"Mind if I take a seat next?" she asked even though she already walked towards me and sat on the vacant spot on the bench.

All the while, I only looked at her with a gaping mouth. Of course, she noticed my non-response.

"Hey! Stop staring." She began to say as she snapped her fingers twice near my face. "It's me. You're not dreaming or seeing an illusion."

"Prove it." I challenged her.

Immediately, I knew I made a mistake when she smiled her signature devilish smile. She raised her hand towards me, grabbed my ear, and gave it a good pinch. Her evil side struck once more as she dragged my ear down to the bench.

"AAAHHH! Stop! Okay! I believe you. This isn't a dream or illusion." I begged through the pain until she finally let go.

Her devilish smile morphed into a much happier smile as she looked at me. I was rubbing my ear hoping to lessen the pain. But despite that, I couldn't find the will to get mad. I am still overwhelmed with the surprise that she was really here.

"Why are you here?" is the first question I asked. But since it didn't feel enough, I followed it up with... "How did you find me?"

She looked at me with a slightly confused expression and said...

"You told me."

"Wait. What??? Did I tell you? When?"

"You replied to my text."

I looked surprised. I never received a text from her since... since that day we had a full-blown fight.

"Oh, right! I was using Ryan's phone."

Oh! That was her! However...

"Okay. But you did not answer my first question. Why are you here?"

Although her smile was still in place, its playfulness suddenly disappeared.

"To see you," she said in a tone as if she was uncertain.

"And why do you want to see me?"

She looked up ahead and watched the waters of the Manila Bay and said "To apologize..."Then, it hit me. Uncertainty wasn't the right description for her tone. Justine Claire Solistre was shy! This is the first time I saw her this shy and she looks cute when she's shy. This has got to be a dream.

"You? Apologizing? Are you sure this isn't a dream?" I said with a joking tone.

However, her playful smile appeared again, and with her hand raised, she said, "Do you want me to prove it to you again?"

Instinctively, I covered my ears and said...

"No!!! Keep your hand off the ears!"

Claire gave a hearty laugh as she brought down her hand. Seeing her like that brought a smile to my face. After her fits of laughter subside, we both become quiet. The atmosphere lost its happy ambiance as time ticks away. But before it shifts to awkwardness, Claire turned to me and spoke.

"I'm sorry."

She said her apology more clearly making me see how badly she wanted to apologize for what happened. I can't help but smile at her.

"I'm sorry too," I responded letting her know in my tone that I already forgave her.

She smiled back and said a soft "Thank you".

"So... are we friends again?" Claire asked.

I smiled at her and then I jokingly replied...

"Friends? Are we downgrading? I thought we were best friends.

Claire laughed as she realized that we were indeed best friends.

"Right! Come to think of it, we were many things actually. We started off as strangers and then became enemies real quick."

"Ah, yes. Then, we became enemies pretending to be friends."

"Then, real friends."

"Now, best friends"

I look at Claire. I had a lot of thoughts running in my head. But despite that, my heart already knew what I wanted to say to her. After what happened last time, I decided not to be a coward anymore. I should say it now. If she still rejected me, then I can move on without regrets.

"Honestly, I don't want us to go back to being best friends," I said.

Claire looked at me with wide eyes and said...

"You want us to remain enemies, even though we just apologized to each other minutes ago???"

I let out a sigh of amused exasperation.

"No. Of course, not! I mean we were already best friends. Shouldn't we upgrade? Like being more than best friends?"

She looked at me with a thoughtful expression and then said...

"Something more than best friends? Like brother and sister?"

I stopped the urge to slap my palm on my face. Did she just brother-zone me??? Wait... oh my! Justine Claire Solistre isn't dense. She's definitely toying with me again! But before I could confirm my suspicions, she beat me to it starting with a burst of laughter.

"I was just joking." She said as she lightly punched my shoulder.

No matter how many jokes she pulled today, I couldn't get mad at her. That is because she just looks so happy. And knowing that the source of her happiness is because we made up and once again in each other's company made my heart flutter. She can throw an insult at me right now and I won't get annoyed. My heart will probably even skip a beat in response.

"I had been thinking this past year..." she began right after recovering from her laughter.

I lent her my ear as I anticipated what she had to say.

"I wanted a friend," Claire said with a sense of longing. "It's been so long since I had a friend."

What she said felt very sad, especially knowing about her previous best friend.

"I can't get a friend from the girl side because I end up dating them..." she paused for a bit and then added, "... and then breaking their hearts. Exes are not good friends, by the way."

Although I didn't comment, that still earned a giggle from me.

"And I can't get a friend from the boy's side because they always want to date me."

Yeah... right. I can't blame them though... not even myself for that matter.

"I thought Patrick could be my friend." She paused probably remembering the days of their friendship.

"But it turned out that it was just his ploy to get me to date him."

It was a long time ago but I can imagine what she felt when she thought she finally had a friend only to be betrayed.

"Then I met you..." Claire said while looking at me with a grateful smile. I find myself returning that beautiful smile.

"I thought you could be that friend I longed for. I was so happy that night at the Halloween Ball. I felt I wasn't alone anymore. I finally have someone I can hang out with... that will not take a romantic turn."

She bit her lip before continuing what she was supposed to say.

"But turns out, you developed feelings for me. That's why I got so mad. I felt like you tricked me."

I suddenly felt guilty. I wanted to apologize again but she continued speaking.

"But as I said, I had been thinking. I realize you never intended it. You even want to kill your feelings for me just so it won't cloud anything we had. That day, all I can think about is being angry with you and feeling betrayed. I didn't try to be rational."

She was silent for a bit then she sighed.

"But... when I was apart from you, I-"

She cut off her own words. She bit her lip again and then she continued.

"When I was apart from you, I kept missing you every day. And I feel worse whenever I think about how our last conversation went."

I saw her tapping her foot as she said it. Is she nervous?

"Ughh!!! This is so hard!" Claire suddenly said in frustration.

"Wait... what is so hard?"

"Well... it's been years since I last dated a guy."

WHAT??????

"Wa-wa- wait! I'm not asking you to date me." I said as I waved my hands in objection. "I just only want to be honest with my feelings for you. I was only teasing you earlier. I'm not really asking for anything."

"But! I don't want to lose you." Claire said as if she was inches away from pleading with me.

"You're not going to lose me. I will always be your friend. You don't have to date me just because I like you."

"But I want to..."

Did she just say that?

"Wait... what? You want to?"

"Yeah," she said with a tone that seemed to be a mixture of nervousness and shyness. It was far from her usual confident and unbothered disposition.

"Seriously? Don't you like girls?"

"I can be fluid with my gender too, you know?" she retorted, allowing her usual disposition to creep in a bit.

I was surprised... too surprised to even come up with something to say.

"Look, Cyrus. You are a great guy so... I kind of like you. And I want to give this a chance... like give "us" a chance."

I could not believe what I was hearing. Am I being confessed to? Despite my earlier shock, I already knew what I felt. And I was more than elated to hear that I even stood a chance.

Thus, I said...

"Then, let's give 'us' a chance."

End of "Bad Blood to Bad Romance"