Chapter 5

• The ride home was quiet. Occasionally, I would catch Japen glancing at me through the rearview mirror. Our eyes would meet, and I would always crease my forehead, making him look away.
• I turned to look out the window. We still had a long way to go. The university was in Cebu City, while my dad's mansion was in Naga. Sometimes, I thought about staying at a hotel because the commute was exhausting. But I had chosen to commute, so I stuck with it. For one year, there hadn’t been any problems, except when it rained heavily. During those times, commuting became twice as difficult.
• I saw some children playing by the roadside and smiled. It reminded me of when we were young and innocent. Japen and I used to play ping pong outside the mansion's yard. He would get annoyed, and I would always laugh.
• Japen is the son of our family driver, Mang Selyo. He was my childhood friend and crush. But my crush on him faded when I started high school. There were a lot of handsome faces in my former school, and my feelings for him faded over time. I also heard he had a girlfriend by the time I was in my second year of high school. He beat me to it.
• Even though many of my classmates were in romantic relationships, I didn’t let it affect me. I held my integrity because I didn’t want to disappoint Dad. We had an agreement that I should finish college before getting into a romantic relationship. So I was content having crushes during high school. I had many crushes, but I wasn’t loud about them. My circle of friends didn’t know about my crushes. I always wore the facade of a tough, smart girl who didn’t like to hang out with boys. They probably thought I didn’t have any crushes, but I actually had a long list of charismatic boys’ names back then. I even made a dummy Facebook account just to follow and stalk them all.
• Remembering those days always makes my cheeks burn red. At least no one knew what I did. That was the advantage of being secretive. Well, I wasn’t much of a socialite, so my secrets were safe with me.
• "Do you want to drive-thru?" Japen asked.
• I looked at the rearview mirror again. He wasn’t looking my way, so I freely stared at his face while he was busy driving. I saw how his muscles flexed when he turned the steering wheel. I swallowed hard.
• Japen was the snotty one when we were kids. I didn’t even know why I had a crush on him since I was the type who found snot disgusting. But he wasn’t snotty every day, only when he was sick and crying.
• I remembered when I told him I was going to Cebu City for school. He cried and had a runny nose. I gave him a handkerchief and told him to be clean. I didn’t expect him to look this clean now. Still, I didn’t expect to see him here in Cebu City.
• After I left for the city, we didn’t see each other again. I was busy with my studies in Cebu City, while he was sent to San Fernando by Mang Selyo. The old man told me they couldn’t afford the fees at a private school. Japen had failing grades and relied on a scholarship from a large company in Cebu. The scholarship was revoked after he failed a subject, so Mang Selyo paid the tuition. When Dad found out, he covered Japen’s tuition. He wanted to pay for the next term too, but Mang Selyo didn’t agree. He transferred Japen to a public school in San Fernando. Since then, I hadn’t heard anything about him except that he had a girlfriend when we were both in second-year high school.
• "Azora," he called.
• I blinked and looked at the rearview mirror again. He was staring at me. His eyes narrowed when our gazes met.
• I frowned. "Did you say something?"
• "I asked if you want to drive-thru."
• I looked out the window again. The car was parked by an empty lot, and a fast food restaurant was a few steps ahead. I nodded.
• He didn’t say anything else. He drove the car to the drive-thru and placed the order without asking what I wanted. But it was surprising that he ordered what I always got at fast food places. Hmm, I didn’t expect him to know that.
• "How did you know?" I asked as the car circled the building.
• He glanced at me in the rearview mirror and then back at the road. I squinted my eyes at his action.
• "I asked Tata what you like."
• I nodded. I crossed my arms and looked out the window again. He always called Mang Selyo "Tata," and no one corrected him. After a few years of Mang Selyo driving me, it wasn’t surprising that he knew what I liked to eat. I couldn’t count how many times we ate fast food together, and maybe Japen had observed my diet. Hmm, I always treated Mang Selyo.
• Soon, Japen got our order. He handed me my share, which I took immediately. I was suddenly hungry from smelling the food and didn’t want to play hard to get, especially with other cars behind us.
• "Do you want to buy or visit anything?" Japen asked.
• I frowned at his question. He seemed confident and comfortable talking to me as if he hadn’t done anything wrong. I rolled my eyes. "None," I replied and bit into my burger.
• I noticed him glancing at me from time to time through the rearview mirror. Huh. Buying me food doesn’t mean he’s off the hook for what he did before. "Stop looking, will you?" I scolded him.
• "Okay, okay." And he went quiet.