"I think I'll go meet him. I can't leave him alone waiting for me," I said, seeing André studying his cup.
I think he's rehearsing the speech about how much he loves me and so on.
Speaking of which, I think I forgot to rehearse the speech about how I don't love him, but I'd love it if we stayed friends.
"Are you crazy? Sit down, Red!" Vitor said, alarmed.
"What is it now?" I asked impatiently.
"You can't arrive early on a date," he answered quickly.
"And may I ask why?" I asked, suspicious.
"Tell her why, Lucas," Vitor asked, tapping in Lucas.
"Because he'll think that you can't wait for the date and have ulterior motives. And that's not what you want him to think," he smiled.
I thought they sounded more like they were making up excuses than being serious, but there was some sense in what Lucas said.
"I don't know..." I said, unsure.
"Think about it, Paulie...if you go early it means 'I'm so crazy about you I couldn't wait till the time we'd agreed on’," Vitor said.
"So is that what André is saying by coming half an hour early?" Andressa wondered.
"He's desperate thinking that maybe you aren't coming and he came early to be sure. I think he knows about our thing..." Vitor said, passing his fingers through his hair.
"We don't have a thing, Vitor," I rolled my eyes.
"Keep lying to them. It's better if they don't know," he answered, pretending to whisper, but I'm sure they all heard.
I just rolled my eyes. Vitor is crazy and everyone knows.
"But he looks so pitiful sitting alone," Andressa said.
"Paula still can't go, guys. Let's be realists. She doesn't want him, so she can't show up early. Maybe she can show up late," Lucas answered.
I huffed in anger, but he was right. It made a lot of sense what they were saying. I don't want him to think I'm in love with him.
I kept talking with the guys while it wasn't time, and I'm glad I had my back to where André was sitting. It helped me in not going to meet him so he wasn't alone.
"I think you better go now, Paulie," Andressa said.
"I'll meet you when it's time to go," I said, getting up.
"You're going already? Wait a little longer so he knows you don't like him," Lucas said.
"Lucas, just because I don't like him, it doesn't mean I'm going to be rude and be late since he's three tables from me," I answered, smiling.
"But, Paula..." Vitor started.
"I'll be fine, guys. If anything you'll hear André calling for help," I answered, smiling and laughing before turning to go to his table. "Your friends left you before the time?" I asked him before sitting down.
"Their excuse was they all had homework to do. I didn't believe them," he joked.
"Homework on a Saturday? I think they need to take some lessons from Vitor on how to come up with convincing excuses," I said, relaxed.
"What are you having?" He asked when the waitress came over.
"Orange juice is fine," I answered, smiling.
"A beer and an orange juice," he ordered. "My friends only came up with an excuse so they weren't too obvious, usually they're pretty straightforward."
"Straightforward?" I asked.
"If they hadn't been afraid of someone from your table listening they would've said something like 'we're going to leave you alone so the date can start already and you can stop annoying us'," he answered, laughing at his own joke.
I smiled, but more to be polite than anything else. Did he say the word date?
"Looking forward to the holidays?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Not really. We can't travel this year because my mom couldn't put in for vacation," I shrugged. "You? Senior year must be awesome!"
"Awesome and sad. Just thinking that you won't see half these people anymore is pretty disheartening," he answered, also shrugging.
"But your friends will still be your friends," I answered, smiling.
"Yeah, but some of them will still be in school."
"But that doesn't mean you won't see them anymore, just that you'll have time to miss them."
What a poet I am!
"Some I don't want to miss," he answered, smiling.
"And may I ask whom, for example?" I asked, laughing.
Missing someone is annoying, but also good...
"You," he answered, smiling and holding my hand that was on top of the table.
I took my hand back delicately, nodding towards the counter.
"I'm going to get the drinks," I answered already on my feet to run from there.
Does he really think we're on a date? And what was that?
Unfortunately going to the counter and back didn't take more than five minutes.
"What?" I asked when I came back and he looked irritated.
"Nothing!" He answered, smiling.
I don't get it! Did he notice I didn't want to hold hands with him? Was I that obvious?
After at least half an hour talking with André he still hadn't said anything about roses, secret admirers, or anything to let me know he's the admirer.
"What are you looking at?" I asked, noticing he kept frowning at something behind me.
"Nothing. So...tell me more about your family," he asked me nicely.
After some time I had to look behind me to know what he kept looking at. I honestly didn't see anything that could be bothering André, except for the fact that all our friends were looking at us. Andressa, of course, looked away when I caught them, but the boys have no shame and kept looking.
"They're just sticking their noses where it doesn't belong," I said, referring to my friends.
"Friends...always wanting to know about everything," André said, looking a little nervous.
"You’re really not looking good," I said, seeing a worry line on his forehead.
Poor thing! So young and already with creases on his face. I think I'll recommend Andressa's cream to him. Maybe it helps?
"Everything is okay, Paula," and again he put his hand on mine.
When is he going to bring up the roses? I'm getting impatient.
Fine...you can call me stupid! I found out I'm stupider than I thought possible. After more than an hour talking with André I found out what was bothering him so much: my friends.
I know, it was obvious, but I only got it when I went to retouch my lipstick.
Another stupid thing. I only remembered you shouldn't retouch your lipstick in front of a man after I'd done it.
Whatever...I was looking at myself in the mirror when I saw Vitor giving André a very rude and aggressive gesture. You know when you hit your fist on you palm like you're punching something? A threat to poor André. Can I kill Vitor now?
The only reason I didn't kill Vitor was that I saw Lucas doing similar things next to him, and to round up the gang, Fernando wasn't far behind, looking menacing. I think I'm going to kill them one by one with tweezers so it hurts more.
I had no choice. I got up and went to talk with my annoying friends.
"May I ask why you look like you ate something that disagreed with you?" I asked them, giving them my best mean face.
I have to say that my mean face never intimidated Vitor, but I keep trying.
"We're just discussing who's prettier, and they're mad because they lost. After all...it's impossible to win from me!" Vitor answered, smiling confidently.
How can someone come up with an excuse so fast?
"Now the truth. What are you up to?" I asked.
"Up to? We? It's like you don't know us at all, Paulie," Vitor said, trying to look hurt, but he doesn't fool me anymore.
"You threatened André or something?" I asked, unsure.
I don't doubt it.
"How can you think something like that of us?" Vitor asked, appalled.
Honestly, I wasn't looking at Vitor when I asked the question, I was watching Fernando and Lucas. The first hung his head, and the other
frowned even harder.
Vitor, the liar! His friends condemned him.
"What did you say to him?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
"I swear I didn't say anything," Vitor answered again.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked the other two.
"Someone had to defend you!" Fernando finally said. To my surprised, Lucas only looked away.
I thought it best not to fight anymore, it wasn't worth it anyway. I was outraged when I went back to the table I was sitting on with André.
"Aren't you going to tell me what they said to you?" I asked.
"Leave it alone, Paula. Why don't we go for a walk?" He asked me, ignoring the boys.
Damn them all! This way I'll never find out who's sending the roses.
We sat in the town square talking for some time, and all I wanted was to go back to bed. It was definitely too cold to walk around.
"I've been thinking a lot about you lately, Paula," I heard André saying.
Now was the right time to come up with an excuse and run away, but unfortunately I looked to the side and guess what I saw? A red rose.
It was getting repetitive, but what are you going to do!
There was no other explanation for the rose if André hadn't put it there.
I think I know who's been sending the roses. The problem is how to tell him I don't like him that way.
Okay! I just have to think a little. I've done it so many times with Lucas – give him the brush off, I mean. It's simple, you just turn and say firmly: 'I'm sorry André, but I don't like you like that'. Why am I afraid to say that?
I didn't like the roses...but that can't be it! And I don't like André, of that I'm completely certain, he's simply not my type, but he's my friend, and I don't want him to be upset.
I don't know what André was thinking or not thinking, but the moment I looked him in the eyes to tell him the truth, with the rose in my hand, he simply leaned in quickly and glued his lips to mine.
André had just kissed me and I froze, not wanting to kiss him back, because he could take it the wrong way. Okay...just push him away delicately.
After finally separating myself from André and searching for the right words to tell him the truth, even while thinking that there were no right words, I saw that my friends were leaving the bar and were all looking at me with their mouths open. It seems like they all saw the awkward scene, but where's Lucas?
How can so much stuff happen in seconds? And all because of a damned red rose! I definitely hate roses!
Chapter 5: Lucas
"I'm sorry, André, but things between us would never work out," I said, terrified.
I don't know where that came from, all I know was that one minute I was looking at my stunned friends, and the other my mouth was running away from me.
"Don't say that, Paula. We can make it work. I know we won't see each other next year, but we can work it out," he said, thoughtful.
"It's not just that, André. I like you a lot, but not enough to be with you like that," I answered, upset.
I hate to say these things, even if they are true. Why do people always like people that don't like them? Not counting from Andressa and Fernando, of course.
"I'm sorry," I apologized before running after my friends, who were going back to school.
It didn't take me long to reach them, but what I found weird was that Lucas was nowhere around.
"Where's Lucas?" I asked when I joined them.
"He had a headache and decided to go back earlier," Vitor answered, shrugging.
"What was that with André?" Andressa asked, curious.
"I have no idea, he was talking and I wasn't paying much attention. Another rose appeared," I said, showing the rose in my hand.
"So the admirer is André?" Fernando asked, thoughtful.
"That’s the only explanation I’ve been able to come up with until now. All I know is I was about to ask him about the rose when he kissed me."
"Are you going to tell me you didn't like it?" Andressa asked.
"It wasn’t the best kiss of my life," I shrugged.
"And may I ask why?" Andressa asked, even more curious.
"Because André is obviously a very bad kisser," Vitor answered for me.
"It's not like that, to tell the truth I didn't even have the time to find out if he's a bad kisser or not, it was weird, that's all," I answered, shrugging again.
"Weird good or weird bad?" Vitor asked confused.
"Just weird, Vi. I don't like him like that, but I was confused to find out he's the one who's been sending me the roses."
"Confused how, Paula?" Fernando asked.
"I can't explain, Fê. I don't like him, but taking away the fact the roses were inconvenient, they're a nice gesture."
"A nice gesture...doesn't that mean passion or something like that?" Vitor said, thoughtful.
"Of course not. I always said this wasn't a date," I answered.
"But you forgot to tell him that small detail," Andressa teased, laughing.
"I thought that it was clear," I confessed.
I really thought André had no ulterior motives. I thought that he needed my help with something, or even that he was into Andressa, but never me. We've had conversations, and he never did or said anything that gave it away.
"And what are you going to do about that?" Fernando asked me when we finally made it back to school.
"Me? Nothing! I told him I didn't want anything but friendship with him," I answered.
"So will the roses stop showing up?" Andressa asked, still unsure.
"I think so. There's no reason for him to send more flowers," I answered.
"I still don't think it was André," Fernando said, thoughtful.
"If it wasn't him, who else would it be?" I asked.
"Let's hope it was him, and he stops it," Fernando answered, shrugging.
"I wouldn't count on it," Vitor said, thoughtful. " Maybe it isn't him. Or maybe he didn't understand, you did walk away with the flower in your hand."
"André is not so slow," I said, not thinking much of it.
He's not slow, right? I'm starting to think the slow one in this story is me, who didn't understand his intentions, but let's be honest...who would've thought he'd want anything with me? We have nothing in common!
When we got to the school I went to find Lucas to see if he was better, but who said I could find my crazy friend?
"Does anyone know where Lucas is?" I asked
"He isn't in our room?" Fernando asked.
"No. I've looked," I answered, thoughtful.
"Maybe he went to the nurse's office to ask for medicine," Andressa suggested.
"I'll look there," I said, already leaving and running to the nurse's office.
Why does something tells me he isn't there? Even so, I ran there. Is Lucas okay?
When I got to the office, Lucas wasn't there, but I still asked if someone had seen him, but no one knew anything.
People only care about what's none of their business. If it's gossip then everyone knows, but important stuff like where Lucas is no one knows, or will tell me.
My God! Did Lucas tell people not to tell me where he is? What if he's angry that I told him off at the bar?
No...Lucas is definitely not like that. He wouldn't be angry because of something like that, right? Fine, maybe he's just upset... Oh, my God! Could he be upset with me? He hurt me a lot saying whatever it was he said to André, though I'm sure it wasn't anything good, he shouldn't have butted in on my supposed date like that, but I didn't mean to treat him bad.
Fine, I can't believe I actually treated him bad. All I did was say what I felt and how it made me feel. I didn't like it and that's it! But maybe he didn't understand my angry moment and why I was angry? Oh! Having male friends is so complicated!
"Red? Are you in Paula's world again?" Vitor asked.
"Where did you come from?" I asked.
I could've sworn Vitor wasn't standing here a
few seconds ago.
"You were distracted talking to yourself when I walked over," he answered, shrugging. "Whatever, I’m not here to talk about your craziness. I'm here to tell you we found Lucas."
"And where is he?" I asked, alarmed.
"Calm down, woman! He's in the field, practicing."
"Practicing in this cold? Is he crazy?" I asked, running towards the soccer field.
Who heard of standing on an open field in this kind of weather? Plus the fact that it's started to get dark.
Obviously I ran to the field with Vitor following me.
"Don't you think it's best to leave him alone?" He asked me while I killed myself trying to open the heavy gate that lead to the field.
"And why would I leave him alone? Is he having some kind of problem and came here to think?" I asked suspicious.
"Of course not! We're talking about Lucas. If he had a problem, one of us would know," Vitor said, uncaring.
"You don't know of any problems?" I asked, even more suspicious.
Who wouldn't distrust Vitor? He wouldn't have followed me here just because.
"Of course not, because there is no problem. Let's go back to school and let Lucas get a cold. Maybe he's just trying to skip school tomorrow."
"We have partner work tomorrow. I'm not letting Lucas fail."
"Who are you trying to fool? Why are you so worried about Lucas?" Vitor asked, scaring me.
I definitely didn't see that question coming.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I answered, distracted.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Paulie. You ran off with Lucas in the middle of our walk, and know you're running all over school after him. And not because he might have a headache."
"I don't know, Vitor. Something tells me that Lucas isn't okay. He'd never leave early and leave everyone behind just because of a headache," I answered seriously.
"Great! He has a problem. But if he didn't tell us is because he doesn't want us to know," Vitor answered.
"You're not worried?" I asked, confused. "Don't tell me you're not worried," I said annoyed.
"Lucas will be fine," Vitor answered.
Hated Secret Admirer Page 8
