Starstruck

by Yuriko Hime

  “I thought I was going to lose you.” She was trembling. “Good thing you didn’t fall far from the edge. Just a couple of feet or so. Don’t scare me like that again Dulce. I thought I was going to have a heart attack and die.” She laughed humorlessly, trying to calm herself. I could see that she was still nervous. Her chest went up and down quickly. “Okay baby, let’s try moving your arms first. Tell me if it hurts alright?”

  She tested my left arm by raising it gently. When I shook my head, she did the same with the right. Then my legs. Satisfied that everything was working as it should, and I didn’t break anything, she carefully carried me in her arms. “You’re lighter than the first time I carried you,” she mumbled to herself. “In case you have forgotten, it was that time when that diva princess Denise spiked your drink. I wanted to kick her ass then.”

  Glace continued to walk us in the cemetery. My weight didn’t bother her. I touched the edge of her hair and twirled it around my fingers. “Peter Pan,” I murmured. She halted when I spoke.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’re my Peter Pan.”

  She was beginning to look worried. “I’m not Pan. I’m Glace remember? Your girlfriend?”

  “You’re Peter,” I insisted.

  She inhaled sharply. “You might have hit your head harder than I thought. Hold tight. I’m going to take you to the hospital.” She ran back to the car. Or at least as fast as she could while carrying me. Once we reached the vehicle, she placed me down on the passenger seat, strapping me securely.

  “You might have suffered a concussion," she said as she started the engine. "But everything is going to be fine.” Her statement contradicted the quiver in her voice. The tires squealed loudly as the car started moving.

  I placed a hand on her leg. “I’m okay. Let’s go home.”

  She frowned as she stared back at the road. “No. We’re definitely going to the hospital.”

  “Turn the car around.” It was not a request. “Don’t argue with me and just do what I said. I’m totally fine. Dizzy and sore but still fine. I’ll explain everything once we reach your house.” I clamped my mouth shut and stared ahead, ignoring her as she opened and closed her lips, not sure what to do. I got what I wanted in the end.

  “I don’t get what’s going on,” she complained. We made it safely to her house. Glace was gracious enough to carry me all the way to her bedroom, straight to her bed where I could rest. “Please tell me you’re alright.”

  “We need to talk.” It wasn't the best line to say but I got nothing else.

  She tensed. “About what?”

  “About us. About everything. Our past.” I winced as I crawled to the head of the bed. Fudge. Everything would be sore tomorrow. But for now, she and I needed to talk. Forget the pain for a moment. My back found the pillow. Much better. Not sure how to start, I resorted to an apology. “Glace I'm so sorry.” I covered my face in shame.

  She looped her arms around me. “What’s wrong? What are you apologizing for? As long as you’re safe and alive, there’s nothing to feel bad for.”

  I sought the warm of her embrace and stayed there. If only I have known. If only I haven’t forgotten. I would have enjoyed her more and told her that I loved her over and over when I saw her that day. It was all my fault. She was lonely because of me. “I’m sorry I forgot you.”

  She froze against me. “Please explain clearly because I’m freaking out right now.” Her breath quickened.

  “I remember everything Peter. The day we met, our first kiss, and why I gave you that ring. I get it now. I’m your Wendy. I always was.”

  I couldn’t paint the expression in her eyes. She was like a kid who found out that Santa Clause wasn’t true. Then one day, by some miracle, Santa came to her house and proved his existence. Glace was that kid. The one whose dreams were crushed by me. And here I was now, bringing it back to her. Could she ever forgive me for forgetting?

  She was speechless. “Baby,” I said. “I didn’t purposefully forget about you. That day in the cemetery when we were kids, I had an accident as soon as you left. I broke my legs and was so traumatized that I only remembered pain. I didn’t realize that it was the reason why I was so scared of heights.” My heart was full of guilt. “But don’t worry because your Wendy is back, and I won’t ever forget you again.”

  Her lips trembled. The motion was so vague that I nearly didn’t catch it. As our gaze met, her eyes pooled with small crystal beads of tears. Tears that she has been keeping for the longest time, trying so desperately to hide that it hurt her to see that I’ve forgotten. And then everything poured down.

  She cried like a small child. Like the kid that she used to be when I met her at the cemetery. She looked so lost, so scared, her body raking with the sorrow that consumed her. I bit my lips in both sadness and joy. There were no secrets between us now. Glace snuggled on my chest and gripped the sweater I was wearing, very much like she did as a child. Nevertheless, she did so with the grace that she didn’t have before. I soothed her by stroking her hair. Part of me wanted to beat myself up for doing that to her.

  “I’m here now. I will never let anything or anyone hurt you again. Not your dad, and most definitely not me,” I said in a gentle whisper. “I’m so sorry it took so long to remember. You must have been really sad.”

  “I was.” She sobbed. “I tried to keep the promise. Even though it was so hard to do and I wanted to tell you everything, I kept my mouth shut because you told me to.” Now I understood why she kept me in the dark. I was the one who requested it from her long ago. She was simply fulfilling my wish. Oh Glace. What should I do with you?

  I let her cry. She deserved to get it out of her system. When she finally stopped, I helped wipe her tears using the hem of my sweater. “Are you okay now?” She sniffed and nodded yes. “Tell me everything,” I pleaded.

  “Where should I start?”

  I shrugged and hugged a pillow to me. “Anywhere you want.”

  She thought deeply. Her eyes were puffy as she glanced at me. “As you might have known, I became an actress a couple of days after that meeting in the cemetery. I did my best Dulce, to be deserving of you.” The side of her mouth perked up in recollection. “Pretty soon I had my own fan base which was pretty cool. When I hit the age of 13, things really picked up. People were writing me letters, and a lot of celebrities wanted to befriend me. But it wasn’t who I was. I preferred to stay inside and keep to myself. Besides, I was obsessed with meeting you again.”

  “It was a fast-paced kind of lifestyle. There were a lot of temptations. I didn’t give in for one second.” She was serious. “How could I when in my mind I was already married to you? Besides.” She smirked. “You’re way hotter than those girls. Have you taken a good look of yourself in the mirror Dulce? God.” She shook her head in amusement. I for one was glad that she wasn’t crying anymore.

  “You’re such a cheeseball,” I murmured, touching her face.

  “I am,” she admitted. “But only to you.” She kicked her sneakers off so she could be more comfortable in bed. I did the same. “When I turned 17 last year, I realized that it was time to start looking for you. I called Eris out of the bat and told her I was going to take a vacation from acting. Imagine my surprise when I bumped into you at the café. At first I didn’t recognize you, but when I took a good look at your eyes, everything fell into place. It was like we were meant to see each other again that day.”

  I rolled on top of her and smirked. “Is that the reason why you wore my shirt to your photo shoot?”

  “Yes.” She smiled. “I was advertising myself to you. But just to be sure, I did a little bit of digging. I searched for your info, which was fairly easy to do since you gave me your surname anyway. By some stroke of luck, your mom was my makeup artist too. Isn’t that cool?”

  “Totally cool.” I poked the tip of her nose.

  “Then I enrolled in your school so I could be close to you,” she said sheepishly.

  “Stalker,”
I teased. She pouted. “Don’t worry. You’re the type of stalker I would totally marry,” I said before biting her lips.

  Her eyes widened after I released her soft pink lips with my teeth. “Dulce.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t do that. You’re turning me on.”

  “Then I should do it some more.” I bit her lips again, placing it gently between my teeth. She hummed in appreciation underneath me. Releasing it, I caught her coffee colored eyes, holding it in a deep gaze. “I’m ready Peter Pan.”

  Her trimmed eyebrows almost touched. “For what?”

  “To fly.”

  Biting my own lips, I moved to a sitting position and straddled her. I gave her a look that said how much I wanted her and pulled my sweater over my head, letting it fall on the floor. At that very second, nothing was aching anymore. Not my back or my legs. The only things that I noticed were the booming sound of my heart and the quickening breath that I took. Underneath me, Glace’s mouth fell open. God, she looked sexy. The 7 year old her was nothing compared to the Goddess that beheld me now. I was confident that she would continue to be beautiful as we grow older together.

  “Baby,” I said huskily. “I’m going to do a lot of things today that you’ll never forget about. Ever.” She swallowed in response, her eyes darting quickly to my chest, which was still covered with the cotton underwear. To remedy that, my hands found the clasp of my bra. I untangled it in one swift move and let it dangle playfully in front of her before tossing it somewhere in the room. “Don’t think about your dad or anyone in this second. We’ll deal with that later. For now, I’m offering myself to you.”

  “Don’t worry,” she replied huskily, matching my voice. “You got my attention.” She pulled me down to her and whispered, “I’ll make sure you won’t forget this Dulce.”

  I won’t tell you what happened after that. Not in detail anyway. But I’d like to say what I loved about it so you’d have an idea. I loved the way she touched me with her soft hands all over. Gliding. Sliding. Worshiping. I loved the way she smelled of coffee and cream, and the way her lips reminded me of the cotton candy we ate at the amusement park.

  I loved how my own hands fit the contour of her waist and how some part of me easily fit some part of her. I adored how she whispered my name like a prayer and how she trembled ever so slightly underneath me, her eyes squeezing tightly as she finally found what she was looking for.

  My heart nearly ruptured in delight as our sweaty bodies cuddled in bed as we said, or rather showed each other our yearning and passion. And finally, I loved her. The her that was 7 years old, to the person I was with at the moment, all the way to the woman that she would be down the road. I loved her. Just her. As for me? Let’s just say that I learned to fly that day. She taught me how. Just like she promised.

  Chapter 28. The Search

  Dulce

  “We’ve been here for 30 minutes. Are you sure she’s coming?”

  “Of course she is,” I said to Tim who was looking very restless on his seat. "Patience Timmy. She’s nervous about this. I had a hard enough time convincing her to go back to her old house because she’ll see Rick again.”

  Tim pursed his lips. “Fine. I want to see this Rick person and kick his bum for making my number one idol Frio sad. What rhymes with Rick anyway?” His brows almost touched. “Oh I know! Sick, lick, and di-” Patty kicked him under the table. “What was that for?!” He leaned down to massage the part where Patty’s sneakers made contact.

  She was indifferent. “Language please. I’ve told you time and again Timmy, this is a cupcake house. Children eat here.” I stifled a smile and watched as they bickered with each other. Patty was right though. We were back at the cupcake shop where we used to hang out. But we weren’t talking about Frio the celebrity like we did before. We were waiting for Glace, my girlfriend. My Peter Pan. The mere thought of being hers and vice versa gave me the jitters.

  My attention went back to Tim and Patty. They were speaking in harsh but low tones. “You have a very dirty mouth that I’d like to scrub with soap,” Patty snapped. She was usually quiet. Now she’s going toe to toe with Tim. Being around Eris was making her more outspoken. I shouldn’t worry. Having confidence was good for her.

  “I’ll show you dirty.” Tim smirked. “Let’s put Rick, sick, kick, and the other term in a sentence shall we?” Ignoring Patty’s piercing glare he said, “I’d like to kick Rick’s sick d. What? You thought I’d finish the sentence? Who has a dirty mind now?”

  I intervened before Patty exploded. “Drop it guys. We’re not here to fight. The three of us went here to meet up with Glace so we can support and help find her real father. What would she say if she heard you arguing?” I stared at Patty pointedly. “And do you think she’d be amused if she heard you talking about Rick like that?” I cut my eyes at Tim.

  The two didn’t speak and pointed behind me. Staring over my shoulders, I saw Glace standing there with a gleam in her eyes. She smirked when our gaze made contact. “Oh please continue,” she said to the two. “I’m very fascinated.”

  “Sorry,” Patty and Tim mumbled.

  “Nah I’m not mad,” she quickly dismissed with a wave of her hand. Glace turned to me and leaned in for a kiss.

  I was about to oblige when someone spoke loudly. “Hey isn’t that Frio the celebrity?!” Oh snap! Glace realized what she was doing. She quickly wore the large sunglasses she always carried with her.

  We made our escape before the gathering crowd pinned us inside the cupcake shop. My heart pounded in both excitement and nervousness. Good thing there were few people there. I didn’t want to be crushed by a mob. It was the downside of having a celebrity for a girlfriend. But since I was the one who suggested it anyway when we were young, I had to suck it up.

  “That was close,” Glace said with obvious relief in her voice as she shut the door of the car.

  “Too close,” I said. “Seatbelt baby.” Glace buckled hers while our two companions did the same behind us on the passenger seat. I adjusted the rearview mirror and started the engine.

  When we were in the safety of the road, Tim couldn’t help but ask. “How do you even survive those kinds of attacks?” Good point. I was curious about that too.

  Patty giggled, her laughter echoing inside the car. “You make it sound like a zombie apocalypse,” she said.

  Glace shifted in her seat to face them. “Sometimes it does feel like a zombie apocalypse,” she explained. “People try to grab me, touch me, and even kiss me.” I took a sharp intake of breath, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Don’t worry Dulce. I’m rather good at evading them,” she said, then turned back to the two. “To prevent such scenarios, I usually wear my disguise.” Glace pointed to the blue cap and sunglasses which were now perched on top of the dashboard. “But when things get messy like today, I just run to the nearest exit.” She glanced at me. “It’s totally your fault that they recognized me back there.”

  I made a left turn signal. “Me? What did I do?” After ensuring that no other car was around, I carefully maneuvered the car towards the direction I wanted to go.

  “You mesmerized me,” she said. “That’s why I made the mistake of removing the sunglasses.”

  “And how is that my fault?” I barely listened to her reply as I concentrated on the road. I kept thinking what would happen if Rick saw us standing outside his house. It would not be a pleasant scenario. We had to protect Glace from him.

  “You didn’t listen to my explanation Dulce.”

  “Huh? What? Sorry.”

  Glace sighed and pecked my cheek. “I forgive you,” she whispered straight to my ears. My skin flushed with warmth. Looking at the rearview mirror, I detected a hint of red on my face. Great. Now I looked like a boiled lobster.

  “Stop it Glace,” I said. “You’re making me blush. Plus my best friends are hearing everything. It’s embarrassing.” My eyes darted to Tim and Patty. They were staring back at us like we were the most interesting s
how on TV.

  “Don’t mind us lovebirds.” Tim grinned. “I’m so happy that only Patty here.” He elbowed her. “Is the only virgin among us.”

  Patty rolled her eyes. “I’m not.”

  Glace, Tim, and I stared at her in disbelief. I turned my attention back to the road before we hit someone. Staying in prison wasn’t my idea of a good time. “You are so going to tell me everything girl,” Tim said excitedly. “And I mean everything.”

  Their conversation got drowned out when Glace leaned near me again. “It looks like Eris made her move too. Or maybe it was the other way around.”

  “I think Patty was the one who initiated it.” The corners of my mouth pulled up. “We’re really best friends, aren’t we?”

  “Yes you are Dulce. So . . .” she trailed. “When is the next one?” I caught the naughty undertone in her voice.

  “When we get married.” From the corner of my eye, I saw her jaw fall down. “Eager much?” I chuckled. “If you want it, put a ring on it. You are going to marry me right?”

  “If not, then what’s the point Dulce? I can marry you right now if you want.”

  “No way!”

  “Why not?” She sounded hurt.

  I reached for her hand which she gave without question. “It’s not that I don’t want to. It would be my honor to marry you for real.” I smiled quickly to appease her. “But we need to graduate first. I also want to have my own career.”

  She squeezed my hand. “I’m a millionaire. Why do you even have to work?”

  “It’s not about money. All those years that we’ve been apart, you did everything to establish a name for yourself.” She started to argue but I gave her a look. “I want you to be proud of me too. When people talk about me, I don’t want to be known as Frio’s no name girlfriend. I want them to say, oh no wonder she fell in love with that woman. I want to be that kind of Wendy who not only married Peter Pan in the end but has proven to everyone that she deserved to be with Peter because of her own amazing qualities.”