by Frejas,Tara
THREE
Window of Opportunity
It was bound to happen somehow was the first thought that came to me when I stepped out of a ladies’ room cubicle and found Nica standing there. She was reapplying her lipstick in front of the mirror when I caught her eye. My first instinct was to bolt, but I went ahead and took a spot next to her to wash my hands, hoping she wouldn’t bother talking to me.
“How does it feel to be a winner, Garnet?”
But of course she would bother.
I raised my eyes at her reflection on the mirror and noted the stark contrast in our appearance. She wore a blue-green cowl-neck blouse over a pair of black skinny jeans, her high-heeled shoes giving her a bit of a height advantage over me. Her long hair fell in elegant curls by the sides of her face and over her shoulders, and her freshly tinted lips...
Goddamnit, brain. Why did you conjure up aggravating memories of Charlie kissing those lips?
“Great, I guess,” I managed to say, suddenly feeling underdressed in my emerald-green varsity shirt and denims.
“You guess?” she asked, one eyebrow jerking up. “I suppose it doesn’t feel as good when you steal something instead of earning it.”
My heart dropped to my stomach so quickly, I felt nauseated.
“I hope you’re happy.” Nica’s words cut through my attempt to counter her accusation, but she was already out the door before I could say something.
I clenched my fists hard and willed the guilt out of my system. Between Nica and me, she was the one who should feel more remorse, right? I took a few deep breaths and counted backward from ten, splashed cool water on my face, and wiped it dry with a paper towel.
I need some air.
* * *
I was a rookie Lady Hunter the last time we had a party as big as this. This year’s was grand but still relatively smaller than the victory parties held for our male counterparts, the Emerald Hunters. Unfortunately, they failed to make the finals this year, so I guess part of the budget for their party went to ours.
I mean, we didn’t even have a DJ before, which would have been pretty cool if loud music were my thing. It’d never been, and neither was grinding against random people on the dance floor, so I snuck out of the sports bar with a glass of iced tea and sat myself at an al fresco table. I wasn’t even halfway through my drink when I heard his voice.
“Ah. It’s so easy to find you at these parties.”
I raised my head and saw Charles walking toward me, running a hand through his hair. He looked like he was starring in his own music video, the way his stride matched the rhythm of the music from inside the bar.
That is, until he carelessly plopped onto the seat across from me.
“What are you doing here?”
A pronounced crease formed on his forehead. “Uh, picking you up?” he replied, like the answer was obvious all along. “Oh, and...” He pulled out a small pink envelope from the back pocket of his jeans and handed it to me. It had “To Ate Garnet” written in purple glitter on the outside. “Nat made you an invitation for her tenth birthday.”
I opened the envelope and quickly read through Natalie’s short note with a grin on my face. She was having a Disney-themed party and told me I should come dressed as a princess like everyone else. I immediately thought of acquiring Colby’s help for this; she used to be big on cosplay.
“Wait. Didn’t you drive your parents to Tagaytay?” I asked, slipping the invitation into my pocket. I was pretty sure it was more than a little past midnight. How many hours had this boy been on the road?
“Drove back,” he replied matter-of-factly. “They didn’t need me there.”
“And I do?”
Charles clicked his tongue and sighed in exasperation. “I drove all the way back here to pick you up, and you can’t even offer your friend a drink?” He lifted an arm to motion to my glass of iced tea he’d been eyeing for a while now.
I slid the glass over to his side of the table. His disposition quickly changed, a boyish smile appearing on his face as he took a sip from the straw. “Indirect kiss!” he teased, shaking the glass in the air.
“Oh my g—that’s so juvenile!” I laughed anyway. We both did. He took another sip, then slid the glass back toward me. “Nice try, Charlie.”
“Just kidding. Want me to get you another drink?”
“Nah. Let’s go home,” I said. “I’m tired.”
Just like that, we left the area, with Charles walking a few steps ahead of me. I was busy keying in a message to my teammates saying I’d gone home when a phone call from an unknown number suddenly came through.
“Hello?”
“Hello, I’m sorry for calling so late—is this Ms. Garnet Figueroa?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Hi, this is Oliver from CollegePH. I’m calling to inform you that we’re planning a feature on college athletes and you’re part of our shortlist. I was wondering if you’ll be available for a shoot next week?”
I stopped in my tracks. This has got to be a prank, I thought, craning my neck to see if someone nearby was watching me take the call. I never got photographed for magazines unless team photos were required. The only Lady Hunter who got contacted for photo shoots was Kim Caliuag, who was as elegant in a dress as she was deadly in a jersey. In fact, she became so in demand that she got herself agented just last year.
“Are you sure you have the right person?”
Charles stopped walking and turned to look at me curiously. He started toward me as I listened to Oliver on the other line tell me that yes, he definitely had the right person and that they’re planning to shoot a magazine spread with me and Chris Barcelo.
You have got to be kidding me.
“Will you let me know when you’re available next week so I can set a schedule with you and Chris?”
“Uh... yeah. Sure.”
“Great! Thank you, Ms. Figueroa. Please get in touch with me as soon as you can.”
I saw concern all over Charles’ face when I ended the call. “Is everything okay?” he asked, and I could only stare at him for a good long minute.
“CollegePH wants to do a photo shoot with me.”
His eyes lit up. “Oh my god, Garns! That’s awesome!” he exclaimed, lifting both hands to cup my face. I saw the hesitation in his eyes before he pulled me in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you,” he said in a quieter tone, squeezing me tight before letting go. “CollegePH makes these really fun features—remember when they did the vintage issue for the cheer squads?”
How could I forget? Charles and Nica looked so lovey-dovey in the photos, it made Justine, Colby, and me cringe.
“Yeah.”
Charles jerked his head to the side, a gesture that meant we should start walking again. I fell in stride with him quicker this time. “Did they say what theme you’ll be following?” he asked, playfully throwing his keys up in the air. “I’m excited to see what they’ll come up with this time.”
“No. The guy just told me I’m getting paired with Chris Barcelo.”
The mild jingling of keys ended with a clunk on the pavement.
“Oh.”
FOUR
Ready, Aim, Shoot
Shoot day, one week later.
As Kevin Chan, our photographer for the day, showed Chris Barcelo and me several photo pegs for the shoot, I started to panic. The poses looked so... intimate. Like a set of basketball-themed pre-nuptial photos.
My anxiety might have been palpable because Avenida’s star player gently pulled me to the side and gave me a quick pep talk. He said something about being comfortable with him and trusting him. Maybe something about listening to the photographer’s instructions too. I wasn’t so sure. The damn studio lights behind Chris made him glow like an otherworldly being, and it became difficult to focus on two things at a time.
A beat later, Chris’ fingers were wrapped firmly around my wrist as he tugged me toward the studio floor.
“Relax,” Kevin said. “This
is a piece of cake.”
No shit, I cursed in my head. This might be a walk in the park for Chris, who has been doing this since he was a rookie—but me? Have they seen my action shots from news articles?
Kevin started us off with something relatively easy. “Play ball,” he said as his assistant tossed Chris a basketball. In the small space provided, Chris and I pretended to play against each other. I dribbled the ball and Chris tried to steal it, and vice versa. I took an imaginary shot and Chris tried to block it, and then we switched roles. Because it was something I was used to doing, it came to me naturally.
But when we began with the couple-y poses, I grew stiff. One of these required Chris to “hug” me from behind, attempting to steal the ball in my hands. It should look like we were playfully fighting over the ball, but I must’ve looked so awkward that Kevin couldn’t find a nice shot in all thirty or so clicks I’d heard. I worried he was getting exasperated even if he was still being so nice about it.
“Pretend I’m telling you a joke,” Chris said, his voice in my ear sending good shivers down my spine. We were still posing for the camera.
“What joke?”
“Any joke. What do you find funny?”
Thoughts of Charles filled my head. One way or another, the two of us were able to find humor in anything and everything if we wanted to. Like his tight cheer outfits I teased him about or those unfortunate game photos of myself on Internet articles looking like I’d dozed off, snoring, while taking a midair jumper. Sometimes we laughed over the most trivial things, leaving Justine and Colby scratching their heads and wondering if we were still sane.
I let out a soft laugh.
“Yes, Ms. Figueroa? Mind sharing it with the class?” The amusement in Chris’ voice was unmistakable.
“I just remembered the silly things my friend and I laugh about all the time.”
“That’s great!” Kevin called out. Both Chris and I turned our heads toward him. “No, no. Carry on.” His hands motioned for us to keep going. “You’re looking more natural, you’re getting it!”
From that point on, everything felt easier. We talked and joked around as we shifted to more poses. I realized then that Chris was as goofy as he was charming. I couldn’t stop laughing with him until after we were done.
“Hey, how about that—we make a great team!” Chris mused aloud as we checked the photos on Kevin’s laptop. The photographer agreed and made a comment about how some of the shots were cover-photo material.
I smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Chris held his hand up near my face, and I stared at it dumbly for a few seconds before raising my own hand for a weak high five. He laughed and egged me on. “Oh, come on, Figueroa, you can do better than that!” His hand was still raised, though I could tell he was steeling it for a harder slap.
I obliged. He shook his hand in the air loosely afterward, but he continued laughing. “Knew you had it in you. Ouch.”
Kevin thanked us for our time and shook our hands before letting us go. On the way back to the holding rooms, Chris asked if I wanted to have lunch with him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, why not? You’re my magazine girlfriend now, and your magazine boyfriend wants a date.”
Good lord. Are those butterflies in my stomach?
FIVE
One-on-One
Charles wouldn’t stop feeling sorry about not being able to drive me to the magazine shoot as he promised, owing to what he curtly described as “a family thing.” Just so he’d feel better, I let him talk me into an impromptu barbecue date at their house the next day. So here we were, lounging by the pool in beachwear as if tomorrow weren’t a school day.
“So... how was your shoot?”
I had my phone camera aimed to snap a photo of his squinty, pouty expression while turning the kebabs over the grill. Okay, maybe I took a shot of his nice, friendly abs too. For posterity.
“A little awkward at first, but it turned out great, I guess. I had fun.”
“Yeah? I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy—did they say when it’ll come out?”
“Middle of next month, I think.” I snapped a few more photos but saved the social media sharing for later and put my phone away. I wasn’t sure what sort of lame excuse he told his parents for them to allow him to stay in Manila when they were all spending their weekend in Tagaytay.
“How was it working with your crush?”
“Who, Chris?”
He held a can of beer in his free hand, from which he took a swig before asking, “Anyone else I should know about?”
It was difficult to hold back a smile, hearing him say that. “Are you being jealous right now?”
“Whaaat. No!” The fact that Charles looked away and chugged some more beer confirmed my insinuation, and I couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh. So this was how it felt like, having someone you like get jealous of someone else. I probably shouldn’t feel kilig, but I did.
“You are being very cute right now,” I told him. “Seloso.”
He opened his mouth to protest. I stuck my tongue out at him. And like the kids we were, we started running around the pool area until he caught up with me and pulled me into the water with him.
We fell into the shallow end of the pool, and I splashed his face with water as soon as I surfaced. Laughing, Charles inched closer and held on to my wrists firmly so I’d stop with the water assault. “Fine,” he said, breathless. “Fine. Maybe I am jealous.”
“Aww, Charlie...”
He loosened his grip on my wrists and gave them a tug, then placed my hands on his shoulders. “I know. I’m not entitled to feel that way.”
“It’s not that, silly. You have nothing to be jealous about.” My voice was as calm as I needed it to be, but my heart was being a rebel, thumping hard against my rib cage. The water felt cool against my skin, but heat slowly crept up from my waist to my neck when he rested his strong hands on my hips. The way Charles looked at me didn’t help, either.
He pressed his forehead against mine and whispered, “I really, really want to kiss you right now.”
“Charlie, we talked about this.” My hands on his shoulders began to create a safe distance between us. His hands let go of my hips. “Not yet.”
“I know.” He held me by the arms this time and left a kiss on each of my wrists before letting go. “Would you get up there and put the fire out before the kebabs burn?” he asked, nodding his head toward the grill.
“I thought you said you were going to spoil me today?” I shot back.
He cleared his throat and looked away, as if embarrassed of what he was about to say next. “I, uh... need a time out.”
I furrowed my brow, then stared at him in disbelief when I realized what he was trying to say. “Oh my g—Charlie!”
“It’s not like I can help it, okay?”
Certain my cheeks were turning bright red, I slid away from him and drowned his embarrassed laughter and apologies by putting my hands against my ears and lalala-ing all the way out of the pool.
God, this boy is going to be the death of me.
* * *
We were a lot calmer fifteen minutes later, sitting side by side by the edge of the pool with a plate of freshly grilled kebabs and cans of ice-cold beer between us. Soft music played from Charles’ phone, and my feet swished in the water to the steady beat. I heard a crack and a fizz, and I turned my head in time to get mesmerized by Charles’ Adam’s apple moving up and down as he took a huge gulp of beer.
I distracted myself by picking up a stick of kebab and staring at it. “Feeling better?” I asked, throwing him a sideways glance. I noticed he was moving his feet in the water too.
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“I’m sorry about overreacting too. Things like that happen—I mean, we learned it in Biology. And Sex Ed.”
“Yeah.” When I heard a soft laugh escape him after that, I wondered if he’d recalled that day in Sex Ed when our professor had d
emonstrated the proper use of a condom on a huge banana. We caught each other’s gazes and burst out laughing. We laughed until there were tears in our eyes, and Charles had to lie on his back because his stomach began to hurt.
The laughter dissipated soon enough, and I could hear music once again.
“Nica’s been texting me like crazy this whole time,” Charles started, breaking the silence. “I don’t know why I felt like telling you that, but there it is anyway.”
The mention of Nica’s name took me back to our short encounter at the victory party. I took a bite out of the kebab and tried to sound casual. “What’s she saying?”
“That she’s sorry and she wants to fix things...”
“What did you tell her?”
“That I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough to break up with her a long time ago. That I knew what she’d been doing all along, but I was waiting for her to choose me in the end.”
I looked back at him. “Wait, you knew?”
His smile was bitter and fleeting. “Not without your help, I wouldn’t. Justine and Colby were really vigilant too.”
“So all those times you just shrugged off what we were saying—”
Charles pulled himself back up and looked at me as he spoke, his eyes as sincere as I’d always known them. “I loved her, Garns... I tried my best to make it work. But when your friends are kind enough to draw a map pointing to the wreck you’re crashing into, you’d be a fool not to see the signs.”
I let out a sigh. To endure all that silently was a very Charles thing to do. “But you still got mad at me for kissing you.”
“It’s a self-preservation thing. Ish.”
“What?”
He paused to gather his thoughts, lifted his feet out of the water, and turned to me. I watched as his parted lips closed up, then parted again, as though he couldn’t yet decide if the words he wanted to say would come out right.
“Imagine you’re a kid and your mom buys you ice cream. She lets you choose a flavor, and after deciding on one, you immediately regret it because it doesn’t taste like you’d expected it to. It’s crap, period. But because you have your pride and all, you don’t act like a brat about it and ask for something else. You tolerate the taste. You chose it, after all.”
