“Congratulations!”Gabriella smiled sweetly when she opened the door of their house. Their house helpers, who couldn’t join the graduation ceremony earlier, shouted in unison.She had been crying nonstop because she couldn’t believe she finally reached this point. It felt like just yesterday when she still needed a babysitter because of her stubbornness.Babysitter, she whispered while looking around the house. Where could that guy be?“Did you see Rey Jhon, Mom?” she asked her mother. “Didn’t he follow us home earlier?”She accepted the flowers given by their housekeeper. She smiled, thanked her, and looked at her mom again.“Mommy? Did you see Rey Jhon?”“Rey Jhon?” her mom repeated, looking like she had no energy to answer. She even checked her phone before replying. “Didn’t he tell you?”“Tell me what?” she asked in confusion. He didn’t say anything to her earlier before she got into the car. He only hugged her and kissed her on the head. “He didn’t say anything, Mom. What was he
Gabriella walked quickly toward their school canteen. Her eyebrows were pulled together. Of all times to forget her umbrella, why now, when the sun was shining so harshly, as if it had no plan of softening its heat? She had no choice but to walk faster so she could reach the canteen right away.Her mood grew worse when she saw there were no empty seats. Her boarders had been complaining about their hunger, that’s why she decided to go down. But wow, what perfect timing—no seats at all.She held her forehead and looked around, hoping she might spot a friend to sit with. She couldn’t go back upstairs again to wait for an empty seat.A smile quickly appeared on her lips when she saw Rey Jhon sitting alone, eating. She headed toward his table, which was at the side. But before she could reach him, a female instructor walked over and sat beside him.She saw clearly how he smiled and even pointed to one of his sandwiches. It looked like he was about to give it to her. And Gabriella knew—tha
“Where are you going, Ma’am Gab?”Gabriella stopped walking, holding her bike tight. She turned to look at their security guard. She knew her Daddy must have given another set of rules again.“Your Daddy said you’re not allowed to go out.”And that was the rule. She sighed deeply.Of course. Her daddy still thought she was a baby. He seemed to forget that his only child was already grown up.She waved at the guard and smiled. What was she supposed to do inside the house? Stare at her phone until her Dad came home from God-knows-where?“Your smile won’t work on me, Ma’am. I’m just following the rules.” The guard whistled and told another guard to lock the gate. “Lock the gate.”She let go of her bike and it fell with a loud noise.“I feel like a princess not allowed to go out,” she whispered, then suddenly ran through the gate. “Lucky! I’ll be back, Sir! Just give me a minute!” she shouted, not letting the big-bellied guard catch her.A few minutes later, Gabriella reached the plaza. S
“Rey Jhon for you. Don’t tell me, you don’t like me too.”Everything around Gabriella seemed to stop. She could not open her mouth to tell Rey Jhon she didn’t like him. She could not move her hand to close the door and hide his face. She could not even move her feet to run away.What was happening to her?She only stared at Rey Jhon. She looked straight into his dark eyes. His eyes seemed to pull her in, like they were saying something she could not read.Her gaze moved down. From his tall nose, to his slightly red cheeks, then to his lips. His lips were red, like he was wearing lipstick.Gay, she whispered to herself with a smirk.She stepped closer. Slowly, she lifted her hand and touched his lips with her finger. Only one word came to her mind.Soft.His lips were soft. And she thought…“Gab.” His voice snapped her back to reality.She quickly stepped back, hiding her hand behind her. She looked at him again, shocked at what she just did.What did she just do? Why did she touch his
Gabriella kept her lips pressed tight, even when her dad was smiling wide and waving at her. She wasn’t in the mood to smile earlier, but now her mood got even worse. She couldn’t even fake a smile. Her dad told her to come closer, so she had no choice but to walk, wishing that maybe her eyes were just playing tricks on her and Rey Jhon wasn’t really there.There were so many guys in the world. Why him? Out of all the single men around, why did it have to be Rey Jhon? She would rather have someone with one eye or even one tooth than him. Seeing him already gave her a headache.Maybe you’re just being too picky, Gabriella? her mind teased.But no, she wasn’t picky. It was the truth. A truth she couldn’t change. And even if she could, she wouldn’t waste her time changing it.She walked past Rey Jhon without even looking at him. She hurried to her dad’s side, scolding herself for forgetting to bring her phone.Wow, unlucky. Now it looks like you were excited to see him, huh? her mind tea
The day that Rey Jhon had been waiting for finally came.It was the day when he was no longer her teacher and she was no longer his student.The day when he planned to go to the girl’s house.There was no turning back now, even if Gabriella shouted many times that she didn’t like him, that she didn’t want to see him. Even if she posted it on all her social media, it would not stop him from doing what he wanted to do.He only wanted one thing: for them to be okay again and go back to how they used to be. For months, he worked hard to be close to her, even if his heart was against it, because he always thought she was his rival with Carlo. But he ignored all that.He took a deep breath and got off his motorcycle. He had finally reached the house. He stared at it for a while, thinking how many years had passed before he came back here. Nothing seemed to change. His heart still beat fast whenever he saw this house.He remembered the first day he came here and why. It was Carlo’s birthday,