Chapter 3

“Oh my days. Vera Lee flirting with the Jackson Young!” Nelson’s shriek was so loud that I felt like my phone was on speaker mode.

“Shut up, it wasn’t like that,” I replied.

“Excuse me?” Nelson’s voice was now using his as-a-matter-of-fact tone. “Two people don’t just talk about random life things up to 2:30 in the morning. Doesn’t work that way babe.”

“Ok that was because of the cookies.”

“And!” His voice was louder now. “No one bakes cookies for neighbors. Neighbors hate each other. We don’t just give cookies.”

“You and I don’t hate each other! We’re good neighbors to each other.” I rebutted.

“And I feel like you guys like each other too! You and your OTHER neighbor.”

Nelson got to tease me all morning after telling him about Jackson, the cookies and the late night talk. He was convinced I was now having a secret crush on Jackson Young — which was not true, by the way. I think. I mean, everything was just a friendly gesture.

“I just met the guy! Besides, he’s just a new friend” I said.

“Girl, we’ve known him our whole lives. He’s everywhere, remember? And, you’re not the type to just make new friends out of cookies and book auctions.”

“Whatever. I don’t even know him that well. And we’re not even sure we’re going to talk again today.”

“Oh, someone’s expecting a call.”

“I’m not!”

Now I was sure Nelson was convinced I had a crush on Jackson.

“You are expecting a call.” He repeated with his mouth forming an O.

I fell silent, and Nelson was now laughing on the other end of the call.

“Shut up,” was all I could say. He enjoyed this — all the teasing. “Having fun?” I asked in a sarcastic way.

“Oh, yes, dear. I’ve been waiting for this. Besides, you just said it. You’ve been waiting for his reply. You got disappointed when you got no e-mail from him. That’s something new for Vera Lee!”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have told you that part.”

Nelson was all over the moon about the fact that I stayed up late talking to Jackson. He had high hopes about me getting a boyfriend this year. And now, he was hoping it would be Jackson Young.

“He’s a great guy,” he finally said seriously. “Just promise me you won’t close the doors to your heart. Open them, Vera. Let him in!”

“How do you know he’s a great guy?”

“I can feel it. Trust me.” Nelson was really so happy about this. “Just go with the flow for now.”

It was another uneventful afternoon for me. I decided to catch up on my Grey’s Anatomy on N*****x, but my mind, again, was elsewhere. I kept wondering about what Nelson and I talked about this morning. I kept thinking about Jackson too.

Should I just call him? Or —

I shook my head and decided to just watch TV. I shouldn’t be this distracted.  I shouldn’t be the one to call him up in the first place! I mean, that one conversation didn’t mean anything. And the cookies — yes, that was just a friendly neighborhood gesture.

Just when I was about to continue watching Grey’s, my phone rang.

“How’s your day?”

Jackson’s voice made me turn off the TV and sit up straight.

“Hey,” was all I could say. Again. I should get better at this.

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing, really. I finished a couple of articles today, so —“

“Great!” he interrupted. “We can watch a movie then.”

“What?”

“A movie. I’m inviting you to watch movie with me.”

“How —?”

“See you in 30 minutes!”

It all happened so fast that I wasn’t able to move. My thoughts were racing and so was my heart. A movie? In 30 minutes? How —

The next thing I knew, I was in the kitchen making lots and lots of popcorn. I got two containers and filled both to the brim. I got dressed quickly — more like wore a nicer shirt, brushed my hair, and patted powder on my cheeks. Why did I feel like this was a date? Was it? He didn’t said it was.

And before I could do anything else, I heard my a knock on my front door. I rushed to get my mask on, and opened the door.

This was the first time Jackson and I faced each other. Who would’ve thought we’d be standing in front of each other after all this time? Plus with masks on. For years, I had never even noticed how tall he was. His brown golden hair was tousled, a few strands falling on his forehead. And his hazel eyes that buried into mine as soon as I opened the door were so filled with warmth that I was indeed, captivated. He had his mask on, yet I could see him smiling. Hie eyes gave it away too. I never thought he’d look this charming.

“Hey,” he said as he took a step back. “We’re still practicing social distancing so I guess this is okay.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I replied with a big smile. I kinda felt grateful that I had the mask on, because I felt my cheeks flush.

Jackson was holding a small envelope in his hands. And when he saw me look at it, he said, “Oh, this.” He handed it to me. “Since we don’t get to buy actual tickets to the movies, I figured this would suffice.”

“What’s this?”

“You’ll see.” He said with a wink. And my heart just fluttered. I had never felt this way before. Everything was so new. What was happening?

“So, I better get going. Just open the envelope when you get in.”

“Wait,” I said, stopping him. “Just wait here.”

I rushed to kitchen to grab the popcorn I prepared and gave it to him.

“Movies are really best paired with popcorn.” I said shyly. “And I think I made too much popcorn, so you can have this.”

I saw Jackson smile as he got the container from me. He hugged it and said, “Now, this is perfect.”

When he left, I immediately opened the small envelope he handed to me. Inside was a small rectangular paper with edges cut like an actual movie ticket. I can’t believe he went through all the effort to make this.

“A Walk to Remember”

7:00 PM | Zoom

Meeting ID: 110-110-996

Meeting Password: zc7qer2

See you! ;)

A Walk to Remember? Really?

Okay. I wasn’t the type of person to appreciate romantic films. All my life, horror and thrillers — crime and mysteries, too! — had always been my comfort films. I can binge-watch anything paranormal and not get scared or bored. But chick flicks and romance — definitely not my type.

But still, I got excited.

Logging in to my Zoom account, I entered the details on the ticket. And when I was directed to the Zoom call, Jackson was already there munching popcorn.

“Hey!” I greeted. “The movie hasn’t started yet and there you are finishing your popcorn.”

Jackson was laughing on the other end of the call and placed the container on his table to face me.

“Let’s just say popcorn never tasted this good,” he said with a wink. “So, are you ready?”

“I guess. But seriously, A Walk to Remember?”

“Hey! It’s one of my favorites.”

“You’ve already seen this?”

“And you haven’t?” He was more shocked than I was. I never pegged Jackson as the guy who’s a sucker for romantic films. “This is a classic too.”

“The Shining is a classic, and you said it wasn’t that good anyway,” I rebutted.

“That’s because I’m not much of a horror fan.”

“Yet you entered an online book auction for The Shining!”

“I was curious. That’s all.” He shrugged and popped another popcorn in his mouth.

“I’m not much of a romance fan,” I said.

“Hmm, I already thought of that.”

“And why —“

“Let A Walk to Remember change your mind,” he interrupted.

I had to prop one arm on the table to touch my left cheek. I can already feel I was blushing. This conversation I was having with Jackson Young — I found it cute. The banters, the silly exchanges — I was enjoying it. And I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Let’s begin,” he said. “Enjoy the movie, Vera Lee!”

He shared his screen and the intro started to play.

“Are you sure this is legal, Jackson Young?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Sssh. I need to focus,” he whispered.

So the movie started with the lead guy named Landon Carter, a boy with no direction in life — a screw-up. And then there’s this girl, Jamie Sullivan — the good girl who sings in church, gets all the good grades in school and participates in everything extra-curricular. This is interesting.

I was intently watching the movie that I didn’t realize we were halfway through it. Jackson, who has seen this movie a thousand times maybe, was so focused on the screen. I was so amused by that I let out a giggle and Jackson’s eyes immediately shifted.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said, smiling. “You just — you look so serious as if you’re watching this for the first time.”

“Sssh, we’re getting to the good part!” He was so engrossed that I actually believe him now. This is a favorite of his. “And it’s always like the first time with this movie.”

Focusing on the film again, I realized there was more to the story than the typical plot of bad boy meets good girl — not that I’m fully aware of those type of plots.But as someone who has seen something like this for the first time — I was too invested and hooked.

As the movie came to an end, I found myself sobbing and sniffing. I even got myself some tissue to wipe my tears when Jackson finally stopped sharing the movie screen.

“So,” he started. “How was it?”

“You are mean,” I said. I couldn’t stop crying. As much as I didn’t expect to like the movie, I loved it. I loved every bit of it — from Landon’s character development to the part where he said “Our love is like the wind. You can’t see it, but you can feel it” — damn, I can’t. That was too painful.

Jackson seemed to be enjoying my reaction as he fell into a loud laughter.

“Oh! That was the exact same thing that happened to me when I watched this movie for the first time. It hits you, huh?” He was teasing me now.

“How can he — how can —“ I couldn’t finish my sentence. I was still sobbing. I didn’t imagine I’d cry over something like this. I couldn’t believe I felt every emotion of that film.

“Sssh, calm yourself down first.” Jackson looked worried now. “Are you okay? Yeah, I was expecting you to cry but not like this.”

“He’s alone,” I sobbed. “He’s alone. Jamie died, and he’s all alone.”

Jackson smiled and replied, “He’s not alone. He’s got a family. Jamie’s father also became his family. He found his direction in life all because of love. He became a better person, and Jamie was his miracle.”

“He was her miracle too,” I said in a soft voice.

Jackson chuckled again once more and said, “Yes. They were each other’s miracles.” He spoke as if he was comforting a crying toddler.

“It’s a nice movie,” I said. “I liked it.”

“See!” Jackson threw his hands in the air and smiled widely. “I have nothing against your horror and paranormal addiction, but I want you to realize there’s a whole world outside ghosts and poltergeists.”

We talked for a while before the call ended. We both said our good nights and I plopped to my bed with a runny nose. And my eyes were still puffy from all the crying.

The movie did hit me.

It wasn’t easy being alone in the world. It wasn’t easy losing someone you loved so dearly. But the fact that Landon carried on with his life made me believe I could do it too. I could do better than this.

When my grandmother died, I told myself I’d never let anyone in again. With that, I won’t grieve when I lose someone. I won’t feel defeated. Because losing someone also means losing a part of yourself, and I could afford to have that anymore.

I closed my eyes with the picture of Landon walking alone at the end of the movie on my mind. He stared into the sky with sad eyes, but he was okay. He misses Jamie but he was okay.

The story was so beautiful, and the pain was real. But still, it was all so beautiful.