When We Were Drunk

Night 007

“You know what, you’re not helping,” I said as I retrieved my notebook from his lap. He kept on telling me he knows how to solve this freaking math problem but two minutes has passed and all he did was draw San Goku.

            I looked at his drawing and sighed. He even wasted my ink by coloring Goku’s hair!

            He moved closer to me and tried to get a hold of my notebook, “Hey, give it back. I’m not yet done with the face.”

            “Oh please, Alfonso. You’re just wasting my ink! Do you know how much a g-tec is?” I asked, pissed off. Although I’m supposed to be cutting off my expenses, I really can’t change the brand of my pen. Maybe I’m just being picky but I really can’t write well with other pens.

            He just smiled at me. Oh, god.

            I don’t get why girls at university get crazy over his smile. ‘Cause right now, it’s seriously killing my mood.

            I opened one can of beer and shoved it to his chest. “Just drink, Esquivel.”

            I decided to just ignore the annoying guy beside me and continued working on my math problem. This isn’t the first time I’m doing school works here, it’s a bit dark but I seem to be more productive here especially while I’m drinking beer.

            A few minutes later and I am still stuck with the same number. “Argh,” I scratched my head out of frustration. Mathematics isn’t really fond of me and I feel the same way. It’s like no matter how much I focus on the subject, I just can’t. That’s basically the reason why I stayed away from courses filled with Math.

            I picked up my beer and let the liquid make its way to my stomach. If there’s really a subject named Alcohology, I’m sure I’ll get a 1.00 without sweating.

I saw Alfonso grinning at my frustrated face. Oh, here he goes with his teasing.

“You’re already stressed with that?”

I shot him a glare. “At least I’m not pretending to be good at Math,”

“I’m not pretending. I told you I got 1.00 in Calculus without even blinking,” he winked.

I hate how humble he is. Note the sarcasm. “Then prove it.”

“Sure,” then he snatched the notebook from me. Suddenly, his face looked serious and he was gripping the pen tight. I peeked at what he’s doing and was surprised to see he isn’t continuing his San Goku.

For two minutes he kept on writing numbers and I was just staring at him. He’s so focused, calm and silent that I even stopped myself from breathing loudly. Am I seeing things or is he really answering my math?

Then things got really weird. Suddenly, it’s like he’s a magnet and my eyes were automatically glued on him. I was just watching him. The way his forehead creases, his hand moves as he scribbles and s**t…I even noticed the way his lips purses.

What the heck, Margaret. Stop whatever you’re thinking!

I diverted my gaze away from him. This will get bad if I won’t stop it. I mean…he’s really attractive. I am well aware of that. But that should end there, just him being good-looking. Period.

I picked up a can of beer from the plastic and opened it. Good thing easy-open cans were invented; it was really hard opening cans before. Even with the can opener, it was a hassle.

I poured half of its content on my mouth. Sometimes I wonder why I prefer beers over cocktails. It’s pretty obvious that cocktails taste better than beers. But I guess people really like the world’s best and worst; the sweet life is already in front of us yet we choose to ignore it and find the bitter side.

Maybe pain doesn’t really chase us, maybe it’s us who likes to go after it.

“Here,” he said as he placed the notebook back to my lap. He reached for the beer near his legs and drank from it.

I raised my brows at him. Although I was looking at him earlier, I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was solving. Who knows if he’s just bluffing?

“If I see another San Goku in here, I swear I’ll kick you out of the rooftop,” I warned.

He laughed. There’s that playful glint in his eyes again that I hate. I scowled. This guy really loves teasing me.

Folding his arms, he looked at me and smirked. “Or maybe it’s Gohan I drew this time.”

I just stared at him as if I didn’t get his joke. But in reality, I totally get it and I wanted to hit him in the arm ‘cause that was a good one. Instead, I shook my head at him and pretended to be pissed.

He seemed to be taken aback by my action. His eyes became unsure and I can’t help but smile when I saw him touching his right ear. And to top it all, a tinge of red on his cheeks is starting to show.

He’s not even drunk yet so I’m pretty the guy is blushing. He just got here and he hasn’t even finished a can.

“You can take a look, I swear I didn’t draw anything,” his voice was calm but I can see through his eyes. He was kinda nervous. Well, I know I look really scary when I’m mad so he better be. I even heard him murmured a ‘s**t’ to himself.

But holy f**k, does he know how cute he is right now? Is he doing this on purpose?

Automatically, my hands picked up the notebook and my eyes scanned its content. I held it at face level so he wouldn’t see the smile I kept on hiding. I hate how I find him adorable tonight when all he did is tease me.

Am I even normal? Why do I feel happy when he’s kidding me?

It took me a minute to finally finish smiling and return to my blank face. That’s the time I started analyzing the problem he answered. This one was really hard that even my blockmates can’t get the right answer.

I wasn’t a complete dumb in my math so I knew that what he did was right. His solution is correct and his answer seemed like it too. So maybe he’s not kidding when he said he got 1.00 in Calculus. Well, I know he’s pretty smart but I wasn’t aware he’ll even get a 1.00 in Calculus! That is insane.

I brought down the notebook to my side. And boy, he was actually watching my every move. He was waiting for my response like a puppy waiting for his master to feed him. I wanted to laugh ‘cause he looks so lost and I was able to fool him! I’m not really mad, I was just joking but he took it seriously.

“See…there’s no Gohan and I answered your math problem.”

I tried my best to maintain a neutral expression on my face. It was really fun teasing him so I’ll enjoy every second of it while it lasts.

He looked worried this time, his eyes were soft and his voice was surprisingly gentle. “Uh, hey, look…I was just kidding earlier, okay? I really have no intention of pissing you, Marg.”

I continued my act and looked away. “So you’re saying your hand unconsciously drew San Goku and ruined my notes?”

“W-what?,” he asked, startled. “No, no, of course not! If you want, I’ll buy you another notebook.”

He looked so sad and down that I can no longer hide the happiness I’m bottling up inside. I bursted out laughing to the point that I am clutching my chest so hard and my eyes were starting to produce water.

Esquivel, on the other side was so darn confused. It was so funny I can’t help but laugh again and again. He continued staring at me until he figured out what was my deal.

“Oh f**k,” he shook his head as a smile slowly forms on his face. “Okay, you got me there. I swear, Marg, I thought you were mad!”

I shrugged and smiled, “Well, I didn’t win best actress for nothing.”

“I can’t believe you fooled me.”

“You’re welcome, Alfonso.”

“Shut up, Marg or you’ll fail that assignment of yours,” he warned.

Well, I can’t let that happen. I really think Esquivel will be my salvation in these freaking math problems. So I opened another can and gave it to him. He stared at it and raised his brow. “You’re bribing me with the beer I bought myself?”

“Yes, you bought it but I opened it because I don’t want you to get hurt. That’s how much I care for you, Alfo,” I winked. I made sure to use that sweet and cringy tone his fangirls use when they’re saying his name. Alfo, that’s what they call him. 

He looked shocked when I called him using that name. “Oh, please. Not you too.”

“What is it, Alfo?” I teased once more.

“At this point, you already failed your math class.” 

I laughed at his irritated face and moved closer to him. With a playful look on my eyes, I sticked my palms together and acted as if I’m pleading. “No, Alfo, please help me.”

“Then stop calling me that. I prefer Alfonso even though it’s old-fashioned or just stick to Esquivel, Marg.”

I smiled even more. It was nice making fun of him.

I pouted and looked at him. He was still glaring at me. “Aww…poor Alfo can’t tell his fans that he hates it. So sad.” 

He shook his head and just drank the beer I gave him. I kept on nudging him until he gave up and started teaching me. Basically, that’s how our night went—him teaching me techniques and me half-listening half-staring at his f*****g face and half-grasping the concepts.

Of course, there’s beer in between teaching. We can’t seem to function well without alcohol in our system.

What’s more fascinating is that for the second time around, I left the rooftop with a smile on my face.

To be continued…