So, If We Fall In Love?

Chapter 2

"What the—Gael?!”

When I looked over and saw Gael sitting there in the passenger seat, I almost passed out. Immediately, I glanced over at my brother with a mix of surprise and confusion on my face.

"I apologize, Tria. I hope it is okay to go with you guys.” Gael explained that he had left his car at the repair shop because it had broken down.

Now that Gael is sitting in front of me, my entire body has gone numb with nervousness. Luckily, I think I look fine. Gosh! Thankfully, I went to retouch myself. I know he normally hangs out with Nikolai at home after school is out, but this time he'll be joining us in the car!

He has no idea how ecstatic and happy I am to be able to go with him home.

"Ah, right. I prefer to sit at the back. You and Nikolai should sit near together so you guys can do some chit-chat," I said in response. Although I make an effort to act cool with it, deep inside I am freaked out by the fact that he seems to notice me and talk to me asking for my permission. When I opened the door earlier, I had to bend down and his face was right next to mine. But, of course, I backed off a little so that Nikolai wouldn't notice it.

I quickly opened the door at the back after I had finished closing the door that led to the passenger's seat. After opening it, I went ahead and took a seat. Nikolai caught up with us almost instantly and hopped into the driver's seat. Of course, since he knows how to drive and it is his car, he will drive for us. Immediately, he turned his gaze to Gael, who was occupying the passenger seat.

“Oh. How long have you been waiting?" Asked Nikolai to Gael. Gael shook his head and glanced at where I was located.

Instead of meeting his eyes, I quickly pulled my tablet out of my bag and started playing with it. I wasn't even looking at him, but I could tell that he was staring at me via the rear-view mirror. Perhaps that's how you feel about someone after a long time together. You are already familiar with their rudimentary motions and gestures.

"I thought you told Tria I'd come along," he asked Nikolai.

That prompted me to make eye contact with him, and we exchanged looks. He gave me a brief smile before turning away and talking to my brother. I gave my brother a glance as well.

"Oh no. Oops, I forgot to inform her. I had been trying to find her, but when I finally did, I was speechless.” Nikolai, who spoke up.

After Nikolai finished speaking, the car started to move, and I immediately realized that my brother had taken control of the car. Because Gael had stopped talking, I thought it would be best if I did the same thing.

Because there was too much silence in the car, Nikolai activated the speaker and played some music. The music was so loud that it was difficult for the three of us to hear each other. Despite this, my emotional state and my relationship with Gael take precedence.

He was paying careful attention to the road, just like Nikolai was, while I glanced at him in the side mirror and the rearview mirror of the car. I took that opportunity to stare at him for a long time.

‘Haist, it does not matter how I look at you—no doubt that God gave you all the handsomeness spells on the earth. I always find myself falling deeper and deeper in love with you.’

It is inevitable that my brother, Nikolai, and Gael will discuss the topics that they are required to do in class because they are classmates. Whereas I am just killing time by scrolling through my various social media accounts while giving him a passing glance here and there.

Because I am becoming increasingly incapable of following what they are saying in regard to their respective classes, I decided it would be best for me to go take a nap. It is also traffic, and I can not contribute anything to what they are talking about because I have nothing to say.

*****

"I am keeping this for too long, Gael. I like you so much. I am not sure when I first started feeling this way, but I like you..." I said to him,

We are in the same spot in the garden at the moment. I believe that this is the most appropriate environment in which to convey my sentiments to him.

“But… Wake up Tria—"

“Tria… Tria… Wake up.”

As soon as I felt someone shake my shoulder, I stumbled backward immediately. When I opened my eyes, I was astonished at what I saw when I saw who or whose face was in front of me. It's Gael once more.

I gave him a light shove and then adjusted the position of my seat. In addition to that, I straightened my hair and wiped my face. The fact that my cheeks were wet astonished me very much. Shocks. I really wish I hadn't been drooling while I was sleeping earlier.

After he woke me up, I got out of the car and walked away as quickly as I could. After taking a moment to breathe, I turned around and subsequently followed him.

“Uhm… Gael… I hope you don’t mind if I ask something…” I asked him. It came to my attention that my brother was not following us and that he had not been in the car earlier.

“Sure. Ask it.”

"Where is Nikolai? Have I been drooling while I was sleeping earlier?" I asked him.

Being that he was just a step or two ahead of me, we did not walk together. "Earlier, I took your brother to the shopping mall and dropped him off. Because he forgot his tools in the locker which we need right now, he has to go out and buy something," he explained. "And to your second question, no. Actually, those are drops of your own tears. Maybe you had a bad dream."

Tears? Because of what he said, I slowed down quite a bit. I am thinking back on my dream in a lot of detail, but I can only recall a portion of it, and it is incomplete. But it's possible that he was right, and that I did have a nightmare. Perhaps this is the reason why my chest felt so heavy when I woke up earlier.

“Oh. I see." I did respond. "Wait, why didn't Nikolai just give orders? Or, why don't you just go ahead and purchase it?" I added because of curiosity.

It's not that I'm trying to get rid of him; rather, I'm just curious about why my brother would go out and buy it for himself.

“I can't speak for your brother. I told him that I would purchase it so that he could send you to your home as soon as possible because it appears that you are also exhausted.” He responded in an honest manner.

As soon as I heard what he had to say, my heart dropped into my lungs. I came to an abrupt halt. "Oh, I see. I see."

Because he had noticed that I had stopped, he unexpectedly stopped himself and looked in my direction.

He asked, "What's the matter?"

I gave a relaxed grin and gently c****d my head to the side. I immediately broke into a happy smile and restarted my walk.

"Nothing. Let's go?"

To be completely honest with him, he does still care about me.

****

During the entirety of the trip, Gael and I never exchanged more than ten words. Even though Gael does talk to me occasionally, I always change the subject as soon as he does so I can get back to talking to Dian. Perhaps it had been about half an hour since I hadn't done anything but talk to or text Dian. Because I am so timid around him, I find that I am unable to talk to him for extended periods of time while simultaneously staring at him. I can't say that I have any idea.

So until we got to the house, I went away first and said goodbye to him, because I really couldn't. I am so nervous when I am facing him.

“Thank you, Gael. I'll go inside first. If you plan to wait for my brother, just go inside. I am pretty sure that Mommy and Daddy aren't there." I stuttered a bit and said to him, but I managed to cross well.

I mustered up the courage to look at him but I only felt more shy, so I quickly took it back when our eyes met.

"Yes, I will go inside. I'll just call someone," he answered, smiling at me. I felt a strange joy and my heart jumped. I quickly touched my chest and involuntarily nodded. I immediately turned my back on him and rushed inside the house.

When I entered, I immediately leaned against the wall. “What the heck! What was that, Tria?!” I asked myself verbally like crazy. Using our large glass walls, I peeked outside and saw Gael with his back turned and talking on his cell phone.

I smiled and sighed. Even with his back turned, his figure was still handsome. Who wouldn't fall for this man? I held on to the throbbing pain in my chest again.

"Hey, you're already there—"

“—son of—Manang Flor! You surprised me!"

I almost screamed in shock because of what Flor did. Who wouldn't be surprised if she grabbed me by the shoulder? I really thought it was Gael.

I sighed and peeked outside again. It's a good thing that Gael still has his back turned and seems to be busy with what he's talking about on his phone.

"I'm sorry, iha. What are you doing there? Why haven't you gone inside and gone up to your room to change?" asked Manang Flor.

It made me scratch my head. Here we are again with the many questions of manang Flor. Manang Flor has been a part of our family for such a long time and, because she has been with us ever since my brother was born, we consider her to be our guardian. She is never absent whenever we need someone to be by our side, even when our parents are still present.

Manang glanced outside and when he saw who it was, she immediately narrowed her eyes at me. I immediately widened my eyes and shook my head. Little!

"Manang, whatever you think. Stop it.” I laughed and said to her,

She gave me a teasing smile. "Oh, that's why. You're watching Gael, huh?"

I just shook my head. I don't want to prolong our conversation with Manang. Maybe, because Gael will catch up with us here, that will be even more surprising.

"Take care of him, Manang. I'm going up and change." I answered her. I strolled casually in the direction of the stairwell. But before I could even start climbing the stairs, I had the thought of asking Manang if my mother and father were already here.

"Manang, are Mommy and Daddy here yet?"

I noticed that Manang's expression changed in response to my question. She is aware that we are in a chaotic situation right now. Our family dynamic is a complete mess.

She gave a slight nod in response. Manang's reply, which was filled with sadness, “Your mommy is already in her office, but your daddy isn't there yet.” Then she added, “Tria…”

I also immediately felt sad, but I was aware that there was nothing I could do about it. So when I heard that, despite the fact that I was extremely depressed, I forced myself to smile. "Manang, I am okay. I'm going up. I'll just quickly change and then head down to the dining room." I responded while pointing to the clothes I was wearing.

I've made an effort to convey joy; I just hope it comes across.

When I got back to my room, I did not change into a different outfit. The first thing I did was lay down and look up at the ceiling.

I put my hand on my chest and felt around it. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly in order to better feel and hear it.

Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. That was the sound of my heart.

My heart feels like it's going to explode, and I can only attribute it to how much fun I'm having. On the other hand, there was an excruciating ache that came suddenly. My idea of love as being something out of a fairy tale bursts like a bubble whenever I consider the relationship between my parents.