Traces of Midnight Fallacies

CHAPTER TWENTY

Celeste kissed me on my cheek, while Kevin tapped my shoulder when we parted at the terminal. Dad looked at us before we entered his car to get home.

Dad looked frustrated and stressed, and that was visible on his face. I even saw some wrinkles all over his cheeks, and that made him look even older than he was at his age. Just like usual, he picked me up at the terminal. He invited my friends to come with us, but they told us they had an errand today. It seemed like they weren't together now because when I asked about that, they were going somewhere differently.

Kevin will attend his cousin's birthday party, while Celeste has someone to meet up with. I don't want to ask her who's with her because I don't want to invade her privacy. I don’t want to always put myself next to them because we have different lives. They have a life of their own, and I also have one of my own that I need to focus on.

My night seemed long when my parents and I decided to visit my neighbor's wake. Many guests attended on the first day of her wake, and some of us were close friends of her parents. I saw her parents on the side, still mourning for their daughter’s death. I did nothing but cry silently and keep blaming myself for everything that happened to her.

My eyes were almost swollen when we went home. We stayed at the nearest cafe to somehow pass the time before we decided to get home. Filipinos have this belief that when you visit a wake, you need to spend the night somewhere else before you go home. This is to mislead the spirit and to stay away from the bad luck that may follow you if you go home without doing what I've said.

"Goodnight, Maine," my parents said, before they allowed me to go to my room to rest that night.

When I woke up the next morning, I even caught up with my dad at the dining area. My mom was making pancakes for me, which I smiled at. I was with them when I ate my breakfast. Dad also takes me to school because it seems like he has some vacant time at that time. My school is not that far from his workplace, so somehow, I'm comfortable that I don't disturb his work.

Even before I entered our room, I felt Kevin's arm hugging me from behind, which left me a bit stunned at his action. My classmates saw what he did, so I was no longer surprised when they shrieked at what they saw. I even saw Lawrence staring at us from afar, but I didn't turn to look at him. Celeste pulled me away from Kevin, which made him chuckle before he released me.

"What's with you two?" I asked them when I saw the smile creeping on their lips.

Instead of answering me, they pulled me away from the doorway and we went out into the corridor to talk. I felt something strange from their grins in front of me. It's kind of weird, but instead of confronting them, I let them take a deep breath before explaining to me what's with their smile.

"I have good news for you!" They said it almost simultaneously.

My eyebrows lifted a bit because of the confusion. "What news?" I asked before my eyes widened a bit. I put my hand on my mouth while looking at them, shocked. "Are you guys in a relationship?"

The smiles on their faces slowly faded before they turned to look at each other. I saw the disgustion on their faces before Celeste pinched my waist, which made me laugh and avert her fingers.

She grunted because of what I said, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop teasing me with that monkey?" Celeste pointed at Kevin, who was now disgusted while looking at her. "I don't want him, and I don't like collecting trash!"

"What do you think of yourself?" Kevin hissed, while pointing at her. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you looked like a maton to me, Celeste!"

"Wow," Celeste said languidly as she looked at him. I don’t know, but her laugh seemed sarcastic to my ears. "Coming from you, dimwit!"

I let them quarrel in front of me until they got bored with teasing each other. It looked like my day wouldn't be completed whenever I didn't hear the two of them arguing like children. Before I mediated the fight that took place between them, I heard lots of the hurtful phrases and curses they threw at each other.

We don't have enough time to waste because our professor will be arriving any minute.

Celeste looked annoyed while looking at him, and when she turned her gaze to me, a wide smile plastered on her lips. I think it's just now that I saw her smile like that in front of me. Kevin looked awful, and when I turned to him, his face immediately changed.

They looked satisfied now compared to how they looked before, which seemed to indicate that they lacked sleep and some rest.

"What news did you bring to me?" I asked.

They both turned to each other before agreeing that Celeste would speak first before Kevin. When she turned to face me with a smile on her lips, I was perplexed. Kevin looked at her for a while before he looked at me with a smile creeping on his lips.

"I... do... have a boyfriend!" Celeste shouted, which made me lift my eyebrows.

"A..." I said, groping for what she said. "A... what?"

Kevin turned to her. Just like me, he had this irritated expression while looking at her. "A f*****g what?" It seemed like he didn't expect what Celeste said in front of us.

"Finally, I have a boyfriend! "she said happily, while looking at my reaction to what she said. I remained silent and my eyebrows shut as I looked at her. "After how many years with Kevin by my side, finally, he's not the one that I see when I enter my class this week!"

"As if I was happy to see that you were the first person I saw in the morning?" Kevin looked disgustedly at her, which made us laugh.

I don't know, but I felt some weird feelings about what Celeste was referring to. I don't remember anyone flirting with her. She doesn't say this to me whenever the two of us are together. I don't know, but I felt sullen towards her because she didn't even tell me about this thing. Did her errand last night have anything to do with it? Why don't I remember her having someone else with us?

Instead of thinking more about that matter, I turned to Kevin, who was smiling widely at me.

"Don't tell me... you do have a girlfriend too?" I asked him, which made him giggle.

Celeste looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. Kevin seemed to feel her looking at him, so he grimaced at her a bit. I chuckled when I looked at them.

I felt some dismay whenever what Celeste said to us echoed in my ears. I felt dismayed because I didn't expect this to happen. It looks like I have no idea about their lives even though we are always together. It seems like what they said was a bit true. Every individual has their own life. You don't need to meddle with their own problems if you have your own problems that you need to fix. Even if you fixed it, you don’t have to interfere with them. Just respect their privacy, and that's one of the things I learned when I was still here.

I lost my thoughts when I felt Kevin hugging me. I was taken aback by what he did, but instead of pushing him away, I stayed in his arms.

I heard him sigh heavily, which I felt in my left ear before he chuckled and faced me. He smiled when I saw my reaction to what he did to me.

"I made it," he happily said, which made me lift my eyebrows.

"Made what?" I asked, a bit confused while looking at his smile in front of me.

"I finally settled my fight with my dad," he said, which made me widen my eyes. "And he wants me to send you his thanks for the almond cookies you baked for him."

"You're always welcome, Kevin," I said, making him chuckle and hug me again.

My lips were plastered with a smile, especially when I tapped his shoulders. My hands came to a halt when I met Lawrence's gaze, who was leaning against the doorway, crossing his arms in his chest and staring at us intently.

What the f**k is he doing here?