The Best Mistake (GL)

More Than Anything

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"...AND that's how I found out that I'm different from normal girls." She ended without being bitter all throughout her storytelling.

She didn't know how they started talking about that topic. She just found herself opening up with Ayen, without even thinking if the latter would look at her differently afterward. Because not all people could accept her chosen path. She was lucky that she was accepted wholeheartedly by her best friends, as well as her family. Therefore, she didn't need the approval of other people. And she could say she was comfortable talking to her about her personal life.

They were walking around the farm as they went on with the tour, which she exaggeratedly regarded as a date.

Their first date.

The weather was perfect for them to stroll around the green acreage. It was indeed true that the wind in the countryside was more refreshing. It was new to her because she used to spend her entire time in places that were mostly cooled by air-conditioning. Of course, she could go outside, but not for very long as she would get easily irritated by sunlight and dusty wind. Too sensitive, indeed. It now came to her sense, why her mother spent most of her time in their lovely garden, which was gradually turning into a forest because it became too vast, covered with bright colors from the plants and flowers her mother had planted.

Going back to where they were, Ayen's silence didn't go unnoticed. Even though she felt comfortable, there was still a part of her that was a bit troubled. What was going around in Ayen's mind?

"Uhmm... I get that all the time." She nervously uttered after letting a moment pass by. She might have been used to this initial reaction, but seeing it from Ayen at that very moment gave her discomfort.

Would Ayen gonna hate her now?

She was about to express her thoughts when Ayen finally spoke. "I wonder why you think of yourself as not normal? Even those people who have disabilities are still normal from my perspective. Unless you're an alien."

"A gorgeous alien."

This time, Ayen bought her joke and laughed together with her.

"But seriously speaking. What do you think of me now that you've found out about my true gender identity?"

"How do you want me to see you?"

She shrugged. Even she didn't know how exactly she wanted Ayen to see her after the revelation.

She could feel that even though Ayen did not show any surprised reaction when she confessed, Ayen might've still gotten perplexed about it. She could just ignore her judgment like what she would always do to others, but it was Ayen she was talking about, a very special girl who really mattered to her. She obviously got attached to the girl so that even the bits of her opinion were very important.

Truth was, she was never out publicly, yet. But she thought it was not necessary anymore. She had been seen in public with different girls doing things that made any onlookers think beyond friendship. Besides, her family and closest friends knew about it and she gained more support than disgust. That was all that mattered before. But definitely not at the moment. She couldn't dismiss the topic without knowing Ayen's side.

"I mean, since we're friends, I guess I have to know your point of view."

"Does it matter what I think?" Ayen twisted around to face her while walking backwards. "Besides, we're not friends."

She gaped at her, trying to assimilate her answer, only to earn a throaty laugh.

Ayen then turned back to normal walking. "Kidding aside, the honest truth about life is most people are judgmental. We cannot blame them because, no matter how we deny it, we even sometimes tend to be one of them."

The seriousness of Ayen's voice made her heed her opinion. She nodded, certainly agreeing about it. How could Ayen be so right most of the time?

"It hurts to be judged, but as long as you do good, your kindness will kill them after all." She added.

When Ayen abruptly stopped walking, so did she. Ayen looked at her with a serious facade. The kind of poker face that would tell a thousand hurtful words of truthfulness in which, eventually, Ayen wouldn't speak out. Instead, she saw Ayen's eyes move from her eyes to her lips, going back to meet her eyes again.

She didn't want to assume anything, but that kind of look conveyed something.

"Can I file a lawsuit against a person who's assaulting me with her stares?" She chuckled with an obvious sound of uneasiness.

Staring at every girl's eyes was her expertise. It was her way to entice them. But Ayen was reciprocating her stares, which were truly intimidating. It was awkward, particularly when Ayen did not buy her joke.

Ayen's mouth twitched. "You are more than a beauty, Heathe. Are you aware that your simple gesture would make a girl go crazy over you?"

Stupefied by Ayen's gruff statement, she mechanically stepped backward when the girl moved forward. She finally took notice of the gap in their height and Ayen was just as tall as her. Hence, she could see how the girl's eyes sparkled like a beautiful star in the night sky. Although they were charming, she also found them a bit eerie.

"Ayen..."

"Heather..." Ayen drawled, which made her swallow hard. "Your name, your face, everything about you is just exquisite."

Her lips started to feel dry, not because of the heat generated by the sunny day. They were lurking in between the green and tall bushes that somehow provided them with cool surroundings. But Ayen's snug words and actions suffused the coolness of the atmosphere, giving her cold sweats. She was trying to compose herself to avoid falling into Ayen's charm as she was giving her the kind of inexplicable effect while inching toward her.

She might be fond of fooling around with other girls, doing the same tricks all the time. Yet she was not ready to feel this kind of intimidation. She didn't want to be a loser, but looking through it, it seemed like Ayen was naturally primed to be a winner.

"Oh, Heather..."

Her eyes mechanically shut closed when Ayen inched her face forward. It certainly was the gesture that she would consider herself lucky because a girl was making the move. But her body seemed to be holding off on the idea.

Her straw hat fell off.

She could hear her intense heartbeat, which was becoming more clamorous as she smelled the fragrance of Ayen's natural scent. Her sweet cherry lips were so soft that couldn't be compared to the other girls she had smooched. She could feel the whole damn zoo in her stomach, trying to find its way out, screaming how delighted she was to feel that way. But the ear-splitting thumping of her heart made her fall into the pit of the illusion of being kissed by the girl she really liked.

Unfortunately, the thing she had expected did not happen. It was all imagination.

She realized it when something behind her pierced through the flimsy clothes she was wearing. She felt a sudden irritating itch that made her open her eyes and blundered to reach and scratch it. "Damn it!" However, she was most likely knocked for a loop by Ayen's ridiculous taunt. "What the fvck!" She blurted out the moment she realized that Ayen only made fun of her. She stood up, raising her head, feigning madness. Although she just couldn't get berserk at her. "You— Argh!" She growled, inwardly.

"Yo-your reaction... It's priceless." Ayen hardly uttered it because she was laughing too much. She even put a hand on her belly.

"You'll pay for this, Ayen." She scowled.

The truth was she was more pissed off at herself for being too assumptive. What Ayen did was only move closer to her but she started thinking too much about it. Her mind went in chaos over a simple gesture. Logically thinking, even her friends could inch closer to her without her getting affected by them. What happened was not Ayen's fault. Imagining things was too embarrassing.

Ayen won again for the second time, but she wouldn't let this pass. She would eventually take her revenge one of these days. She furtively grinned.

Ayen wiped the corner of her eyes that welled up from laughing, exceedingly. "Sorry. I couldn't help but wonder." She said, which confused her a bit.

"Wonder what?"

"That if I was going to tease you, you would get affected."

"And?" She arched her brow.

"And you were affected." Ayen giggled.

Even if Ayen thought it was funny, it wouldn't change the fact that it made her stupid. "So? Are you gonna stay away from me now?"

Ayen shook her head. "You do have a crush on me." She proudly claimed.

That was her turn to laugh ridiculously. "Huh! N-no way!" She tried denying it, but the way she stuttered betrayed herself.

Ayen crossed her arms, though she feigned disbelief, she still kept the smile on her face. "Okay. I'll just ignore the fact that you didn't get affected, as well as not stammering right now."

That caught her. She averted her eyes right away. As much as she wanted to show her side to equally mock Ayen, she couldn't start on it. She could go razz to anybody but Ayen. Anybody could go blush because of her, but she couldn't stop herself from getting flushed because of Ayen. Good thing that she was fair white and the heat of the sun could conceal the real reason behind her crimson face. Though no heat of the sun was present at the moment.

When she picked up the straw hat she was stunned by the snake lurking in it, hissing and seemingly ready to attack. She shrieked in terror as she tumbled back away. As fast as Ayen went by her, she witnessed how the snake was struck down by a butterfly knife. What happened was really fast. The knife deftly impaled the wild snake's slim body, which wiggled momentarily in pain.

"King Cobra. Welcome to your jungle, Your Highness," Ayen uttered.

She turned to Ayen, still shocked by the presence of the reptile. "Seriously? It was an inch away from me. I could've got killed! Well, bitten actually. Nonetheless, I could still get poisoned and die." She complained.

Ayen reached out for her hand to help her stand up. "Kind of. I'm glad you were able to back away before you got bitten." She stated before handing her straw hat, which she carefully scanned first to make sure nothing was sheltered under it.

"Did you...." She stuttered in skepticism while pointing to the dead snake. She couldn't believe that Ayen was adept at handling such a dangerous object. "How did you do it?" If she was going to rate her skill, Ayen would get over a hundred points. Looking back at the dead snake, it was difficult to perfectly pierce its slender body.

Ayen strode toward the dead snake to plug the knife out of its body. "You're curious, huh?" She beamed as she turned to her, even wiggling her brows.

"That was... impressive! Did you undergo dart training?" She smiled, trying to shake off her agitation.

"Secret.." Ayen winked.

This girl wouldn't stop.

Ayen had no idea how she felt about her simple yet captivating actions. She was putting all her effort not to get affected again— not even for a wink. Or else it would be a great destruction of the 'Great Wall of Heather', which never happened when she was with other girls.

She thought, perhaps, what she felt for Ayen was not just a simple crush.

"We have to go back. I don't want to take the risk of getting ourselves into a bigger problem. It's leisure time for the farmers and nobody will be available to rescue us quickly if we get ourselves into mishaps."

She followed immediately when Ayen walked past her. While Ayen walked at ease, she stayed alert in case something wild might appear again. She felt a bit envious as she thought of the fact that Ayen was unquestionably familiar with the farm. She could see how relaxed she was while treading back.

They both stayed silent until they reached the Nipa hut where she saw the farmers gathered together. They seemed to be having fun in the middle of the day. She recalled the first night she came there. Same scenario minus alcohol. It was such a lovely night.

When Ayen greeted her father, everyone's attention instantly focused on them. She smiled and greeted them, consequently.

Ayen's grandfather motioned them to sit. Ayen turned to her as if she was asking if that would be fine because they did not intend to join the group in the first place.

But she didn't say her answer yet Ayen had already stated, "Gramps, hmm... Heathe is actually leaving. We just came here to say goodbye." She lied, which kinda displeased her.

The truth was she didn't want to go as yet, and she never mentioned anything about going home after roaming around the farm. On the other hand, it looked like Ayen wanted her to leave. But she didn't want to grant her underlying wish, especially when she saw Gramps' face saddened. Perhaps he didn't want her to go off yet.

Her lips stretched out for a coy smile. "Ah, I guess it's too early for that matter. I can stay." She shrugged and saw Gramps smile at her.

She winked at Ayen when she saw her a bit flabbergasted. It came out as her requital because Ayen didn't have any other wish but her quick disappearance. She must have hated her for making such a decision.

"Alright. Come and sit here." Gramps called out while tapping the seat next to him. The same wooden bench where she sat on, back to the first night.

"Where have you been?" A woman in her mid-forties whom she met as Cedes, asked.

"We just wandered around the acreage. Heathe wanted to see the entire property. Unfortunately, we ran into a King Cobra while walking." Ayen answered for them the moment they were settled in their seats.

How fun could it get to be seated beside the girl you liked?

She scoffed when Ayen omitted the part where she made fun of her first before they stumbled upon a reptile. As expected, Ayen wouldn't tell you about it.

They heard gasps from the group upon hearing Ayen's statement. They were obviously worried about them.

"What did you do? Did you get bitten?" Asked another woman whom she failed to remember the name.

"No. I was rather shocked. Ayen pulled out her butterfly knife to impale the snake that showed under the hat. It was amazing to see how adept she was in using such a tool." She responded with evident astonishment on her face. She couldn't just get over it.

"You're still bringing such a sharp object? Isn't it dangerous, especially, for a girl like you?" Cedes chastised.

"What's more dangerous is getting bitten or worse eaten by the wild animals." A guy meddled in a serious tone.

She looked at him waiting to see if he was joking about being eaten by wild animals. Because if it was true, that meant that the people living on the farm were in danger.

She was having a dilemma when she heard someone bellow with laughter. It was the guy. She knew it. He tried to scare her but, unfortunately, she didn't buy it. Although the bitten part frightened her a bit because she had almost experienced it earlier if she didn't hastily pull away— or if Ayen didn't know what should be done as well.

"But whenever you're with our Ayen, rest assured that you're always safe. We have trained her to get familiar with the wild species sheltering in every corner of the farm." Gramps proudly said.

Ayen smiled shyly beside her.

"By the way, Sandra made a sumptuous snack. It's glutinous rice balls with tapioca pearls and various fruits blended in coconut and sugar. Let Heathe have a taste of it. You won't regret it. My Sandra cooks so well." Cedes delightedly stated, particularly to her.

"Uhh..." Ayen muttered as she turned to her. "Do you eat something like that?"

She shrugged. "Haven't even heard of it."

Ayen was about to say something when Cedes chimed in again. "This is the right time for you to taste something unfamiliar but delicious. Once you try it, I can assure you, you'll go looking for it."

She was fighting back the urge to laugh upon secretly glancing at Ayen and seeing that she was making a face while Cedes was talking. There must've been something going on that Ayen nearly rolled her eyes toward the woman.

As ridiculous as it might have sounded, but she was excited to figure out what could possibly get Ayen pissed about.

"Sure. Let me have some."

The woman's face lit up in happiness when she agreed. She enthusiastically served her a bowl. As she handed the dish, she tried to offer it to Ayen, as well. But, as expected, the latter emphatically shook her head.

She chuckled, softly, finding Ayen so cute with her annoyed facial expression.

She then took a spoonful of glutinous rice balls and carefully ate them. She felt a bit awkward munching because Cedes was watching her. Perhaps she didn't want to miss her initial reaction.

"Uhmm, this is yummy!" She blurted out, tasting bits of banana and jackfruit in her mouth.

She honestly didn't have any liking for eating something unfamiliar, but she thought she had to fake it. She was worried that Cedes would be disappointed had she stated the truth.

"I told you!" Cedes giggled. "My daughter made it. What a shame that you don't get to know her now as she's in town to run errands. Anyway, there's still next time, right?"

She nodded, "Y-yeah."

When the woman finally left, she heard Ayen let out a little loud sigh. She almost choked with laughter when she turned and saw her frowning.

"What?" Ayen hissed.

She shook her head while trying to stop her cackle.

"Ayen!"

They looked at the person who called out Ayen's name at the same time and saw the girl's father holding a guitar.

"Please play something to ease off our tiredness." He asked, smiling.

"As expected," Ayen murmured before walking closer to her father to claim the instrument. When she sat back beside her, she uttered, "Another request, perhaps?"

"Hmm.." She thought of something meaningful to fulfill her revenge on Ayen for being such a meanie during their walk around the farm, but she couldn't proceed with it. Instead, she looked at her wiggling her brows. "Just sing and play for me."

She was expecting Ayen to refuse when she showed off a disfavorable look. But when she started to strum the guitar, it sparked off an intense emotion once again.

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