Chemistry

A Broken Love Bar

"Hayy!" I sighed. Suddenly, a guy sat next to me. I didn't see his face at first, so I moved to another seat farther away, but he followed and sat beside me again. He was wearing a hat, so I couldn't see his face. Just as I was about to speak, he removed the hat. It was Reign.

"Hi beautiful, are you single? Can I get your number?" he asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Even though I'm single, you don't deserve to know my name," I replied.

"I guess I'm being rejected here," he said. "By the way, what are you doing here? Are you alone?"

"No, I'm with my friends. They're inside the photobooth for couples. I'm just waiting for them here," I replied.

"Wanna try it?" he asked.

"Try what?"

"The photobooth."

"It's for couples," I said.

"Then let's be a couple," he said, moving his face closer to mine. I backed away and pushed his face aside.

"Not interested," I replied.

He was talking quite a lot today.

"You know, my friends said that they know you. They said you're a troublemaker and you're always getting into fights. They said your face looks familiar, like that guy. So, that's why I'm asking today if that's really you."

“If I admit it's true, will you view me the same way as they do?" he responded.

"I don't know. I'm just asking for now. I don't believe anything until I see it for myself," I replied.

He looked at me as I said those words, then looked away. I noticed for the first time that his eyes were very pretty—his lashes were long and his eyebrows were thick. Maybe Hezi was right; no wonder a lot of girls have a crush on him. He definitely has the looks.

It became quiet for a moment. I noticed that he just looked straight ahead, and I always looked away after staring at his face for too long. I can't help it, though—I always stare too long at people I find attractive. After a moment, I decided to break the silence.

"How about you? What are you doing here? Are you with your friends too?" I asked.

He looked at me and replied, "No, I'm with my family. They're shopping on the 3rd floor."

"Then why are you here on the first floor?" I asked.

"I was just walking around," he said.

"Oh, I see," I replied.

At that moment, I didn't notice that Raina and Hezi were already done taking pictures in the couple's photobooth with their boyfriends. They saw me talking to a guy and quietly moved closer to surprise us. They tapped my shoulders.

"He's your boyfriend, right? You're even hiding it!" Hezi teased.

They looked at me and grabbed Reign's shoulder.

They were about to say more, but when they realized it was Reign, they quickly pulled their hands away and dragged me aside.

"Girl? You didn't even say that was the guy! What if he waits for me at the gate because I touched him?" Hezi said, panicking and whispering.

"You're such a meddler, you just jumped right in," Raina told Hezi.

"How was I supposed to know it was him? I thought he was Ivy's boyfriend," Hezi replied.

"As if she'd ever get a boyfriend. I was actually surprised at how close she and that guy were to each other," Raina noted. "It seems like Ivy’s type are the bad boys," Hezi said, laughing with Raina.

"What are you both even saying? He was just trying to approach me, and we were just having a normal conversation," I replied.

"That's a 'damn normal' conversation, you guys were so close! We could see from behind earlier, the way he was looking at you was so intense. You might be the next target of that jerk," Hezi warned.

"What 'intense'?' Maybe that's just your imagination. It's normal to look at each other while talking, ano ba kayo," I said.

"Girl, don't bother explaining it to her. You know, Ivy's 'love bar' is broken. Damn, she didn't even notice that Leo had a crush on her; she just said, 'He's just being nice'," Raina said sarcastically.

"What 'love bar'?,You guys are crazy. What kind of things/words are you coming up with this time?” I said.

"Exactly, she can't distinguish if someone likes her. She always thinks they're just being nice, or friendly—so many excuses, you're just really dense!" Hezi said, rolling her eyes at me.

"Also, stay away from that guy. He is known as a playboy, just by looking at his face. Also, I remember his name—it sounds like Rin? Ren? Ranny? Gosh, I forgot about it again," Hezi added.

"It's Reign," I said.

They both looked at me. "Look at you," Raina said, looking at me weirdly.

“Oh, come on, guys haha. He just said his name to me," I replied.

"Damn, he really is interested in you. You might end up being one of the girls he fools," Hezi said, sounding angry.

I tapped her shoulder and Raina's. "Seriously you guys... you're both just imagining it. Wait for me here, okay? I'll just say goodbye to him. It's just rude to leave him alone there," I said, walking away from them with a smile while they watched me, annoyed. I knew they were just concerned about me, and that was completely okay.

I tapped Reign's shoulder. "We're going over there. Are you just going to wait for your family here, or will you come with us upstairs? You might see them there," I said while he looked at me.

"Okay, I'll go with you" he replied.

When he was about to stand up, I spoke. "Uhm, wait a minute. I'll just tell my friends. It's obvious that they don't seem to like you, but they're good people—they're just mean sometimes."

I left him and went to my friends. After a few minutes of pleading with them to let Reign walk with us through the mall, they finally agreed.

"Just don't let him get close to us! He might even pick a fight with my boyfriend. They said he fought with him before. I'll punch that guy," Hezi said, looking annoyed.

I tapped her shoulder and said, "Okay, okay, we'll just walk behind you guys, ha?" I smiled.

"Whatever! Acting all cute. Fine, let's go," Hezi replied.

I called Reign over to come with us, and he quickly walked toward us. Looking at him, his height seemed well over 5'11"; he looked really tall, and the way he dressed and walked was decent. I just couldn't believe that this guy had such a bad reputation. Maybe being handsome is troublesome after all. I suddenly smiled while thinking about it, and Raina and Hezi noticed.

"Don't tell me you have a crush on that guy?" Hezi said, holding my shoulder. She let go and spoke again. "My friend is so unlucky, my god. Getting a crush on someone who isn't even decent." She quickly became quiet as soon as Reign got closer. I just kept smiling at her.

Reign walked behind us. Raina and Hezi stayed beside me while their boyfriends walked in front. I didn't bother looking back at Reign because Hezi and Raina were busy talking to me, keeping a distance from him. It made me feel a bit sad for him. Even though I didn't know much about him, I really felt like he was a nice person and that people were only thinking the worst.

Maybe they didn't know him at all; they only knew the bad side of him because that was all he allowed them to see. Even if what they said was true, why was he always so calm when talking? His actions were nothing like the rumors in school.

After a few minutes of walking, Hezi and Raina's boyfriends called them over. They told me to wait a minute, so I stood there alone with Reign.