INTO

CHAPTER NINETEEN

They walked the first few minutes in silence, neither Tina nor Gwen uttering a single word.

“Why did you offer to follow me?” Tina finally broke the silence. “Come to think of it, it wasn’t really an offer. Why are you following me? Do you even know where I’m headed?”

“To look for your dad, isn’t it?” Gwen replied. “And please, don’t ask me how I figured it out. I’m not dumb.”

“Oh.”

“And since you’re so adamant on believing it was him and wanting to see him again,” Gwen raised her eyebrows. “We can just as well look for him together.”

“Thank you,” Tina smiled. “Um, we’ll just walk in the same direction as we did the last time. You know, the last time we saw him.”

“Yeah, sure let’s do that.”

They exchanged nods and continued walking in the familiar path they took the last time. Having no idea what her dad supposedly looked like, all Gwen could do was walk quietly next to her while she looked around for her dad.

Their steps were slow like Tina was taking her time to look at every single person that passed by to confirm it wasn’t her dad. They kept on walking and when almost thirty minutes had passed, Tina stopped.

“Why did you stop?” Gwen asked at her abrupt pause. “Did you see him? Or someone that looks like him?”

“No,” Tina shook her head. “I didn’t. And suddenly I don’t think I would even see him.”

“What? Why?”

“Maybe you were right,” Tina said with a sigh then turned to face Gwen. “Maybe I was just hallucinating. Now that I think about it, it really doesn’t make any sense. How the hell would he be here? Of course it makes no sense.”

“Tina-”

“He looked so much like him though,” she said then crouched all of a sudden. “I promise I wasn’t even thinking about him and he wasn’t on my mind so why? And then our eyes met and almost immediately, he ran away. I know I’m making no sense but I can’t help it. Was I really hallucinating? Was he really not there? Was it really all in my head?”

“Hey, Tina,” Gwen looked around them before joining her to crouch next to her. Cursing under her breath, she noticed they were already getting stares and just wished Tina would get up. “Hey, get up.”

All she got in response was a sniffle.

"Tina," Gwen said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Look, i really don't know what to say right now but I don't think you should let this weigh you down. I understand it's crazy and could be overwhelming right now but you were doing fine without him so you should just keep on doing the same. Huh?"

She bit her lip, realizing how bad she was at consoling people. "Hey."

"I guess you're right," Tina raised her head, totally surprising Gwen.

"I am?"

"Yeah," she rose to her feet. "I don't know if I was hallucinating or if I really saw him but I'm just going to keep on living like I was. I shouldn't get myself all worked up for something that might not even be real."

"Yeah, you shouldn't."

"Thank you, though," Tina smiled at her. "You keep making me feel indebted towards you."

"Oh no you don't have to," Gwen waved her hands. "It's fine. So, are we heading back to Clover's?"

"Yeah, I guess," she nodded slowly. "It's probably the most reasonable thing to do right now."

"Or let's just keep walking a bit further," Gwen suggested. "Just in case, you know? A stroll couldn't hurt."

"Aw, I feel bad now," Tina pouted. "If I knew we'd just be going on a stroll I'd have allowed Adam tag along. He seemed like he really wanted to."

Gwen simply shrugged.

"Do you really not know?"

Gwen arched an eyebrow at Tina and she continued. "I mean he obviously has a massive crush on you. Do you really not know?"

"I do," Gwen replied plainly. "So what about it?"

"Right," she bit her lip. "I forgot who you were for a second. You're Gwendolyn Patterson. You're probably used to having people have massive crushes on you. It definitely doesn't faze you."

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment."

"It is, really," Tina giggled. "I just really wonder what it's like to have someone like you."

"Oh?" Gwen blinked. "You've never had someone confess to having a crush on you?"

"No, never," she shook her head. "But I mean, it's understandable. I'm that weird nerd."

"Um," Gwen suddenly was confused on what to say. "Nah I'm positive someone would have had a crush on you at least once. They just never confessed it to you."

"You think?"

"Of course I'm sure," Gwen pat her lightly on the back. "And oh yeah, I remember you admitting to have a crush on someone yesterday. Spill, who was it?"

"Oh," Tina blushed bright red, Gwen staring in horror. "About that."

"Christ your face looks no different from a tomato right now," Gwen let out. "You really are so obvious with your feelings. Tell me, who's it?"

"Tyler."

"What?!" Gwen almost yelled, taken by utter surprise. "That was so unexpected."

"I know right," Tina was still smiling like a fool. "It's just that he seems really cool and he also seemed kinda quiet. Compared to Petal and Stefan, he's so different and humble."

"Well that's true," Gwen nodded. "It'd be a shame if you had a crush on Stefan. A total shame. Anyways, it's cute so would you be telling him?"

"What?!" Tina said in an unusual loud voice. "Tell him? Why would I do that? Am I crazy? There's no way in hell I'm going to tell him that."

"Too bad," Gwen shrugged. "What are you going to do with your feelings then."

"Nothing! I'll just keep on liking him from a distance."

Gwen shook her head. "Boring. I thought we were dealing with a different Tina from the one at school."

"Me telling you about my crush makes me different enough," Tina said and Gwen couldn't agree less. "You won't tell anyone about this, right?"

"You bet," Gwen finally smiled. "Congratulations. You just earned yourself a little secret with me."

"That doesn't sound-"

She paused her words halfway, her whole body doing the same. Confused at her sudden pause and change in expression, Gwen knitted her eyebrows and looked in the direction she was staring, only to meet her watching a grown man walking casually.

"Oh my God, is that him?" Gwen asked, her eyes widening. "Is that your dad."

All she got in response was a nod as Tina immediately began walking towards him.

Looking around them, Gwen resumed walking, directly behind her not stopping until they were only few inches away from him.

"Dad?"

He looked like he was in his late thirties, dressed in casual clothes. Just like Tina, he had Ginger hair, Gwen noticing they had the same eye color the minute he looked up to meet Tina's gaze.

"Dad, it's you, right?"