Running from the Horizon (Secondary Series #2)

10

“N-no! I don’t have one! Meghan!”

I panicky deny the moment mama questioned me. Meghan is such a troublemaker! I thought she was on my side but she just had to make that up in mama’s mind. It was what I have been avoiding the most, them assuming that Noah is a boyfriend.

“Ate what I mean is boy friend! A friend who is a boy!” She explained innocently.

I glared at her because of how fun she is teasing me. She is biting her lower lip while preventing herself from laughing. Mama had her brows furrowed, confused with what Meghan said. She definitely is considering that Meghan is so suspicious. I mean there is nothing to hide because Noah really is just a friend but she had to make it sound like he is a special person.

Mama’s eyes waver between me and Meghan. She looks at us so suspiciously making me both nervous and guilty for some reason. Is there even a reason why I should feel guilty? Or even nervous?

“Then who is this guy friend? Russell?” She questioned. Of course she thought it’s Russ. He is the only guy friend I have that she knows since we are childhood friends.

“No mama. It’s kuya Noah!” Bailey excitedly answered.

The mention of Noah’s name did not help. Mama looked at me as if waiting for my explanation.

“He is a friend from school mama. He asked me to accompany him to buy a gift for his friend so he went here while I changed.” I explained as she slowly nodded.

Luckily, she did not ask any more questions but she would not just let it go. I know mama. She will wait until Noah’s name will be brought up again. I’m just lucky that it was her who went in the kitchen earlier. If it’s papa then I won’t be able to get out that easily.

“You are such a troublemaker you know! Mama was so suspicious of your answer and to me!” I scolded Meghan the moment she followed me in my room.

“She wouldn’t be suspicious if you just acted so well and went with the flow earlier ate. You look so nervous like you did something bad.That’s why she was suspicious!” She defended while laughing.

I know Meghan has a little bit of prankster inside her. She always likes teasing me about things that I don’t know but she knows. A typical sibling teasing. I love my sister but this is the first time I wanna plaster her good lips with a stapler so she won’t say anything again.

“Whatever. I’ll just take a shower and get change.”

I took a quick shower because the tiredness suddenly hit me that I just wanna lay down already and sleep. I wore my pajamas before heading outside my room only to see Meghan still in there, watching over my television.

“Why are you still here?” I asked.

“I’m watching ate. Isn’t it obvious?” She answered, like mocking me.

“You have your own television in your room. Why do you keep watching here?”

Meghan and I had the same size bedroom. We were in one room only way back in the early days of elementary before I turned 4th grade. Our parents decided that I should have my own room since I’m already too old to stay in the same room as my sister. It’s probably the reason why Meghan likes staying here in my room every night before going to sleep. She got so used to staying in the same room.

I just let her be and just did my skin care routine. My eyes are literally dropping while I was wiping a cotton of toner over my face. I felt so sleepy despite the noise from the television. I guess I used up all my energy too much today.

“Hey! Just watch in your room now. I will go to sleep already,” I told Meg as she acted like she can’t hear me. I threw her a pillow when I let myself drop to my bed. “Did you hear me?”

She glared at me and threw back the pillow which I wasn’t able to catch. She threw it directly to my face which is really unexpected and that got me to rise up suddenly because of the impact.

“You will probably talk with kuya Noah for an hour before going to sleep. Stop fooling yourself!” She teases before switching the television off. She has a smug on her face while I glare at her. “You think I don’t know how long you two talk?”

I don’t talk with Noah that long! Maybe? I don’t know! I just seem to lose time count everytime we talk because he keeps spilling new topics and keeps playing. He also helps me with my homeworks whenever he can. That's why we talked for long.

“Just so you know, ate,” She said, looking back at me, standing near the door. “Even if you already got yourself a boyfriend, I won’t expose you to mama and papa.”

“Well you won’t be exposing me anytime soon. Just go!” I demanded as she chuckled.

“Let’s see about that!” She said before opening the door. Just when I thought she would really leave already, she peeks her head through the door. “I won’t expose you as long as the boyfriend is kuya Noah.”

I almost threw the alarm clock from my nightstand when she winked at me and immediately closed the door. She really is having too much fun! What is it with my friends and sister teasing me over Noah?

My alone time has come and I was already able to lay down on my bed. I can feel the heaviness of my eyelids and how tired my legs are. I exceeded too much today. To think that I used my legs too much during practice and had to walk around the mall to accompany Noah buying his friend a gift, I feel so bad for my legs suddenly. I still have practice to attend tomorrow. Just thinking about it makes me just wanna skip the practice but it’s impossible.

My eyes was about to close already when my phone rang indicating a phone call. Only one person will call me during this time.

“Aren’t you tired?”

[“Wow! Hello to you too!”] He said, laughing softly.

“Just spill what you want. I wanna sleep already.” I said, whining.

[“I just wanna ask if your siblings like the brownies I bought them,”] Is he kidding me? He can just message me about it and I can reply tomorrow. Why does he need to call?

“They finished one box so yes they like it. If they get a stomach ache tomorrow or a sore throat, you are dead.” I threatened as he laughed on the other side of the call.

[“Don’t exaggerate Diana Gonzales. They will be just too energetic to sleep with all those chocolates from the brownies.”]

“Why do you even sound so proud that they will be energetic at this time?” I asked, sounding so confused.

He just laughed at my question once again and there was silence. A silence that almost made my eyelids feel heavy once again.

[“Did you get in trouble?”]

That’s it! I sat down on my bed and decided to give up half an hour of my supposed to be sleep. He just won’t stop talking!

“Almost, but not because I went to the mall. It’s because of Meghan,” I said, feeling stressed just remembering the stress Meghan gave me earlier.

[“Why? I thought she got your back?”] He asked, chuckling.

“She does but of course, she’s a prankster sometimes so she played a little. Telling mom that the kuya our younger brothers says they want to play with again is my boyfriend. You two really are giving me a massive headache tonight.” I said, almost complaining about everything already.

Instead of feeling bad, I head his hard laugh on the other side of the phone. Why did I even expect that he would feel bad a little that I had a hard time earlier?

[“I really like your sister!”] He said in between laughter. [“What happened then?”]

“Well mama got shocked and asked me if I have a boyfriend then Meg said that boy friend was a guy friend. If only you saw how suspicious mama’s eyes are while looking at me earlier. For some reason, I thought I was trapped in her cage.” I said as I can hear his struggling giggles while preventing himself from laughing.

[“You should have stick with I’m your boyfriend. I told you, I can be your boyfriend in their eyes.”]

“Again, no thanks. I’ll just stick with I don’t have one.”

Maybe due to tiredness, I wasn’t able to notice that he is at it again. I was able to dodge it so easily without even feeling any nervous unlike earlier when we were talking about the same topic.

“By the way, did you promise to Bailey that you will teach him to play basketball better?”

[“Yeah. He told me that playing basketball is his hobby. I happened to like playing basketball as well so I might just help him play better. You don’t know, you might see him in UAAP once he turns college.”] He explained as I shook my head.

“You shouldn’t have promised him that. It’s not like you can do it anyway and you are not coming back here anymore anyway. You are just making my brother's hopes high.” I scolded.

[“Who said I wouldn’t come back there?”]

He is planning to come back again? Why?

“What do you mean?” My brows are furrowed even though he can’t see it. He doesn’t need to come here again.

[“Spending time with your siblings, especially your brothers, really warms my heart Diana. It’s like I’m full. I told you earlier that I had fun right? It’s not just when we were in the mall. But also when I was playing with your siblings. It has a different effect on me since I’m an only child remember?”]

Somehow, he finds comfort in my siblings? His desire of having a sibling of his own was filled when he played with mine. It made me soft… that my siblings gave him happiness and made him fill his desire. But I don’t want my siblings to really get used to him. I’m afraid that the time will come and I won’t talk with Noah again anymore then my brothers will look for him, I don’t know what I will tell them.

I was about to talk when my door suddenly opened, revealing mama. I panicky, end the call and sit properly making her confused.

“Did I just catch you doing something bad? Why do you look so tense?” She asked, in between chuckles.

“N-no! I was just shocked.” I answered, trying to smile normally as she let out a smile.

“Who are you talking with? Why did you end the call suddenly?”

I cannot tell it was Noah because mama will question me but I don’t wanna lie as well. Why is this so hard?

“It was Marley. She just asked me about school. Why did you come here in my room mama?” I asked, averting the topic off of me.

“I just need to talk to you about something,” She said, a little serious.

The tone of mama’s voice made me nervous. I’m sure it wasn’t about me fully. But something else. Can it be?

“Can you tell me the truth?” She said, holding my hand. “Did you hear what we were talking about last Christmas?”

I knew it.

I avoided her eyes, looking down. I felt so guilty because I know I shouldn’t have done that. But it wasn’t intentional.

“What did you hear anak?” She asked me in a soft voice.

“Just tita Luisa asking you and papa if you already told us. You told them that you are waiting for the right timing.” I answered in a soft voice, afraid that mama will scold me. My head is down, avoiding her eyes. Eavesdropping is bad, I know that. But I never intended to do it.

“I’m sure you have questions right?” She asked me, like giving me time to ask what has been bugging me for months now.

“Are you and papa okay?” It was the only question that popped up in my mind. Suddenly, the tiredness was gone. It was replaced by fear. Fear that I might find out something that I shouldn’t have found out.

Mama heaved a deep sigh, hesitating whether to answer me or not. Is my question that hard to answer? Are they in the right position to not be able to answer a simple question? I have asked them many times about it already but they are always able to give me a reply. That they are fine even though I know they are not.

“To be honest with you, there is something that we really can’t tell you and your siblings yet.” She confessed. “We don’t want to tell you because we wanted to make sure everything first before getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t want you and your siblings to get hurt.”

“Is it about your marriage?”

Mama made me raise my head to make me look at her. Her eyes show concern and shock with my question. Did I question my parents' love for each other? Their commitment for each other?

“It wasn’t like that anak. If you are thinking that your papa and I might separate, that won’t happen. Never,” She tried assuring me as I only nodded.

I don’t know whether I should believe it yet. She wouldn’t tell me the real reason yet behind the words they used back then. I can only imagine what I can.

“Look dear. I cannot tell you right now what it is all about. Your papa and I want to protect your feelings, your mental health as much as possible. We need to consider and make sure a lot of things first before we can tell you. But one thing you should not worry about is that there will be no separation okay? Your papa and I had been through a lot already to separate now.” She said.

It somehow comforted me. As long as they wouldn’t separate then that is all I want to hear. My parents separating will be hardest for me and my siblings. I don’t want us to be separated with one another.

“You trust mama and papa, right?” She asked as I looked at her pleading eye. There was a hint of loss in her eyes. It was the first time I have seen it.

“Of course,” She smiled and nodded, feeling relieved.

“Then trust us on this okay? The right time will come and you will find out what it is.”

I have to trust my parents since they are the elders. I shouldn’t question anything since I’m sure they know what they are doing. If they are preventing themselves from talking about it for now, maybe it really is for our sake. It’s for us to not get hurt.

“Did you get home safely yesterday Diana?” Vanessa asked when we were given a break from practice.

“Yeah. Did you guys take too long in the mall?” I asked back, drinking my water.

“Not really,” She answered but her eyes were still watching me so suspiciously. I raised my brows in confusion.

“Is there something in my eyes?” I asked, touching my face to check it.

“Are you and Noah went to the mall last night?” I stopped when I heard Noah’s name. How did she know?

She probably noticed how flustered I got so she said it herself already. “We saw the two of you going outside the restaurant last night. I thought I was just hallucinating but turns out, it was true.”

“What did the two of you do in the mall? Was it a date?” Camille popped beside me, looking all curious, with a grin.

“No! It wasn’t like that! He just asked me to help him buy his friend a gift. You know, Nicole Jimenez,” I explained.

“But why did the two of you come out of the restaurant instead? Is he planning to buy her a restaurant as a birthday gift?” Camille said, in between chuckles. She receives a smack on the shoulder by Marley who is listening to our conversation.

“They ate there, of course! Goodness Camille!” She said in disbelief. I shook my head knowing that they will start arguing again.

“Marley!” And I wasn't wrong.

I focused my attention on my phone when it buzzed for notification. One from James Sanchez and one from Noah. What’s with these two?

James Sanchez: so it was you!

James Sanchez: my dear friend bailed on me yesterday bcs he said he has a family dinner to attend

James Sanchez: so u are the family now huh?

James Sanchez: that sneaky lil brat!

My brows furrowed in confusion with what he is talking about. Where did he even get the information that Noah and I were together last night? Why is everyone finding out that we were together?

Noah: u said that someone was following us last night right?

Noah: it was emma

Noah: she saw and followed us, trying to see a clearer view of u

Me: Emma Buenaventura? shut up!

Amelia Emma Beunaventura of Buena Fortuna House of Publishing was following us last night? Why would she even need to follow us? I mean she just walk right up to usz

Me: so what did u tell her?

Noah: the girls keeps asking me whether i have a girlfriend or not

Noah: i almost answered yes, she’s my girlfriend

Noah: but my friend won’t let me go so i didn’t

A smile creeped on my lips when I read that. So it was Emma. Is it a big deal for them if Noah had a girlfriend? He’s a flirt, I’m sure they are use with him having a girl.

Talking to Noah feels like the time is going too fast. Being busy with the practices and getting used to him bothering me, I didn’t really feel the week anymore. The remaining days were only dedicated to my practices until the performance arrived. All of us were so glad that the performance was over because our practices are over as well. We finally have some rest time!

“Is Noah coming to pick you up again today?” Marley asked as we headed out of the restroom after changing.

“I don’t know. He shows up whenever he wants to, he never really gave me a heads up.”

For the past few days, Noah has been consistently coming to our school to pick me up. I got teased a lot by my friends because of it. Whenever I asked him why he keeps coming, he said that it's because he is bored and he wants to play with my brothers. So at the end, they have been playing for days.

The maids in our house are getting used to Noah being around. I’m just afraid that mama and papa will know he keeps coming. I know that I can just introduce him to them but I’m nervous about what they will think.

“And of course he is here,” I heard Nicole’s squeal beside me as I looked in the direction she is looking at. “I’m doubting your denial now that he is not your boyfriend.”

I have heard them say it a lot of times now. It was what they have been going for the last couple days. It was kinda annoying but it surely flattered me.

“Why are you here again?” I question when I approached him. His side lips rose up, playfully smirking.

“Came to pick up my girlfriend of course,” He winked at me while my squeal in excitement. I rolled my eyes at him as he laughed. “I’m just kidding! I’m bored.”

The exact line and reason every single day. Doesn’t he have friends to spend the day with?

“D,”

“OMG! Kuya Russ!” Camille exclaimed, approaching him, creating a small gap between them.

She talks to him but his eyes remain to me and Noah. His eyes are baffled with the presence of his junior. I stayed silent as Noah creeps a smug smile on his lips, staring back to his senior.

“This school is a little far from SPU. I didn’t expect you to take a detour.” Russ commented, making Camille stop talking when she realized that Russ is not listening.

“If you can take a detour from UP, then I can too. I’m willing as long as it’s for Diana,”

He is provoking him but I don’t know why is Russ being provoked. I haven’t seen Russ for a month because he got busy immediately right after the classes started again. I even forgot that he told me that he is planning to pick me up today.

“So? When will we leave?” Noah asked me, neglecting Russ’ presence. I can feel my best friend’s eyes on me, probably wondering what his junior is saying.

“About that, I forgot that Russ told me he will be coming to pick me up. So you can’t come today,” I carefully answered as Noah looks behind where Russ is looking at him almost blankly.

“I guess I can just play with Bailey and Kyle tomorrow then,” He exclaimed, shrugging his shoulder. I thought he would leave already when he walked to his car but he only took a paper bag with him before coming closer to us again.

“Here,” He said, handing a familiar paper bag to me. I took the paper bag and looked inside only to see a familiar box.

“What is this?” I look at him questionably and confused.

“I saw you looking at it so I bought it as a thank you gift for accompanying me last time,” He exclaimed.

I took out the box of shoes and opened it. My eyes sparkled with the sight of the shoes I stared at last time. But then a thought came, should K really received this?

“Don’t even try to give it back to me okay? I won’t take it back. Just consider it as a late Christmas gift.” I shook my head when he got ahead of me again.

“Thank you,” I said with my eyes still sparkling with the sight of the shoes.

It feels like there are just the two of us here. My friends and Russ are just watching us silently. My whole focus went to Noah alone. It was weird but my heart is flattering so bad right now.

“By the way, Nicole’s birthday is in two day. Wanna come?” He asked as I closed the box of shoes he just gave me.

“I’m not her friend nor a schoolmate. Why would I even go? Besides, we are not close.” I said, rejecting his offer.

“Well, if I introduce you as my girlfriend to them, then they will be glad to welcome you and even steal you from me,” I glared at him when he brought that up again.

The more people tease me about Noah, the more he likes to play around me. The word girlfriend has been constantly being heard since that day he asked me to accompany him. It was just a play to him but it always leaves me speechless.

“So, will you come and be my girlfriend?”