A Childhood Relationship Chapter I: THE BEGINNING AND DISTANCE

Chapter 19

CHAPTER XIX: LOOKING FORWARD

The past couple of months passed by without any other incident. Let alone any development in our relationship. Ever since the time I blatantly kissed him on the lips, none of the sort ever happened again. At the very least, he took it well and now we spend our days at the house like a normal couple despite our age. Sometimes, he would talk to me about our past and how a lot of things happened during that time. Then, on other days about whatever we did at school and about how I'm feelings at the moment. However, unlike before I already forgot when it was since I stopped covering my ears in order not to hear him from inside his room. Surprisingly, he no longer calls my name at midnight so I assumed he no longer plays with himself. Although, it might also be true that he just started staying quiet in order for me to not think badly of him. Regardless of what it may be, the only thing of concern to me is the fact that in front of me is the him who changes day by day into a decent and gentle person. Contrary to my initial thoughts, I've been wanting to hold him within my arms and caress his face. Right now, it's not possible as he doesn't evoke this feeling whenever we're alone together at our home. Still, despite all this, I'm conflicted about what I really want from our relationship which remained platonic.

As for the club I intended to join, I finally got accepted but only just recently. They've been busy for the preparation for a particular tournament that they weren't able to process my application. The only problem though is that the temperature had already started to drop that training is not that long anymore. However, the biggest problem is that my teammates doesn't want to acknowledge me as a part of them no matter what. It seems that they're fixated on my hateful reputation and they're making things harder for me. It would have been easy to quit in order to avoid this tension, but I simply cannot do it. After all, the moment I got accepted and told him about this by the time we reached him, he congratulated me.

He felt really happy for me and even told me that we can now go to and from school together. The smile from his face made me think about how I shouldn't betray his expectations from me. No matter how hard they've been treating me, I will never falter and see to it that they acknowledge my skills. Even though I stopped doing sports right after I entered high school, I'm still adept with the volleyball which I loved ever since I started middle school. Now that I think about it, all this time I've been thinking about how he is the only one who tried to get over me. It's only now that I remembered how I did sports in order to forget about the thought of him distancing from me. We've been together for a really long time that we're no longer just childhood friends as I considered him as a brother. I can't believe I forgot about something like this. Then again, it's only normal since eventually I fell in love with the sport and became engrossed with it. Thus, the initial idea of doing it in order to alleviate from loneliness became lost just like that. Still, even if this is the case, as of this moment I want to rebuild whatever I started and that I'll not just do this only for him. This time, it's also going to be about me.

Time went by so fast that I couldn't believe how break time is fast approaching. But, before this we will go into a school trip that will last for three days at a certain mountain. Due to this, all sports clubs were suspended for the time being in order to allow the students to rest for the upcoming trip which is going to be taxing. That goes without saying that his soccer club is also suspended which made it possible for the two of us to go home together for an entire week. Then, almost once or twice a week, I would answer the phone only to direct it to him. Mostly, it would take a little more than five minutes but not more than ten. Yet, I could see how happy he is whenever he talks to the person on the other side of the line. It's like he's a kid who wanted to feel the affection of his parents. Not that it is any different now as it is indeed his parents who would call and talk about certain matters.

At the same time, while I'm watching television I couldn't help but smirk since he got what he always wanted other than me, and that is the acknowledgement of his parents. Right now, I can proudly say that they returned to a normal parent-son relationship much like with what I share with my own parents. However, there is a little bit of a problem and that is when his mother would suddenly ask to talk to me. During those times, I couldn't evoke the same feelings as him as I would almost always feel nervous as she would ask about how our relationship is going. Then, there is her usual line which never gets forgotten, and that is to ask me to immediately tell her if ever her son would do something to me. But, even though she asks this question every single time, I could feel how it is not out of the issue of trust, but just the usual thing that goes on inside any parent's mind. Thus, whenever our conversation ends, I feel relieved and happy at the same time. Also, I can never forget how he would laugh at me whenever I hang up the phone as if he's teasing me about talking to his mother and feeling nervous every single time. But, due to this I couldn't help but also laugh at what I'm actually doing. Surely, our days together are really entertaining and interesting for the two of us. This still holds true even if we hadn't moved forward in out relationship for quite some time now. Still, I like how we are taking things slow and that there is no rush from both sides.

Finally, the much awaited trip to the mountains arrived. I've been too busy preparing the things I needed to bring that i forgot my plane ticket. I only remembered this as soon as we reached the entrance to the school. I panicked and didn't know what to dod as the only option now is for me not to go. Then, as soon as he noticed that there was something wrong, he asked me about it. There, I told him how I may have forgotten my plane ticket inside my room. Immediately, without any questions asked he ran towards our place. I was about to call and tell him that he shouldn't bother himself with it, but nevertheless he continued running as fast as he could.

I became worried as the teachers are starting to call our names since we'll leave in a few moments. I felt really guilty for forgetting something important for a trip such as this one. Not to mention the amount of money my parents paid for me to go and enjoy the time with my friends. Eventually, our homeroom teacher called for his name and noticed that he still wasn't there. In order to avoid a bigger problem than there already is, I told her the story and that he ran to get my plane ticket. She checked her wristwatch before telling me that we can wait for him for five more minutes before we leave. As the time ticked, I felt really nervous while looking down the road for him. I thought he would get left behind until I saw him running towards us. As soon as he got towards me, I could see how much sweat he had even though it's already cold. I hurriedly picked a hand towel from my bag and wiped the sweat off his face.

Eventually, our homeroom teacher called and we immediately entered the bus to leave as scheduled. We are seated a few seats away from each other, but I went towards him. I saw that he is still sweating so I asked him to take of his jacket as well as his shirt. He felt embarrassed at first and asked me what I wanted to do. This made me feel embarrassed myself so I told him that I'll wipe the sweat from his back as he might catch a cold. Realizing that he misunderstood, he proceeded to remove his clothing and laid his bare back in front of me. At that moment, I wiped him as meticulous as I could until no more sweat is apparent. I noticed how he was about to wear his shirt again so I stopped and told him that he should instead cover himself with the towel I took out from my bag.

He asked me if it's okay since I'll be using it for when I take a bath. Nevertheless, I told him that it is in return for getting my plane ticket without any second thoughts. He laughed and told me that I really am clumsy no matter how high and mighty I may appear outside. Since he's teasing me in front of our classmates, I shoved my towel on his face and immediately went back to my seat, but not before telling him to use it for the time being to avoid feeling cold. While I was carefully walking, he thanked me and it made me feel good with what I just did. On the other hand, his seat mate kept on bugging him about how much we're showing off our relationship to them. I blushed myself as even my friends were doing the same. However, I kept explaining to them how it was my fault in the first place and I'm just doing what any normal concerned person would. Silently, I thought about how I basically touched and felt away his body without thinking. It seemed to resemble what I did for him when he became sick several months ago and how I panicked at the time to the point of calling my mother. The only difference this time is that I did it to him while he is conscious and aware of what I was doing.

Soon, we reached the airport and boarded the airplane. Actually, it looked like we privately rented it for ourselves as we filled more than half of the seats. Then, it came to me that only recently I boarded an airplane to meet my parents at the north. Thinking back, a lot of things happened during that time and I wasn't aware of his intentions at all. I looked back for a while to see him sitting beside his friend. They were talking to each other happily that I became curious as to what their topic is to merit that kind of noise. On the other hand, my friends surrounded me from both sides. We talked about the trip which we are looking forward to. Although, it isn't as fun as it may sound as we'll only climb a mountain and stay at a local inn. Yet, they are enthused about the things we can do by the time we go to sleep. I looked outside the window to see the clouds covering the scene beneath us. In just an hour we'll reach our destination provided there aren't any airport congestions. Since there aren't anything I can do in the first place, I decided to sleep for the time being.

I nearly forgot about my surroundings as someone kept on calling onto my name. The moment I opened my eyes, my friend is in front of me and kept on telling me to wake up. I was surprised and upon looking around, all the seats are already unoccupied. Due to that, I asked her if I've been sleeping for quite some time after we reached the airport. She nodded and then told me to follow her as we'll need to meet at the station as soon as possible. With that, we hurried and was glad that the last few groups are still there. Apparently, the station is only a walking distance from the airport. A few minutes of walking later and riding the bus later, we finally reached the midpoint of the mountain where the inn is located.

In our schedule, the mountain hiking is still for later after the lunch. Our homeroom teacher called us to gather around the open field and prepare the ingredients as soon as possible. Without sparing any moment, we did all the things assigned to us. Us girls were assigned to prepare the ingredients while the boys are taking care of the gathering of firewood. However, no matter how much we do things, we cannot seem to break a sweat since it's really cold. It is a mountain after all, what more if we reached the zenith later. Soon, all the preparations were done and all of us ate lunch at the same time. The one I cooked tasted a lot better compared to the others. I knew since I tasted them while we are still cooking. I was a bit proud as my friends cheered for me for my cooking. Who would have thought that him teaching me how to cook would come in handy for something like this. Perhaps, I could say that I'm really thankful to him for introducing me to this wonderful art. Still, we can't seem to hang out with each other as we're with our own groups.

Eventually, a few minutes after we finished eating, the teachers called us to draw lots. One by one, we went towards the box where we would pick our partners for the hiking. I was spared from thinking of being paired with a person from another class as the boxes are limited only to classrooms. As it was already my turn, I grabbed the paper, checked it and proceeded to where my expected location is based from the number. I looked around for who my partner would be, but there is no one in sight. Moments later, he came walking near me and asked what my number is. I showed him my number and he was surprised to see that we both have the same number. It was a near impossible match, but still we're lucky to grab the same number. I felt so happy that I told him that we should hurry towards the zenith ahead of the others. He smiled at me and then said that we should be careful as the route seems tough. The people around us on the other hand are either too quiet to talk with each other or too happy to be paired with their friends. I smiled and as I thought, we really are partners for this trip. In just this instance, my initial of this being a boring trip turned around into something worth looking forward to. After all, at this exact moment, we have a reason to be near each other and there is no way we can avoid this. Our platonic relationship may actually move after quite a long time.

While the teachers are discussing the precautions and what we needed to do, we kept on talking to each other. We've been together most of the time, yet this seemed different from the usual. Thus, we thought talking like this is a new experience for us. We are too engrossed about talking on what we need to do to the point that our homeroom teacher called our names. She asked the two of us to go in front and take her place. Obviously, we are being punished for not paying attention. But, we can't help but think it is still fun. At this time, we explained everything written on the sheet of paper. In a way, it also helped us learn about the things we need to take note of. Our classmates on the other hand are carefully listening to us while we alternate between our lines.

There are even times when we would chuckle upon reading something wrong that our strict yet kind teacher would reprimand us for not taking it seriously and just focusing on our being in love with each other. I merely blushed at the thought to the point that it actually became effective for me to be serious. However, he kept on chuckling despite what our teacher just said. Due to this, she moved towards us and then told him that she'll will switch our numbers if he wouldn't keep quiet. Just like that, he turned quiet that I held a slight smirk on my face. To think that our homeroom teacher could affect him to such a degree with just those words. In the end, we competed whatever was assigned to us and we returned to our position.

Shortly after, every classroom was asked to move in order. Then, each partners were told to walk after a certain interval. We're a bit on the middle section, we still had some time to talk to each other. Our conversation mainly revolved around what happened just now. Afterwards, we checked if we brought our water bottles which are going to be important for the long hike. Soon, it was already our turn to walk and our classmates cheered for us not to hide within the forests and play around. Normally, being teased would annoy me in the past, but this time it's more of feeling embarrassed, not that I hate it. Eventually, we entered the deep forests to walk towards the top of the mountain where we'll go back right after taking a picture of the scenery with our mobile phones. It is also worth noting that for the pairs that both didn't have cell phones with them, their numbers were switched. This is actually the reason why the pairing up took quite some time. Now, it's time for us to climb the top and look forward to a photo with the two of us together.