CHAPTER 12 - HIDE
1206 Words
HANNAH
I came before Apollo. I was already at the park at 8AM and bought a ticket. I was right in front of the gate waiting for his car to arrive. I tried to call but he's not answering his phone. I'm already heaving a sigh of relief because I've been waiting for two hours. I took shelter under the tree because the heat reached where I was standing there.
I crouch down and watch the leaves fly by with my feet stopping in front of me. I raised my head and saw Apollo walking towards me.
"You're late." I couldn't hide my annoyance.
"Yeah, I got a little lost. Sorry."
"You can use the Waze, you know," I whispered.
"What do you want? I'm here, am I?" He said irritably.
I secretly sighed and looked at him before giving a sweet smile. I’m not going to ruin my day for this. I'll just hide it, he doesn't mind.
"Let's go inside." I reached for his hand, but he avoided it and stepped forward.
"It's the last day again, Apollo. You can’t even give it to me," I whispered bitterly before following him.
He didn't even ask if I was okay and if I wasn't bored waiting for him. He didn't even give me a compliment on my hard work today. I walked with him even though his steps were big. My shoes are brand new, and I can feel the blisters forming on my feet, but I don't wear them.
"Apollo, don't you want to eat breakfast first? You might be hungry." I asked and this time, he let me reach for his arm.
"No. I already ate at home earlier."
But I haven’t.
"Is that so, the rides will open later. Come eat with me first, I'm hungry."
"Okay,” he said coldly.
While waiting for food, I tried to save our conversation. Because he only answers in three words. It's like he doesn't want to talk to me.
"Apollo, it's the last day. Maybe it's okay to put aside your anger." Even though it hurt, I chose to smile.
He took a deep breath. "You have a lot of demands, Hannah. You want to go on a date, I gave in. You want to eat, I accompanied you. Later you will make me ride the rides, but I can't do anything but follow you."
I looked down. "I just want you to enjoy this day too."
"Enjoy this? You force everything you want on me."
This is supposed to be a date. Why does something seem wrong?
I forced a soft laugh and held his hand on the table. "Isn't this a date? Let’s not fight. This is the last day; we can fake our feelings while together. Okay?"
I was just thankful because my voice didn't shake while saying that.
"Okay," he withdrew his hand and folded his arms before looking outside of where we were eating.
After breakfast, we went for a walk so that I wouldn't feel nauseous when riding. There was no word between us, and it slowed down to walk. I wanted to hold Apollo's hand, but he might have been more irritated, so I didn't. I held back. I want him to enjoy this too.
I looked to the left and my eyes lit up when I saw that the carousel was open. That was one of the things I enjoyed when I was a kid. I was about to take Apollo's hand, luckily, I stopped myself. I reached the end of his shirt and gently got his attention. He turned to me and looked at me coldly.
"Carousel." I said while smiling.
"Tsk. Childish."
"Pretty please?"
He didn't say a word and just nodded. We rode there, he chose the horse in front of me, and I could only see his back. There is an empty horse on my side, which shows that he doesn’t want me there.
I grabbed the pole in front of me and fantasized about its back. What the hell is that it's the back fetish. I took my cell phone and secretly took a picture of his perfect back.
This will be my souvenir.
I didn't feel like the ride stopped because I was just looking at Apollo the whole duration. I didn't even realize that he was facing me.
"Are you high? You're smiling at nothing."
I shook my head. "I'm not doing anything wrong."
He frowned. "Get down there. I want to sit down because I'm dizzy."
We took our place on the nearest bench and Apollo sat down there with his eyes closed. He spread his thighs and placed both elbows there while his palm covered his face.
"I'll buy you some water, just a moment." I said worriedly before looking for a nearby store that offered water.
I saw a stall in the distance, so I quickly asked if they had water. "50 pesos, miss."
"50?! It's only 15 pesos outside." I said in shock. "This is so expensive, brother. Did Jesus dip his foot in it so it's expensive?"
"Miss, are you going to buy it or not?"
"I'll buy it. Just complaining, sorry."
After I got the water, I immediately returned to Apollo. I'm crying a little because the blister on my foot is starting to hurt. But this day is not over yet so I will fight.
Apollo's place was only a short distance from me, but I slowly stopped. My shoulders dropped when I saw this woman talking to someone while smiling.
He never smiled at me like that.
I slowly approached them while holding the water tightly. Little by little I could hear their happy conversation.
"It's nice to see you here! It's been a very long time." The woman said while holding Apollo's arm— he never let me hold on to him.
"Same here. I think the last time we met was masters."
"Yeah! You're not very active on social media unlike your friends, so I don't have any news from you." The woman said laughing. "I never thought that we would meet here, you don't like amusement parks."
"Um, Apollo." I called him to get his attention.
He looked at me. I saw the difference in the way he looked at me compared to the way he looked at the girl earlier. I handed him the water, but he didn't take it.
"No, I'm fine already." This is the answer.
I looked at the woman and smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Hannah and you are?"
"H-Hi, uhm, I'm Anabel. I'm sorry, I disturbed your date—"
"It's fine, we're not dating." Apollo interrupted, which surprised me.
"Really? She's not your girlfriend?" Anabel said shockingly.
"No. She just asked me to come here. She's my brother's best friend." Apollo, why are you doing this?
"So, you don't mind if I join? It's just for a moment, until I see my companions."
I grabbed Apollo's arm, but he avoided it. I am so devastated today. I think it hurts more compared to what Apollo used to do to me.
At this time, I can't hide my feelings with a smile. It hurts too much, so my optimism has given up.
- Writer
