UNEXPECTED (COMPLETED)

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

I won't forget this birthday. I'm genuinely happy right now. We're about to exit when two ladies got my attention. They asked me something.

"Hi, I know we're strangers, but can you take us some photos?"

The tall lady approached me. At that point, I knew that she was not shy like the short lady beside her.

"Sorry, I'm not a photographer," I responded.

"It's okay!"

I'm gonna use her phone. My hands are shaking while taking some shots. I'm not good at this.

"Are these photos okay? Sorry, I'm shaking right now." I asked

"Yes, thank you so much! Btw, I'm Jilla."

She held out her hand to shake my hand. I stared at her hand. I held her hand. I saw her reaction. She was shocked by what I did.

"Hi Jilla, I'm Ariel. So glad to meet someone like you today. "

She slowly took her hand off. She smiled. I love her smile.

"Uhm, btw, It's my 21st birthday"

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happiest birthday, Ariel"

Finally, someone sang happy birthday to me. I feel loved.

"Actually, you're the first one to sing happy birthday for me, Jilla. Thank you so much! I appreciate it."

"At least now, you have experienced how it feels when someone sings it to you."

"It means so much to me, Jilla. Anyways, we need to go, bye!"

"Wait, I'll give you my social media accounts"

She gave her social media accounts. I didn't expect this to happen. After that, we waved at each other, saying goodbye.

I remembered what my mom told me earlier. "Just wait for the perfect time, Ariel. You will meet her at an unexpected time." What if she's my soulmate whom I met unexpectedly? What if she's the one? I have a lot of what-ifs right now. I think it's love at first sight. When she approached me earlier, I focused only on her. My eyes turn into a camera where the main focus is on her face and everything else is blurred. We're on our way home and I still think about Jilla. The first time I held her hand, I felt as if I were holding the most precious hand in the world, and when I stared at her, I saw a lady who was deserving of all the love and happiness in the world.

When we got home, I went to my room. I needed to rest. It was a tiring but memorable day for me. I checked my phone for updates. Jilla accepted my friend request on f*******:. She posted the photos that I captured earlier. I reacted with love. I saved her photos and made them my wallpaper. I can't find a photo where she's smiling. I'm too shy to ask her about it.

Until she chatted with me and sent me one photo. When I saw what she sent me, I smiled.

"Hi, I didn't post this one because I'm insecure about my teeth"

"Hello, don't be insecure about your teeth. You're pretty and you get prettier when you smile. "

"Thank you! Maybe I'm gonna use this as my profile picture. "

"Go! make it public so that a lot of people will see how beautiful you are and your smile."

"But I'm too shy since all of my profile pictures are set as only me"

"Don't be shy! You're pretty and kind. "

"Uhm, okay, thank you so much"

I'm waiting for her to change her profile photo. I will be her first reactor. After a few minutes, I got a notification that she had changed her profile. I reacted with love and left a comment for her. I refreshed my feed and she captioned it, "Someone told me that I get prettier when I smile." I can't deny that in her caption I got butterflies in my stomach. She's giving me butterflies. For the first time, I finally experienced having butterflies in my stomach. After that, Jilla chatted with me once again. We talked about things. Getting to know each other.

"Ariel, can I open up something? And if yes, please consider this as our secret. Please, I have trust issues."

"Sure!"

"Remember the short girl who was with me earlier? If you're thinking that she's my best friend, you're wrong. She's not my sister either. She's my ex-best friend. We've been friends since elementary school. I spent 14 years of my life with her. I'm the one who ended our 14-year friendship. I just hate what she did to me. When we celebrated our 10th anniversary of friendship, I told her that I had a boyfriend. So I introduced my ex-boyfriend to her at that time. They became friends, and every monthsary and anniversary, she's with us. She helped my ex-boyfriend with his surprises for me. But as time went by, my ex-boyfriend became cold towards me. He only sent me 3-5 chats a day. For me, it's not normal anymore. 3-5 chats each contain 1-3 words. At first, I chose to understand him and thought he was only busy. But the fact that he can stay online without talking to me is different. I'm trying to calm myself, but I can't. I'm hurting myself, and that's enough. I asked him what was wrong, but he kept on denying it. I told him that his replies didn't make me excited anymore. He's just a notification that pops up on my phone. I went to their house to talk to him personally. How could we talk seriously if he couldn't stare at my eyes directly? He went to the restroom, and I saw his phone open. I checked her messenger as I should. I saw their convo with my ex-best friend. They were flirting and calling each other mahal. That's the time when I felt useless and unworthy. How dare they do this to me? I'm still his girlfriend, but in their convo I feel like I'm the one who is messing up their relationship. The most painful part is that I'm in his spam messages. It means he ignored our conversation. I'm crying while reading their conversation. I stopped scrolling when he snatched his phone from my hand. He's standing beside me. I stood up and I slapped him. I can't control myself. "How dare you? So this is why you're so cold towards me, huh? I'm still your girlfriend, but I'm the one who's in your spam messages. I don't deserve a boy like you. You introduced me to your whole family, then you cheated on me. I wasted 4 years of my life on you, stupid boy, who doesn't know how to be consistent". And that's where our relationship ends. I can't believe that two stupid people will fall in love with each other.”

I didn't expect that she had experienced that kind of treatment before. She's right; she doesn't deserve her ex-boyfriend, who doesn't know how to be content in their past relationship. I know she had trauma because of it. Maybe she's afraid to love someone right now. She will think that the boy she will love today will make the same mistakes that her ex made for her. I promised that if I had a chance to have her, I'd treat her better. I will give her the treatment that she deserves. My intention for her is pure. I'll make this girl fall in love with me slowly.

"So you're afraid to love now?" I asked.

"Yes"

We continued talking. She became my inspiration to move forward and grow day by day. We're both studying, and that becomes our bond. Every time we had our busy time, we'd make calls through Messenger. We helped each other when we had hard times. She became my study buddy. We're both focused on our academics because we're both graduating students. Next month is my graduation, and before this month ends, it will be her graduation. I want to be part of her success.

"Ariel, are you busy before the month ends?" She asked.

"I'm never busy when it comes to you, Jilla."

"Can you attend my graduation?"

"Yes, sure."

For a moment, we stopped talking. She needs to focus on her studies because she needs to be part of the class with honors. She needs to prove to her parents that even though they are not together, their daughter is still doing her best to make them proud. Her parents are both OFW.

A few weeks later, it's her graduation day. She asked me if I could go to their house because she doesn't have a car and she doesn't know how to commute. And I said, "sure," because I also wanted to make sure that she arrived safely. I wear my preferred clothes and spray my perfume. I'm on my way.

I went to their house and she was more than prettier in a black toga. She wears simple make-up, but she's like a star that I admire from afar. I hold her hand and guide her to get into the car. She's sitting beside me. I started driving, but I can't focus because I'm distracted by her beauty.

"You look prettier today wearing that black toga," I said.

"Thank you, a few more days left and you'll be the one who wears this kind of toga," she responded.

She connected her phone through my Bluetooth speaker. She loves 90s songs. We had the same musical taste. For me, it's so rare to find someone who will vibe with and have the same music taste as me. We arrived at the venue safely. As a man, I guided her to get out of the car. I held her hand. We entered the venue, and it was a large space that was for this kind of event. I stayed at the place where seats were for the family or relatives of the graduates. We just waited for 30 minutes before the program started. One by one, the graduates walk down a red carpet. When Jilla walked down, I just stared at her until she sat down in her chair. I took a photo while she was walking. I'm so excited because I know that she's one of the honored students. I'm waiting for her to get her diploma on stage. I waited patiently until the main event for me had come.

"Jilla Miahzakiah V. Triguero, Magna c*m laude"

Wow! I clapped for her victory. I'm so proud of this lady that I met a month ago. Time flies so fast. Seeing her achieve her dreams with me by her side is like a dream come true. I just enjoyed the event. I texted my parents to see if we could have a simple celebration at our house to honor my lady's accomplishment. They approved and said that they would start preferring foods. After the graduation, Jilla approached me, and it felt like the first time she approached me a month ago. She told me that they would have a small celebration at her friend's house. I only responded with "go, have fun; you deserve it, and I'm so proud of you." Her friend lived in 2 or 3 houses before this venue. I watched her walking away from me. Once I saw her enter her friend's gate, I went to the mall to buy her gifts. I'm looking for a bouquet of sunflowers. I don't care about the price, as long as it's worth it and I know that this makes my lady smile, I'll buy it. My main goal here is to see her smile and make her feel loved. I went to the mall and looked for a bouquet of sunflowers. While looking for it, I saw a shop that was selling jewelry. I went inside that shop and looked for the perfect gift for Jilla. I saw a beautiful necklace that looked perfect for her. It's a pendant with a heart. I bought it, and this is my first time buying a gift for someone who's not my relative. I asked the cashier at this jewelry store where I could buy a bouquet of sunflowers. She told me that there was a flower shop on the 2nd floor. I thanked her for her help. I went to that flower shop and asked if they had a bouquet of sunflowers. And I think this was meant for me because it's the last one. Of course, I bought it. All done. I'm going to prefer a letter for her. I'm going to confess now. I'm nervous, but whatever happens, I'll still admire her. I don't want to write a message to her using my handwriting. She won't understand my handwriting. I saw a*****e that had a typewriter. I went inside and asked if I could use the typewriter. At first, he did not consent because it was for their orders only, but I pleased him. I'll do anything because she deserves it.