“Kim,” her mother said, entering her dark room. “Kimmy?”

     “Yeah?” Kim asked, pulling out her earphones.

     “Your father told you to get ready, we’ll be leaving for the gala in an hour,” she said putting on her earrings.

     “Mom, I told you, I’m not going,” Kim said, irritated.

     “I’m sorry, iha. I tried talking your father into letting you stay home, but he’s very persistent this time. He wants you to meet that Anderson boy very much,” her mother said, turning for the door.

     ‘Gerald Anderson,’ Kim thought. ‘It’s always about him. That scholar kid. Dad’s nuts about him. At dinner, on the phone—he’s all he ever talks about. I’ve had it with this guy. Sometimes I think dad would rather have him for a son than me for a daughter.'

     But she was forced to anyway. When she got out of the shower, she saw that her yaya Pokwang had already laid out a breathtaking red velvet gown on her bed for her to wear, but instead went with her usual black shirt and black skinny jeans.

     She got in the black stretch limo by herself, because her parents had already gone to the gala. They had informed Mang Ernesto to make sure she gets there.  The car ride to the venue was about 30 minutes long and Kim found comfort in music all the way.

     When they arrived at the gala, she saw the red carpet and the paparazzi and her parents’ closest friends. She suddenly remembered that she wasn’t wearing what she was supposed to and didn’t want to embarrass her family again.

     “Mang Ernesto, pwede po bang dun nalang tayo sa likod?” Kim asked the driver.

     “Sigurado po ba kayo, ma’am?” the old man asked back.

     “Opo. Dun nalang po ako dadaan,” she said.

     “Oh, sige, po,” he said, turning the corner.

     Kim got out of the limo with her iPod and snuck into the garden at the back. She didn’t want to be with a lot of people that much so she sat by the pond just staring at nothing. Minutes passed and she stared at the clear water just to find someone staring back at her. She hadn’t noticed this guy here before. When did he get here? He was merely wearing regular blue jeans and a white shirt. At one of the most important galas of the year.

     She stood up and turned around to face the guy staring at her through the water. “Who are you?” she asked him.

     “Gerald. Gerald Anderson,” he said, offering his hand. When he saw that she was not going to take it, he pulled it back.

     “How long have you been standing there?” she asked him again.

     “Just now. Don’t worry, I’m not a stalker,” he told her.

     “Well, you’re fit to be one,” she murmured under her breath.

     “Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” he said, though he did.

     “Nothing,” she told him. “Don’t worry about it.”

     “What are you doing here? Alone?” he asked after a moment’s silence.

     “I don’t have to answer to you.”

     “Well, I did. I think it would only be fair if you answered one question. I don’t even know your name yet.”

     She thought about that for a second. Should she really open up to him? “I don’t like being with a lot of people,” she finally said.

     “Why not?”

     “You said ‘one,’” she reminded him.

     “Right,” he confirmed. “How about we play something along the lines of 20 questions?”

     "'Along the lines of?'" she asked, quoting him.

     "Yeah. Could be more than 20, could be less," he said.

     “Why are you dressed like that?” she asked, staring at him up and down.

     “Well, I can’t really afford a tux. I’m not like those people inside,” he said referring to the millionaires of Manila.

     “Well, then why are you here? If you’re not the same level as them?” she asked him again.

     “Well, one of the people inside is very close to me and invited me here. I told him that I would probably be out of place, but he insisted. He said it wouldn’t matter,” he explained.

     “Why are you out here, then?” Kim asked him inquisitively.

     “For the same reasons as you,” he told her. “I don’t like being with a lot of people.”

     “Why not?”

     “Well, I actually do, sometimes. But most of the time I like being alone. Especially when I’m in places like this.”

     “Why do you come then?” she asked.

     “Because it’s the least I could do for the man I mentioned before. He asks me to come to parties and galas so that he could introduce me to his companions.”

     “Why?” she asked again. “What’s this man ever done for you?”

     “Well,” he began. “I’m an orphan, actually. I never got to meet my father and lost my mother when I was 12.”

     “I’m sorry,” Kim said. Though she doesn’t know this guy, she still felt sorry for him. Imagine losing both parents at such a young age.

     “Thank you,” he said genuinely. “I had to stop my studies until he found me. He learned my story and gave me a scholarship.”

     After a moment’s silence, Gerald finally said, “Well, that’s 6 questions. My turn.”

     “Ok,” Kim said, sitting back down next to the pond. “Shoot.”

     “Ok,” Gerald said. “My questions are going to be just like yours. Number 1 was: Why are you dressed like that?”

     “Because this is what I’m used to and this is who I am. I don’t care what other people think,” she told him boldly.

     “What are you doing here? In the gala?” he then asked.

     “I was to come here against my will. I wanted to stay home, but had no choice but to come,” she said.

     “Why don’t you like being with a lot of people?”

     “Because I like privacy. Being alone brings me peace of mind.”

     “Ok. With that, I’ll just ask one more question: Who are you?”

     She then became quiet. She was thinking. “My name’s Kim,” she finally said. “But that’s as far as I’ll go with telling you who I am.”

     “Ok. I can respect that.”

     “Gerald!” someone called from afar. “Come in here, I have someone for you to meet.”

     “That’s my cue,” Gerald said with a sigh. He didn’t want to leave so soon. There’s something about this girl that makes him want to talk to her 'til the wee hours of the morning.

     “Ok, then,” Kim said, looking back down at the pond. “I’ll see you when I see you.”

     “Right,” Gerald said, disappointed. With one last look at the most amazing girl he has ever met, he jogged back inside.

     ‘So it’s him. I finally got to meet the great Gerald Anderson,’ Kim thought.