A/N: Hey chingus! Did you like the last update? 

Well i hope you will also like this new update of ours. Hit the comment section if you do. ;D

Do we have any Filipino readers here? I will have a special give away for our Filipino and Foreign readers since its April and its my birthday month. I will post the conditions on a separate chapter. So stay tuned! :D

Peace Yow!~

 

 

AMBER’S POV

 

A week has passed and in that one fruitful week I begun to know Soojung gradually. I also became friends with Sunyoung the Happy Pill and Jinri the Bean Stalk like what Soojung says as a tease. They call her Spider Jung because her legs are thin (its thin and smooth... i mean...uhhh... *sigh*) The four of us started to hang out together that day in the cafeteria after the fifth period ended.

 

Park Sunyoung’s family owns a TV Station while Choi Jinri’s family owns a local fashion brand. Both of them coming from rich families but is level headed and fun to be with. Sunyoung said as much as possible she doesn’t want to be known as the daughter of the Parks because it embarrasses her all the time. While Jinri said her Mother is training her to be the successor of their fashion company, giving her part-time jobs in between school breaks. For now, she also moon lights as the model of their label. She said her Mom is a former Supermodel. She showed us a magazine (Sports Illustrated?) where her Mom is featured wearing a 2 piece yellow string bikini (Luna covered her eyes and uttered a prayer, Soojung covered with one hand and one hand on my eyes.), we almost got caught by the teacher. That happened on day 4 hahaha!

 

The four of us hitting it off immediately especially when we found out that we have one goal that week: to be part of the school newspaper and contribute our talent to the academe.

 

You see, I have a hidden talent in drawing. Be it in paper, in a wall, or even in a computer application. Jackie told me maybe I can try graphic designing since I have a rare talent (that’s what she said, she’s my sister and I believe her) that’s why she taught me how to use a computer application and let me use my creativity and ideas. Then I self-taught on using Adobe Photoshop in editing photos and tutorial stuffs I found on chat rooms and forums. I’m proud to say that I learned all about it just by myself.

 

Jinri and Sunyoung applied as contributors. They have a talent in writing articles and stuffs while Soojung was designated by Victoria unnie as the Photographer. I saw how happy she was when Victoria unnie congratulated her after the interview and presentation of her portfolio. Even Principal Campbell praised her photos and asked her in front of us if she ever thought of having a photo exhibit. Soojung said maybe someday, when she already traveled the world and took a lot of photos. That is the time she will launch a photo exhibit.

 

“Maybe after 10 years?… I’ll be a successful Photo Journalist by then or a Freelance Photographer. Or be like Anne Leibovitz and be a portrait photographer of famous people. Someday… that will be someday…” I can see the twinkle in her eyes that day when saying it. She knows what she wants and she’s gonna get it whatever happens. I like that attitude of hers…

 

Somehow I saw myself in that future, 10 years from now. I don’t know why but I suddenly had a vision that day. Standing in front of a portrait she took. People will give her compliments in her work and she will smile so proudly of her achievements. She will smile at me and I will be proud of her… Surreal, but nice. Like how Hugh Grant said in Notting Hill about meeting Julia Roberts.

 

Yes. Its my favorite movie. Of all time. But no one knows and no one ever will. Its a little secret of mine hahaha… I envision myself as William Thacker and the feeling of meeting someone like Anna Scott. A girl who has everything laid at her feet but all she wanted was love that will last a lifetime. That was the moment I started to doubt my uality. Goodness! Because I realized, in every romantic movie I watch… it was always the male character that I want to be. Not the female character, but the male character. I wanna be William Thacker, the man who made Anna Scott happy and contented with simple things in her life.   

 

Plus the soundtrack is so cool!

 

*Insert intro of When You Say Nothing At All*

 

Imagine me playing the guitar and singing the song to---

 

I didn’t even know I was already staring at her that day looking like a creep not until Jinri nudged my shoulder and woke me up from my daydreaming. It was embarrassing, really embarrassing. I didn’t know Principal Campbell was asking me if I like the photos especially the photo she took of an old couple walking hand in hand at the Golden Gate bridge. It was a back shot, a black and white photo depicting love between two old people even in a small gesture. They were looking at each other, maybe the old woman is saying something to her husband but you can feel the affection they have for each other just by looking at their intertwined hands.

 

The way they hold hands is like saying they don’t want to let go of each other… that even in death they will still be together. Their hands that already witnessed and experienced a lot of hardships in life but still, holding on to each other. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful.

 

Until now I still can’t get it off my mind. That photo… it was stuck in me together with what Soojung told me when I asked her by the end of that second day of class. Both of us were waiting for our sisters to fetch us by the school gate.

 

I inhaled the scent of her handkerchief that is covering my face, remembering what happened that day while lying here on my bed.

 

 

Flashback

 

Sunyoung and Jinri already left after their chaffeurs picked them up. We said goodbyes and a promise that by tomorrow I will have a cellphone same as Soojung. She said she and her sister Jessica will go straight to the shop to get her a Korean phone. She showed me her AT&T powered Fuschia Moto Razr V3 that she uses back in SanFo grinning like a kid and the photos of her friends Sylvia and Kim. She said she won’t let go of it even though she can’t use it, its like a remembrance of her childhood. I showed her my Nokia 3310 and both of us burst out laughing and started playing Snake and Space Ship. I told her Jackie and I will get one too because I will need it in case of emergencies.

 

I rested my back on the wall of the waiting area, whistling a tune. I took a secret glance at Soojung who is busy doodling something in her notes while sitting cross legged on the pavement. A day with her and I’m still in denial with myself.

 

What if its just a crush? Its possible… right? To have a crush with a girl?…

It is possible Amber… especially if you find her cute and funny. It will be strange if you will have a crush on a tree or a stone.

 

Crush. I searched for that word in the Webster’s Dictionary and it gave me a meaning that made me double think.

 

 

Crush : an intense and usually passing infatuation.

: the object of infatuation.

 

 

…passing infatuation.

 

 

So it means it won’t last…

 

Its like what those girls from my former school in L.A. always say. ‘Amber! I have a crush on you! When are you going to give me your time?…’ Eh. I only answer them with an embarrassed smile and go on with my day not minding them until they get tired and focus on someone else.

 

So does it mean this ‘crush’ I’m having on her right now will go and pass too?…

 

I was in that deep thought when I heard clicks going off. It was Soojung holding her camera still sitting on the ground. She was taking photos of the surroundings, God knows what she is shooting with her camera.

 

She looks serious… and so focused. The way her hands work its way on the lense turning it to focus is really quick, even her finger kept on pushing the capture button of her camera. She really is beautiful in a simple way… what do they call it… ah.

 

Effortless beauty.

 

Like me. Hahahahaha!

 

*Crickets chirping* (-_-)

 

 

Do you find her adorable?…

 

Yes… she is.

 

Then you like her… right?”

 

Who won’t like someone like Jung Soojung?… she’s one talented girl.

 

Admit it… it was love at first sight.~

 

Hahaha…

 

Haha…

 

I don’t know.

 

Maybe.~

 

Maybe I just like her, I have a crush on her… but she doesn’t have to know. I don’t want her to be weirded out on me… worst is, stay away from someone like me.

 

Love. Its a very complicated word and hard to define. I'm still young... The best example of Love that I know is (A) between me and my sister, and (B) between Mom and Dad.

 

If this LOVE at first sight thing is true... Then its the second choice.

 

But sooo early to tell.

 

She turned her camera to me and caught me off guard. I heard consecutive clicks from her camera that’s why I turned my head at the opposite side totally embarrassed but smiling. “Hey… no pictures please. My Manager doesn’t allow it…” I jokingly said. She giggled and Lord from the Heavens it was cute!

 

Calm down Amber… calm down. Its just a giggle. Just a giggle… don’t be so over sensitive in a giggle!

 

Stop those rats from running around inside your chest!

 

There was a smile on her face when she lowered her camera and raised her right thumb on me like checking my angle. She even have one of her eyes close while spotting her thumb on me and I find it cute of hers. Really cute… �

 

“Your non-existent Manager doesn’t have to know. Think about this… if your photo makes the cut of the photos I will exhibit 10 years from now, you will see for yourself how much you change in 10 years time. It will be a trip down the memory lane, you will remember this day and what we are doing here. The words you said to me and how fine this day is… its cold but tolerable. You will remember how we wait for our sisters and how I beat your sorry in Snake. Whatever things you will do today. A photo is like a window to the past.”

 

“A window to the past?” I sat beside her on the pavement and watch how she tucked the strands of stubborn hair covering her face because of the wind. It was a gesture that made me smile a little because she looks shy. A few strands was blown by the wind again escaping, I don't know what spirit entered me but I did. I reached for the strands and tucked it behind her ear, my hands trembling in nervousness and those damn rats having a marathon inside my chest again.

 

The two of us looked at each other and i felt hotness in my cheeks and ears. Phew! Why is it hot in here suddenly?!? Oh... She's blushing... I know she's blushing! She doesn't wear makeup so i know its a natural blush! Ottoke…  

 

We cleared our throats at the same time and straightened our backs like nothing happened. I heard a sniffle from her and saw that she's getting cold. I took off my flanel shirt immediately and draped it on her shoulders so she won't get cold. "Hey, its cold. Your snot is starting to drip~." She gave me a shove on my shoulders the two of us laughing. She playfully swipes her fingers on her nose and suddenly wipes it on my face! Eeewww!!! Its wet!

 

"Yah!!!"

 

"Now who has snot on her face!? Hehehehe...." Eeeww.

 

I threaten to wipe my face on her shirt but i stopped and realized that will be too much on second day. I gave her a funny face while wiping my face with the handkerchief she gave and we continued our show and tell. The handkerchief I held on my hand to my nose again because it smells soooo good like her… gosh… I never thought I will get high on Downy like this.

 

“Its Mickey Mouse cologne not Downy…” she chuckled. That was embarrassing! Wait… how did she read my mind???

 

She pressed a button on her camera and showed a photo to me. It was a photo of a kid, a girl around 5 or 6 years old. She was sitting on a swing but not moving, the sadness in her eyes showing and the pout. “This one. Tell me, what can you say about this photo?”

 

Hmmm… “She’s pouting and she looks sad… she’s alone. I think she’s sad because she doesn’t have anyone to play with her.”

 

“Okay… how about this one?” I chuckled when I saw my photo looking disoriented with the flash of her camera. It was her shot yesterday when she suddenly took a photo of me, I thought it was just a flash. Didn’t expect it to be an actual photo.

 

“I look like an idiot who got caught off guard.”

 

“And what do you remember while looking at your photo?…”

 

I raised my gaze and saw her looking at me intently, waiting for my answer. What do I remember…

 

Suddenly, the memory of our first meeting yesterday came in like a surge of tidal waves in my mind. Seeing her yesterday was like a fresh start. It was the moment those rats came marching like a band inside my chest, marching to the music I don’t know what to call. The stupid thing I did to her that I deeply regret, her skin… when I was holding her wrist a surge of electricity was flowing inside me from her but I didn’t mind it thinking its because of my madness. But it happened again when we were already alone. The moment I took her hand and wrapped the bandana on her wrist it all came surging back. And it scares me, really scares me. Because I don’t know anything about those signs, I don’t know anything about those feelings.

 

I only know it from the movies I have watched, I see it unfold in my very eyes but I don’t know how it supposed to feel. And the confusion of having this crisis in my uality… I already concluded last night that I am attracted to her and only her, no one else.

 

But its just a crush… yeah… maybe its just a crush. Maybe because I find the way she scrunch her nose yesterday adorable. And maybe because I find her eyes and nose beautiful… the beauty of a woman can be seen through her eyes because it is the window to the soul where truth resides. Its just the second day, I haven’t seen the real her. The possibility of this infatuation lasting longer lays on the days I will begin to know the real her.

 

And looking into her eyes right now, I see truth in there. Truth that in the future will play a significant role in our life together.

 

“H-how about the photo Principal Campbell showed us? The one with the old couple in Golden Gate bridge?..” her face lit up in a glow I have never seen before. She looks happy…

 

“Oh, that? Its a random photo I took of them while my Aunt and I are passing on the bridge. I saw them and asked my Aunt to stop the car so I can take a picture of the old couple. I don’t know why, but seeing them together and capturing that moment is one of my most favorite feeling in this world.” she smiled at me and turned her attention back to the camera, her thumb pressing the next button.

 

There’s this happy cloud hanging above her, she was biting her lips and all I can do is just stare at her again dumbly while resting my face on my palm. This is legal, right? To have a crush on someone this pretty?

 

“Here you go look at this!” she suddenly shove the camera on my face surprising me. Both of us locking gaze even though I was holding my nose that she bumped with her camera. Aww. “Uhhh… sorry~…”

 

“Its okay… its okay…” I scrunched my nose like stupid making her laugh. I swear, she got nice set of teeth. I took a peek at the photo our faces near each other. She smells good by the way~~….

 

Gosh Amber! You sound like a ert!

 

But she really is…

 

“What did you see on this photo? Tell it to me and I will tell you what mine is…”

 

Her voice was soft, curious and patient. Both of us turned our gaze to each other and again, we locked sight. I don’t know who is the magnet between us. Is it both of us?

 

I swallowed a lump in my throat, my mind having a fight. Should I tell her what I really see? Or should I edit out some parts that will make her think I’m some kind of a cheeseball hitting on her?

 

“Well?…” why are you staring at me like that?! Do you also feel the same like I do now?

 

“Uhh… well…” *gulp*

 

“I don’t like liars.” OH.

 

“I won’t lie, promise!”

 

“So…? What now?”

 

I let out a smile and pointed at her camera. “May I?”

 

“Don’t drop it or your dead.” Scary.

 

“I won’t drop it! Promise! Cross my heart! In the name of Jackie’s rabbit!”

 

“Okay!~” she handed me her camera and I carefully held it with my two hands while we look at the photo of the old couple.

 

“You know what I thought when I saw this earlier?”

 

“What?…”

 

“Simple happiness. Love and togetherness. They are just standing beside each other holding hands, even has their back facing. But you can sense the affection they have for each other because the photo captured the real essence of their relationship.”

 

“And what is that?”

 

Both of us locked gaze and I saw that twinkle in her eyes. The two of us inside our own bubble again, not minding the students passing by or the whistle of the security guard to the running mischiefs.

 

I unconsciously swallowed a lump in my throat and opened my mouth, trying to say what’s on my mind. Say it… 

 

“L-love that survived the test of time…”

 

She was staring at me, studying my face. Did she find it cheesy?

 

Oh she’s narrowing her eyes now… maybe she thinks I’m a psycho cheeseball! Or maybe she’s thinking now I’m gonna tell her I like her!

 

Oohhhhh~~~~ so you do like her~~~…

 

Oh wait!

 

Sigh.

 

But then her lips slowly curved into a smile nodding her head slowly. “Nice interpretation Alpacaber.” she said in a tease and let out a grin. We burst out laughing shoving each other’s shoulder like kids. Yeah… if she’s the Spider Jung like Jinri called her earlier, Soojung called me ‘Alpacaber’ because she said I look like one. I told her Jackie calls me Llama, she told me for her I’m an Alpaca. Fine.

 

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

 

It was the time when our sisters arrived to fetch us. We said goodbye to each other, me bowing at her sister when the window of the car rolled down. Her sister Jessica seems nice, Soojung said her unnie is a good person but evolves into a Ben10 monster when she’s mad. That’s a lot of monsters how do I pick one? 

 

Jackie went down from her car and saw me saying Hi to her friend. Jessica unnie went down from the backseat of her car too and the two of them did a hug making a sma