5 THE ENCOUNTER

Thea opened her eyes, stunned, viewing the crystal clear water of the lake. The dazzling scales of the colorful fishes underneath, swimming back and forth, around the dancing hornwort and other aquatic plants.

Wonder-stricken as some familiar arms wrapping around her.

"I can finally be with you, my princess." His cloyingly sweet, unequivocal voice, giving Thea an irresistible impulse to close her eyes and feel the moment. Surprisingly, he pulls my hair to one side of my shoulder. Breathless, as she feels his warm lips brushing on her nape. She shivers with thrill and excitement, showing visible goosebumps on her skin.

.....

Thea groaned as she awakens, back to reality. The feeling of exhilaration that lingers after dreaming of him kissing her is really satisfying. She will never forget the way he kissed her on the nape. The delightful sense of being in love is a good dose of vitamins for her to love life as well.

Still wondering the possibility of how factual the things she saw last night is. She began to hope to see him again, so she decided to take the same ride, the PUJ. The traffic may be a big toil, but she wants to see him again in the flesh. Could he really be real? Still doubtful with her sense of sight.

Holding both hands tightly with her breath. Thea tried to control a shriek to avoid other passenger's attention. She saw him in the same place he's standing last night, probably waiting for a ride. And now it's the second time, proves here that he genuinely exists. She can scream in euphoria with this new perception. He may not know her, and she doesn't know him for real, but guess, she got a real living crush in the flesh. Making her feel less strange than loving someone who never exists. She feels normal, nevertheless.

Lying in bed, reminiscing the day, especially the part of seeing him again, confirmed that she got a real living dream guy and a true inspiration. She's happy to think Mercy will no longer laugh at her anymore if ever she tells her about him. She doesn't really know if she will consider telling Mercy her source of inspiration. At some other point, she doesn't see anything wrong with telling Mercy. At least she got someone to share her feelings with.

Her eyes start to feel heavy in a while, and sure she'll going to be dead to the word, temporarily, in no time. So, she sets up, a gesture the sign of a cross and say a little thank you prayer for the life and the incredible bliss she felt. The moment her head touches the soft pillow, she passed out.

Not a single minute that Thea wasted after work. She's too excited to tie in with the traffic. Funny how traffic excites her now. Straight ahead to the jeepney stop and ride the first PUJ that comes after. She sees to it that she will occupy the middlemost part of the right seat, where the window is vast open, and she can fully see everyone standing on the sidewalk. A good view of her crush if opportunities favor her.

As she's around his usual waiting place, she turned her head back and forth, looking out for him.

Not expecting to meet his gaze and locked eyes with him. The roadside is a little shady, but his eyes sparkle as it meets her's. There is a flicker of curiosity over his genial smile.

Thea began to get agitated when she found out that he was about to get into her ride as it was rolling on. And he did; he's sitting just beside her. Breathless and getting more and more conscious of her bearings. The feeling of her face burning as it blushes. Considering that she doesn't want him to catch sight of her redden appearance. She aims her eyes outside the distorted view of the sidewalk through the fast-moving vehicle and turns her back on him. As if he will notice her at all.

Now, no doubt for him noticing her, she can already feel his warm body on her back rind as a matter of fact. How close he can be as she feels the warmer air, as it touches lightly at the back of her ear, to her nape, as he exhales. She can even feel her few hair strands tugged and picture him bitting it, with her intuition. Urge her to close her eyes. Sending her emotions to extremity, induce her muscle to tense up and make her body hair stands up and pull her skin up a bit, creating goosebumps.

Thea pinches her hand a little to revive her thoughts back to reality, trying to disregard her thoughts and consider that everything is just a fictitious occurrence and just a product of her wild imagination. But she anticipated it wrong this time. For it is really happening. That he's here beside her and so close that she'll soon die losing her breath over this ineffable mental and emotional state.

Thea tried to loosen her senses, taking a deep breath in and out. Shake away the jitters as if everything's normal and nothing's weird happening inside her. She opened her bag, taking out some coin from her purse just as his hands crossed in front of her passing some bill toward the conductor.

"For two," he says.

Pretend not to notice him. She continued to count her coins for her fare. As she's about to pass it on, he holds her hand and says, "I already paid for you. I mean the fare, that's for the two of us."

Despite totally drowning in astonishment, she still managed to say sarcastically, "Did I know you?". When you don't know how to react to an unexpected situation like this, you tend to act inappropriately or rather rudely.

He looks abash with her impertinent question. "Probably, in school, St. Thaddeus College." The way he says it sounds more like a question rather than implying.

"I'm sorry, but I had never been to that school."

"Sorry, I... maybe I just mistook you with my old friend. You really look like her."

Conscience-stricken her, seeing at him embarrassed and flustered because of her sarcasm. "I'm so sorry for overreacting. Instead of thanking you for the free fare. I acted as if your some culprit."

He smiles, making the world vanish in the background. Taking her to insanity, too late to realize that she just had over-reach her place. Immediately she asks the driver to stop and run down from the jeepney. Traipsing by the sidewalk back to her place, Thea's eyes widen, and her feet froze with someone's hasty grasp on her shoulder.

His unexpected grasp on her shoulder frightened her unwittingly. Prompt her to react defensively with her ample knowledge of self-defense that she doesn't even know why and how it seems natural for her. Half a second, she grabs his hand on her shoulder, twists it hard, determined to fracture his bones or at least dislocate it for her safety. He whines in pain. Straight off, she liberates his arms the exact moment she realized who her attacker is. To the contrary to her thoughts, she discerns that he's really not attacking her. It is still him, her dream guy. He followed her, and he wanted her attention.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" She covered her mouth in faze and worries. Unexpectedly touches the tears wetting her cheeks. It's hurting her watching him in pain, and she caused it. He's in trouble, and she doesn't know what to do. She needs to help him, she thought, remembering the big scarf in her closet, so she decided to take him to her place.

The front room is packed with lady boarders watching TV, doing their nails, and chitchatting. A little bit hesitated, yet she just shrugged it off and pull him straight inside, striding in towards her room.

She noticed most of the girls knocking their socks off, watching her with an Adonis. Their credibility gap silence the entire room in a jiffy. Of course, with Thea's simplicity and introverted personality, bringing some guy home is far from their expectation.

She sighs as they're in front of her bedroom door, glancing over the smirking, handsome man beside her before turning the knob to open. Praying that none of her roommates is inside. She's anxious concerned about their possible reaction.

Thanks, God. After letting out another sigh. The room is empty and at least tidier than she expected.

"Please come in, so this is me. You may sit wherever you find comfortable. I need to find my scarf to tie your elbows." As she spoke. He sits on Jassy's bed, still holding his elbow, which's now begin to discolor.

She turns her back to start rummaging her closet for her scarf. She hasn't been using it lately, so she's not pretty sure where she'd placed it.

"So, where's your bed?" Hear him talk behind her.

"What?" Still to the extent that her consciousness was still floating in the air. It is not even sinking in her yet, that it's actually happening. The man she used to only see in her dreams is here inside a tiny room with her alone. This setting seems quite peculiar to her.

" I'm sorry if I'm asking where's your bed. I haven't even asked for your name yet, and you didn't know mine as well; maybe that's why you're trying to break my bone. " Thea rolled her eyes on his gabble or his trying hard witticism. She is sure he even snickers on it.

"I'm Thea, and don't bother the handshakes part; I know you can barely do it." Thea connotes with a sniggle.

"I'm York. But I'm not from New York, though my father is."

She just grinned, thinking, there he goes with some timeworn punch lines. He's kind of cute still and all.

Keeping her eyes down, avoiding his look, his beguiling look, as she sits on the stool in front of him to tie her scarf around his injury. She tries her best to hold her breath so to avoid her hands from shaking, but too bad; she least expected how hard it is to avoid the shiver. Her want for him not to notice it is a big failure.

He holds her hand firmly. Looking at her with a teasing smile. "Hey! You're shaken' bad, are you okay?"

She pulls her hands deliberately away from his clasp. Attempting to resist the enticement. If he's really thinking to entice her, but maybe he's not. Maybe she's just simply charmed even to his most normal and unmalicious gestures. Because he is he, her dream guy, and she, the one who's been loving him before she even meets him. Thea just took a deep breath and focused back on what she's doing. She is carefully tying the scarf, harnessing his arms, and all he did is smirking as he observed her. This time instead of being conscious of the fact of him looking at her that way, she's now loathed his irritating gaze.

"Why are you following me, by the way?" Initiating a new topic would be best to restrain the silence and awkwardness.

"I just want to ask my way back. Obviously, I'm lost, and then you wrestled me." Amidst his mocking and disdainful response. Making him irritating.

"And why are you riding in that jeep when you don't even know where you're going in the first place?" Thea's voice began to raise than it's normal range as if invoking a heated argument.

He stands up, walked around with his one free hand on his waist." As I've been saying, I thought you are someone I know. But you're not her, and you're a total reverse of what she is. By the way, thank you! Thank you for dislocating my bones and trying to fix it. And I think I gotta go."

Without another word, she's just glaring at him, still feeling irritable about him, as he opens the door. He goes out, slams the door behind him.

For a second, sitting in place recalled him saying that he doesn't know his way back and that he's lost. Worries and concerns about him start to give Thea's conscience a personal burden. She moves in brisk, after him downstairs. Passing, disregarding the chattering ladies in the living room, and straight ahead to the front door.

"York, wait!" She hails for his attention. He turns back with a slight grimace to face her, same time so as the girl beside him, in a helmet, that she just recently noticed.

"Don't worry, girl. I'm giving your friend here a ride home." It's Jassy, with a wink, as his passing another helmet to York. Jassy has this pink scooter bike she'd been using for service.

Frowning, as she is watching them haste off the road. Disappearing in the distance.