12 Jealous Summer

The slight tension earlier hung in the air again when Gary sat opposite Justine.

"Please do not misunderstand my behavior earlier, Justine. I didn't know Eva, I mean Nina had a boyfriend." Gary said.

"It's okay." Justine said. "Nina does have a certain effect on people." He added.

"Excuse me?" I said indignantly. "I'm here!"

"This is between men, baby." Justine said.

"We'll you can have each other!!!" I got up, fuming mad, preparing to storm out of the kitchen. Justine held my arm and gently guided me to sit down. He looked at me with an apology written on his face.

"I was just teasing you Nina. Sorry, baby. Sorry…"

"I'm sorry too,Ev...err.. Nina." Gary said. To Justine, he added offering his right hand, "So we're good, bro?"

"We're good." Justine replied, shaking Gary's hand.

Alexis took over Gary's attention. They chatted animatedly.

I ate sparingly, losing my appetite. This didn't go unnoticed by Justine. When we finished eating, the coven went back to the headquarters taking Gary with them. Justine led me to the garden. We sat in our favorite bench under a canopy of bougainvilleas. I sat quietly.

"Are you still angry at me?" Justine asked the obvious.

"I don't like it when you talk as if I wasn't there. I felt disrespected." I said,

"It wasn't my intention, baby. I'm really sorry. I was just so pissed with Gary! And why does he call you Eva?" He said.

"Justine! We met two years ago in one of the seminars our school required us to attend. I only remembered it when Gary reminded me. Also, I'm called Eva in school. Please, you can't be jealous all the time! Not everyone is out to take me from you. Also, don't you trust me?" I said, still mad.

"I hate being jealous, Nina. I don't like this feeling either. And believe me, I do trust you." Justine said.

"Just trust me more. Please?" I pleaded.

It was Justine's turn to be quiet. I know he was trying to fight some demons inside him. I should also cut him some slack. He was just seventeen after all. 'I can't expect him to be all mature, right?' I lovingly cupped his face.

"I love you, Justine."

I love you, Nina. So, so much."

"Don't love me too much, baby. Just love me enough, okay? I said and then hugged him. We stayed that way for a while.

"Forgive me, please?" Justine again pleaded.

"You know I can't be angry with you for long!" I said, "I'll always forgive you, of course!"

We kissed. Somehow, everything seemed to get better when we kissed. So we kissed often. We kissed playfully, lovingly and passionately. Today, we kissed to forgive.

Our steps were a lot lighter when we decided to join our coven. Everyone was busy with something. Alexis was video chatting with some friends in New York. Justine joined him to say hi for a bit and then returned to my side. The rest of the girls on our coven--- Mel, Via and Marion were crowding on Gary playing something online, maybe Mobile Legends. Karlo and Victor were playing Super Mario in Nintendo Switch. Karlo seemed distracted though. He was always calling Mel to do some errands but Mel just ignored him. Justine and I looked at each other with a knowing smile. 'Should we help Karlo confess?'

Night time came and the adults were not done with their meetings yet. They transferred to Grandpa's study room cum office. I heard Auntie Anita ordered the house staff to prepare the guest rooms. The kitchen staff were also busy preparing dinner.

Our coven decided to have a barbecue dinner in the garden. We got hotdogs and burger patties from the kitchen's large refrigerator. Auntie Anita nagged us to get only what we could eat. We also found some buns, marshmallows, cheese and condiments from the pantry. The boys set up the grill while the girls set up the table.

The girls and I sat chatting. They were all praises of Gary. I think they were crushing on him. I glanced at Gary. He was lean and tall. His eyes disappeared when he smiled while his two dimples appeared. He had short curly black hair. His voice was deep and kind. 'Yeah, he wasn't bad-looking.' But MY boyfriend was Justine. So for me, NO ONE compared.

"What are you talking about, girls?" Karlo asked.

"Of course not about you." Melody said.

"Yeah!" Agreed Via and Marion.

"Your loyalty sucks, girls!' Karlo accused. "You always lose your cool when a new guy comes along!"

"A new handsome guy." Whispered Marion. All of us girls giggled.

"Oi, Melody, didn't you say I was the most handsome?" Karlo asked Mel.

"Duh? What are you, eight???" Mel retorted.

Karlo marched away from us. The girls giggled some more. I was amazed how girls can be so mean sometimes. 'Poor Karlo!'

I gave Melody a look which she readily understood. She wasn't my best friend for nothing. I knew she didn't mean what she said. I had always known who owned her heart. She went to appease the owner.