C2: Evangeline

It all started with a dare.

Yes, that game called truth or dare where someone spins the bottle and one of the players can either ask a question that can make someone uncomfortable or do something insane. Seven years ago, my friends and I played the game –Angelo, Justin, Jacob, Marion, Anna, Sylvia, Czarina, Elise, and I. Four guys, five girls. We became a squad of friends during college and we happen to be, just like in the typical fiction, we're the popular kids in school. The four guys for being too involved in sports (Justin, Jacob, and Marion for basketball, while Angelo for football) while we girls are involved in the school newspaper and we're pretty much the ones who run the entire thing.

All of those said, it's pretty obvious that our closeness can involve deeper intimacy issues, ending up with Jacob and Anna dating, and the same goes for Czarina and Marion. Then the rest of us were just the extras.

During Czarina's birthday – in her private party where there was just the nine of us in their house's balcony, and the game started. The bottle pointed to Justin, and he was dared to: if he can only choose between the three single girls in the group (Sylvia, Elise and I), who will he date, and that he should simply kiss that person without saying a word. Within less than five seconds, he reached out for me and kissed me right on the lips. Everyone almost yelled, and I was left speechless.

In the next group meetings, everyone kept on teasing Justin and me, which made things insanely uncomfortable. The time came where I couldn't stand it anymore, and when I left, Justin followed me, grabbed my hand and explained his unsaid thoughts about the matter.

"Eve, wait," his voice was too gentle, gentle enough to convince me that I should just stop and listen. "About that night. Honestly, I was confused, too. But it was like my body moved on its own during that moment. I can't get you off my mind since. I feel guilty."

"What are you implying?" I asked, even if I don't want to hear the answer. "I wouldn't say that I have special feelings for you aside from a love for a friend. I believe that love won't just happen in a blink of an eye. But if you'll allow me, I'd like to know you better."

I snapped out of my thoughts as I hear the intense, heartfelt chorus of my favorite song, pulling my head down from the clouds. I picked up my phone to answer – from my very own, Justin.

"Hey, what made you call?" I asked calmly.

"Is that your way of saying good morning? Anyways, I'd like us to go somewhere. Can you skip your job today? Like, sick leave or something like that?" I don't know what's with him, but Justin seems to be in a rush of everything. It was as if he planned what's going to happen for this day and I have no other choice but to say yes.

"It's Saturday, and thankfully in our magazine, we don't work during Saturdays and Sundays so, I'm free today. What are your plans, though?"

"It's a secret. I'll be there at 9 am. See 'ya."

And with that, the phone call ended.

----------------------------------------

The gentle breeze blew up my hair as I stepped out of the car and the sound of calm, blue waves from a distance awakened my exhausted mind from our two-hour travel. It was as if I feel relaxed and free, yet, full of energy from within.

"I missed this place!" I giggled as I walk towards Justin, who grinned, looking pleased as he sees my mood all lifted. "I just noticed that you've got bags under your eyes. Didn't you sleep last night?"

He put his arms into the air and stretched them, inserting his hands in his pockets after.

"If I'll be really honest, I couldn't sleep, since you were in my mind all night."

I rolled my eyes as I hear him say those words, assuming that he'll begin everything with teasing like he always does. "Oh, shut up." "Hey! I'm serious!" he retorted. "I was thinking of what to do today, I had to plan it. I want every moment to be worth it, you know? There's this thought that it has to be perfect. I want to make the most out of this day. Can you blame me for that?"

"You shouldn't have been hard on yourself. I'm not going anywhere. I understand that you want us to be happy, but –"

"Right, right. I get it, mom. I'm sorry." We both chuckled as we hear the word mom, and for some reason, even the simplest things like that mean a lot.

A few seconds later, Justin placed a tear of double-sided tape on my cheek. I looked at him, obviously puzzled about what he's doing … or implying. As he sees me staring at him, he broke the silence and left another tape on my face, and handed it to me. He stepped back, wearing a teasing smile.

"My lady, you look confused. Aren't you annoyed that I put those to you? You have the tape. Revenge." He ran away and I ran after him, quite clueless, still, but at some point, I get the idea.

He headed into the shore and as I chase after him, and he put another one on my face. Seeing my chance to do the same, I grabbed it. I tore a piece of the tape and did the same.

Both of us are almost pushing each other away, yet both are laughing, obviously enjoying the company. When Justin found the chance, he ran away from me to chase after him.

"Come back!" I yelled, chasing after him. Up to this point, I can't help but think where on earth he came up with the idea of putting tapes – it sure is silly, but whatever the case, I'll always enjoy things when I'm with him.

Around 15 minutes later, I felt my leg weaken after the chasing, and I crouched into the sand, removed my footwear and sink my feet. The cold, damp sand is surprisingly relieving. Justin sat next to me, and we both fixed our eyes at the sea not far from us.

"I'm tired," I confessed, laying my head on his shoulder. "But happy."

"Mission accomplished, then. It's been a while since we last went out of town," he replied, his lips rose into a smile. "I wish we can be like this, every day."

"It's not like this beach is that far from our homes. We can live somewhere around here in the future." My heart stirred at the thought – the thought of us getting married a few years from now. I can't help but wonder how it will be like when it happens.

Justin took my left hand and pressed his lips on it. "You mean when we get married?"

I shut my eyes as I hear the last word, and I saw the smiling faces of people who are happy for me as they watch me fulfilling every girl's dream – to walk along the aisle, with a bouquet between the hands, while walking with a long, white gown matched with a veil made any among the fabrics like satin, chiffon, lace, organza, tulle, or charmeuse. Best if it's matched with pieces of jewelry like bracelets, necklaces, drop earrings, or in some situations, crowns. It's the biggest day of a person's life.

"Something like that, I guess?" I replied right after seeing the picture. "You're not proposing, are you?" I teased.

"Of course not. If I will, I'll do it the right way. I want it to become memorable, not the typical ones we're seeing in movies. You'll see. I want to be mature enough for that kind of life, though. I still think I need to learn a lot." He pulled away and looked at me tenderly, and each second that passes made my heart melt. I hate and love this feeling.

"We both do. We're both 25. We're young," I managed to gather myself together after slightly changing the topic.

"True," he replied, smiling. "So, shall we? I want to bring you back home before it gets dark."

"It's only noon," I commented. "Will you have other businesses for the rest of the day?"

"No, it's not that. I want us to eat lunch somewhere and I also want us to visit your mom, you see."

Now that he mentioned mom, I completely forgot her not being with us for a month now. I felt my chest tighten at the thought. When will she even wake up?

"You and your dad aren't planning to pull the plugs anytime soon, right?" his voice sounded like a whisper at the taboo, ensuring that I won't have my spirit down at the topic. What's more is, almost forgot to tell him that dad and I will switch places soon – he'll be in charge of mom, and I'll be in charge of our restaurant in the Philippines. We're going to end up being in a long-distance relationship. I can't even stand the thought of it.

"No, we won't," I sighed. "Now that you mentioned lunch, I feel hungry." I stood up and shrugged the sand off my pants. Justin followed and did the same, and we walked back to his car.

I pulled my phone out of my bag as soon as we got inside the car. Justin turned the engine on and started driving. As I turned on the mobile data, notifications flooded, and my phone hardly stopped chiming.

"Woah there, what's with the notifications? Who or what are those from? YouTube subscriptions? Group chats? What?" Justin asked, his eyes fixed on the road.

I tapped on the Facebook app and visited my group. "Well, my girls are active, opening up their thing." I scrolled down the screen to read the posts. "It's kind of surprising though because lots are involved."

"Please enlighten me. I don't understand a thing. Who are 'your girls?' What's it from?"

"When Syd, my first boyfriend, broke up with me many years ago, I created a group on Facebook … a group dedicated to broken-hearted girls. It's a support group where anyone can express their pain and others can mourn or counsel them. Just to ease the pain. I wasn't expecting that lots of girls will join and be active."

"Syd is such a fool for cheating on you. At least it's over. So are you the one helping those girls?"

"Not all of them. You know what? I'll just turn the notifications off. Though, what made this group special is this – this is where I met my best friend. Her name is Megan."