MACE: Tall, Dark and Ruggedly Cute

Somehow, after talking for what felt like hours, Luke ended up falling asleep with his head on my shoulder. I didn’t know how this happened as I, too, dozed off a bit but when I woke up, we were already in this state.

Not that I’m complaining. It felt good to be this close to him again; so, even if my shoulders were feeling the weight of his head already, I resolved to stick it out. Moving into a more comfortable position, I couldn’t help but thank the heavens for being on my side again where Luke was concerned. I thought about the times we’ve seen each other since he found out I’d be going with them and so far, things were looking positive. He seemed to be in a good mood whenever I was present and I’m crossing my fingers that things would go as smooth as this throughout the week I’d be in their hometown.

He stirred beside me and I turned my head to take a peek at the first love of my life.

If I were to describe Luke, I’d say he is tall, dark and ruggedly cute. But I didn’t really take notice of him at first because I had my eye on another guy from our youth committee. And since he was younger, he and I had different sets of friends.

When I did finally notice him, it was NOT because I thought him to be cute. It was because I found him to be quite a funny guy to hang out with and one who could easily ride with my sense of humor. Whenever we have meetings at our youth group committee, he would sometimes sit with us and we would just talk about anything under the sun. Needless to say, he was good, comfortable company despite being two years younger than me.

However, all that platonic feelings toward him changed that one fateful summer day of 1995 when he asked me to play along with his prank. We were having a break from volunteering to help with the Presidential elections of our area. He and I were seated at the front seat of the parked pick-up truck owned by one of our fellow volunteers. I had my eyes closed and was enjoying some precious minutes of rest when our friends who were seated at the back started teasing us.

As to why, I didn’t know. Maybe they liked pairing random people who happen to be staying at the driver and passenger seat of some random vehicle. Much to my annoyance though, they were really noisy and I was debating whether I should scream at them to shut up when I felt Luke grab my hand and slowly intertwine his fingers with mine.

I was surprised with his move and I looked at him questioningly. He said, “Just play along,” while pointing at our friends at the back. I debated for only three seconds then against my better judgement, I laced my fingers with his more securely. Giving him a grin to show that I was game, I rested our intertwined hands by the shifting lever, in full view of everyone sitting at the back.

Of course, there were hoots of laughter but after seeing that we did not mind their teasing anymore, they eventually stopped. Luke and I were seated at our respective seats, eyes closed with our entwined fingers connecting us, all thirty minutes of our break time.

And I didn’t let go. My mind was telling me I should take my hand away now as the teasing had stopped but I didn’t want to.

I could not explain why but the moment Luke’s fingers intertwined with mine, it just felt like the most natural thing in the world. And oddly enough, even though I had no romantic feelings toward him, I felt like his hand was home. Like it was always meant to hold mine, our fingers snugly interlaced like that.

He didn’t let go either and I was alarmed at the thrill this gave me. Why am I suddenly feeling so elated over Luke James? I asked myself. Not wanting to disturb his nap, I turned towards him and looked at him intently. Hey, he is really cute, I thought with mounting interest. When did his face clean up? His nose is actually sculpted, and what I’d do to have such long lashes.

A lock of his hair fell on his forehead and I wanted to brush it from his eyes. But he suddenly stirred and turned towards me. Our eyes met and we held gaze for about three seconds before I broke the contact and slowly took my hand away. Why am I suddenly unable to breathe in this pick-up truck? I thought as my heart started pounding in my ears.

Giving some dumb remark about being able to fool our friends successfully, I gave him a big smile, jumped down from my seat and walked back to the area I was assigned in. I didn’t look back as I was afraid he would actually hear my heart pounding.

But as I trudged back to my precinct, I replayed the scene on my mind and I could not stop myself from smiling. I don’t know what happened back there, I thought, but I wouldn’t mind having it happen again.

“Stopover!” the conductor’s booming voice interrupted my thoughts.

The bus came to a stop and Kate, seated in front of me, stood up and stretched. Her eyes widened when she saw Luke sleeping on my shoulder, quite comfortable as can be. “Well, that’s some load you got there,” she said with a laugh.

Tita Dane turned towards us and laughed as well. “Amazing how he can sleep comfortably on your slim shoulders,” she commented.

“Since you’re stuck there, I may as well be the one to buy you food,” Kate volunteered. She started inching her way out of their aisle. “What would you all want?”

“Thanks Kate,” I said with gratitude and appreciation. With all the talking Luke and I did, I hadn’t noticed that my stomach was grumbling for a feeding. “I’d like some bread please.”

Kate nodded and turned to her mother. “What about you Mom?”

Tita Dane stood up. “I’ll go with you Kate. I need to use the bathroom.”

As they started walking down the bus aisle, Kate looked back. “Maybe you’ll have a couple of minutes' wait Mace,” She gestured towards the side of the street where the bakery was located. “Long line ahead.”

I nodded. “That’s okay, I’m good to wait.”

I gazed down at the people walking by the bus, all eager to buy food and relieve themselves with the stopover. Mother nature is calling me as well but as I didn’t want to disturb the sleeping Luke, I decided I could still hold it off until the second stopover. Besides, there was no way I would let anything disturb this moment where I’m so close to him.

A full five minutes passed and still no sign of Kate or Tita Dane. I turned my head to look at the queue, wondering how far they were. I was really feeling hungry and I hoped they were past halfway to the counter.

My movement made Luke stir and I froze. I felt him move his cheek on my shoulder, nuzzling the sleeves of the plaid polo I was wearing. I held my breath, willing him to go back to sleep but he suddenly stretched out and his fingers touched my cheek almost immediately.

His eyes opened and he slowly moved his head, his hair caressing my cheeks. He must have realized the position we were in because he suddenly sat upright and his eyes darted from the empty seats of Kate and Tita Dane to me, who was sitting beside him.

“Mace!” he exclaimed. He reached out and began smoothing the sleeves of my plaid polo. “I-I’m so sorry,” he stuttered. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep… I didn’t even realize what I was doing…”

I smiled and stopped his hands. “It’s okay Luke,” I assured him. “I didn’t mind. Besides you were tired so I was glad to lend you my shoulder.”

He didn’t crack a smile at my joke. His face only continued to wear an embarrassed expression and his cheeks were turning a beet red color. “How long was I out?” he asked.

“About an hour,” I answered gently.

He looked even more appalled. “That long?!?”

Sensing that his mortification was about to hit the bus roof, I held him by both shoulders. “Luke,” I said forcing him to look into my eyes. “It’s okay, it was no problem at all. Like I said, I was happy to lend you my shoulder.” I gave him a wink. “It’s too bad you woke up too soon though. Now, I don’t have an excuse to be that close to you.”

His mouth dropped open and seeing my face holding back my laughter, his mouth slowly curved into a shy boyish grin. “Sorry,” he said again. “I guess I’m more tired than I think I am.”

“That’s better,” I replied. I was relieved to see his face was slowly going back to his tanned color. Changing the subject, I pointed towards the queue. “Kate and Tita Dane are somewhere there. They went down to relieve themselves and buy food, us included.”

“I don’t see them anywhere,” Luke remarked looking at the long line.”

“They’ve been gone for about five minutes now,” I told him. “But they should be back in no time. Stopover is only 15 minutes after all.”

Continuing his search, Luke half stood up to peer at the bus window. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “Mace, what did you ask them to buy for you?”

“Bread,” I answered promptly.

“Hold on,” he said excitedly. “I see something that just might make you forget about that bread!”

Curious to see what got him all hyped, I peered out the window beside him. “What is it?”

He turned towards me and I sucked in my breath when I realized just how close our faces were. I think he realized the same thing because his eyes suddenly widened. I hurriedly sat back on my window seat before any of us would get embarrassed again.

Luke stood up, the excitement still in his voice. “Wait here,” he instructed. “I’ll be right back!” And off he bounded out of the bus running to another queue from the other side of where Kate and Tita Dane headed to.

Oh well, I thought. They better have good food with them when they get back. I really am starving now.

Just barely three minutes later, Luke was back bringing with him two brown paper bags. He sat down and giving me a wide smile, he presented one of the bags. “Here it is Mace,” he said still out of breath but too excited to care. “I don’t think you’ve eaten this in a long, long time.”

I had to admit his excitement was contagious. Really beyond curiosity now, I accepted the brown paper bag and opened it eagerly.

“Oh my God!” I shouted in disbelief. I looked at Luke’s broad smile and both of us burst out laughing. We were laughing so loud that the people beside our seats turned to look at what the commotion was all about. And just that exact moment, Kate and Tita Dane arrived to witness everything.

“What’s happening you two?” Kate asked handing me the bread I ordered. Tita Dane who was looking at us expectantly was just as intrigued.

Still laughing, I forced myself to stop so that I could speak coherently. “Luke gave me food that I have not eaten in a long, long time!” I opened the brown paper bag to reveal what was inside. “He bought me Bukayo!” I said happily. I looked at Luke who was also grinning from ear to ear at me.

Bukayo is a sweetened coconut strip delicacy popular in the Philippines. It's usually created by cooking strips or shredded portions of young, gelatinous coconut (buko) in water and sinuklob, a chewy caramel-like sugarcane muscovado sugar.

Kate looked me blankly, clearly not understanding why a simple Bukayo could evoke such a reaction. But Tita Dane was looking at us with a knowing smile, as if she understood what this food meant to both of us.

“Ooooookay,” Kate murmured. “I didn’t know you were such an avid fan of that food Mace.” She dangled the brown paper bag of bread in front of my nose. “Do you still want this? I could eat it if you don’t.”

I snatched the bread from her hands. “Yep, I’ll have it. It’s still a long trip after all.” I looked up at her with a smile. “Thanks Kate!”

All of us sat down in our seats and began opening our bags of goodies. I turned towards Luke and had to restrain myself from giving him a hug. “Thank you, Luke,” I beamed up at him. “I can’t believe you still remember how much I love this!”

“It was my pleasure,” he said. Then running his hands through the wisp of hair that fell from my loose ponytail, he looked at me straight in the eye and his voice dropped into a husky whisper. “You don’t know how much I still remember when it comes to you, Mace."

My heart pounded at his words and I swallowed hard. The bus suddenly felt hot and I gave out a shaky laugh. “Let’s eat all these then,” I said in a voice that sounded too breathless to my ears. To my relief, Luke obliged and in a matter of minutes, we were back to our usual banter of conversation, happily munching on the bukayo that he bought.