Chapter 26

If asked to choose between someone who loves you and someone whom you love, choose the one who loves you, for they saw greatness in you whom the person you love couldn't.

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Inside the calming and cool room of Mary, devoid of all the negativities, for she left it all behind her room's door, the two fell asleep, staying in their position with their arms holding each other.

***

The rain was pouring down crazily. The drainages and sewers were getting pretty full from the amount of water the dark clouds had let go of. Plus, its scary thunderous strikes give a much terrifying chill to the cooling temperature. Despite the heavy pouring rain, children, be they homeless or not, were enjoying themselves outside, showering and leaning their heads towards the rainwater from gutters.

They didn't seem to be feeling the extremely cold weather, for they were still swimming in puddles and in knee-high water from clogged sewage and drainage. And the dirt did not bother most of them in fact, they were even dipping their heads as if they were immune to any sort of disease they could get.

Mary groaned when the heavy rain suddenly poured. She could not get under a shade in time, thus getting completely drenched, even her belongings. Still, she rushed to the nearest convenience store to hide from the rain.

Trickling with raindrops, Mary could not hide her anger to herself. It turned out that she was actually going to bring an umbrella but she forgot to take it with her because she was in a hurry.

"This is the worst. My phone and my makeup are all wet. Even my underwear is. Ugh! It feels weird. I wanna change."

She wanted to at least let herself dry a bit more before going into the convenience store to see if the store was selling umbrellas.

The convenience store's automatic sliding glass door opened. Someone stood beside her, munching on a hotdog in a bun while leaving traces of ketchup and mustard around his mouth.

"Uwah! Delicious!"

Being loud and taller than Mary, the man obviously had Mary's attention. She looked to her side and saw Neil. Mary knew exactly who Neil was, him being a known bully at their school.

"Don't light your cigarette here. I hate the smoke of that lung-destroying addicting stick of death."

"What an overly put name you gave it. I guess I'll light this home."

Neil placed his cigarette stick back in his polo shirt's front pocket. He does not have a bag but he has an umbrella with him, a black one.

"You need an umbrella?" Neil offered his umbrella to Mary. She was taken aback by the kind generosity, hesitant to accept anything from him. "You can have mine."

"Uh, no, no! I'll just buy one inside! You can keep your umbrella."

"Oh, then can you hold it for me?"

Neil posed as if he was about to fix his loosened shoelace to have Mary hold it for him.

"Uh, I guess I can do that much."

"Thanks," ran Neil away from her, basking under the pouring rain as soon as Mary took hold of the umbrella. "You can give it back to me, Mary!"

Surprisingly, Neil knew her and his actions definitely had her frozen. She did not expect him to act like that and be as kind as he could be despite all the hate he was receiving from the victim of his bullying.

"Hey! Get back here!"

"See you, Mary!"

And Neil left just like that, giving out his umbrella to Mary and letting himself get drenched in the rain.

For some reason, Mary did not hate what Neil did. She did not think that the man had that kind of goodness in him, looking back at all of the rumors and insults she heard from people.

Two famous names and two different reasons for being known. One was because of her kindness and the other was because of his arrogance.

***

There came another chance for Mary and Neil to stumble upon each other. This time it was not raining. It was on a clear sunny day both taking cover under the same convenience store's shade. It was not that they didn't have an umbrella but because it was scorching with a heat index of 45 degrees Celsius. It was one of the hottest days of the year.

"Say," Neil began without even looking at Mary. He was most definitely embarrassed to look at her at the time due to what he was about to say. "Are you single?"

The words were soundless and Mary could not hear him well.

"Speak louder. I could not understand what you just said."

But Neil's courage was poured into those last few words. He has to muster the courage once again to be able to ask Mary about his intentions.

"I said..." Neil stopped for a second, eating his words but it was his pride he swallowed. "I'm wondering if you are single, Mary."

On their first meeting and first time having a conversation, he fell, and on their second meet, he asked her out.

"I am not seeing anyone at the moment. Can I assume that you're interested in me by asking me if I'm single?"

Eye contact, eye contact, Neil could not hold eye contact for a few seconds as he would immediately avert his gaze from Mary.

"T-That's too embarrassing. Don't make me say it directly."

"Hmm..." Mary was not making fun of Neil nor laughing at her. She kept a straight face, asking Neil more questions. "What is it that you like about me?"

"It's— I'd say your personality."

"What about it? What personality of mine did you like?"

"This is overwhelming. I can't!"

"Yes, you can. You're a man, so act like one."

"It's because you keep staring at my face! I'm being distracted by those hazel eyes of yours!"

Mary's heart skipped a beat, and it came as a surprise. She somewhat felt shy after that, shifting her gaze to her front and looking at the passing people.

"Idiot. You should have just answered my question."

~