Chapter 4:

It's Mr. President Arren Bane!

"What?!?" Mom reacted as she quickly joined them at the window.

I left Hup-Hup in the kitchen and joined them at the window as well. I inserted myself into the flock and when I finally got a closer look, Mr. President Perfect Guy, who was waiting outside, gracefully waved a hand at the window.

Everyone's eyes looked towards me as if I was to blame.

"What? It's not like he can see us here." I murmured in a monotone voice.

"He can't see us, but he can see you, dimwit!" Mom spat at me.

Is that my fault!?" I complained.

"YES!" Dad, Mom, and Danica all agreed.

"Unbelievable." I exclaimed.

"And believe it or not, I need you to get in there right now and stall him for us. Because we have an urgent cleaning to do!" Mom declared.

"And as her father, I'm going to entertain that Prince Charming." as suggested by Dad

"No! As her father, you're going to help me clean the house!" Mom demanded.

"But,"

"No BUTS, Hercules, because I'm going to need your strength to bristle and shine the entire floor." Mom cut Dad's excuse.

"A-yah-yay." Day grumbled with a face slap.

"And I can go as a substitute." Danica happily interjected.

"No. You dear missy, are going to wash the dishes." Mom stopped her.

"No way!" Danica exclaimed.

"Yes, or you're grounded!"

"You're... impossible! Argh!!!" Danica groaned as she stomped her feet all the way to the kitchen.

"And you, Rapunzel, are going out of the house."

"What!? But I—"

I was about to make an excuse and just then Mom pushed me out of the house and slammed the door.

I was on the doorstep with cold-shoulders and completely unprepared for how to deal with this Mr. Perfect Guy. Lucky enough, Hup-Hup managed to come with me, and she seems equipped to be my support in this unannounced battle.

According to my calculations, we have a fifty-fifty chance of knocking him out and sending him crying back to his mother. However, there's also a fifty percent chance that he'll succeed. And it'll increase if I don't make a move.

I know that the gate is about ten meters away from the house, but I'm getting goosebumps just by seeing him standing there.

"Hi!" he greeted, audibly enough to be heard from afar.

"Oh, hey!" I was startled.

"Should I come in?"

Now, the battle cry has started.

"No! I mean, I'll come right there! Just-just in a minute, ok?" I gawkily replied.

"Sure! Take your time!"

Ooh, why do I feel lost now? Damn it!

"Come on, buddy." I whispered to Hup-Hup and we dashed together towards the gate.

"Oh, you have a lovely dog!" he noticed.

"Yah, thank you. Umm, why exactly are you here again?" I confronted him.

"Well, just like you said, Rule Number One: I'm going to convince your parents to agree to our relationship. Rule Number Two: If I cannot fulfill rule number one, then I cannot proceed to the succeeding steps and our relationship will be deemed null and void. So, I got here." He flawlessly recited it.

"Wow, you seriously memorized it all." I was candidly amazed.

Sh*t! He's definitely serious about this! Oh, what am I going to do!? Think Danielle, think!

"So, can I come in?" he asked, going straight to flush.

"What!?" I thoughtlessly exclaimed.

"Well, we cannot stay here for long, because it's getting dark, and it's so frosty out here. And besides, how am I going to fulfill rule number one if I won't be able to get in touch with your Mom and Dad? So, can I come in please?" He politely explained.

Yah, you have a point. But umm... they're not here yet." I lied.

"Are they? Because I think I saw them in the window just now."

"You did?" I kept on with the act.

"Yah, with my very own eyes." He insisted.

"Come on, you must be seeing someone else." I brushed the suspicion aside with an awkward laughter.

"No, I'm sure I just saw them in there." He asserted

"You know what, you need a cup of coffee."

"I'm allergic to caffeine." He bluntly replied.

"Then... I believe you should have a snack with me. You must be famished." I persuaded him.

"Thank you for the offer, but-"

"Come on, it's just a block from here. I'm sure you'll love their food." I pressed him, trying to brush off his idea, and pushed him to the nearby café next door.

So, he had no other choice but to follow my lead. Basically, the café was not too far from the house. However, I forgot to bring the leash for Hup-Hup, so it slowed down our excursion.

There were times when she'd suddenly run towards the road, then chase after a cat, and throw a terrible tantrum. Throwing a tantrum is the worst, because she would freeze on the ground and seek to be carried.

Well, I don't have a problem carrying her all the way to the café, but strangely she got heavier than yesterday.

"Ooh, you silly overweight obese dawg!" I grunted in heaviness while carrying her in my arms.

"Let me carry her." Mr. President offered some help.

"Nah, I can handle this." I tried to act tough, but I could not stop grunting from the heavy weight of Hup-Hup.

"But I insist." He induced

"Pfft! I'm absolutely cool. "

Hey! I may be a female, but I am not a damsel in distress, idiot! So, back off!

"I understand, but you have to let me help you." He offered again.

"I'm fine. She's just a pillow of hair, bones, and fats. Just (exhales deeply) leave me be, alright?" I was so irritated that I didn't mean to raise my voice.

I really wished that he would just ignore it and leave it be. But he was so stubborn that he suddenly blocked my way and tried to snatch Hup-Hup from my arms.

I didn't want to let go of Hup-Hup, so we wrestled on a doggie tug-of-war, which turned into a silent battle.

We are pulling at each other's strength and the cold war has turned heated and epic. And unto the last ounce of my strength, I gave my utmost power and pulled Hup-Hup on my weight. Unfortunately, the force of gravity carried him as well, so we bumped into each other's heads and fell on the ground.

-----THUD-----

"Ow! Just what were you thinking?!" I angrily exclaimed while I closed my eyes in pain.

"(Grunts heavily) I'm so sorry." He apologized.

(Grunts) Wait! That feels strange. Hup-Hup was already heavy earlier, but this time she's way ten times heavier. Oh, sh*t!

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mr. President grunting in pain above me. His handsome face was way too close to mine, that our lips would almost collide.

I wanted to shove him off above me, but I was mesmerized by the warm breath that he blew into my cheeks. I could not explain the feeling, but everything slowed down.

I was so in the mood, when all of a sudden, Mr. President opened his eyes.

"Hey, are you OK?" he asked.

This so flustered me that I got so embarrassed and jab a punch right at his face. He flew off to the corner and I quickly sat up straight and slapped my face so hard that my cheeks got even rosier.

I am so ashamed that I wanted to cover my face with excessive make-up to hide that dishonorable blush on my face. I wanted to shout at the top of my voice, but I resorted to biting my arms instead to quench that embarrassment.

"Ugh!" Mr. President groans in pain.

I turned around, and there I saw Mr. President massaging his injured face and forehead on the corner beside Hup-Hup. To my relief, I dashed over to save him from his unfortunate fate.

I helped him stand on his feet and brushed the dirt off of his fancy tuxedo. I was so worried that I further checked on his face for serious damage. Thankfully, there are none, but my fists are visibly marked on his face.

"I-I-I'm very sorry, Mr. President." I sincerely apologize.

"(Hisses in pain) Nah, I'm fine. (Exhales deeply) Let's just... Argh! My head." He struggled.

"Oh, I'm so, so sorry, Sir,"

"(exhales painfully) It's OK. Let's just... (groans discreetly) continue walking."

I was about to keep my mouth shut when unexpectedly...

"(Gasps) you're bleeding!" I freaked out.

He instinctively touched his nose and felt the blood dripping from it.

"Argh! Damn nose bleeds!" he exclaimed angrily as he raised his head upward.

I led him to the nearest bench and dashed to the nearest department store to purchase the necessary first aid kits, along with a few snacks and a cold orange juice to keep our stomachs full.

After buying all these things, I scurried back to the bench to nurse him. I was not a good first aider, but I did what I could and applied what I'd learned from school, which somehow alleviated his injuries.

After tending to his wound, I cleaned up the mess and gave him the ice pack for his numb face. I also offered him a snack, but he silently declined.

Ugh! I'm pretty sure he was so mad at me now. I know I wanted a break-up, but this is not what I thought it should be. Aish! What an unlucky fate I was born with.

There was an awkward silence between the two of us, while I meekly behaved myself next to him. I cannot look at his face while reflecting on the misfortunes that I have brought to him again.

So, instead I tap my hands on the vacant side of the bench to command Hup-Hup to sit right next to me. She recognized the gesture and hopped on the bench to obey my will. Then I turned to her and squished her fatty furry collar coat to ease the tension.

"She's a good dog." He finally talked.

"Mm." I nodded in reply.

"So... What do you've got?" He asked.

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded.

"I mean the liquids. You've got a juice?" he clarified.

"Oh, yes! The juice."

I rummage through the paper bag and quickly grab the orange juice. I'm glad that it's still cold and I handed it over to him.

He took it courteously and opened the bottle to consume it. And as he was drinking, I looked at his injuries from a distance and made sure that he wouldn't notice.

Yet, when I was about to look at his sharp eyes, he intuitively stared at me with his pupils that I was so taken aback and rapidly swerved my head back to Hup-Hup, who was ridiculously sticking her tongue out.

Wait. Did he see that?

"(Clears throat) You know what, today was a very bad day. (Sighs) And no matter how much I try to be flawlessly perfect, things won't just happen accordingly to what I wanted them to be. And it sucks." He confessed candidly.

"(Sighs) That's because you're tangled up with me." I softly replied.

"Nah, that's not true. Because, even if I wasn't with you, things just went pretty bad for me,"he refuted.

"Bad?! Pfft! Would the most handsome, perfect guy in school have a bad day? I cannot imagine that."

"Yes, it's hard to believe, but it happens a lot. Count that as well what happened today."

"That was not you. It was me, ok. And do not be responsible for someone else's misfortune. Because, honestly, I was born with it."

"You know, you're way more unbelievable than I am," he said in disbelief.

"How am I unbelievable?" You see, you're popular, but I'm not; you're born with innate beauty, but I wasn't; and you're raised with a silver spoon, which I never had. Now, do I have to state everything?" I snapped.

"Are you... mad?" he asked.

"No!" I stressfully replied.

"Pfft! (laughs)," he stifled a laugh.

"Hey, what's funny!?"

"Nothing. I just thought you were so hard to talk to, Madam. But you're not" He jested.

"MADAM!?! Oh, you know what, let's break-up right now." I thoughtlessly demanded.

"Break-up? Pfft!" He burst out laughing.

"What's so funny about that, huh!?" I lost my temper.

"(Clears throat) No offense, but, how can we call it a break-up when we aren't officially yet?"

"(Gasps) Ooh, blast it! Then... then don't fulfill the agreement, so we could go on our separate ways and be happy with our lives again. Is that a deal?"

"A deal?!? Hey! I worked hard for that extravagant confession, paid a thousand dollars, swallowed the humiliation, and now you're telling me that this is just how it'll end!? No deal." He bluntly declined as he stood on his feet and started to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"Well, isn't it obvious, I'm fulfilling Rule No. 1 and I am not backing out!" he furiously declared.

"It's not worth it!" I tried to warn him.

"Oh yes it is, because I am going back to your house and you'll see what I'm capable of!" He snapped.

"Hey! Are your legs OK? " I tried to stop him from afar, because he walks like a zombie, marching his way down the road.

"I don't care!" he barked.

Aish! Just what happened to him? Did he hit his head? (Gasps) Oh bloody hell no, it must've because of my punch. F*ck!

"Wait!" I shouted back.

"Chase me if you can, Madam! But YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"

He loosely yelled back as he walked, literally like a zombie.