by Fumise Love
Johanne and I went to the Battery Park in Manhattan to take a good view of New York. It was no big deal for me to walk here but being with Johanne made this park special.
“Why are we here?” I asked the gorilla. He was the one who dragged me here and I had no idea how familiar he was with New York.
“Nothing,” he said as he stared straight ahead. “Do you kno—“
“No, I don’t,”
“Listen first, witch,” Johane sighed. I nodded to give the cue to continue talking. The tone of his voice was dead serious. “Once, I fell in love with a girl who suddenly disappeared,”
“And that’s Mary Jade,”
“Right,” he smiled but it did not reach his eyes. “She left a huge scar in here,” he pointed at his chest.
“Johanne...” I whispered. “You don’t have to tell this to me. You don’t need to hurt yourself by telling me stories about Mary Jade,”
Because I knew that you still loved her.
He just ignored what I had said, “When I met her, I tried to hold myself back because my brother loves her too but somehow, I couldn’t resist her,”
“Don’t ta—“
“When she left, I told myself that I was willing to give her up for my brother if it meant that she would come back. I was willing to sacrifice everything just for her, even if it meant that she would be happy with someone else. The important thing was that I could always see her,”
“That’s how much you love her…” I commented. I felt like crying but I knew that I was not in the place to be sad about it because this was Johanne and Jeffrey’s problem. But hearing how much Johanne loved Mary Jade? I could not help myself but feel hurt and that was the worst part. “The feeling that everything is complete as long as you can see her, that’s what you were feeling before, right?”
Johanne left a huge impact in my life just like how Mary Jade left a huge impact in Johanne’s.
“Yes,” Johanne struggled to flash me a smile. I knew that it was hard to avoid talking about Mary Jade that was why I just listened to what Johanne was going to say. “Everytime I reminisced about the time that we were together, I could not stop myself from thinking about her,” Johanne paused for a second. “I thought that I wouldn’t be able to forget about her,”
“You are still not able to forget about her,” I knew that even though I turned the world upside-down, Mary Jade was irreplaceable in Johanne’s heart.
“I did,” he smiled and this time, it reached his eyes. “I forgot her because of a girl who did nothing but to annoy me,” was Johanne talking about Stephanie this time? Maybe Mary Jade was not the only girl that Johanne had loved. Maybe Johanne loved Mary Jade’s childhood friend, Stephanie Vergara. And because it was obvious that Johanne was troubled by loving two different people at the same time, there was no room for me in his heart. “But just like you said, everything is complete as long as I can see her,” Johanne was still staring straight ahead while I stared at him. If I knew how to draw, I wanted to paint his handsome face so I would be able to remember this moment. “She irritates me like hell but little did I know that I was slowly falling for everything that she did. Unfortunately, that girl is so blind and numb to notice,”
Was Stephanie that blind? Was this the reason why they had broken up? I could not believe what I was hearing.
And since we were already in this topic, I should talk about my feelings too, “Same goes for me. My day isn’t complete if he’s not with me. That’s how strong his effect is on me,” I followed Johanne’s example and also stared straight ahead so that he would not realize that I was talking about him.
“It’s a good thing that you know how it feels like…” Johanne’s tone of voice was disappointed.
“He doesn’t know for himself that he’s oddly sweet,” I remembered the night when I got lost and he found me. “He’s kind even though it doesn’t look like it,” I remembered the time that he bought me a pig stuffed toy just to tease me about wasting most of his money on food. I remembered the time when I first heard of his heavenly voice. “He’s perfect and that’s what makes everything impossible for me. He’s too out of my reach. It’s like he’s floating up in the air while I remained here on land,”
“Do I know him…?” Johanne wondered.
“You know him very well, gorilla,”
“Is it Jeff?”
“No,” I shook my head. I realized that I did not want to run away from my feelings for him anymore. “I’m talking about you, Johanne,”
Johanne’s jaw dropped as he looked at me like I was insane. “Are you kidding me?”
I was frustrated by his reaction. I just confessed and then he was just going to ask me if I was kidding? It took guts to tell him of my feelings! I stomped away from him. I did not realize that he was this dense. “Don’t ever talk to me, gorilla!”
“Hey!” Johanne tried to catch up with me as I walked farther away from him. “Wait a minute!” Johanne suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. My body shook as I my heart beat faster. “Didn’t it occur to you that I was talking about you too?” he leaned his face closer to mine and planted a gentle kiss on my lips. “You’re blind, loud, noisy, and annoying, but on top of that, you managed to steal my heart,”
“W-What?”
Johanne used his hands to cup both sides of my face. It felt like I was melting because of his touch. I felt lost staring at the most gorgeous pair of eyes I had ever seen. He kissed me again…and this time…it was longer.
His arms wrapped around my waist while my hands automatically found its way on top of his shoulders.
If I was dreaming…I hoped that I would never, ever wake up.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jeffrey
They still had not realized that I could see them. Why did I decide to walk here in the Battery Park alone?
It was already obvious that I lost.
Now, it was not that painful because I expected for this to happen unlike before. This heartache was nothing compared to the pain that I felt from before. Maybe it was because I had known and loved Jade for so long.
I just thought that I had the chance to be happy with Gabrielle…but unfortunately, my brother beat me to it…again.
Even though this happened, I did not know why I was happy for them. Maybe deep inside, I still felt happy for my younger brother. Maybe I was not that asshole of an older brother than I thought I was.
I was happy to see them together.
This time, I was matured enough to accept the fact that I could not have everything that I wanted. I would not repeat history wherein I threw away my relationship with my brother just because of a silly thing called ‘love’.
◆◆◆
Gabrielle
I woke up with a smile plastered on my face.
Was it just a dream?
I knew that everything that had happened last night was real and because of that, I smiled like a creep again.
I hurriedly prepared to go to the university because there was one thing to be excited about. Even though Johanne and I were dating now, it did not mean that our relationship would change. We would still tease and irritate each other.
For me, he was still the gorilla while I remained as the witch for him.
“Johanne!” I called for his name when I saw him outside the gates of the university.
He turned around with a smile also plastered on his handsome face, “Are you on your way to class?”
“No,” I rolled my eyes. “I’m going home even though I just arrived. Use your brain sometimes, gorilla!”
“Is that how you should talk to your boyfriend?”
“I don’t care!”
It was obvious that we were happy. Johanne just laughed at my remark and held my hand. There were no false claims if people viewed us as a couple because now, it was true.
I could not believe that Johanne felt the same for me.
“I need to tell you something,” Johanne said seriously.
�
�What is it?”
Was he going to say that he was just teasing me and everything was just a joke?
Hopefully not.
“As we both know, you’re a blind witch. I just want to tell you that my brother also likes you,” and Johanne told me about how Jeffrey told him about his feelings for me.
Jeffrey liked me?
I was surprised because it seemed like what happened before with Mary Jade was happening now. My conscience started to kick in as I realized that I had hurt Jeffrey.
What I felt for Jeffrey was clear.
It was clear that I could only see Jeffrey as a brother.
◆◆◆
Samantha, Jeffrey, Johanne, and I were altogether while we ate our lunches in the cafeteria since Paul and Matthew had different schedules. Nobody knew that me and Johanne were already dating. I should tell Samantha about this later because she was my bestfriend…but as of now, I did not want to because I knew that she would bombard me with questions.
“You’re such a pig!” Johanne playfully commented as I was munching on my food. ‘You’re a glutton!”
“Even though I eat a lot, I’m still pretty,” I stuck a tongue out at him.
“Who said that you’re pretty?” Johanne raised a brow.
“Why would you li—“ I stopped myself from talking when I realized that I almost blurted out that Johanne liked me in front of our friends. “You’re just so ugly, you gorilla!”
“So sweet…” Samantha chuckled.
“Excuse me…” someone interrupted out peaceful lunch. I looked up and saw a guy who I was sure was not in our class.
“Yes?” Jeffrey asked.
“The both of you are Jeffrey and Johanne, right?” the student directed his question to the guys.
“What do you need from us?” Johanne wondered. I knew that these two were famous in the campus already that was why I would not be surprised if this guy wanted an autograph or something.
“Someone is looking for the two of you,”
“Who?” I was the one who asked.
“It’s that girl,” and the student pointed at the entrance of the cafeteria where a beautiful girl with long black hair stood. Johanne and Jeffrey became stiff when their eyes landed on the girl.
She was so beautiful…and even without asking…I knew who she was.
Mary Jade.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gabrielle
I felt threatened by her presence and I obviously knew the reason why.
I was scared to lose Johanne. I was nowhere near as beautiful as her. She looked like an angel who just took a stroll here on Earthland and I looked completely the opposite of her. She was petite while I had fats all over my body because I always ate too much. She looked like a model. She was way more beautiful compared to Stephanie.
The student who approached us walked away from us. It was like everything moved slowly when Mary Jade walked towards our direction. Everything was in slow motion.
Nothing entered my mind on what I had to do. Should I stop Mary Jade? Should I talk to her? Should I slap her or punch her on the face?
My hatred toward Mary Jade suddenly turned into stupidity. Stupidity because my mind was blank right now.
“M-Mary…”
“J-Jade…”
“What are you doing here?” Samantha was the only one who had the guts to ask the question to Mary Jade. “Shouldn’t you be in Japan right now? Or did Stephanie really call you to come here?”
Samantha was too quick to figure out that the beautiful girl standing in front of us was Mary Jade. Maybe she figured it out by the way that the two guys reacted.
“I want to talk to the both of them,” Mary Jade’s voice matched her angelic face. How did Johanne and Jeffrey come to like me when my voice was amplified ten times louder than Mary Jade’s?
“F-For what?” I stuttered.
“You must be Gabrielle,” Mary Jade smiled at me and I swore to God that it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “I was told that your hair is blue on the ends,”
“I don’t need to voice out who you are,” I stood up. “Just tell us what you are doing here,”
I knew that Winona already warned us about Mary Jade’s return but I did not expect for it to happen so soon.
How did she know that the four guys transferred here in the New York campus? Who told Mary Jade? Did Johanne tell Winona or Stephanie about this?
I was happy now…why did this have had to happen?
Johanne inhaled a huge amount of air before saying, “Alright. Let’s talk. Let’s go to the park. Jeff, are you coming with us?” Johanne stood up and looked at Jeffrey.
Jeffrey shook his head as he also stood up, “No. I’ll be going somewhere else because I suddenly don’t feel good,” and with that, Jeffrey walked away from us.
Johanne walked toward the direction of the park while Mary Jade followed him.
Samantha and I were the only ones left here in the cafeteria, “Why does it look like you’ve been withheld by heaven and hell at the same time, Gab? Are you jealous?”
“What? Me? Jealous?”
“H-Huh? Aren’t you and Johanne dating already?”
I was surprised by what she had said, “How did you know?”
“Johanne told Paul and Paul told me,” I did not realize that Johanne would be the first one to inform the others about our relationship. Was he that excited?
“Were you surprised when you knew?” I wondered.
“No,” my bestfriend answered quickly. “You’re my bestfriend, Gab. During our days in the Nashville University Training Camp, I already noticed that you like Johanne and he likes you back. The two of you are just too dense to realize that you have the same feelings for each other,”
Was my bestfriend speaking the truth? Had she really noticed that I liked Johanne even during our days in the training camp?
“When did you notice that I like him?” I asked again.
“During our first day, when Crescent Moon played your favorite song,” Samantha explained. “As I’ve told you, you’re my bestfriend. I also know that you’re feeling jealous right now and I know that you don’t know what to do,”
“What should I do, Sam?”
“If you love Johanne, you should trust him,”
Samantha and I talked about Johanne for almost half an hour. It was obvious that she was happy for me and Johanne like she was with her blooming relationship with Paul.
“It’s almost time for our next subject,” Samantha reminded me. “Why don’t we call Johanne?”
“Let’s go,”
The two of us went to the park of our university and we immediately spotted Johanne together with Mary Jade. I was aware of the fact that Samantha told me to trust Johanne if I really loved him…but why did it seem so hard?
It was hard considering the fact that Johanne and Mary Jade looked so happy because they were laughing whole-heartedly.
“I-I’ll go home first, Sam,” I informed my bestfriend. “I suddenly feel sick.”
◆◆◆
Johanne
I was surprised when I saw her again. I was not expecting for her to be back in the country. I was not expecting for this to happen and I did not know for myself if I made the right decision of talking to her.
“Why are you here, Mary?” was the first thing that I asked her when we sat on the bench here in the park of the university. I observed her looks and it seemed like nothing had changed. She was still beautiful like the last time that I had seen her. The only thing that probably changed was my feelings for her.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Mary muttered as she stared at the students passing by. “Your new girlfriend is gorgeous, Johanne. Her sex appeal is also over the top,”
“I’m sorry,” the word escaped my mouth as I looked down on the ground.
“Sorry?” Mary repeated. She obviously found my apology confusing. “For what? As far as I know, I should be the one apologizing here,”
I
could not help but notice that the way Mary and Gabrielle spoke was way too different. Mary had this sweet tone of voice while Gabrielle always talked like she was arguing with someone.
“I’m sorry because I don’t love you anymore, Mary,” I looked at Mary straight into the eyes for her to get the message that I was serious about this. “I’m sorry because I’m in love with Gabrielle. I’m sorry because whatever plans that you have in your mind, you won’t succeed. You came here to mess with my life, didn’t you? How did you know that we transferred here?”
She looked at me like I was insane for a few seconds before laughing like a total freak. I thought that I was just seeing things…but Mary was really laughing at what I had just told her.
Did Mary turn into a lunatic?
“Wait a minute,” she tried to catch up with her breath. “You know, Johanne…there are two reasons why I’m here to apologize,”
“First, I want to apologize for leaving you to go to Japan without telling you about it,” she explained. “Second, I want to apologize for using you,”
“Wha—“
“When news got to me that you have a new girlfriend, I was glad because I know that you’ll be happy with Gabrielle. The way that I used you is unacceptable and I’ll understand if you don’t forgive me,”
“Wait,” every word that came out of Mary’s mouth was confusing. “What do you mean by ‘using’ me?”
Mary frowned like what she did really pained her. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry because right from the very start, Jeff was, and still is, the only one that I love.
“W-What?”
“When we were together, I already loved him for three years and up until now, I still do...” Mary’s eyes were beginning to water. “...I used you so that he would hate me. I was so scared to hurt him. I knew that even if we did get together before, the fact that I was going to Japan wouldn’t change. I didn’t want to hurt him because I was going away,”
I knew that I was supposed to be angry because this was the girl who broke my heart, but I could not find it in myself to get mad at her.