by Yuriko Hime
Oh well, I guess I had to find out on my own. I squared my shoulders and walked pass the lawn, straight to the front door. As I pushed the doorbell, I reminded myself to smile. The thick wooden door opened and two very familiar hands snaked their way around my back, giving me a small hug. The smell of cinnamon wafted on my nose. I found myself taking a deep sniff despite knowing the person who hugged me.
“What are you doing here Denise?” I pried her gently away from my body. The hug was nice, I’d give you that. She was an inch taller than me and her breast brushed against mine when she leaned in. It was every lesbians dream to be hugged like that. It was because I knew it was her that made me totally uncomfortable.
She pouted at me. Her full lips, which were currently covered in light peach-colored lip gloss, made this sad smiley motion. I almost laughed out loud. Not because she looked ugly, but because I knew that I was the only one who could do that to her. My mom was right when she said that Denise had a thing for me now.
“Babe, is that the right way to greet the owner of the house?”
I arched an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean? I came here for the practice.”
She gave me a patronizing look and moved nearer, doubling my discomfort. “You’re so silly. This is my house.”
I took a step back. “But you’re not my classmate Denise.” I glanced quickly to my surroundings, wondering what was going on.
“Of course I’m not.” She grabbed my right arm, practically hauling me inside the house. She took me by surprise. I couldn’t do anything but to follow her. Denise guided me to the modern styled living room that looked very much like Glace’s house. I didn’t realize that Denise came from money. My mom and I weren’t poor, but we were very practical. We preferred to live in a smaller home unlike this because there were only the two of us.
I checked the living room. None of my classmates were there. At the back of my mind, I had a nagging suspicion that it was a set-up. Denise pushed me to the black leather sofa. She then sat beside me, too close for comfort. I moved several inches away from her. “What am I doing here? I was supposed to attend practice for the play.”
“We need to talk about us," she said impatiently. Denise tucked a stray hair behind her ear, giving me the chance to study her features. I haven’t stared at her like this since last year. I’ve avoided looking at her for too long since she refused me. There was no point in it. But here and now, I had no choice.
Sunlight streamed inside the window behind us, highlighting her straight blonde hair. From my view, it looked like it was on fire. She kind of reminded of Barbie with her thick lashes and modelesque appearance. Add to that her height and a toned slender body, and she was basically a moving mannequin.
It painfully reminded me of why I fell for her last year. Yup! She was gorgeous and she knew it. She often used it to her advantage too, especially when it came to me. But that wasn’t the reason why I came here, and besides, she turned me down once. I finally found my voice after seconds of gaping at her. “You must have meant the words me and you Denise because there was no us to begin with.” I emphasized the word so she’d understand. “How many times do I need to remind you that you turned me down?”
She sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment before looking at me again. “What if I changed my mind?” I licked my lips nervously. Was she saying what I think she was saying? Did she want to get together? What should I do?
“Say it to me clearly so I’d understand,” I croaked. My throat suddenly felt dry. I think I was hyperventilating a little.
“I thought about what you said to me last month.” Our eyes met. She averted her gaze quickly and turned pink on the cheeks. Was the queen bee blushing? Impossible! “Anyway,” she added. “I really like you, and by that I meant not as a friend.”
“What, like a frenemy?” I snorted. She narrowed her cloudy grey eyes at me, effectively wiping the cheeky smile from my face.
“No Dulce, I want to be your girlfriend.” Her expression was all seriousness.
A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed hard to get rid of it. “Denise,” I started. “I don’t know if this is such a. . .”
She leaned near me before I could even finish the sentence, bringing her lips to mine. The thought I was holding on to immediately vanished. My mind concentrated on her soft lips, her cinnamon taste, and how my stomach did this weird flip when our mouth connected. My eyes closed on its own. I got lost in the kiss. Her hand found its way into my hair. She tugged it a little, provoking a low moan from me. Denise took that opportunity to slip her tongue inside my mouth. The inexperienced part of me wanted this as much as I liked kissing her.
When we both pulled away for air, I was dizzy with confusion. She was a good kisser, gaining a lot of practice from the popular alpha-males in our school. Her hand found my legs. She glided it up and down over my jeans while I tried to catch my breath. It was all very new to me. As soon as my pounding heart finally calmed down, I asked her a question that has always bothered me. “I heard that the captain of the soccer team, James, had a thing for you. Did you turn him down?”
Denise’s eyes widened. Her hands stopped its movement. “Not exactly,” she said guiltily.
My eyes narrowed at her. I knew exactly where this was going. I stood up against my own volition. “Not exactly?” I asked loudly. “You mean that you’re still together with him?” I ran a hand through my hair. “You’re planning on two-timing him with me.”
She stood up and made her way near me. “No babe, I’m going to break up with him for you. I promise.” She touched my shoulder. I recoiled from her by taking two steps backward.
“Stop playing me okay?” I said in disgust. “This would be the last time that I’ll fall for your silly games Denise. If you’re not going to take me seriously, then don’t go anywhere near me. And tell Nadia that she’ll pay for this.”
I stormed out of the house before she could do anything. She has been manipulating me for a year, and I was so sick of it. Her state of mind and reasoning was beyond me. If she had anything to gain from this, I wanted to know what it was. Did she get a kick every time she turned me down or toyed with my heart? It was not funny anymore. My phone vibrated, alerting me of an incoming call. I went to the car before answering it. “Nadia you bitch!” I said. The other line was silent. “Hello?!”
“Having a bad day Dulce?” came Glace’s low voice. I glanced at the number. It wasn’t Nadia’s phone. I should have checked it before answering.
Deep breaths. “Oh hey,” I said awkwardly.
“You didn’t attend practice today,” she said. “I convinced them to cancel the whole thing instead. Did you have an emergency?”
I felt my face heat up in shame. This was all Denise’s doing. She and Nadia tricked me. “I got caught up in something.” My voice was apologetic. “Listen Glace, I feel really bad for this. I know that all of you are busy and you waited for nothing. It wasn’t exactly my fault, but if there’s some way I can make it up to you, I’ll do it.”
I sensed her smile on the other line, though I couldn’t see her. “If that’s what you really want then you can make it up to me by meeting me today.”
“Sure. Where?” I asked before I could even stop myself. Fudge! What if she wanted to draw me again? Bad move Dulce.
“See you at your house.” She hanged up. My house? What did she want to do there? And more importantly, did she know my address? I drove as quickly as I could, within the speed limit of course, and reached my modest home within minutes. I walked pass the picket fence, turning the knob as soon as I reached the front door.
From inside, I heard my mom laughing heartily. She didn’t inform me that we’d have a guest today. I peeked in the living room. Glace was chatting merrily with my mother on the sofa. Both of them were looking at my baby pictures, giggling among themselves. “Glace,” I said more sharply than I intended. Both of them looked my way. “What are you doing here?” Mom received an accusing glare from me. “Why are you show
ing her my baby pictures mother? It’s embarrassing.”
Mom tilted her head in Glace’s direction, no remorse whatsoever. “Dulce, why didn’t you tell me that Frio was your friend? If I knew she was coming over, I would have prepared something for her.”
“How did you know each other?” I glanced from one woman to the next.
“She was a client of mine,” mom explained. She closed the album, putting it aside. “Remember the time that I asked you to bring the bag for me? Frio was going to have a photo shoot that day. I was the one who did her makeup.” My traitor mother stood from the couch and gave Glace a huge smile before turning back to me. “Anyway, I have to leave now since I have an on-call for another client. Be good to Frio and show her around if you can.” Mom walked near me. She whispered, “You called her Glace. We’ll talk about it when I come home.”
I cringed. Nothing gets past my mother. After bidding her goodbye, I stared awkwardly at my beautiful companion. “What are you doing here?” I repeated the question from earlier.
She shrugged, getting up gracefully from the couch. Her eyes were dancing with delight. Today, she was wearing shorts that accentuated her long and shapely legs, a blue crop top that showed off her abs and feminine body, and brown desert boots. My eyes went back to her stomach. It was just the way I liked it. Two lines were etched on her toned tummy, giving me a hint that she worked out, or was at least athletic. Her looks were really made for the camera.
Glace snapped her fingers in front of her. “Hey, my eyes are right here.”
“I got lost in my thoughts,” I excused.
“More like got lost in my body,” she said under her breath. “So where is your room?”
I stared suspiciously at her. “Upstairs. Why?”
She took a black hair tie from her pocket and skillfully pulled her raven locks up, showing her nape. The glimmer in her eye returned when she glanced at me. “I want to see your room. Show me?”
“No way.” I wasn’t going to invite her inside my room. It would be too uncomfortable for me. I wasn't embarrassed. Somehow, letting her in would be like permitting her to have a peek inside my mind. Even Tim and Patty were not allowed to go there, and the three of us have been friends since the beginning of time. Glace caught me unaware when she darted past me and ran upstairs. She had a few seconds ahead of me, but I followed her nonetheless. My foot slipped on a step. It was lucky that I was able to hold on to the railing. As soon as I got my balance back, I trailed after her.
Too late. She was already inside my bedroom, smiling as she sat on the bed, looking around in wonder. Her eyes roamed my small sanctuary. I saw her take in everything. She observed the collage of pictures on my wall, the bookshelf brimming with my favorite novels and cookbooks in one corner, and the piano keyboard near my desk. “You play?” she asked.
My mom forced me to take piano lessons as a kid. I always hated the teacher for being too strict and making me read the music sheet. But as I grew older, I learned to love the calming music and the way my hands glided over the keys. My like for it was only second to cooking and coffee. Those were still the top ones.
“Since I was ten,” I answered. “You?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I know how to play. I had to, or he’d think poorly of me.”
“Who?”
“My father,” she said casually. I didn’t ask her to explain. It felt like I was crossing a certain boundary that was too private for me to know. I nodded and sat on the bed beside her.
“Do you find this amusing Glace?”
“What is?” she asked innocently. As if she didn’t really know. She has been playing with me ever since we met that day on the café.
I spread my arms, trying to emphasize the room. “All this. You’re a celebrity Glace. Why are you here in my house? You could be partying with any actress or singer right now. I think you’re tired of all that, and you’re looking for something to amuse you.”
She sighed. “I don’t have a single celebrity friend Dulce. I won’t be partying with anyone anytime soon. To tell you the truth, I hate partying anyway. Maybe I liked it once when it was all new to me. But after 10 years in the industry, it became stale fast.” Glace leaned back on the bed. “I’m not looking for amusement. I’m searching for something else.”
I was intrigued. “Like what?”
She glanced at me and curled her finger, beckoning me to lean nearer. I took the bait, bringing my face closer to her. My legs turned to jelly when she pecked my cheek with her soft lips. “It’s top secret. After the school play, maybe I’ll tell you.” She chuckled and added, “Maybe.”
Chapter 6. Sleuthing
A soft vibration at the end of the bed pulled me from the script I was reading. I reached for my phone, not taking my eyes off the line of Juliet that was written on a stack of papers. It was given to me for the school play. “Hello?” I answered.
“Hey cutie this is your bff,” Tim’s perky voice said from the other line.
I dropped the script I was holding and crossed my legs. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. Patty and I realized that we haven’t chilled for a while. We miss you girl.” His tone indicated that he was feeling guilty for neglecting his friend duty. It was about time. They were so consumed by the thoughts of Glace as of late that they didn’t even realize how I was slipping away from them. I waited for him to continue. “We’re wondering if you want to hang out today.”
“Where?”
“Patty’s house.”
I considered for a moment. Even if I was slightly irritated with them for always talking about Glace in front of me, and for not knowing what I was going through the past few days, they were still my best friends. “Give me 20 minutes.”
When I pulled up in Patty’s driveway, I was greeted by the image of Tim and Patty pacing back and forth in front of the house. They didn’t give me enough time to ask any questions. The two got inside the car and stared at me expectantly. “I thought we were staying inside?”
“We changed our minds.” Tim pushed the button for the car radio. Country music blared inside.
“Where are we going then?” I said loudly so they could hear me over the annoying ruckus. I fought the urge to slam my head against the steering wheel. God. I hated country music.
“Let’s go to the mall,” Patty said. She tapped Tim’s shoulder who was currently seated in the passenger seat. “Can you please turn that off? Dulce will flip. You know she hates that.” Tim pouted before doing her request.
“Thanks Pats,” I said in gratitude, using the nickname we gave her in grade school. My eyes met her blue ones in the rearview mirror. She wiggled her eyebrows which made me chuckle. My two best friends were different as night and day. Patty was the kind one, the conscience of the group. She was always ready to lend an ear or a shoulder whenever Tim and I had problems. When Denise rejected me last year, Patty gave me a pint of Ben and Jerry’s to drown the sorrows.
I winked at her. She pushed her black bangs away from her face before winking back. My focus turned to Tim. He shoved his hand inside his black fleece jacket and checked his phone for any messages. He was probably checking if any of his “boy toy” texted back. His words, not mine. He wore his contact lenses today, making his cat-like eyes more obvious. Tim was part Asian and looked like a Korean popstar. He broke hearts everywhere he went- mainly women.
He acted like a total gentleman in school, always helping out girls like he was interested in them, but with us, he was gayer than anyone I’d ever met. If Patty gave me an ice cream to get over Denise, Tim bought tequila from the store using a fake ID and made me drink until I passed out. My mom thought someone drugged me and almost called the cops that day. Tim told her what happened to clear everything. Mom didn’t even ground me because she understood that teenagers were supposed to act out once in a while.
Together, the three of us were this really popular but weird group in school. I mean come on look at us. We consisted of a half Asian heartbreaker who was a cl
oset gay but still loved teasing girls, a cute blue-eyed wonder who was more of a listener than a slut that they expected her to be, and a dorky 17 year old- that was me- who preferred reading alone in her room or cooking for her friends than going to parties. And they all thought we were cool. Well Tim and Patty were, but not me.
Tim’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Have you been practicing with Frio for the play? It’s been 2 weeks since they gave the script. You should be running your lines with her by now.”
I concentrated on the road. Yes it has been two very short weeks since I was fooled by Nadia and Denise. Since Glace turned up at my house. “I was busy.”
“Busy with what? Are you uncomfortable with Frio?”
I gripped the steering wheel tighter. As a matter of fact, yes I was not comfortable with the whole set-up. The girl wanted to draw me nude. But I couldn’t tell them that. I’d hate it if Glace’s reputation got damaged because of me. “It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with her Tim. I just don’t have the time.”
“You’ve always hated Frio,” Tim accused. “Whenever we’d talk about her, you’d half-listen or change the topic. Now that she’s our classmate and your seatmate, isn’t it time to give her a chance Dulce? She wasn’t the big bitch that you thought she’d be. She has zero attitude problems, and she even accepted to play Romeo for the class. How many celebrities would do that? Sure none of us are close to her yet, but that makes her a private person not a bad one.”
I let out a breath through clenched teeth. He was probably right. Glace wasn’t a diva. She was rather sweet for someone who had her face pasted on practically every billboard in the city. Mind you, I was just beginning to notice these things. Maybe I did need to give her a chance. I’d try forgetting about the drawing incident too. We’d have a fresh start where I’d act natural towards her. That would be for the best.
“Okay Tim. I’ll try talking to her.” Satisfied with my answer, he turned the radio on. This time he switched the station to an acceptable one. My favorite rock song played. The three of us sang in tune to the music, reaching the mall in no time.