|| Arabella ||
The finals were over a week ago, and the winter vacation had started. The exams went pretty well. Though I struggled a little with Math, the other subjects were like a breeze.
Right now, we were doing the Christmas gift exchange in advance since Wyatt wouldn't be coming with us. Theo and I were leaving for Atherton tomorrow morning.
"Please let me get the velvet box, Santa," Coral chanted.
I laughed as she was blindfolded and kept reaching out her hand, hoping to get the small velvet book.
The four of us had our gifts on the coffee table, and each of us would be blindfolded when we'd place our hands on the present. In that way, we wouldn't know what we were choosing.
As much as Coral wished to get the velvet box, she ended up with the green one. She ripped off the black piece of cloth and pouted. She shook the thing, trying to guess what was inside.
"Whose gift is it?" she asked.
"Mine," Wyatt responded.
"This better be good." She gave him a narrowed look.
He chuckled and said, "Trust me, you won't regret it."
Next was my turn. I started walking straight, fishing my hand around blindly. I was hoping to get the velvet box too. Because it was Theo's present.
Luckily, I got it.
"No fair. I wanted it. Ara, switch with me," Coral whined.
"You don't even know what's in it," I pointed out.
"I know. I saw Theo wrapping it. I was going to buy one for myself last month, but I ended up buying something else," she groaned.
I stuck my tongue out at her and said, "Sorry, but it's mine."
I sat back on the couch and watched Theo place his hand on the pink box with his blindfold, which left Wyatt with the red box.
Oops. Wyatt got the wrong gift. I was hoping Theo would get it 'cause I originally got it for him. Well, whatever. No one would know.
"Okay, time to open the presents," Coral chimed, and all four of us opened them at the same time.
I got AirPods with a wireless charging case. No wonder Coral wanted them. She had been wanting them, but due to her mom not agreeing to give the money, she was stalling. Meanwhile, I didn't want them because I would be wasting too much money. I was fine with my earphones. Still, it was nice to have them.
I heard Coral gasp. "Oh, my God, this is even better than the AirPods." She was holding a DSLR camera.
"I told you that you won't regret it." Wyatt smiled at her, and Coral kissed his cheek.
"What the fuck?" I turned my attention to Theo who was holding a small purple glass perfume bottle in hand.
Coral and I burst out laughing as he sprayed some on his wrist and inhaled the scent.
"This is ladies' perfume. What am I going to do with this crap?" he complained.
"Hey, it's expensive," Coral said.
"It doesn't change the fact that it's like gifting a legless person with sneakers," Theo deadpanned.
"If you don't want it, then give it back," Coral demanded.
"No, why should I? I'm keeping it. I'll give it to my cousin," he said, keeping the bottle to him, and she frowned. "Also, why would you get a ladies' perfume for a Christmas gift?"
"I was hoping Ara would get it," she stated bluntly.
"Oh, my. What were the odds of me or Wyatt getting it?" Theo feigned.
"I thought about those odds and found it funny, so then I thought why not."
I laughed at their interaction until Wyatt spoke up, "It's interesting how I got a customized red iPhone cover."
I bit my lips in embarrassment.
"Damn, I want that. Wyatt, switch with me," Theo asked, examining the phone cover. Aww, I really wanted him to get that.
"No way. I don't want that perfume." Wyatt snatched the cover back. 'Not a fan of red, but thanks, Ara." He gave me a knowing smile, and I returned with a tight-lipped one.
'You're welcome."
Thank goodness, Wyatt and Theo owned the same model of iPhones, otherwise, it would have been clear as a day sky that I bought it for Theo—not that it wasn't obvious already.
After the gift exchange, we went out for ice skating. It was an outdoor ice rink. It was slightly more crowded than usual due to it being the day before Christmas Eve.
I had tried ice skating a few times with my mom before, and I was pretty good at it.
"Wyatt, can you stick with Coral? She's bad at ice skating," I whispered to Wyatt once we were all done putting on our ice skates.
Wyatt nodded at me and followed Coral who was already slipping on the ice.
"What about you?" Theo let out, grabbing my attention. "Are you good at it, or do you have to go under the knife after this?"
"Let's have a little competition, shall we?" I challenged him.
He smirked and responded by pulling me onto the ice rink by hand. I stumbled a little until he steadied me. Then he let go of my hand, already starting to skate across the rink.
"If you snooze, you lose!" he hollered from up ahead.
"Cheater!" I hollered back and followed him as he laughed.
We both competed with each other as to who could skate faster until the sky started to get dark and the atmosphere got romantic.
I even saw Wyatt and Coral kissing in the middle of the rink, forgetting to skate.
"Hey, stop," Theo called out from behind, and I halted. He let out an exhausted huff and said, "I'm tired of racing you."
"Already?" Even though I was out of breath as well, I would rather die than admit it.
He nodded and came in front of me, taking my hands in his. "Let's take it slow for a while," he said.
Heat crept up my cheeks as I said, "Okay."
Theo whipped his head around looking at all the couples dancing around us and asked, "Wanna dance?"
"Wait." I took out my new AirPods. I put one piece in his ear and another in mine after connecting it with my phone. I played a song from my playlist and joined my hands with him again. "Now we can."
I smiled brightly at him, and he chuckled, giving me a surprise twirl.
As we both danced to the slow song, I couldn't help but want to stay close to him. Only a few days… then I would confess to him.
From the signs I had noticed, there were more than enough chances that Theo liked me back. If everything went well, very soon I wouldn't have to hesitate to stand on my tiptoes and press my lips on his at moments like this.
'Theo, what is the one thing you would change if you were given the power to change?" I asked randomly to keep my mind distracted.
He hummed and gave me a spin, making my back collide with his. He rested his chin on my shoulder and said, 'Nothing."
'Why not?"
'I believe everything happens for a reason in life, even the smallest of things lead to something. So if I were to change even one of them, who knows how that would've changed my path? Maybe I wouldn't have met someone like you."
My heart fluttered, and I was glad that he wasn't seeing my heated face. 'So that means you don't have any regrets?"
'I do, but I still wouldn't change a thing."
I hummed and said, 'But I believe if some people are meant to meet, they will, no matter how things change."
'Didn't you say you didn't believe in soulmates?" I could feel him smiling widely.
'Well, I think I do now."
'Interesting."
Nowadays, I think about stuff like this a lot. I would picture my future with Theo. Maybe it was just me getting way too ahead of myself. But it was all too blissful. I could feel myself falling for him harder each passing day.
After ice skating, the four of us went to have dinner at a restaurant. When we got home, Wyatt and Coral went into his bedroom, and I didn't have to imagine why because Coral gave me all the details either way.
'Theo, did you pack your things?" I asked when I saw him scrolling on his phone, sitting on the beanbag.
'The flight is at twelve. I'll pack in the morning."
I put a hand on my hips and glared at him. 'And I'm supposed to believe that will go right?"
He let out a sigh. 'I hate packing, okay?"
'Then tell me, and I'll do it."
'Yeah, as if. What are you, my mom?"
'Wives pack their husband's bag too, you know?"
I instantly regretted what left my mouth as Theo raised an eyebrow at me.
'Um, not that I meant I want to be your wife or anything like that in the future, I just meant we live together, so of course I can pack your bags. Plus, I love packing. I don't have to be your mom for that—" I was rambling nonstop until he burst out laughing.
'You're so cute, Ara," he blurted out.
Now, it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at him.
'Ah, I mean, cute in a dumb way, you know? You're a dummy, after all," he reasoned quickly, and I frowned. We were like two peas in a pod. If I was meant to have a soulmate, I was sure that it would be him.
'This dummy will now go pack your bags," I announced and headed to his bedroom, but he followed. 'Why are you following? I know where your luggage is."
'Yeah, I know. I'll help you."
'But you hate packing."
'Life is all about compromises, Annabelle," he feigned and entered his room, making a smile bloom on my face.
Who knew that one day I was going to adore this ‘Annabelle' nickname? Not me, at least. Although I love it more when he calls me ‘Ara'. It's like he has fallen into the routine of calling me Annabelle in light moments and Ara in serious ones.
I really didn't want to get my hopes high, but how could I not when he did stuff like that?
'You coming or shall I do it all by myself?" he hollered from inside as I was standing at his doorstep.
'Yes, yes, coming." I entered his room to find that he had spread his preferred clothes on the bed. I was going to start choosing and folding when a photo frame on his bedside table caught my attention. That wasn't there when I was here last time.
'When did you get that?" I asked, pointing at the candid photo of me and Theo at Disneyland from four days ago. Both of us were grinning like idiots in it as Theo was giving me a piggyback ride because my knees were like jelly from riding the gyro drop.
'We all look too nice in it, so I thought why not?"
I furrowed my brows in confusion when he said ‘all'. That's when I noticed the photo frame beside mine and Theo's. It was a group photo of us in Disneyland. 'Oh, yeah, we all do. But what about this one?"
'Oh, t-that. Wyatt dared me to. You know what he's like. So stubborn and annoying," he grumbled.
'I see." I wasn't convinced, but I didn't pry anymore. However, it was really cute of him to keep a group photo and photo of just the two of us in his room. He already had a separate one with Wyatt and his uncles. It showed how much he cherishes these memories. 'I'm going to frame the one from Halloween then."
'The one where we are glaring at each other?" he asked, and I nodded. "Why?"
I shrugged, not bothering to reply.
But Halloween this year was special to me because that was probably when I started to like him. That day I found someone who would listen to me. That had touched my heart.
I wasn't going to tell him about it now, so I concentrated on folding his clothes while he told me about the weather there.
I couldn't wait to get to Atherton. Because this Christmas, I was going to make Theo mine.
