|| Arabella ||
After the cake cutting, Theo's friends pulled him into a corner, teasing him to spill all the juicy details.
On the other hand, I was having a mocktail at the bar counter with Coral and some of my female friends.
"Arabella, can we talk?" Michelle asked all of a sudden.
I arched an eyebrow amusedly. "Wow, you remembered my name correctly. What made this miracle happen?"
"The news of you and Theo dating," she spat out.
I smiled and said, "Well, that's a miracle, indeed."
"Don't get smug with me. Break up with Theo," she said straight-out.
"Last time I checked, I was Ara's relationship advisor, not you," Coral quipped.
I gave her a narrowed side look and said, "You did nothing though."
"Hush. I was the first to ship you guys," Coral hissed playfully, and I rolled my eyes.
"So will you?" Michelle urged.
"No," I simply said, not saying anything further to not rub on her wounds. As much as it felt nice to claim my boyfriend, I could imagine how hard it must be to have a heartbreak.
"Fine," Michelle let out and took a few deep breaths. From what I could see, she was trying to control her tears. "Just so you know, the moment you let go of him, I'm grabbing him. Cherish him well." With that, she walked away.
"Well, I guess she's not as immature as she seemed, huh?" Coral commented.
"Pfft, no one wants to humiliate themselves in front of their crush's girlfriend," said one of my friends, Camila.
I nodded with a smile. "It's nice. I guess everyone is growing in their own ways."
I was about to turn back to my drink when I saw Theo waving at me. I raised an eyebrow in question. He motioned his thumb towards a door before heading out.
I excused myself from my friends and followed him in the directions.
Once I was out the door, I was pulled to the side by my wrist into Theo's arms.
"Hey," he said in a husky voice.
I didn't know why, but heat rushed to my cheeks. "Hey."
"Why are you blushing?" he asked curiously.
"I don't know. D-don't use that voice."
"What voice?"
"Just now."
"Oh." He smirked and brought his lips to my ear. He deepened his voice as he uttered, "This voice?"
A shiver ran down my spine as I got a weird but good feel in my stomach.
I decided to divert the conversation for our own sanity. "I can't believe everyone in the room knows about us."
"As they should. I don't want anyone thinking you're available."
"Hey, it's flattering to get a few confessions even if I reject them all." I pouted.
"Well, it shouldn't be more flattering than having an actual boyfriend."
I grinned and slipped my arms around his neck. "You're right about that." A wide smile spread across his lips before he kissed my nose. I giggled and asked, "Why did you bring me here?"
"To get my birthday kiss," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, pulling me closer to him by my waist.
"Oh, really?" I teased.
He nodded proudly. "I demand seventeen kisses on the occasion of my seventeenth birthday."
"That many kisses right now?"
"Is that a problem?"
I shook my head. "No, but we have a party to attend. You're the main star."
"I don't care. I only want to be the star of your eyes."
"Cheesy but okay, my star." I laughed lightly.
He frowned while mentioning, "But seriously, we won't get time the rest of the day."
I hummed.
Albert and Susan were coming on the morning flight today, so Theo was going to have family time with his uncles and cousins in which he roped me in somehow.
"Maybe I can sneak in a few kisses in between?" I suggested.
"I want them now," Theo demanded.
"Short kisses then." I was about to stand on my tiptoes and press my lips on his when he spoke up again.
"No compromising on my birthday." He didn't give me any other chance to argue, pulling me into a deep kiss. Immediately, I melted into him.
Oh, well, the party can wait.
———
"Are you staying till the New Year's?" Theo asked Albert at the dining table.
Right now, Theo's uncles, Wyatt, and Susan, and I were having lunch at Ian's place. I cooked everything myself since no one in his whole family could cook to save a life. I also made sure to include all of Theo's favorites.
"Uh, no, I'm sorry, but I've got this important party to attend that night," Albert replied apologetically.
"Okay, no problem," Theo said with a calm smile.
"You don't seem disappointed," Ian commented.
"Actually, I have plans on New Year's Eve, so I was hoping Uncle Albert would say no," Theo admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, look, Albert, what a nice nephew we have," Ian quipped with an eye roll.
Albert laughed and asked, "Hanging out with friends on that day, Theo?"
"No, I've special plans," Theo replied.
I leaned close to Theo and whispered in a playful tone, "You sound like you've got a date."
"Because I do."
"It hasn't even been a week since we started dating, and you're already cheating?" I teased.
"You wish," he replied.
"So our first official date?" I asked with hope, looking into his eyes.
He nodded and intertwined our fingers underneath the table. "It will be perfect."
"T-Rex and Annabelle, why are you holding hands? Are you playing ring-a-ring o' roses?" Susan asked after picking up her dropped spoon from the floor.
Everyone at the table looked at us.
"Uh… yes," I responded.
The two adults chuckled since they already got the hint of Theo and my relationship even if we didn't announce it officially.
"Why don't you join them, Susie?" Wyatt urged.
"Of course! After we finish, let's all play that!" Susan announced.
"All?" Ian sweat-dropped.
"Yes, all," she emphasized.
"Good luck," Theo said, stifling his laughter while Albert and Ian glared at Wyatt, who looked away, probably wishing Coral was here. I also wished Coral would have come.
Wyatt did invite Coral, but she couldn't join for some familial reason, or at least that's what she said to Wyatt. The real reason she didn't join was, meeting Wyatt's family was more of a commitment than she was ready for yet.
"Since we are playing ring-a-ring o' roses, let's do theater play too!" Susan chirped.
"Fantastic," said all the guys in a monotone at the table at the same time while Susan and I laughed.
———
We just got home from the bowling alley, along with Susan who insisted on staying with us for the night to open up the gifts while Albert went to Ian's.
"Finally, the best part of the birthdays," Susan exclaimed, grinning at the tons of gifts in our living room.
"Yes, you can open them all," Theo said and slumped on the couch, laying his head on my lap.
I chuckled and said, "Susan, don't forget to read the names as you open them, okay?"
"Okay!"
"Ugh, I'm so tired," Theo murmured, curling up while I ran my fingers through his hair.
"You should take a bath and go to bed," I said since he hasn't gotten much rest since last night.
The birthday party had gone long, then Albert and Susan arrived in the morning. The first thing we did was visit Theo's mom's graveyard. After that, we went to Ian's place where I made the lunch feast. We all went bowling in the evening after having enough theatre play for a single day.
God, all of them were so competitive. I was the only one who was okay with scoring low. But my boyfriend disagreed even on that. He had to teach me how to play until I knocked at least half of the pins.
Now that I remembered today's occurrences, I should be more tired than Theo. But it was worth the effort. I knew I did a good job at making sure he had fun throughout the day.
"There's no name in this gift," Susan said suddenly in the middle of her gift hunt.
I looked at the gift box she was holding, and my eyes widened.
Oh, shit, that's my gift. I forgot to put my name on it in a hurry.
"What's in it?" Theo asked, showing curiosity.
"It's a metal box," she said and opened the box, "There are letters in it."
"Read them for me," Theo said.
What? No way.
"No, no, why should she read it? That person wrote these letters with hard work for you to read," I reasoned.
"Yes, T-Rex, you read them," Susan said and stuffed the box in Theo's hand to continue her hunt.
"I will read them later," Theo said.
"Read them now. You should respect that person's feelings."
|| Theo ||
Even though I was tired and planned to check out all the gifts later tomorrow, I accepted the box of letters to read them now. Only because my girlfriend ordered it.
I sighed and sat up.
First of all, I counted the letters in the box. There were seventeen envelopes. Each of them had a different unique design.
"Damn, whoever wrote them has patience," I said while opening the first envelope. "But that person seemed to have written so much, they forgot to put down their name."
"Maybe you will know when you read them," Ara said.
I nodded and unfolded the first letter to start reading. As soon as I noticed the handwriting, I knew who it was.
"Hey,
Remember the first time we saw each other? It was the first day of our freshman year. We used to have a few classes together back then. But now we don't. I hope we have combined classes next year, though. Anyway, as I was saying, I've always wanted to ask you this. What did I do to piss you off so much that day? If you didn't ask me to change shifts so rudely, I wouldn't have gotten into an argument with you, and we might've started on a better foot. However, what's done is done. I'm still glad I got to meet you. I cherish each of these memories, just like I cherish you."
As I read it, I could feel Ara's intense gaze on me the entire time.
"Have you guessed who wrote it?" she asked curiously.
I decided to ignore her question and instead said, "I was jealous of you that day."
"Huh?"
"Your mom… She came to drop you on the first day of high school."
Ara remained silent, now just looking at me with a soft expression on her face.
"Your mom was loud… but I could see that she was a caring and doting parent. She hugged you in front of the school gate, and you were such a mama's girl, you didn't even mind it. Most teens would be embarrassed. If it was the me from now, I probably would have fallen in love at first sight with you for being so unafraid of people's opinions. But back then…
"I was still suffering from depression. I had recently started living with Wyatt and Uncle Ian. I didn't get along with Wyatt very well. So I got jealous and annoyed at you for having a mother that I always wanted. I was silly and childish. Pathetic, I would say."
Now that I was remembering the earlier days of my high school, God, I was embarrassing. I was such an asshole. I used to get in so many fights and whatnot. I hurt so many people with my sharp words and actions. I annoyed Ara the most. She was like the bright sun that I couldn't bear looking at from the dark, so I wanted to sabotage that brightness. I feel horrible about it now.
A person like me doesn't deserve to live— no, I won't think like that anymore.
I needed to make up, instead of beating myself up for it.
"I picked on you for no reason. I know it might be a little too late for an apology, but I still want to—" Ara cut me off by placing her finger on my lips.
"Don't," she uttered. She had this deep look in her eyes that made me shiver, made me feel like she could see right through me. "Remember you said you wouldn't change a thing even if you were given a chance?"
I nodded.
"So don't feel bad about what happened in the past. You made mistakes, and you grew from that. You and me not arguing at the beginning of our relationship? I wouldn't have it any other way. I liked the way we were, and I love the way we are now. There's nothing I would change, neither will you."
She just always knew what to say to me. What did I deserve to have a girl like this in my life?
"Thank you, Ara."
She smiled and brought my knuckles to her lips to place a kiss on them.
Just then I heard a snap.
We turned our heads to Susan who flashed us a cheesy grin.
"You guys are so cute," she gushed and showed us the photo.
"Since you're clicking, take some more," I said and pulled Ara to my lap. She squeaked in surprise but relaxed when I hugged her tightly from behind.
"Oh, no, I just signed up to be your photographer," Susan sighed dramatically but clicked our photos with enthusiasm nonetheless.
"You still have sixteen more letters," Ara whispered.
"I know, and I can't wait to read them."
After that, I read each and every word of her letters carefully, committing all of her loving words to my memory so that whenever I would feel worthless, I would know that she would still be here for me.
