Red's First Love

8. TOO SERIOUS, TOO SOON

"I'm done changing. How do I look?"

"Fantastic! Fabulous!" Maureen circled her friend in candid admiration. "Hey, Miss, you might get signed by KZT Entertainment tonight! Do you sing? Do you dance? If you need a manager, I am available!" She raised her hand in the air. She had gotten overly animated.

"Be confident! Chin up, shoulder down. Give me a pose!" Maureen instructed but she was the one who struck a pose as if she's a contender for the Next Top Model.

...Whereas Andrew grew abnormally quiet. His eyes scanned her appearance up and down and appeared troubled.

Maureen made Red wear a blouse with a black almost-off-shoulder Sabrina cut, and dark red leather mini skirt, and stocking leggings. It was partnered with chic flats at the bottom and a black beret.

She's still covered except that her clothes now emphasized her curves more, and the Sabrina cut exposed more of her neckline more. She looked more fashionably girly but still decent.

Nana approved of her revised outfit.

"Let's go?" Red did not want to entertain any more of Maureen's silliness. She's also starting to feel disheartened in attending the concert. The more they lingered in the house, the greater the urge to just stay home.

Andrew could not keep his silence before leaving the house. "Nana, can I borrow her red scarf? The one she usually brings to school?"

"Wait, dear. I'll get it from the closet." She disappeared then reappeared not long after, now equipped in one hand what Andrew had requested.

"What for, Duru?" She sometimes called him his special nickname even if Maureen was around.

"You might catch a cold." He answered while wrapping the thick red scarf around Red. All exposed skin was covered. He also covered the lower part of her face including the lips, chin, and jawline.

"Oh, really, Andrew?" Maureen jeered.

"Let's go! I don't want to speed up in the road just to be there on time." That was what Andrew answered. It wasn't a direct response to Maureen at all.

"Drive safely, Andrew! Safety first!" Nana called out waving her hand while they were leaving the house.

---

At the concert venue, Maureen gave them LED lights and some posters before leaving them for a while to meet with the rest of the members of the SKS fan Club.

During the temporary solitude from Maureen, Duru smoothly disclosed to Didi how grateful he was for Maureen for giving him a free ticket.

"But it worked in our favor because if I'm not here, she would have dragged you into her fan club."

They shouted at the top of their lungs while talking just to make sure their message came across. They even needed to dock closer to each other's ears. The stand-by music was simply too loud.

And on the side, he commented suavely, "Maureen is such an angel for bringing you clothes that really look good on you. It looks like those were tailor-fit for you." He's beaming too, with what could be a pride for her, "You look especially pretty tonight. Like a celebrity."

"Hahahaha. You're hilarious." She smacked his shoulder several times. In truth, she felt more confident while wearing the clothes she borrowed from Maureen because of the compliments she had been receiving, although what made her feel more at ease was the fact that half of her face was covered by the scarf. "But I like it better with the scarf you put on me."

He snorted, apparently pleased with himself.

Maureen returned and the concert began. They jumped and raved with the music even if Dudu and Didi could not distinguish most of the songs.

Because Maureen was busy with her own affairs, she didn't notice the exchange of sticky glances between the two, and the smiles that could not be wiped away from their faces.

Maureen had no idea that their hands were intertwined tightly by their sides as they swayed and waved and jumped and raved with all the people there.

And of course, she had no idea what happened in the car after the concert while they were waiting for her.

On the way home, Andrew and Red, seated on the driver's and passenger's seats respectively, barely spoke a word despite Maureen's constant excited blabberings at the backseat.

Aside from constant glances with the purpose of just checking if the other was still fine, the two firmly stuck to being aloof against each other.

"Hey, hey!" Maureen intercepted the silence. "What happened between you two, huh?"

"Just tired," Andrew answered curtly without fervor.

"Sleepy." Red leaned her head onto the window and stared at the passing streets.

<<Rewind to half an hour ago...

Andrew and Red went to the car first and waited patiently for Maureen to come back.

The lad had been a bit pissed by the number of inquiries Red received that night asking if she's a celebrity, what agency she was signed to. Even when he hung one arm around her frame protectively, the annoying flies still emerged from the crowd and brazenly took turns in doing the same thing – asking for her number.

"She doesn't have a phone." He answered for her. Of course, that was a lie.

"I saw her use her phone earlier."

"That not hers. She has no phone."

Dismayed, eventually Red's temporary fans dispersed when they realized they could not get through the barrier that was Andrew.

In the car, tension still in the air, Andrew blurted out a question that tremendously stunned Red. It came out of his mouth without much thinking, "Didi, go out with me."

"Out?" As slow as she could be, she tugged the passenger's seat door open and with a swift motion, swung her leg down. Andrew grabbed her arm nearer to him to stop her from fully sliding out of the car.

"That's not what I mean." He stared at her intensely. Apparently, it was enough effort for the real meaning of his question to fully register in Red's mind. She froze her action. One leg still hanging outside of the car, and her hand still grasping the car door's inner handle.

"Close the car door first."

Seeing that she had frozen still, Andrew closed the passenger himself after manually swinging her dangling leg outside safely back inside the car. He took this chance to express his ardent feelings, "I love you."

"Huh?! Love?" For Red, love was a strong word. She liked Duru a lot. But love?

'How would you know if you love a person? Do I love him?'

At that specific moment, a distant memory brushed her mind: one of those myriads of times when she had to answer on a slambook, "What is love?"

Each time, she laughed at how stupid the question was, and her answer was always something equally trashy.

But this exchange with Duru wasn't anything trivial. It made her fear the unknown.

'It's getting too serious too soon.'

Red wasn't too sure what to do in the spur of the moment so she shoved Andrew away with both hands.

"I thought we like each other?" The hurt on his voice couldn't be masked. It was laced with confusion and panic.

"Yes! But love? I don't know! I'm not sure. I'm sorry." She freaked out big time.

"Hmm, alright..."

That was when the car door on the backseat was pulled open and then came Maureen blabbering about her photo with SKS, totally unaware.