Alive If

And It Taught Me A Lot

"Oh my God! " I run to my best friend for a long-awaited hug and she gladly reciprocates. Claire didn't tell me that she would come home today from her vacation abroad. I would have picked her up from the airport. Regardless, this is the best surprise ever.

"I missed you so much. I couldn't take it there anymore. It's been too long." Claire tightens her hug and traces a small X on my upper back using her finger. She does this as a sign that she likes the person. It might appear childish but I find it reassuring and sweet.

"Well, it's been more or less than a month. I'm just so glad that I'm not talking to you through a screen anymore." I slowly let go, seeing that she appears to have just arrived too. She must be exhausted from the flight back. Also, Claire appears to have shopped for a lot of stuff abroad by the looks of her baggage.

"I know. An hour of screen time a week doesn't really do it for me either. It could never beat a face-to-face conversation with you." She says and for a moment, we just shared comfortable silence and just looked at each other. Seeing her again somehow made me clear out some of the negative energy that I got today.

"Surprisingly, the flight home isn't as stressful as the flight going there. Since, you know-" She winks and nudges me with her elbow, then readjusts the strap of her backpack. I know Mr. and Mrs. Alarcon are perfectionists and quite controlling sometimes but I bet they just want the best for their daughter, even on a simple family trip.

"You didn't kill your parents for taking you out of the country, right?" I ask, grabbing her suitcase so I can make sure that she isn't carrying a carcass, and to help her to their apartment.

"Nope, but them making me go on an unforgiving journey up a mountain did make me consider that idea. I have so many stories to tell you. I don't even know where to start." She chuckles.

"But to cut it short, they weren't fully satisfied with the whole thing so they extended their vacation time. I wasn't going to stay there until they did so I headed home. They will come back next month though. In the meantime, I have the apartment all to myself." She pauses and starts dancing to imaginary music. I can't help but laugh at her silly antics.

"Ow! Son of a bi-scuit." She cries in pain, grabbing her left shoulder while adjusting her language since we saw a kid peek down the stairs at us.

"You still have shoulder pain? But you had that even before you left. Didn't you get to rest while you were there?" I ask, taking her shoulder bag.

"Nope. Cynthia says that rest is for people who are weak, dying, or dead." She fishes out her key from the bag and opens the door. I could never call my mom by her first name like that, she would take away my gaming privileges.

"What? You should definitely rest. Girl, you earned it." I said, putting the rest of her stuff inside their spotless apartment. My favorite thing about their home is the strings of instruments hanging on her walls like it's a music shop. I also have a painful memory of getting paint on their convertible sofa once when we were kids. Claire took the blame for me but after that she wasn't allowed to play with me for a week.

"Okay, Doc Vila." She puts her keys on the hook in the wall. She then tries lifting the convertible, which she regrets immediately from the wailing I have heard.

"Claire, I am serious." I give her the ice pack from their fridge for her shoulder blade.

"Fie, I love your concern for me but I swear it's not a big deal. I can handle this." She sounds convinced while putting the cold compress on her shoulder. She has a bad habit of brushing things off as unimportant, including her wellbeing. I try to convince her otherwise.

"Girl look, this cushion has been cleaned so many times but your masterpiece is still here." She laughs and points at the orange spot that started it all, breaking the tension and making me set up the sofa bed for her. We both made ourselves comfortable in the furniture made for three to reminisce that time in our childhood. We laugh, staring at their white ceiling like it's not past midnight. I am too tired to call mom so I texted her that Claire is back and that I am crashing at her place tonight.

"Girl, I think I'm about to sleep." Claire yawns, making me copy her.

"That makes the two of us"

"I'll tell you about everything tomorrow." She turns her body to the other side and snuggles with her huge fluffy backpack.

"Sleep tight." For the first time, I was too tired to overthink things.

...

Claire and I woke up hearing someone knocking at the door. No one in Claire's family drinks coffee so I approach the door a tad bit wonky from the lack of it. A surge of energy suddenly flows through me when I open the door for the unexpected visitor. Even though he is wearing shades and a black mask, I could recognize this airhead even from a mile away .

"What the heck are you doing here?" I interrogate Hickey's suspicious behavior.

"Your mom said you were in trouble last night so I promised to come and check up on you." He appears to be okay with my mom asking him for favors now. I knew she was planning something.

"She told me everything." His tone shifts from serious to ready to make fun of me, making me stare at the floor waiting to be dragged to hell from embarrassment.

"So we don't do introductions now? Who's this?" Claire comes up to us and looks Hickey up and down, shaking me back to reality.

"Hi, I'm Richard Labasan." He brings his mask down and takes off his shades.

"Call me Claire. No. Freaking. Way. Fie and I used to watch your show all the time. Holy shit, you got hot." Claire's bluntness made Hickey blush but he thanked her.

"Don't you have classes to go to, Hickey?" I changed the topic before Claire swoons.

"I do. Don't you?" He leans down slightly and waits for me to answer.

"My first class doesn't start until 10:30." I confidently looked him in the eye. I hope he gets the idea that I want him to leave.

"You're aware that it's almost 10, right?" He shows the time on his phone and my heart almost stops.

"Fuck. It's that late? Sorry, Claire. I need to leave. I'll tell you everything later. I promise." I grabbed my bag and hugged Claire before running out. I check behind me and Hickey is right there, following me to the jeepney stop.

"Now, who's the stalker?" I try to annoy him but he just smirks at me.

"I think I know your strategy. You love to be a tease but when one tries making you taste your own medicine, you spark trouble. I must admit, that is effective but dangerous. Is that how you normally lure your boyfriends?" He brings his mask back up and puts on his shades again. I didn't reply to him because it's none of his business.

"How did you get my mom's number?" I ask Hickey, at the same time seeing the jeepney approaching so I wave at it. We went inside the ride to school and the traffic seems to be working in my favor this time.

"We exchanged numbers after you started muttering how I ate all your cake." He smiles nonchalantly, making me blush. I didn't know that he heard me.

"Okay." I couldn't get myself to apologize to him. We were both silent for a while.

"If I had learned anything from my cousins who happen to be women, it is that you don't agree to go with a person you barely know to different locations. He could have been a murderer, Sofie." He makes a good point. I can't fight his argument because he is right. I could have unintentionally led myself to my own death.

"But I'm glad you're alright." He sounded sincere and I still couldn't find my voice so I remained silent until we got to school. His classes don't start until 1:00 pm so he accompanied me to my classroom.

"Thanks for everything, Hick- I mean, Richard. I'm sorry for all the trouble." I finally let decent words come out of me.

"No worries, just be careful next time. Okay?" He takes off his disguise to make himself sound clearer.

"Richard?" Dr. Basio comes out of nowhere and approaches us. I didn't want to get on her nerves again so I slowly tried to enter the classroom.

"Hi, Mom." Hickey faces her and smiles and OH MY GOSH!