HIP #3: Forgetting The Old Us

Chapter 17

"Thanks for the ride, you two!" I thanked them when I got out of the car and reached the door of my house. I waved my hands to them, saying goodbye, and they did the same with the windows rolled down. I smiled and walked inside. Mom and dad aren't here yet so I'm still free from noise. It's just me and no one else. Kobie's having his basketball rehearsals, so I own this place for now.

I immediately ran to the fridge and opened it. The brightly colored lights exposed all the sachets and containers inside. Sneakers, Toblerone, M&M's, Twix, and some containers of leftover foods from last night. I grabbed the bottle of Coca-Cola and a cup from our pantry, together with a plate containing a slice of cake on top of it.

Home works are the main reason I wanted to get home but I guess, for now, it would be a moment for me to eat all the snacks I want to after one whole tiresome day of school. And having your ex-boyfriend as your teacher. That fact keeps on playing over and over in my head.

I stabbed the cake with the fork and inserted it in my mouth as it melted and sent a sweet sensation to my teeth through its icing. And the cherry's scent has gotten all over the cake, making it taste like the fruit. The Coca-Cola I drank burned my tongue and sent bubble acids through my throat, which I like.

When I finished eating, I left the plates and cups I used on the table and walked up to my room. I just realized that I left my window open earlier back when I was about to leave. At least I don't have any documents out there that can be blown by the wind. I threw my bag to the ground and lay down on my bed, facing the empty white ceiling above me.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Still, I can't believe I reached it this far. A few more months left and I'm set to college. After daydreaming a lot about my college life, I stood up and grabbed my bag from the floor then let out all the textbooks I will use for my home works and my notebooks, binders, and most especially my MacBook for researching. I love how it feels like to write on empty sheets with answers to certain questions, draw doodles, illustrate solutions, and write essay drafts.

The way I put a checkmark on each box beside a sentence explaining the activity I should accomplish insanely satisfies me. It makes me feel proud of myself and feel like I'm already successful. I scratched my pen gently on the empty sheet of paper and it served inks on the surface where the title of my first draft essay was written as "The Untold."

I don't know where it came from but the moment I held the pen, it automatically got in on my mind and I couldn't help but write it down. I remembered what Arthur said earlier. That for this homework, we need to put a story we've never told anyone before. And when he said never, it made me think of one thing. Something I've never told anyone before is us. Back when there was an us.

Earlier that day, Kobie told me that he was about to go to a party and so he asked me about it. And I immediately said yes since that day, the routine with mom and dad was going on again. They were fighting about dad's alcohol issue which he stopped a long time ago before that day but mom still wasn't convinced about the proof she has seen.

I thought we were going to the same house where we've been before as for where I met Arthur but it was a different one. It was much bigger, much crowded, and most of all, much brighter than the other one. Because before, there were only a few lights and they were even dimmed. At that time, disco lights were everywhere making the whole house look so simply bright.

Same people, different houses, same loud terrible music, different decorations.

It proved to me how bad parties really were.

I mean not everything though. Just something like that where everyone was wearing crop tops and short skirts. Some were dancing dirty on the tables with beers everywhere. They called it fun but I called it 'out of the boundaries'

Everyone's different. I wasn't a hater but not a fan.

I did the same thing I did before. Walked out of the crowd, sat on the floor since there were no benches, and breathe in the fresh air. At least unlike the one I attended before, there were no people smoking. I was safe from that crap.

There on that cold hard ground, I waited for Arthur to come around. I thought he would come and would talk to me like how he did before. But he wasn't. He wasn't there.

He didn't attend and I was left with no one to talk to about how I feel at that party. I kept my feelings all to myself. There were guys who wanted to talk to me and flirted with me but I didn't flirt back. They were cute but not my type and some were drunk so I didn't pay attention.

I only came to see if Arthur was there but he wasn't.

When the door creaked open, I was taken out of my memory daydreaming moment. I looked back and found Kobie still on his basketball team jersey with a ball wrapped around his arms and sweat pouring down his body. "Umm, what are you doing?" I asked him while he still tried to catch his breath.

"Party tonight, would you come?" He asked immediately while still heavily sighing.

"Will think about it later." He nodded and slammed the door.

"Careful with it! That's brand new!" I screamed.

He's always this clumsy when it comes to house stuff but I can't blame him anyway. It's natural in boys. But that door is not brand new anymore. It was bought a month ago. I guess he didn't hear me.