The Lies That We Tell (COMPLETED)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I asked him out and he said yes," diretso kong sabi sa mga kaibigan ko para lang matapos na. Nikki was grinning like a proud mom at nanlaki ang mga mata ni Gem before she proceeded to ask him a hundred different questions.

Initially, I did not want to tell them but then I changed my mind kasi kailangan ko ng support nila. Gusto ko ng opinion tungkol sa isusuot ko at sa kung ano ang gagawin ko sa date. I'd just never been on a date! I never said this out loud dahil pakiramdam ko ay dapat sa edad na 'to ay nakaranas na ako ng date, but that's how it was.

"Kailan?" Gem asked.

"Friday night," I replied.

"Anong gagawin niyo?"

I shrugged. "Hindi pa namin napapagusapan," I said and then looked at Nikki. "Ano ang sasabihin ko kapag nagtanong siya?"

"Nothing," she replied. "He's the guy—let him plan the date out."

"Very archaic naman," I said. "Saka ako kaya nag-askout."

"So? He said yes. It wasn't as if tinutukan mo siya ng baril. He could've said no if he didn't want to go out with you."

"Still—"

"No, okay?" Nikki said, cutting me off. "Here's how dating works, babe. One, let him plan the date out. Your role is to show up and to look pretty. Two, he needs to confirm on the day itself. If he doesn't confirm, take it that the date won't proceed. Call us and we'll take you out to dinner instead."

"Grabe naman."

Nikki shrugged. "I mean, that's just me, but then again, I always require the princess treatment," she said. "I establish that early on the relationship so if the guy can't give me that, we can immediately stop wasting each other's time and move on to the next one."

"Date pa lang naman."

"What do you think dating is, Arielle? It's about finding who your perfect match is. It's trial and error. If it's an error, you move on to the next."

"Ang hassle naman," sabi ko tapos napatingin ako kay Gem na kulang na lang ay maglabas ng pen and paper para i-take down iyong mga sinasabi ni Nikki.

Ang daming sinabi sa akin ni Nikki and for some reason, she's making sense, but at the same time, a small part of me didn't want to follow her advice. Ayoko kasing maging demanding kay Fabian. Ako kasi nag-aya sa kanya! Alam mo iyong nananahimik iyong tao na nagwoworkout tapos biglang kailangan niya ng magplano ng date at kung anu-ano? Hindi naman ako maarte. Kahit d'yan lang sa fastfood, okay na ako, e.

Ano ba 'yan. Panibagong problema.

"Arielle."

Napatingin ako kay Fabian nang tawagin niya iyong pangalan ko. I was almost done with my set at kanina ko pa pinipigilan iyong sarili ko na tumingin sa gawi niya. Bukas na kasi iyong Friday and Nikki told me that I should not do anything and let Fabian initiate the talk about the date. Gusto ko na ako na iyong magtanong kasi bakit ba kailangan lalaki lagi? Pero in Nikki I should trust. She'd been here. Mas alam niya 'to kaysa sa akin. Kahit nga si Gem, kay Nikki nagtatanong ng tungkol sa kanila ni Erick, e.

"About tomorrow—"

"Will you cancel?" I asked dahil for some reason, iyon ang unang pumasok sa isip ko. Na nagbago na iyong isip niya kasi feel ko nahiya lang talaga siya sa akin kaya siya umoo.

"What? No," he replied with his forehead creased like he was confused kung saan nanggagaling iyong sinabi ko. "Do you want to cancel?"

Mabilis akong umiling. "No."