Just This Once (COMPLETED)

Kabanata 45

#JustThisOnce

Kabanata 45 

I knew Maven wanted to get mad at me for saying yes, pero tapos na, e! Nasabi ko na! Psalm was even stopping himself for laughing! Cindy's got a horrified look on her face. Ako? I didn't know what I got myself into!

The dinner went as usual—tensed. When the formal part ended, nagsimula ng mag-usap iyong mga matatanda. I was glad for a bit dahil magiging out of place na naman si Beatrice. I was even lucky dahil mababait iyong mga pinsan ni Maven. Iyong mga matatanda lang talaga ang goal yata ay takutin ako hanggang sa atakihin ako sa puso.

"Congrats!" Mary said... in behalf of everyone, I guessed. We're all really silent. Except for me, because I was just generally out of words.

"Thank you," she gracefully replied to Mary. Thank God for Mary's presence. She's actually the nicest in this bunch. Most guys were a bunch of gamblers—always betting on what's gonna happen next. Maggie's really nice but she's always missing-in-action. Addie's more like Maven, so there's that. Cindy... well, she's always nervous around the family. I guess that included me. We're family.

"I better go," Cindy said.

"What? It's still early," Psalm said.

She smiled awkwardly. "I still have something to do."

"Parker?" Psalm asked and the guys almost burst out laughing.

Maven leaned in and whispered in my ears, "Wanna go home?" I shook my head. "You do love trouble, Genesis," he whispered again.

Cindy's face reddened. I wanted to erase the building image in my mind. Cindy and Parker... entangled in bed...

Shit na 'yan.

"No," Cindy said, but her reaction already told us a lot. "Wedding stuff," she continued and then looked at me. "I guess... we'll keep in touch."

I awkwardly smiled. Because that's all I could do. I just fucking dug my own grave.

When Cindy was finally out of earshot, Psalm began to talk. He seriously gets excited about betting.

"So, things just got interesting," he began. "I think we should upgrade the bet."

Maven sighed. "This is so childish."

Mary seconded. "It's not good to make fun of other's misery."

"Get a girlfriend," Saint said.

Something crossed Psalm's face, but he was quick to recover. "Oh, come on! This is just for fun... right, cous?" he said and then looked at me. I wanted to really wring his neck.

"Whatever," I said.

"So..." Psalm began. "I bet my car and my future kid that no wedding's going to happen."

Austin rolled his eyes. "Get a girlfriend first before talking about a future kid."

"I'll get a girl," Psalm confidently said.

"Or a guy..." Maggie interjected. "It's never off the table, Psalm."

"I'm not gay!" Psalm said. Maggie shrugged. "Anyway, back to the topic, who bets on no wedding?" he asked and no one answered. "So, you're all betting that there's gonna be a wedding?"

"Gen is here," Santi said. "What's wrong with you?"

Maggie looked at him. "I really think that he's been replaced as a kid."

"What? Gen is game!" sabi ni Psalm. "Right, Gen? You're cool, right?" tanong niya. Hindi ko siya pinansin.

Maven looked at me. "Let's just go," sabi niya. Pumayag na rin ako dahil napapagod ako sa mga sinasabi ni Psalm. We just stood up at umalis. We just nodded at them. We went inside and started to look for Jere. As much as possible, ayoko na nandito si Jeremiah dahil baka lumaki pa siya na kagaya ng mga kamag-anak niya.