"Oh my god ... ANO?"
Because of what Ivan said, Maine's mouth fell open and her heart started beating fast. She stared at him and he smiled.
"Sa kaniya? Bro, I didn't know you were into endangered species." RJ then said, causing Maine to look at him annoyingly.
"Endangered species? Ay grabe ka, Sir." She said and the two guys chuckled a bit.
"Don't worry, Maine, he didn't mean that." Ivan told her before adding "To be serious though, I really did have a crush on you while we were in high school. I thought I already told you that before?"
"Hi-Hindi pa eh," she answered, barely getting the words out of her mouth.
"Oh well ... now I did." Ivan uttered, slightly blushing. Maine awkwardly smiled and looked away. She couldn't believe that in a matter of minutes, Ivan was able to turn her world upside down. Questions and memories flooded her brain, she wanted to ask him so many things, including why he didn't say anything during the two years that they were classmates. After gathering enough courage to do that, Mane turned to Ivan so she could ask him the question. But much to her surprise, they were already gone. It took Maine a couple of seconds to realize that they left her outside the house.
"Shet ... iniwan ako? Hayyy ..."
--
RJ, Maine, Kirby, and Ivan sat around the dining table fifteen minutes later. He looked around and immediately felt the awkward silence that surrounded them. RJ cleared his throat and started asking Maine questions to break the ice.
"Maine ... paano kayo nagkakilala ni Ivan?" he questioned her. Maine placed the spoon on Kirby's plate and glanced at Ivan. He gave her a smile and tilted his head towards RJ's direction, urging her to answer.
"Ah Sir, classmates po kami nung high school." She replied.
"Ahh ... interesting ... that means mayaman naman pala kayo?"
"Nah ... it was a public school. Dun ako nag-enroll kasi hindi na pwede sa private ... late na kasi ako naka-balik dito from States." Ivan answered for Maine. RJ smiled and turned to him.
"Dude, close ba kayo nung high school?"
"Ah ... I don't know ... yes, I think? It's really hard because as I said ... I used to have a crush on her back then." Ivan responded, face turning red as the bowl of ketchup right in front of him. RJ smirked and asked another question he knew would affect both of them a lot.
"How about now? Do you still like her?"
Ivan didn't get to answer for Maine started choking on the water she was drinking. Out of instinct, RJ stood up and tried to come to her but Ivan beat him to it. He placed a hand on Maine's back and started rubbing it gently. RJ just stared at them for a few seconds before he went back to his seat, pissed that he didn't get to help Maine first. He looked down at his hand and wondered what was going on with him.
"Hey man, are you okay?" Ivan asked. He looked up and smiled.
"Of course, bro. Maine ... Are you alright now?"
"Opo ... sorry po." She answered before coughing two times. RJ just shrugged and continued eating.
--
"I don't want that," Kirby told Maine before pushing his plate away. Maine sighed and placed it again right in front of him.
"Baby Kirbs, you need to it para big boy ka na." she told him. Kirby scowled and shook his head from side to side. Maine then looked at RJ and he nodded, she turned to her side again and faced Kirby.
