Nathan
"May 27, Monday."
"What?! Leo got out?!" My eyes widen, brows drawn together in a deep furrow, trying to process the sudden disappearance of our pet dog named Leo. "He was just playing outside, you know how he does that all the time. But he wasn't there when I went out to check on him. I saw the gate opened so he must've gotten out. A delivery guy came by and he might not close it properly." My older sister Nicole explained while dialing a number on her phone. "I'll go look for him now, he might still be close by!" I opened the door and immediately put on my slippers. I stopped by the door frame and faced my sister, "Call me if he comes back on his own!" I'm not entirely sure where to start looking but my feet just started to run on their own, there's no time to think, I just needed to start running. I suddenly saw my childhood friend from a distance, who just gave me a confused look. "What are you doing?" A tall raven-haired asked, holding a folded umbrella in his right hand. I stopped running and was completely out of breath. I bent to touch my knees, lowering my head only to see a lot of sweat falling to the ground. "Leo… he… got out… I'm.. looking for.. him.."
"What?! Leo's missing?! How-" Instead of continuing his question, he stopped and faced me with a serious look. "I'll help you find him. What places have you already searched for?" He asked. "None yet, I just got out of the house." I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "Let's split up. Let's text each other for updates. Now go!" As soon as he said the word 'go', we both simultaneously ran in opposite directions. I started visiting the places he'd been to, like the nearby park where we took him or the parking lot near our school.
After running around, for what felt like an hour, between different places in our neighborhood, even ones he hadn't been to just to make sure. I finally took a break for once and checked my phone for calls or texts. 'Any luck?' I texted Gabriel. he immediately replied with a text, 'No luck.' While staring at my phone, drops of water fell on the screen, which made me look at the sky only to see it cloudy. 'Sht, this is bad!'* I immediately took shelter in a nearby shed, I held my head and closed my eyes to think. 'Where could he be? I'm getting more worried now that is raining.' The heel of my right foot kept tapping the ground as I clenched both my hands, which were shaking. My heart kept beating faster and I kept exhaling every few minutes.
Suddenly, my head popped up, and my eyes widened from realization. 'Wait, there's one place I haven't searched for yet.' After a while, the rain stopped and I immediately stood up and ran to that place. As soon as I turned to the corner ahead, I saw that familiar golden fur—I couldn't help but yell out his name. "LEO!" He instinctively turned around and ran towards me. I immediately kneeled and hugged him, "Leo, thank goodness I found you. You got me worried." Sweat kept falling down my face, which probably passed to Leo since I hugged him. 'I'm just so glad you're safe.' I was so engrossed with Leo in front of me that I almost forgot the person behind him.
I lifted my head and was surprised to see someone familiar. A girl of average height with porcelain-like skin, long wavy dark hair, and a mole on her upper left cheek and the left side of her chin. She stood there quietly while watching both me and Leo.
"You're Nathaniel Vergara… right?" That person muttered, which sounded unintentional because she covered her mouth soon after. "Yes, that's me. Nathan Vergara. And you're… Allison Valerio, right?" I stood straight and pointed at her. "Y-Yes, that's me." She replied, nodding. I knew it, it was her. "Y-You know who I am? How?" She asked, her face filled with curiosity. "Ah, everyone knows who you are, well, maybe not everyone but a lot of the people in our grade. You're an honor student in class, everyone knows you're smart." I scratched my head. Ever since I transferred schools, she's one of the students that stood out from our grade so, of course, I would know her—well, that includes her sister, too. "Are you the one who found Leo?" I suddenly remembered something important before I could forget. "Oh, yeah. I found him around here, I was about to take him to that address on his name tag until it suddenly rained earlier." She nodded, looking at Leo. I glanced at Leo and saw him staring at me. "Thank you, for finding him and planning to bring him home. I really mean it, Leo's family so I don't know what I'd do if he really got lost." I stepped closer to her. "I want to repay your kindness. If there's anything you want, just tell me and I'll do it." I rested a hand on my chest, my eyes couldn't help but beam as I gave her a wide smile. "E-Eh? W-Wait, you don't have to! I really just wanted to help him get back to his owner." She shook her head rapidly while waving both hands. "No, it's fine. I really insist." I nodded, still standing closely with Leo beside me. Leo suddenly barked, which caught our attention. "See? Even Leo thinks so." I smiled, patting Leo's head.
"N-No, really it's fine–" She kept resisting but suddenly, stopped and then faced me with a nervous look on her face, "I'm sorry, I need to go." She said lifting her phone and then started to run home. My eyes followed her as she left us, still having that anxious look on her face. "You found him!" Gabriel's voice surprised me. "Gab!" As I turned to face him, I saw his eyes glued to the running Allison until she turned to a corner and was now out of our sight.
"That was Allison, a student from our school. She found Leo and was planning on taking him home." I explained, patting Leo's head. I glanced back at him to see him face the phone in his hand with brows furrowed, "Is that so? That's kind of her." He commented. "Come on, let's go back. I'll text your sister that we found him." He added, already starting to walk ahead. Leo and I followed him, "Thanks, I'll leave it to you." I just smiled at him. "Still, I wonder why he went here, of all places." He glanced at Leo. "Yeah, why at your new apartment building? Maybe he could smell your scent on your furniture inside that truck." I chuckled, pointing at the truck parked outside of the apartment building Gabriel just moved into. "That's absurd." He also chuckled. Yeah, maybe it is. We need to be more careful next time so Leo won't go missing again.
A week later, the new school year starts and I'm now in my senior high with my childhood friend transferring to our school. On the same day, I found out which class I'm in. I couldn't help but get excited when I saw Gabriel's name on the same list and after looking further, I saw her name—Allison's name. I waited and kept peeking by the windows to check if she arrives. When she did, I jumped out of my seat, approached the door and there she was. "Allison!" Beside her was a girl shorter than her clinging to her arm, with long black hair and beige skin. She had the same almond-shaped eyes and mole on her lower left chin as the wavy-haired beside her. "Ah, this is my sister, Avianna. And my best friend, Cisum." Oh, so this is her sister, no wonder they look so much alike. "That's right, sorry about that. I must've surprised you all." I smiled sheepishly. "Nice to meet you, Avianna." I faced Avianna and waved a hand. "Nice to see you again, Cisum. We're classmates again this year." I turned to the other side to greet an old classmate.
After that, I immediately remembered what happened last week and decided to bring it up. "Oh yeah! About last week.." Until Gabriel stopped me, patting my shoulder, "Nathan, what are you doing? You're blocking the entrance."
"Ah, sorry." I immediately stepped aside, smiling sheepishly at Gabriel. "By the way, I want to introduce you to the person who helped find Leo the other day." I faced Allison as I nudged my childhood friend with my elbow. "Gab, meet Allison. This is her sister Avianna, and her best friend Cisum." "This is my friend who just transferred to our school and will be our classmate from now on, Gabriel Verano." I added while everyone, especially Gabriel, went quiet. "I look forward to being classmates with you all." I tried to break the silence between us while giving a smile.
Since that day, I've been asking Allison day after day about repaying her kindness, which she kept declining politely every time. But why? 'I don't get it.' It went on until it was already the second week since the start of school.
"June 10, Monday."
"Recess."
"Nathan! Wanna go to the cafeteria together?" A student from the same class suddenly appears and hangs their arm over my shoulders. "Ah, sorry man. I can't, I'm waiting for someone. Maybe next time." I had to say no because I wanted to wait for a certain wavy-haired. I still haven't given up on repaying her, I guess you could say I'm a bit persistent—one of the perks of being an athlete. I leaned on the wall outside of our classroom with a frozen chocolate milk drink in my hand. This drink was not supposed to be frozen, just like any other flavored drink in a box but the cafeteria stores them in a freezer so in the end, it looks like an ice cream instead of a drink. Well, everyone likes it frozen so it sells a lot. While waiting outside, the gazes of the students passing by were all glued toward me, something I'm almost used to by now. It still gets uncomfortable from time to time, but I had to endure it. I lifted my head, faced the side and finally, I saw her walking towards the classroom. With her was her sister Avianna, I guess if you're looking for one of them, you'll have no choice but to see the other around—that just shows how close the two sisters are. Instead of grabbing her attention by shouting her name like I always do, I just walked closer and waited for her to face me. Avianna saw me first then started pointing in my direction and Allison faced where she was pointing—which was me. Allison stopped walking and then whispered something to her sister before she started walking towards me. "You're still serious about repaying my kindness?" Allison asked as she stood in front of me. "Yeah, sorry but I really want to." I sheepishly smiled. "I thought you'd give up by now since it's already been a week." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, a week is not that long. I'm pretty persistent, too." I chuckled. "Yes, I can see that." She managed to let out a chuckle. "You smiled." I pointed out. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Here, at least take this and I won't bother you for a while." I gave the frozen chocolate drink to her and left immediately before she could give it back to me. "Hey!" I went back to my seat and looked through the window. Avianna approached her and that's when Allison gave the drink to her, which made Avianna jump in joy and excitement. I suddenly let out a laugh, 'She gave it to her sister instead.'
"Why are you laughing?" Gabriel suddenly stood beside me, with his phone in his right hand. "She really doesn't want to be repaid, no matter what I do." I shrugged my shoulders. He glanced through the window to see the two sisters, one of them eating the chocolate milk drink I bought. "I don't get it, usually, girls get excited when I treat them or give something to them." I pouted, crossing my arms. "Must be nice to have fangirls," Gabriel replied, sarcastically. "You have fangirls, too, y'know," I argued. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she just didn't like the drink you bought?" My dear friend asked. "Huh? Wait, really?" I sat up straight, facing him, and then turned to face Allison and Avianna through the window. "Her sister always buys that frozen drink every day here at school, in case you didn't notice," Gabriel said before he left to return to his seat.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!" I waved goodbye to my classmates before I could walk through the door. Suddenly, my hand was grabbed and I was pulled to the nearby stairs of our school building. When we stopped, the person who pulled me turned to face me. "What's your deal, man?" An angry raven-haired suddenly pulls my collar. "A-Avianna, calm down. No violence, okay?" I raised both of my arms and shook my head rapidly in panic. "Sorry but, that's my sister. I, on the other hand, say yes to violence." She tightened her grip on my collar but lets go of it soon after. "Talk. Why are you bothering my sister?" She takes a step back and crosses her arms. "Well… I just wanted to repay her kindness. She… helped me-" She cuts me off by speaking over me. "Helped you find your dog? Yah, I know. So? She already told you a lot of times that she doesn't want to be repaid. But why persist?" She asked, raising a brow. "I'm pretty persistent..." I mumbled, but I'm sure she heard me. Suddenly, she became quiet and just stood there in front of me. "You do know she gave me that choco-milk drink earlier, right? That's my favorite so she gave it to me." She suddenly spoke. "Y-Yeah… I saw it." I scratched my head. "If I tell you something she likes, will you finally stop?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip. My eyes beamed and both corners of my mouth lifted. "Yes, of course!" I nodded. Avianna sighed then said, "Pastries. She likes pastries."
I tilted my head to the side. 'Pastries?' "What kind?" I asked. "Anything's fine. She eats almost all kinds of pastries." I see, so pastries. But, I don't know what pastry to buy. Should I ask for help? Well, not from Avianna, since she already told me what to buy. "Thank you, Avianna! I'll go now!" I waved my hand before running down the stairs. I headed back to the classroom to look for a certain someone. "Gab! I need to talk with you!" Once I saw him, I grabbed him and pulled him outside. "Hey! What are you doing?" He asked, his brows furrowed. "I need help," I replied. "With what?" He crossed his arms. "Make it quick because I was helping the class officers clean the classroom." "I know what to give her now." I smiled, Gabriel went silent and continued to listen. "Avianna told me Allison likes pastries," I told him. "Let me guess. You need help on what kind of pastry to buy?" He tilts his head and raises a brow. I just nodded rapidly in response and made him sigh. "Wait here." He approached our classroom president while I waited at the same spot—Gabriel's the classroom vice president.
"3:05 P.M."
"We're here," Gabriel stated. He opens the car door and steps out. "Thanks for the ride, Kuya Ian." I smiled at Gabriel's driver Ian before leaving the car.
(Author's Note: Kuya means older brother in Tagalog.)
He's actually the driver of Gabriel's parents but since he decided to live by himself, his dad let him have Ian as his driver for the time being—maybe to keep an eye on Gabriel, as well. I stood beside Gabriel, and both of us faced the sign of the café just in front of us. "Café Garden" This is a two-story cafe that is located on the other side of the town. Having a large glass window at the front that allows you to easily see the inside with a bunch of flowers decorated outside. I faced up and saw the second floor being a rooftop with more flowers being decorated—it's literally a garden in a cafe. "Let's go." Gabriel opens the door and lets me walk inside first, a habit he's had since we were young. As soon as we got inside, a tall man who looked like he was in his late thirties greeted us with a charismatic smile, "Welcome!" He had beige skin and his hair stood out from having a lot of gray hair. Not that many people are inside, most are wearing different school uniforms, there must be a school here nearby. The man who greeted us was standing behind the counter, beside it was a glass display filled with different kinds of pastries, which all looked mouth-watering. "Wow! They all look so good, I can't choose." I commented, staring through the glass. The man behind the counter chuckled. "Take your time choosing, young man."
"Which do you think she'll like, Gab?" I whispered to the raven-haired beside me. "Did she not tell you what kind of pastry to buy?" He replied. "She told me anything since Allison likes any kind of pastry." I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, if that's the case…" Gabriel walked over to the counter and faced the man behind it. "Excuse me, sir. What are your current best-sellers for pastries?" he asked. Oh, that's a good idea! "We have three best-sellers." He walked behind the glass display and grabbed three different pastries; an almond croissant, a chocolate croissant, and a strawberry cream bun. "Are you gonna buy one for yourself, Gab?" I asked. "How about you? Are these all for her?" He replied with a question. "Well, now that we're here, I wanna buy one for myself." I nodded. "Could you add one coffee bun, one cinnamon bun, and one buttered croissant, please?" He tells the man behind the counter. "Is that okay?" Gabriel turned to face me. "Yup, all good." I nodded and gave a thumbs-up. "Is this for dine-in or take-out?" He asks us. "Take-out, if it's alright, could you place the coffee bun, cinnamon bun, and buttered croissant in a separate box?" Gabriel asked before the man could start packing the pastries. "I'm guessing the three best-sellers are a gift, aren't they?" The man asked as we piqued his interest. "Yes! For a friend." I immediately replied with enthusiasm.
"Are you the owner of this café, sir?" I ended up asking while we waited. "Yes, I'm the owner. You two must be from the other side of the city, judging from your uniforms." He chuckled. "Yes, that's right. My friend here told me that you sell amazing pastries here. That's why he brought me here." I replied as I nudged Gabriel's arm, who was quietly listening to our conversation. "I'm glad that the existence of my café reaches that far. Here you go, I hope you enjoy them and come back again soon." He extends his arms to give us our order. "Thank you, sir." I smiled.
We paid for the pastries before leaving the café and outside was Kuya Ian waiting with the black Toyota Vios car.
We got inside the car and suddenly, Gabriel asked a question that left me speechless.
"So? Where does she live?" I looked at him, my eyes widened and my mouth slightly opened from shock. "Don't tell me you don't know?" I could tell he was about to get furious while Kuya Ian started laughing from the driver's seat. Sh*t. I can't believe I forgot to ask where she lives, I'm so stupid.
End of Chapter.