Those Glances
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It was already late in the evening and I was on my way to Hernan Gymnasium to practice for the upcoming event this week. I had already told Mama that I might come home late—knowing she would worry again if I didn't inform her right away.
Rayver had gone to the gym ahead of me.
Has he forgotten?
Has he forgotten about me?
Until I bumped into Kristine on the way, and she even called out my name—I turned my head and stopped walking.
"Andrei, wait!" she shouted as she called out to me.
I stopped walking and just smiled at her.
"Are you going to the gym?" she asked as she walked toward where I was standing.
"Uhm, yeah!" I replied shortly and nodded at her.
"Let's go together," she said and even put her arm around my shoulder.
"Alright!" I replied briefly and started walking again.
"You're so cold!" she remarked as we walked toward the gym.
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— At Hernan Gymnasium —
After just a minute of walking, we finally arrived at the Hernan Gymnasium. We found that they were already practicing their ramp walk. We quickly ran so we could start as well.
Even in the middle of practice, I still couldn't take my eyes off Rayver. And strangely enough, I also kept catching him looking at me.
"Water break, let's continue after 3 minutes."
"Haaays!" I sighed deeply from exhaustion and just sat down on the side.
Then a girl came up to Rayver and offered him her water. Soon after, he took it and drank.
She then sat beside him and started chatting with him.
I couldn't stop staring at the two of them. Maybe he's happy now and has already forgotten the past.
Moments later, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned immediately—it was Kristine.
"Wow, that was tiring. Do you have any water?" she asked, sitting on the floor beside me.
"Ah, nope. I'm thirsty too!" I replied.
"That's better—unlike when you're super cold," she teased me with a smile.
"What are you staring at over there? I've been noticing you looking that way!" Kristine added, also glancing toward where I was looking.
I quickly turned my eyes elsewhere.
"Wait, do you have a crush on Rayver?" she asked, pointing at me.
"What? What are you talking about!" I immediately said. "Crazy!" I added.
"Weh!" she teased and couldn't stop laughing.
"But honestly, they don't look good together," she said seriously, turning her gaze back to the two of them.
"Yes!" I accidentally replied without thinking.
"Huh?" Kristine asked.
Good thing she seemed a bit hard of hearing—thankfully, she didn't catch that.
"Ah, nothing," I covered up, looking off into the distance.
"I said, how can you say they don't look good together when the girl's cute?" I added.
"I just feel like Bianca is using Rayver!" she said in a way that sounded believable.
"Bianca? You know her?" I asked, looking at Kristine.
"Yes, from what I know, she studied in Canada. I don't know why she's here now studying at Hernan," she explained.
"Canada?" I whispered to myself.
If that's the case, they really do know each other. No wonder when I saw them earlier. Maybe they're even together.
"What do you mean she's us—"
I didn't get to finish my question to Kristine because someone shouted from behind us.
We both turned around.
"Hi guys," Justin said as he sat down on the floor beside us.
"Here, water!" he added, handing us the bottle he brought.
"Thanks," Kristine and I said in unison, and we didn't wait before drinking.
"Hey, slow down," Justin told us.
"So, what were you two talking about earlier?" he asked, looking at us both.
"Nothing," I said.
"Maybe you were talking about me because I'm so handsome!" he joked, laughing afterward.
"You're so full of yourself," Kristine replied.
"Well, it's true, right Drei?" he said, shaking my shoulder playfully.
The organizer spoke again, calling everyone to come back upstairs. We all hurried.
"Watch our stuff for a bit, Justin," I told him quickly as I stood up.
"Yeah, sure," he called after me.
"Is everyone here?" the organizer asked us.
"Yes!" we all replied.
"Last round for the ramp, positions in 3, 2, 1—"
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"Sometimes the hardest part is watching them smile at someone else."