“And maybe the old songs will bring back the old times….and make her want….to stay”
She froze in her tracks and gave a startled and wistful glance at her companion, Joseph Arcantara. She felt that she was suddenly transported a few years back in time…..
She stood in hesitation at the door of the cafeteria, looking around for new classmates and friends that she could join and sit with. She scanned the room and finally found them. She walked hurriedly to them and smiled. A chorus of “Hi Grace!” went up in the table.
Grace Peroza was a new student in her school, she just transferred from a small-town school. So it was not a surprise when she felt overwhelmed with fear, excitement and anxiety. When she had first entered her classroom, she was immediately befriended by Janice Jordan. She felt very glad and she had a feeling that she and Janice would be very close friends. From that day on, she was introduced by her new friends to their other friends from the batch, and also to other batches. Grace easily adopted and adjusted to her new surroundings. She felt very cheerful and very happy. One day, a few months later, she was walking towards home when she bumped a tall guy, a couple of years older than her.
“Oh, I’m very sorry!” she said, looking up to the face of the guy. “Hey aren’t you Joseph Arcantara?’
“Grace! Are you ok? And yes I am Joseph….how have you been??” he asked.
“I’m great and I can tell from your expression that you’re great, too.”, she replied.
“Yeah, actually I am….and I’m also late for practice! Sorry I have to go, I’ll talk to you some other time ok??” he said, running away.
Since then, they have been close friends. They talked to each other almost every night for a couple of months. Grace told Janice everything. She also confessed something that surprised Janice.
“I think I’m falling for Joseph,” she said.
“What?!?”, came the reply of a very startled Janice.
“I can’t help it, Jan..he’s just so sweet, so kind….oh what should I do?” she wailed.
“Girl, you need some help. And since you asked for advice…is there a possibility that he feels the same way?” she asked.
“I think so.”
That night, Grace called Joe. Grace noted that Joe sounded very down and depressed. She asked him why. Soon, Joe was telling Grace all about the girl that he met a few months back, Alexandra: how they met, how they had so much fun together, how she told him that she didn’t want him….Grace felt her heart screaming in agony. She felt torn…she wanted to comfort him and also she was secretly glad. So she comforted him, telling him that Alexandra made a mistake by leaving a sweet guy. But Grace’s words did nothing… Joe continued to mope, telling Grace how he loved Alex, how he could never live without her. After a few minutes, Joe told Grace that he needed some time alone and hung up. Grace stared at the phone openmouthed. She didn’t know what else to do so she called Janice. Janice listened sympathetically and told her that she would find some other guy.
From that one fateful day, Joe and Grace began to drift apart. Grace avoided Joe. They stopped talking to each other and they won't even say “Hi” to each other when they were in school. Grace tried to forget about him but could not. Finally summer came. Grace was very glad because she could finally walk around without bumping into Joe. She spent her time hanging out with Janice and her other friends and occasionally she went to her cousins’ house. Unfortunately, summer went by fast for Grace. She was finally getting over Joe and then she has to see him again in school. “Ughh! Summer is too short.” She thought. “Well, it would be the same as last year. We’ll pretend that we don’t even know each other.”
And so that was what happened, they just passed each other in the halls without barely even glancing at each other. Then one day, as Grace was walking towards her classroom, she passed by Joe. At the same time, Joe looked up and they suddenly had eye contact. Their eyes locked for what seemed eternity. Joe squirmed, then finally said “Hi.” Grace, still reeling from the sudden contact, managed to stammer, “Hello!”. Then she started to walk away quickly, looking down intently on her white sandals. Joe just stood there, looking after her. That night, surprise surprise. Joe called Grace. Grace answered the phone, expecting Janice to be the caller. “Hello?” she said. “Hey Grace,” came the all-too familiar voice of Joe. There was silence. The last time they talked over the phone was when he said that he needed some time alone. “Grace are you there?” Joe asked. “Yeah.” She replied. “What happened between us?” Joe asked. “Nothing,” Grace replied “You said you needed some time to be alone. So I left you alone.” She added simply. “But not THAT much time alone!” Joe cried, frustrated. “We were great friends!” He added. “Listen, can we meet sometime, for lunch or a snack maybe?” Grace was speechless. She did want to go with him but she was afraid that her feelings for him would surface. “Grace?” Joe asked. “Uhm sure.” Grace said. “Great, I’ll talk to you tomorrow in school.”
Next day, they bumped into each other during lunch. Joe asked her if it was alright with her to have a picnic this coming weekend. Grace agreed. When they met at the park, it was just like old times. Joe brought all the stuff they needed and they selected a place to put their stuff. They were under a big tree that provided them shade from the sun. They ate leisurely and they talked about anything, anything but the past that is, while eating. They laughed and just had fun. After they had eaten, they ran around like little kids, laughing. When they got tired, they sat back in their picnic mat and leaned against the tree, with Grace leaning back against Joe’s chest and her head resting at the crook of his neck. They just sat their for a while, enjoying the comfortable silence. Joe sat lost in his own world and Grace sat lost in HER own world. Suddenly, Joe whispered softly in Grace’s ear, “Hey Grace”. Grace looked up at Joe’s face and stared up at him. Their eyes locked and held each other’s gaze. Joe had a funny look in his face, then started bending down his face towards Grace’s face. Grace sat mesmerized and slowly closed her eyes as her lips went in contact with Joe’s lips.
She felt fireworks explode in the back of her mind and there was a feeling she couldn’t understand. They kissed for a moment and Grace pulled away. She was blushing and she wouldn’t meet Joe’s eyes. “I-I I have to go.” She muttered, leaving without anymore explanation. Leaving Joe staring at her openmouthed and stunned. That night, Joe called Grace. She don’t want to talk to him so when she got on the line, she decided to say that she was tired and had a headache. But Joe spoke first. “Why did you leave?” She opened and closed her mouth but no words or sound came out. Even though he couldn’t see her personally, Joe felt and knew that he had surprised and startled her. “I- I don’t know,” Grace finally said. Joe couldn’t help it, he yelled at her “Didn’t you feel anything? Didn’t you feel the passion in my kiss?? Didn’t you feel anything special!?!?” At this point, Grace was beginning to get mad and steamed at him. She finally couldn’t stand his yelling and burst out “YES!! I felt something. I felt something very special that shouldn’t be felt! I felt my love for you surfacing!!!” After this, she banged down the phone and sobbed quietly in her room. Meanwhile, Joe was still holding the receiver and staring at it like it was something he had never seen in his whole life. He thought back to what Grace had said, rather, shouted at him. He couldn’t believe it. Grace was in love with him. Then he groaned. WAS. He laid back on his bed and thought. He decided to call her again. He quickly dialed her number and when she answered, he blurted “Please listen to me.” Grace stayed quiet but didn’t hang up the phone. Joe took this as a good sign and started talking. “Grace, I missed you a lot when we stopped talking. I missed the way you understood me the way no one else could. You told me you loved me. It was a shock to me but it made me realize, I loved you also then. That was the reason why my relationship with Alex didn’t work out. She said that she didn’t feel that I loved her, even though I kept telling her I do.” He paused. Grace still didn’t say anything. So he continued, “Please. Please let me have a second chance with you. As friends.” When he stopped, he could hear Grace crying quietly. “Grace please don’t cry. I’m sorry about everything.” Finally Grace spoke, “Joe, I’m sorry too. But I’m willing to give our friendship a second chance. It was too great a friendship.”
And so they started again, they let bygones be bygones. Everything went perfectly for a few months. It was just like old times. One day they were in the park, sitting in the exact same spot a few months back but neither of them realized this. Suddenly, this fact came upon Joe’s mind and told this to Grace. “Oh yeah.” she said, smiling uncertainly. Some distance away, some couples were playing a love song and dancing to it. Joe looked at Grace and said, “Dance?” Grace agreed and they stood up to dance. They swayed under the tree for a few minutes then suddenly stopped. “Grace,” he said, “I-I love you”, he stammered. Grace had a blank look on her face but then broke into a huge smile. “Oh, Joe, I love you too!” Slowly, their lips met and they kissed for a few moments.
“AHEM!” The new couple jumped back startled and saw the equally startled faces of their friends, Janice. Janice was with a mutual friend, Fred, whom Grace had met a couple of months back and had been close with. “Are you a couple or what?” asked Janice. Grace and Joe looked at each other and smiled. “Actually, yes we are” Joe answered. “You are?! That’s great!” Janice exclaimed. Fred cleared his throat and said, quite hollowly, “Yeah, great.” He cleared his throat again and added, “I have to go… I – I just remembered I have an appointment. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Before he even finished what he was saying, he was already walking away. “What’s with him?” Grace asked. “I have no idea. He told me just before we left his room that he was free for the whole afternoon.” Janice said. “Maybe he really did forget that he had an appointment.” Joe said. Grace shook her head and said, “Fred forgetting an appointment? I don’t think so. Why don’t you talk to him Joe?” “Uh yeah sure,” Joe answered. “Oh well, I got to go now, you two. See ya later!” Janice said, waving good-bye. “Bye.”
THIS IS NOT YET FINISHED!!!!!!
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT????? You'll soon find out....
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