4. Dear Best Friend, LIFE IS UNFAIR

Ciara's POV

We enjoyed our dinner tonight as Mr. Anderson led the prayer. We are happy chatting and eating and at the same time, Shan's phone rang, he excused himself by taking his phone.

I just kept eating since I knew his girlfriend was calling again. "Maybe it's his girlfriend again," Faith murmured.

"What? Girlfriend?" Mr. Anderson asked, and Faith simply nodded.

"Yeah, I met his girlfriend only a few moments earlier."

 

Shan's mother just laughed and added, "That's what he's saying about the girl he's flirting with at school," and I pretended to grin.

"Since when?" He questioned as he ate.

"It was only a few days ago. I didn't know about that until he told me."

 

We suddenly calmed down and pretended nothing had happened when I noticed Shan was returning.

He noticed that we were all eating quietly when he sat down, so he thought, "What went wrong? You were all deafeningly quiet today."

"Yes, of course. We're having dinner here, son," His father said with a hidden smile.

"Do we have to talk while eating?" Her mom asked, shaking her head.

 

He groaned and said, "I understand. Do you want to know who called?"

"We're not interested because we know who she is."

 

His eyes widened and he turned to face Faith and me, "Sorry, bro. I'm that such a chatty person."

"You're a thief in every sense of the word. Well, you preceded me once more," Shan grumbled, "and I have a plan to say about it. She's probably quite busy right now. I asked her here, but she declined."

"That's fine," her mother said with a smile, "as long as you don't forget about your studies, okay?"

 

Shan crossed her heart and nodded, "Mom, don't worry. It is something I will never forget."

"My son is truly an adult now; time goes so quickly," his father added, and we all laughed.

 

As we finished our dinner and chitchats, we pondered about heading home and they dropped me off at our house.

 

I was astounded when Shan got out of their car, as well, "Dad, I'll hang out with Ciara. It's still half-past nine o'clock."

"No problem," that was all he said before leaving to park their car right next to ours.

"What are your plans for the time being? You, too, don't have anything to do," I said as we walked into my room.

"Nothing, I just miss you," he replied as he lay on my bed, "and I'm jealous of you and Faith.  You're able to hang out without me."

"Duh, you're the only one who doesn't want to bond with me," I rolled my eyes, jokingly.

He was amusing and serious at the same time. "I am sorry if I've been too busy these past few days."

 

I grinned, "It's all right. You should just put Julie first."

"Of course, you are a priority as well. Because I love you both, you are both important to me."

"And I love you as well," I added, genuinely. It's fine with me if he doesn't know the truth anymore.

x x x x x x

It's been two weeks since that dinner date with his family. Everything went back to normal afterward, yet we have been unable to develop a good bond or even communicate with one another.

He will prioritize his girlfriend over me, just as I knew would happen, and it would be the case.

I rolled my eyes and buried my face in the table, annoyed. "Hey, you woke up and Sir Justine is still discussing," Patricia poked me on the shoulder.

I stared her in the eyes as I raised my head, "It makes no difference to me. That's something I learned in senior high school."

"Are you all right?" Shan, who was sitting alongside me, was concerned. I forgot to mention that the two of us were sitting beside each other.

I sit properly, "I'm perfectly well. I'm just hungry from not eating breakfast."

Shan shook his head and said, "Why don't you eat? Do you want to become sick?"

"I'm sorry," I explained, "but I've lost my appetite and don't want to be late for school."

He sighed and took my arm in his. "Hey, where are you taking me?" my eyes widened in surprise.

He didn't say anything and simply yanked me up and drew me closer to Sir Justine. "What do you need, Shan?" Sir Justine asked.

"Sir, it's an emergency," Shan responded with a smile. I was afraid Sir Justine would say no, but he nodded, "Thank you, Sir."

Shan grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room. I'm not sure where he'll take me, but I'm not in the mood to resist.

We crossed the narrow road after exiting the College Building East. I had expected to open the College Main Building, but instead, we went left and entered the 7/11 convenience store.

"Shan, I can eat at lunchtime," I responded, embarrassed by what he had done. Is this what you meant when you said cutting classes? It's only that we just left right in the middle of Sir Justine's discussion.

"Take a look at yourself; you're such a wimp. It's still 9:30 a.m., and lunch is taking a lifetime. I know you're starving," He just stated that if I didn't like the food here, he would choose something else to have.

"Nothing here appeals to me. It's tasty, but I'm not betting on it," I spotted the School's Gymnasium and I instantly pulled him over.

"Ouch! Why are you yanking on my clothes?"

I pointed to the Gymnasium's corner, "Please, let's go there. There's a Sisig Pork there that I really enjoy. It's excellent and well worth the effort!"

"All right, let's go eat," he said with a giggle.

We left the convenience shop and crossed the main road, Butuan City's busy road. The car's capacity was like that when I looked to my left and right.

I raised my eyes to the locked school overpass and stairwell, "It's quite annoying. When will they be able to open the stairwell then? Let's come back to the College Building."

He scanned the overpass, "We have already arrived. Let's just cross, will we?" He snatched my hand out of nowhere.

It felt like we were crossing the street in slow motion, and my heart raced. I'm crazy in love with this guy, but I need to get off of it as soon as possible.

He let me sit in one of the vacant seats in the Cafeteria when we arrived. He sat across from me and took the menu.

It's a public cafeteria, and unlike many others, it's really clean. I also know the cafeteria's owner, and they own a Lechon business, although this isn't as well-known as the other Lechon houses on Langihan Road.

If you're familiar with Butuan City, you'll be familiar with the famed and legendary Lechon House.

"What exactly do you want? Sizzling sisig?" I nodded when he asked. My absolute fave, as always, is sisig. "I'll just eat it as well. This appears to be scrumptious."

He also placed an order with one of the workers who've worked here. After that, all we have to do is wait for the food.

"Do you have a problem?" Shan asked, breaking the silence.

I let out a sigh "Nothing. "It's just that mom and dad are bickering again," I explained, "and it's all about money and job."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ciara," he said, with a sorrowful expression on his face.

I shook my head and wiped my tear-filled eyes "It's all right. It's simply a shame that they don't have time to put aside things for me because of money and job, and now they're fighting over it."

Because I was fearful of what might happen, I couldn't help but sigh, "Shan, I'm scared. I'm afraid my family will be ruined as a result of this."

He rose up and held me passionately, "Shh, that's not going to happen."

"No," I simply shook my head and released the hug, "Let's be real, Shan. It would be ruined if it wasn't for you, no matter how much we appreciate people, family, or anything else."

He took my face in his hands and wiped away my tears, "Whatever happens, I'll be right beside you. I love you, best friend."

I'm all set. I'm ready to express my feelings to him. Today, I'm feeling frisky. "Shan, I have to tell you something," I murmured.

"What is it?"

I inhaled deeply and gazed into his gleaming dark-brown eyes. "I l —" 

I was cut off before I could finish when our food arrived, "Ma'am and Sir here is the order of Two Platter of Sizzling Sisig and one pitcher of Iced Tea." Great, I'm hungry as well.

"Thank you," Shan and I exclaimed, and I grabbed the food right away.

"Wait, what exactly are you going to say?" Shan asked, clearly interested in what I was about to tell.

"I said, well, I l — love here, really. Thank you for bringing me, and I'm starving," I stated.

I suddenly felt hesitant to tell him the truth. I probably would have said something if the worker hadn't arrived, but my confidence had plummeted. I mean, what's the purpose in telling him all?

He laughed and held my hands, "That's OK. Everything is for you, Ciara."

I grinned, "What's new with you and Julie? I'm already jealous since we don't seem to be able to bond as much as we used to."

He grinned, "We're OK, and we're still going strong. I'm sorry if I am unable to meet you. But believe me, I'm always thinking of you. I'll make it up to you soon."

I simply nodded and began to eat. We decided not to go back to the next subject after we finished eating, so we simply hung around at the library and studied, and I assisted him with lessons that he didn't understand.

The Angelus Prayer, which was played every 12 noon at the time, suddenly sounded, and everyone stopped for the prayer. Then his phone rang, and he picked it up.

I just took up my phone and texted Patricia's number on the messenger app.

I sent her a message on Messenger, "Where are you, Patty? We're on the third floor of the Library."

She saw my conversation right away and responded, "Please wait for me. Sir Jessie just finished his class today."

I checked my schedule and discovered that Management Science was the class I had skipped today.

"All right, I'll wait," I replied.

"Are you leaving?" I asked as I tucked my phone into the bag and looked at Shan, who had also tucked his phone into his pocket.

"It's Julie," he stated, and I nodded, knowing he was on his way to see his girlfriend. He smiled, "I appreciate it. Take care."

"You as well," I added. He kissed me on the forehead and walked away.

Patricia arrived a few minutes later, looking puzzled, "Why are you alone? Where is Shan?"

"He left the room. Boyfriend responsibilities, you know."

She gave me a friendly grin and assisted me in packing my books and notebooks into my bag, "So, you want to come to our place? I don't have anything to do here, either, because there are no afternoon classes. There is an assembly."

I smirked, "Those assemblies are terrible. We won't go back; instead, we'll have a movie marathon at your house. I also don't want to hang around at home, which means I'll be alone again."