CHAPTER 03: The Set Up

KATE’s P.O.V.

“So... Where are we going to meet?” Gabriel asked excitedly.

“We can meet by the coffee shop nearby our school,” Claire answered confidently. “Is that okay with you, Kate?” she asked, before winking at my direction.

         We are currently eating our lunch at the Cafeteria. Gabriel decided to sit with us again and because of that, my bestfriend finally got the chance to set up her plan. She invited us to go to the mall, hang out or do anything that we can out there.

“O-of course, i-it’s fine with m-me,” I answered, stuttering.

“Great! Should I pick you up, Claire?” Gabriel asked to my bestfriend.

         I looked down, trying to ignore the fact that the man I like just offered a ride to my bestfriend without asking me first.

“Silence means–”

“No!” Claire exclaimed too quickly.

“What do you mean by that?” Gabriel asked, a worried expression plastered upon his handsome face. He was about to say something when my bestfriend cut him of... Again.

“What I mean is... My house is too far from yours. You can’t fetch me up because it’s in the opposite way of your house. But Kate is in the same village as you are, right?” she asked hopefully.

         I glanced at Claire, enlarging my eyes for her to stop talking but she didn’t. She still continue to build her plans.

“Well, I guess so.”

“Then that’s great! You can fetch up my bestfriend on your way to the shop and I’ll just meet you guys out there. Is that alright with you?”

“Sounds great.” Gabriel smiled to her before looking at my direction. I blushed, thinking that the two of us will be all alone inside of his car tomorrow.

“It’s settled, then. Please don’t be late tomorrow, okay?” Claire stated.

         I just nodded, same as Gabriel. He stood up, look at us once again before saying another word.

“Thanks for inviting me, Claire... And Kate?” I looked up to him, feeling my heart palpitating so bad.

“Y-yes?”

“See you tomorrow.” I saw Claire smiling teasingly from the corners of my eyes. “So, bye for now, girls. I need to be at my class at this moment.”

“Bye!” Claire waved him goodbye. I just did the same.

        As soon as Gabriel vanished into our sight, Claire squealed endlessly like she’s the one who like Gabriel so much. I’m the one who supposed to be jumping up and down right now. But she acts like a lunatic. She wouldn’t had gone into silence if I didn’t cover her mouth.

“Everyone is looking at us,” I whispered into her ears.

“Don’ mind them! I’m just so happy for you, Kate!”

“For what?”

“You two are going for a date tomorrow!”

“What?! You aren’t planning on ditching us tomorrow, right? Am I right, Claire?!” I asked nervously while playing with my fingers.

“Oh yes, I am!” she squealed again.

“No, please! You know I can’t do this without you,” I pleaded to her.

“Yes, you can. Just remember everything that I told you before. Be yourself and I’m sure that nothing can go wrong...”

“What if...”

“Let us just cut all the what ifs. No one knows the possibilities of tomorrow. Maybe that date of yours will be the way for the both of you to develop your feelings for each other.”

“Really? But... Claire, I’m nervous,” I stated.

“Don’t be. He’ll like you. I’m certain of that. Who would even resist my bestfriend’s beauty, anyway?”

“Stop complementing me.”

“Why? Everything I said about you are all true. Besides, that’s my job. I’m your bestfriend, right?”

        She confidently offered her right hand for our secret handshake. I took it and we laughed with each other after we did it.

         Our classes ended faster than I expected it to be. Maybe because of the fact that I’m excited about our upcoming date. My date with Gabriel. I’m very thankful to my bestfriend because if she didn’t set this up, I wouldn’t been able to feel the butterflies in my stomach right now.

“Claire!” I waved at her as soon as I saw her from the crowd of students. She did the same.

“Too energetic, huh? Are you excited for your first date tomorrow? ” she teased.

“Stop it, Claire. Gabriel could hear us.”

         She just chuckled. We went directly to the parking lot of our school where my driver is waiting for us. I invited Claire to take a ride home with me, so that we can dropped her off to their house.

“Let’s go now. We still need to finished our homework later as soon as we got home,” I stated.

“Sure. I know you wanted to finish everything earlier than scheduled so that you can have some free time to prepare yourself.”

         I just rolled my eyes on her before chuckling to myself. I hopped inside of the car and she did the same. Since we can’t do anything inside of the whole trip, I decided to ask my bestfriend everything she know about Gabriel. I want to discover new things about him. I want to understand his whole personality so that I can be ready for our first date tomorrow.

“So...” I started, looking at Claire’s direction.

“Yeah?”

“Would you tell me more about Gabriel? I badly wanted to know more about him. I just... I can’t ask him straight faced.”

“Sure... So, where do you want to start?”

“Whoah. It seems like you knew everything about him already.”

         She just chuckled, then looked at me with amusement in her eyes.

“Are you jealous?”

“What?! No, I’m not!”

“Then why do I can hear it in your tone?” she teased.

“Will you please stop teasing me, Claire?” I stated, annoyed.

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you everything I know about Gabriel. But I want you to always remember one thing. You don’t need to doubt me or anything. I just knew some stuff about him because we are classmates. And he wouldn’t stop blabbering about himself whenever I’m around, so I have no choice but to listen to him.”

“Wow. I wish that he’s my classmate too.”

“Don’t worry, Gab and you will finally have a solo moment together at your first date. No third wheels included,” she whispered before pointing at herself, only making me laugh.

         I don’t know what I did to be this lucky. To have Claire as my bestfriend when my Mom and Dad weren’t even here to guide me.

“What now?” she asked. “What do you want to know about Gab?” I looked up to her, trying to think of something.

“Why did he came here? I’m pretty sure that he’s just a transferee student.”

“Oh. His Dad has been on a car accident here, in the Philippines. That’s why they decided to stay in this country to take care of him for the mean time.”

“But where did he came from?”

“He didn’t tell me the exact place and location. But he told me that he has a bestfriend abroad. Though I’m not sure what’s the gender.”

“It’s not that important anymore as long as they’re only friends,” I stated, even though I feel nervous about it. Who knows? It could be a girl.

          Stupid. I mentally slapped and scolded myself. How can I be jealous when we’re not even dating yet? And besides, I don’t have any rights to meddle in his personal life at the very first place.

“Are you alright?” Claire asked, looking worried.

“Uhm... Yeah.”

“Then why do you looked like that?” she asked, scrutinizing my face. “You looked... Really jealous.”

“What?! I just told you, Claire. I wouldn’t be jealous to anyone. Besides, Gabriel has his own life before we even met him.”

“You have a very good point right there. Though I can still see it on your face.” She chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure it was a guy. Same feathers flock together, you know.”

          I felt relieved because of her assuring words. I nodded at her, before thinking another question to ask about Gabriel.

“Is he smart? Though it wasn’t necessary for him to be but I still wanted to know.”

“Superb.” Her eyes widen.

“And what do you mean by that?”

“He is super smart like heck. Our teachers even considered him being a candidate for class valedictorian even though he’s a transferee student.”

“So are you just gonna let him take your place just like that?” I curiously asked.

“Of course not. I’m still working very hard for my studies. But Mom and Dad told me that I don’t need to be the best for them to be proud of me. Having a passing scores and grades were already enough for them.”

“You’re so lucky. Mom and Dad doesn’t even recognized my hard work.”

“Don’t be sad now. Instead of thinking about graduation and other stressful stuffs, let us just talk about your upcoming date. It’s very important that you have a nice outfit to wear while walking somewhere with the man of your dreams tomorrow.”

         I laughed at her statement. We talked more about some random stuffs during our remaining time on our trip to home. About Gabriel, school, our parents, and any topic under the sun. Until finally, we reached her home.

“Thanks for the ride!”

“Anything for you.”

“Don’t be too nervous tomorrow, okay? Stay focus and pretty. I know for sure that Gab will like you so much.” She winked at me before getting inside of their house.

         I just shook my head while smiling to myself. Just imagining and thinking things about me and Gabriel roaming around somewhere at the mall tomorrow while talking about basically anything makes my stomach feels so uneasy. I’m still nervous, but I can’t wait for that moment to happen, either.