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13. Just friends
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2021-10-23 22:17:12Related chapters
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 14. Run, Dina, Run
"Oh no. Hell no!" I exclaim as I examine the vast golf course in front of me. I was peacefully sleeping when Ari came barging into my hotel room so early in the morning to tell me about a field day. Apparently, it's every year level against each other for HPH's Foundation Week, and I'm one of the Junior representatives for track and field. Without my consent. What the hell is wrong with these people? "Not my idea. David signed you up for this." Ari tells me. "He did what?" I scan around the people around me, trying to spot the traitor. "Come on. It's perfect for you." I hear his amused voice behind me. "You like to run, don't you?" My hands curl into fists, "David. I swear to God." I turn towards him and felt equal parts frustration and admiration. He looks good, as always. His skin is a bit tanned from standing on the ship's deck for hours yesterday. His eyes are alert, despite the glare of the early morning sun around us. Also, I don't know which games he's assigned to, but judg
Last Updated : 2021-10-25Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 15. Is everything okay?
"Um...what should I call you, sir?" I ask after an awkward silence with David's grandpa. I still can't believe I'm in the hospital cafeteria, having lunch with him. I toy with the food on my plate, wishing he'd stop being so kind. Ever since we started eating, he has been refilling my plate non-stop. He reminds me so much of David, always thinking of those around him. "Oh, just call me Gramps. All of Dave's friends do," he tells me, smiling warmly. He scarfs down his rice. One might think he's too hungry and cheerful for someone whose wife is in the hospital. But we all cope in different ways. "Those kids are wonderful." I beg to differ, but I nod in agreement. "The food here is good, huh?" he tells me, and I nod again. It is good. I've eaten quite a lot myself. "Though we probably should slow down a bit, or we'll be done before Dave gets here." "Should we call him?" I ask. "Nah, he'll be down in a minute." Gramps says, "Why don't you tell me about yourself? Dave has told me about
Last Updated : 2021-10-30Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 16. Raid
"I think I know where we can find David," I tell Arnold as soon as we're back inside the car. Arnold pauses from giving instructions to Jerry, frowning at me. "You do? Why didn't you tell us earlier?" he asks me. I sigh before saying, "I didn't want Ari and Brad to know." "Why?" Arnold asks me. "It's something to do with Dad," I tell him. "Dina--" Arnold starts to say, but I cut him off. "That's why the first thing we should do is visit him." "I don't think that's a good idea. Your Mom--" "We don't have to tell Mom. We'll be quick. I'm just going to ask Dad where Black Dawn is based these days. I have a feeling that David's there." I tell Arnold. I don't know how much digging David did on the case, so I'm thinking of the worst-case scenario here. "Why would David be---" Arnold scratches the back of his head, getting agitated again. "No, we'll look for another way. You can't see your Dad." "Why not?" I ask him. It's the fastest way to know where Black Dawn is. I've been trying
Last Updated : 2021-11-05Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 17. A Sorry
To say that David's surprised to see me at his door is an understatement. He takes a step back, attempts to close the door in my face, and reopens it, realizing how rude his initial reaction was. E "Dina," he says, looking uncomfortable. I'm uneasy myself. The last time we saw each other--well, it was a heated encounter in more ways than one. I feel my cheeks heat up, remembering the kiss we shared. It was our first, but it also felt like our last. And that fact hurt me more than I thought it would. "Hi, I just---um...I wanted to make sure you're okay." I manage to tell him. "I am," David replies. He looks at me pensively before saying, "I heard what you and Arnold did for me. Thank you." I look up at him, startled, "No, please don't say that." I tell him. "You wouldn't have gotten into trouble in the first place if Dad hadn't..." I trail off, and an uncomfortable silence ensues between us. I should've rehearsed what I needed to say to him. I feel like I'm making the lamest apolog
Last Updated : 2021-11-06Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 18. Scared of you.
I sit on the sidewalk, frustrated. I'm lost. I am so lost. I made Jerry drop me off the wrong corner. Where the hell is this party supposed to be? I stare at the piece of paper in my hand. In Sebastian's neatly-written cursive is the address to the place where they're holding David's party. But it's no use. And it's not like I can just call any of them. This is what I get for not having a phone. There's no way for someone as directionally challenged as me to figure this out. Standing up, I walk a bit, hoping for some of the street signs to enlighten me. But I'm in some kind of a commercial district in the wealthy part of the city, and none of the streets look familiar to me. Damn this. Maybe I should just call a cab and go home. "Hey, girl!" a man hollers at me as I walk by him and his friends. Without looking, I gave him the finger. I would have loved to give him a kick in the nuts, but I have no time for catcallers right now. Suddenly, an arm pulls
Last Updated : 2021-11-08Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 19. Truth or Dare?
"You're here! And you're late." Ari greets David and me as we enter the massive gates towards Kier's front yard. Brad, Sebastian, and her are by the parking lot, obviously waiting for us. "Bro, your lip is bleeding. What happened?" Brad asks David, but his friend ignores him, shooting him a glare. "You said the party was at Buzz," David tells Brad, quickly letting go of my hand. He then leans towards me, whispering, "Remember what we talked about." "What are you talking about? We changed the venue this morning, and I made sure to text you." Sebastian argues. I nod at David. They're all lying. David and I had spent thirty minutes in the diner when he got a text from Calvin asking when he was going to Kier's house for the party. That's when we realized that his friends were on another scheme again. Calvin told us it was to make David and I meet and make up this time. Obviously, we came up with a plan to get back at them. "I picked this straggler
Last Updated : 2021-11-13Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 20. Just say yes
David's back is turned towards me, facing someone in the car. I don't even bother asking who he is talking to as I wrap my arms around him. He turns his head to look at me, grinning. "Hi," I whisper. "Hi. Missed you during the weekend." David seems disappointed, and I completely relate. We didn't get to see each other at all after Kier's party. It couldn't be helped, though. He got busy with his family, and so did I. I roll my eyes as I remember my harrowing weekend, "My Mom wanted to spend some quality time with me." I make a quoting action with my fingers. "So I had to go shopping with her." "That's nice. You had fun, right?" David smirked, knowing that I felt the exact opposite. Our relationship has changed so much in the past few days. But I guess he still likes to pull my leg. I consider calling him out on it, but then I am reminded about his parents. He doesn't even get to see them anymore, and here I am whining about spending time with my M
Last Updated : 2021-11-28Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 21. How did you find me?
"Why is David at the hospital? Is it his grandmother? Did she try to escape the hospital again?" I ask Britanny in panic, then my stomach sinks even further, "Wait. It's not him, right? He's not hurt?" Britanny rolls her eyes at me, "He's okay, and Grandma is okay too." Oh, Thank God!"You should've told me that sooner! Do you have any idea how scared I was?" My fingers are still shaking, but I manage to text David using the number Britanny gave me. Britanny looks heavenwards again as she shifts gears, speeding up the car. I fiddle with the seatbelt across my chest. "But...you looked so scared, though. I thought for sure something horrible happened.." I tell her. "Something horrible did happ
Last Updated : 2021-12-09
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Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 36. Home
"I still don't get why you're leaving." Boi is leaning against the doorway, arms crossed. I barely look at him as I continue to pack up my things. Looking around, I feel a creeping sadness. I will miss this apartment. I can't count the times in which I sulked here, hidden away from the world. I look at the things I stashed in here over the years. "I'm really tempted to tell your Mom," Boi comments after I mee him with my silence. But I know he won't do such a thing. I had a long talk with him about my decision, and our agreement about keeping each other's secrets still stands. "Feel free to sell any of this stuff," I tell him, stretching. I finally finish packing. And now, on to the thing that I dread doing. I look at the pen and paper on the table. I plan on writing a letter to David. He had asked me once why I wouldn't write a letter to him. I told him it was because I didn't feel the need to. I wouldn't admit it to him, but as soon as I bought my first pho
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 35. Tragic
As soon as Jon throws me to the ground, I hide behind a wall and shot at him, though he was also quick enough to hide.A shoot-out with Jon. I can't help but smirk. "Are you sure you want to do guns with me, Jon? You know I'm better at it than you.""Shut up, Dina.""I won't go easy on you this time either, you murderer," I tell him.Jon laughs, "Oh, you're such a softie, Dina. Don't tell me that was the first time you saw someone die in this line of work."It wasn't. I saw a lot of people die while she was with Black Dawn. But they were mostly adults, though, not a kid like that. Someone who had his whole life in front of him. There is no way I can forgive Jon for that."You're going to pay for what you did, Jon. All of you." I sneer.I can practically hear him scoff, even though he's several steps in front of me, "This innocent act is really getting on my nerves, Dina.""Oh, is it, now?" I reply, "I never claimed to be innoce
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 34. Pandemonium
"No," I murmur in disbelief. Dad and David both look at me, their eyes heavy with concern as if I am the one bound and gagged in front of them. Their bodies are bloodied and scratched, and God only knows what they must have gone through in Black Dawn's hands. I spot the men behind Dad and David, there are about five of them, all wearing identical expressions of danger."Yes, Dina. We got them." Jon laughs maniacally."Jesus, Jonathan. Your laugh is not at all pleasant to the ears, is it?" Uncle Fern enters the room, shedding his jacket off and handing it to the boy beside him. He casually kicks my Dad's side and I let out a yell as my poor father doubles over in pain."You look well, Matthews. For a traitor who is about to bite the dust." Uncle Fern spits at my Dad."Let him go!" I shout."Which one, darling? Your Dad or your boyfriend?" Uncle Fern looks over at me, a sinister smile on his face."You won't get away with this." I threaten, my
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 33. Trap
I was told by some random Sophomore that the student council officers are helping the Drama Club with set preparations for their play. I don't know why exactly, but I don't care to know. I'm just here to look for David. I don't even know why I have to. It's kind of weird that he suddenly just disappeared out of my sight after hounding me the whole day. Whatever. I'll just get this over with.I step inside the theater then, where a flying tree branch almost hit me in the head."Get away from me!" Ari shouts at someone to my left, completely ignoring the fact that she almost just murdered me with a prop."You are so frustrating! Why won't you talk to me?" Sebastian answers. I sigh at their spat. Great. So they're even taking their weird fight her."I just don't want to, okay?" Ari yells, her face getting redder by the second. "Seb, just get away from me!"She disappears backstage and Sebastian followed. There is a pause and I hear a crash from the di
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 32. Secret
"Hey, guys. What's up?"In interrupt David and Ari's moment, and the two break apart guiltily. I narrow my eyes at them."Dina." David says. He moved to kiss me on the cheek. I let him, but I do not offer him a smile as usual. He clears his throat at my coldness."What's going on? is there something wrong?""N-nothing." Ari responds with a smile, but it is forced and I swear I can see her wipe a tear from her eyes. My suspicion goes up a notch as she starts walking away from us, "Um...I better get back. I think I'm missing the good parts.""Oh, not really--" I try to stop her but she's already gone. I turn to David. "What are you doing here? I thought you also went out with the boys."Something is obviously worng. Horrible enough for David to not be able to hide it from his face.Damn it. Is he cheating on me with Ari? Is this what it is? Should I just ask him?"Y-yeah. It kinda ended in a disaster. So I thought I'd dropped by
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 31. We just got you back
I slam my plate on the table. All around me, the party's alive. People that I came to know and like nodding at me in acknowledgment. But I can't enjoy my own party, as I've just been wracking her brains figuring out why my parents wouldn't tell me about Dad escaping prison. They obviously still have trouble trusting me, and that hurst most of all. "Dina, I'm so sorry you had to find out like this. I'm sure your parents have a good reason for hiding it from you." David tells me, probably getting alarmed by my silently aggressive behavior. I open my mouth to reply, but I see Kier approach us. "Dina, can I talk to you for a second, please?" he asks me. "Now's not a good time, Kier," David says, frowning at his friend. "It's fine. Go ahead. What do you need?" I tell Kier. Kier says awkwardly, "That day before you suddenly disappeared, you said something about me having the key in front of me all along. What do you mean by that?" I blink at
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 30. Escape
"You don't have anything to add, Ms. Matthews?"I sigh tiredly, "Nothing more. That's really all I know." I tell them.For the past hour, I have been wracking my brain about what Black Dawn has been up to for the past few weeks. I thought it was going to be okay at first, but it turned out to be harder than I thought. The things I've seen...the crimes I was forced to do...they weren't exactly things that I wanted to remember."Thank you for your cooperation." one of the officers says, "As for your being complicit to crimes committed by the gang during your time with them...we'll talk to our superiors about it. We understand the situation you were in. Hopefully, your confession is enough for them to reconsider.""Thank you, officer."The police start to leave, but I stop them."Wait. Um...there was a kid with us that day. He--" I swallow weakly, "He lost his life trying to stop Jon from shooting me. David said you found his body. Do we
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 29. Dirty Work
It's been two weeks since I've been with Black Dawn. The snow had fallen two days ago and now everyday is as cold as shit, I can feel the ice forming around my heart too. I miss everyone and I wish I can just talk to them even just for a minute. Surreptitiously, I look at my phone. I managed to swipe it last night from where Uncle Fern had hidden it and with my luck, it had run out of juice."He's not here yet, is he?" I ask the kid, the only person with me in this shithole of an apartment, enduring a stakeout that we're tasked to do."Not yet, Ma'am." the kid replies, spreading the takeout that he had just brought in on the table between us. He's a tall, lanky teen, who couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen. I want to ask his name, but he was probably forbidden to tell me."How the fuck did you end up here?" I ask him instead, hoping at least to fill the silence between us."Sorry, I don't know what you mean." the kid replies, uneasy. I can tel
Love and Letters: Dina & David's Story 28. Trouble will always find you
"What? Dave, what the hell is going on?" Brad asks as the police escort David and me out of the classroom."You guys stay here," David says."But--" Ari starts to protest, but David gently pushes her back inside."Ari. We'll deal with this, okay? Stay inside.""You guys are not in trouble, are you?" Calvin asks from across the room."No. It's going to be okay, Calvin." I tell him, even though I don't believe my own words for a second. I meet David's eyes, knowing that he knows what I'm thinking. We follow the police to the principal's office silently, leaving our friends behind.***David's grandfather and my parents are in the office. My anxiety goes up a notch. What the hell is going on?"Haraboji?" David greets Gramps with an expression that mirrors mine. He grips my hand tighter."Arnold, Mom. What are you doing here?" I ask my parents."Dina, why didn't you tell us about Fernando being here?" Mom tells me. Fr
