From: Your Secret Admirer

Chapter Seven

I remembered you asking for Daniel Padilla to be included in my previous story (CAPTIVE). Heto na siya bebe, may extra appearance ng kaunti. lol ;)

***

"So what do you think of Olivia, Ky?"

"I think she's great for you, Ry. You look great together."

"You think so?"

"Yes I do. Team Ol-Yan all the way."

Ryan called me over the phone this evening. "My unlimited call promo is about to expire," he told me when I asked him why he called. So we've been on the phone since thirty minutes ago while I scanned and read my notes.

"But I don't know. Do you like her for me?" he asked.

"Of course I do. You like her, and you seemed to be happy when you talk about her. So I like her for you. Why you ask?"

He paused for a pulse before he said, "Because I really think this girl is the one, Ky. And I really want it to be her. But she, sort of, does not realize it. I mean, I know she likes me. But not in the same way how I like her."

"She likes you, I can feel that. You worry too much. You're a great guy, Ry."

"If you were, say, Olivia and not Kyla, do you think you could, you know, like me as a guy and not as your best friend."

I had no idea why Ryan suddenly lost his confidence over his chances at snatching Olivia's elusive heart. I thought they were already an item. "Yes, Ry. If I were Olivia, I would say yes to you in a heartbeat if you ever propose."

"Really? You're not just saying that to make your best friend feel good about himself?"

"I'm telling you this because it's true." It really was, the truth that is. If he was not my best friend and not almost a brother to me, I would have fallen in love with him. He was a great and fun guy. Dependable and always there for you whenever you needed him. But our relationship never escalated to a romantic degree. It remained platonic all throughout these years.

"You're a great girl, Ky," he said.

"And you're a great friend, too, Ry. I gotta hang up now. I need to solve this Physics problem. I still don't get it why they let us study Physics. What does inertia got to do with injecting medications to patients?"

I heard Ryan chuckling. "I know, right? I'm a Biology major and I ended up experimenting chemicals in Chem lab this morning. I gotta go too. See you tomorrow?"

"Yes, goodnight, Ry."

"Goodnight, Ky."

***

I felt bad. I felt like a worthless friend. Ryan was having troubles with Olivia, and I wasn't even sure what their relationship status was right now. Was it Status: It's Complicated? Ryan was my friend, and I hadn't even paid attention to what he was going through. I would make it up to him. I would seek out Mer's help on this one since she's the love expert as what she claimed to be. I should forget my selfish tendencies and just forget about my curse problem.

Ryan needed my help. And Kyla the best friend would be there to help him.

***

It was Wednesday and Mer and I were having our lunch at the cafeteria. I was munching on my Caesar's salad and she was eyeing me with curiosity.

"Since when did you start eating plants?" she asked.

"It's lettuce, Mer. I met Ryan this morning and he gave this to me. He said he bought it for Olivia but she doesn't eat vegetables, so he gave it to me. I just saved lunch money."

"Uh-huh. So anyway, any leads as to who our Mystery Man is?"

Here we go again. "I decided to postpone my Mystery Man hunting for now. Ryan needs help with Olivia."

"Ryan can handle himself, I'm sure. You, however, need all the help you can get."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"Because you're totally clueless when it comes to boys. And since I'm the expert I decided to take matters in to my own hands." She pulled out her spiral notebook and opened to a page where she scribbled some columns with bullets. "You know, Kyla, I'm a bit upset with you."

The fork half way in my mouth, I managed to say, "Huh?"

"I heard from other people about your romantic rendezvous with Franco. I also heard from a very reliable source about Luke asking you out. Also there was this incident where a certain soccer varsity player was seen walking you to your next class? Why don't I know all of those events? We only have one class that we're not together and I feel as if I am already left out."

"Gee, Mer, since when did everyone became aware of my every move? And Mark did not walk me to my next class."

"So what really happened?"

And I told her every detail. Then she suddenly became excited and all.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "See, I was right, wasn't I? Franco or Luke could be our Mystery Man. I wasn't really expecting Mark to be one of them, though. But there you go. Ryan and I decided to prove you that the family love curse is not real."

"Since when did you and Ryan started talking behind my back?" I demanded. Geez, what was going on suddenly in this world?

"Kyla, we wanted you to be happy. And find love. Yes, love. And happiness, too. And since I am your best girl friend, I want to help you find it --find love that is."

"But naming random people is kind of on the road to extreme."

"Weren't you the one who asked for our help to unravel the identity of this Mystery Man?"

"Well, yeah. But--"

"No buts. I can be a push over if I wanted to." She let out a sigh. "Look, okay. Ryan and I had a talk. And we think that you're so caught up with this whole love curse business that you wouldn't allow yourself to find love because you're afraid of the consequences. Just think, someday Ryan will end up marrying Olivia. Then I will be Mrs. Daniel Padilla. And you will be left alone with out a husband. I can't just allow you to be the godmother of my children and take care of them when I go on vacation with Daniel. And how about the arrange marriage contract we have for our future children?"

"I wasn't aware we made a contract for our children to get married with each other."

"My point is," she interjected, "we want you to experience what it is like to love and be love."

Of course I wanted to experience that for myself. Sure I had mom, and Mer, and Ryan. But sometimes, whenever I saw Mer hanging out with her boyfriend, or just any random girls at school holding hands with their boyfriends, I couldn't help but wish that I could be like them, normal and without a curse hanging at their back.

And sometimes I really hated myself for sounding like this. I'm cursed! I will never find love and happiness, blah. It's already annoying, really. So I guess Mer and Ryan had a point.

"Fine," I finally said, submitting to Mer's not so subtle persuasion. "Just don't go overboard or anything."