From: Your Secret Admirer

Chapter Fifteen

I slept that night on my bed with an aching heart. What was wrong with me? Why was I feeling this way? Ryan's my best friend and I should be happy for him since he seemed to be happy with Olivia. Maybe Olivia was finally his girlfriend. I should really be glad for him. But why was it so hard for me to just be happy for my best friend?

I missed Ryan so much. We used to be inseparable before. I guess, things would be different now.

I remembered when we were kids, when mom would drop me off at his house every Saturday morning before she would go to the restaurant. I would always sneak into his room and climbed on to his bed, he would share me his pillow and we would both go back to sleep.

I smiled as I remembered him as a boy waiting for my cupcakes to cool on the rack and eating it afterwards, telling me how yummy they were even though I knew they were awful. He said he loved my cupcakes.

I remembered sitting beside him inside his room. That was during the time Amanda had broken up with him. We were on the floor, our backs leaning on the wall. He was silent at first, but when I saw the tears that escaped his eyes, I remembered feeling his pain and wishing if only I could take his pain away.

"Why did she leave me, Ky?" Ryan asked me. "She said she doesn't love me anymore. She said she loves another. It hurts like hell, Ky. It hurts so much. I feel so alone without her."

I held his hand and leaned my head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ry. Don't worry--you are never alone. I'll always be here for you. And I'll always love you no matter what."

"Thank you, Ky. Thank you for loving me..."

I also remembered him playing his guitar, strumming the strings and singing Crazy for this Girl.

"This is my song for you, Ky," he told me.

Then we were sitting underneath a tree at a small park and playground in our neighbourhood. That was the time he finally recovered and moved on from his break up with Amanda.

"I want to write a letter for this girl, Ky. Will you help me?" he said.

"Sure. How do you want the letter to go?"

"I want it to be a poem..."

I closed my eyes and started to weep. My heart squeezed and the lump in my throat won't go away.

I hugged my pillow and my heartache and weeping lulled me to sleep.

"I miss you, Ry..."

***

I woke up the next day feeling terrible. And the feeling wouldn't go away when I reached school. My eyes were puffy and no amount of concealer could hide the dark circles under my eyes.

I dragged my feet from one classroom to another with Mer by my side. She didn't ask me what was wrong with me. I had the feeling that she already knew.

We were headed to the cafeteria when Franco intercepted our way.

"Mind if I borrow your friend for a while?" he asked Mer. But as usual, he did not wait for any reply for he already clasped his hand around mine and lightly tugged it for me to follow him.

I knew where we were headed. We went inside the abandoned building and he led me to the room where his mural of me was located.

"We're here now," I said.

He stood in front of me and held both of my hands. "You already know that I like you, right? Ice Cream Girl?"

I gave him a small nod.

"I still like you, it hasn't change." He looked kind of sad when he said that. "I'm going away, next week perhaps."

"Away? Why? Where are you going? Are you coming back soon?" I fired the questions without a pause.

He gave a low chuckle. "You will miss me that much?" Then his face suddenly went serious. "My dad allowed me to pursue my dream to paint. I will be dropping from school then I will be heading Manila by next week. Dad said he would help me finance my schooling in Manila."

"Well, that's great!" I said, and I really meant it. I was happy for him. "Finally, you'll be doing what you really want to do."

"I wish I could always be with you," he said. "I like you, Kyla."

"I... Franco..." I didn't know what to tell him, or how to respond. He would be going away, very far from me. Could I handle that?

"It's okay," he finally said. He caressed my cheek with his thumb. "I know it's hard to be in a long distance relationship. And I won't force you to say yes to me. I just want you to know that I'm glad you came into my life."

"Franco..."

"If it wasn't for your ice cream, you wouldn't ruin my shirt and have it returned to me. I wouldn't have met you. And I wouldn't know one fantastic girl who made a difference in my life."

I placed my hand on his cheek. This was so hard for me. I did feel something for Franco but it wasn't enough. And a long distance relationship was something that I might not handle well.

"I'm so sorry..." I whispered.

He placed his hand over mine on his cheek. "Don't be. I'm not. At least I met you." His face broke into one of his devilishly cute smile. "If you ever change your mind and decided that you want to be a gangster's girlfriend, you know where to call me."

A small giggle escaped me. "Okay. Take care of yourself there, okay?"

He gave me a nod. He leaned down towards me and kissed my cheek. "Goodbye Ice Cream Girl."

I looked at him for the last time, making a mental picture of his face in mind to preserve my memory of him. "Goodbye, Franco," I told him and left the room.

If I was the old me, I would have blamed the curse for separating me and Franco via long distance relationship. But now, I was not thinking about the curse anymore. It was fate and not the curse. It was fate who wanted us to part ways, because fate knew Franco was not the one destined for me.

And even if I had felt something for him, I still knew it deep down that he was not the one.