Chapter 13: I am not Your Girl
After a long hot shower, I fixed my gear and continued mapping out my ideas. I only had ten days left, and after checking the photos I took yesterday, I was only able to produce twenty good ones. At this rate, it would take forever to finish that wall.
I thought about calling Ms. Rivera last night to ask her if it would be possible we reduced the photos to about, say, a thousand. That would be more feasible, not to mention humanitarian. We're talking about just one photographer here. But then, I went against it because that wall wasn't exactly mine alone. Geo was a part of it.
A knock came to the door and I hurried on zipping my camera bag close. It could be Jazz, coming to ask what happened last night. I contemplated on whether or not to tell her, but given that she seemed too happy about Geo's exhibition at the café this morning, she probably already knew.
I opened the door and a pair of grey eyes greeted me. There was murmuring and squeals from afar, and my heart literally was a beat stronger than usual. Geo was standing right at our hallway, a picnic basket in hand.
"What are you doing here?"
Jazz had warned me about this. Many of the female security guards at BRIS had been charmed by the very few heartthrobs of Berkeley that rumors of sneaking in and out of dorms happened, even during the hours past curfew. This was the first time I'd seen a Berekley boy actually come in.
Geo didn't answer my question. He went right in and fought with me to close and lock the door. I was speechless. No matter the curses I wanted to release from my chest, I just couldn't gather the voice to do so. Because he was here. In my room!
"You and I have to have a game plan." He sat on my bed and placed the picnic basket on the floor. "I brought food."
"I can see that. The question is why."
"We're eating here." He lay on the bed, took my stuffed doggy and waved it toward me, stifling his laugh. "You know, this is why you're still just a kid."
I snatched the doggy from his hands. "I am not a kid." Hugging it, I whispered, "Creamy gets lonely."
"Creamy?" He chuckled. "Very original."
"Shut up. And get out."
Geo sat up from the bed and smiled, telling me he didn't have any plans of leaving. In fact, he opened the picnic basket and started taking food out. "We're eating here."
"We'll get into trouble! Are you crazy?" I exclaimed.
"Relax. This is legal. I told Ms. Rivera we need your room's WIFI connection so we're staying here to work."
My room was one of the larger dorm rooms – the ones with a bathroom and two spacious study areas. I shared it with a freshmen nerd who was studying Earth Science. I hated that. She always had insects inside jars and some other creepy stuff I wouldn't even dare touch. I'd been planning a scheme so Jazz would stay with me next year instead.
"I got take-outs." Opening a few boxes, he wiggled his eyebrows at me in complete temptation and revealed veggies and pancit and chicken. He sat on the floor then handed me seafood rice. My favourite. "Does this cover for an apology? I asked Matt your favourite."
I didn't answer. I sat in front of him.
"So what did your brother say?" he asked, taking his box of rice from his side.
"Nothing." Which was actually weird.
"Your brother protects you too much," Geo said, handing me a can of soda. "I mean I would protect my little sister, too, but I would let her experience life."
"You don't know my brother."
"You're right. I don't." He paused. "I wasn't lying when I said my brother thinks that second round thing is a great idea."
"Funny." I kept my eyes on my food. "He hadn't given me the slightest idea that he'd still be interested."
"What do you mean?"
"When we broke up, he just…well, he sat there and let me leave. Then he never contacted me again," I said.
I had to be honest. I really wanted Matt to run after me then. To at least remind me what I felt when he first pursued me. But perhaps that was the whole point. What he felt for me then no longer equalled to how he felt the very first time he pursued me.
Geo narrowed his eyes, as if in deep thought, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Matt is the kind of guy who takes things seriously. You know that. And since you give the same impression, he must have thought you're firm about your decision in breaking up with him."
"I was." But that wasn't the point. I still would've forgiven him. "Never mind. Doesn't really matter anymore." I was about to lose my appetite so I continued eating. I didn't like talking about this with Geo. It was weird.
Silence.
"Anyways, I have thought about this second round thing as well," I began. "And I think – if you'd assure me that this isn't a bet or a game to the both of you…"
He snorted. "Game? You aren't part of the sports fest, you know."
Ignoring that, I continued, "And that I wouldn't be humiliated or hurt or crushed, then I think I can give it a try."
Geo gave a victorious smile. "That's my girl."
He rendered me speechless for a second or two, my defences acting immediately on my behalf. I rolled my eyes, but I was most certain that the back of my ears felt hot.
"I am not your girl," I finally said.
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