Chapter 8: Hi, I'm Vaughn
As soon as the call ended, Chlea changed her path going to the back gate where Hyolyn and her 'boyfriend' are supposed to fetch her.
'Wait, what if these people find out who I really am? The words that I am the Alcala Conglomerate CEO's daughter would surely spread like wildfire.' Chlea thought to herself.
Chlea hurriedly reached for her phone inside her pocket to call Hyolyn.
"Hey Lyn, you have not told your boyfriend that I am your cousin, right?" She blurted out.
"Aish, I wouldn't tell anyone! I promised you, remember? I would introduce you to him as my friend so don't worry too much. I am hanging up, we are almost there!" Hyolyn assured Chlea.
Right after the call, Chlea then reached for her backpack and put her phone inside. From the bench where she sits right now, Chlea can clearly see the road outside filled with students going home as early as they can to avoid the heavy traffic of Metro Cebu.
Chlea looked left and right to silently observe her new school as she caught sight of a fine and handsome young man. His towering height, fair skin, black smooth hair, and his overall aura made Chlea's heart skip a beat. She can hear her own heartbeat pounding slow and louder than it has always been.
Realizing she has been staring at this mysterious man for quite a long time already, Chlea then firmly closed her eyes and rapidly shook her head.
'Pull yourself together, woman! You aren't here to swoon over a man! But I
can't help it- he just looks so dashing.' Chlea thought.
Deep inside, Chlea just can't help but admire this man's physique. Never did Chlea see anyone near this man's aura and charisma. He is oozing with this good boy yet sharp expression while intently reading a book while leaning on the mahogany tree with his one hand inside his pocket.
'Is it legal for someone to look this good?' Chlea admired this man who is around her age further.
The rapid buzzing of the horn coming outside ended Chlea's spacing out.
Frantically waving her hand outside the window, "Chlea! Yoohoo! It's me, Hyolyn!" Hyolyn shouted.
Chlea almost did not recognize her cousin. Hyolyn was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and an oversized jacket with a hood almost covering her whole face like Darth Vader.
Chlea immediately stood up and patted her back to clean from the dust on the bench as she decided to take one last glance at the mysterious man who somehow got her heart.
She has once again felt her heart leap as she saw that the man was in a phone call and is walking in the same direction as her. The handsome man then waved his hand at the man in front of the steering wheel beside Hyolyn.
'This is driving me crazy!' Chlea hissed under her breath as she realized he was her boyfriend's best friend who goes to the same school as her.
Chlea took bigger strides in order to reach the car faster. As soon as she sat down and put on her seatbelt, Chlea can't help but feel nervous. The man then sat beside her. Chlea then noticed the pleasant smell this suave gentleman is giving off. Chlea then looked at her right side as she feels her cheeks turning red.
Hyolyn clapped cheerily as she turned to us in the back seat and said, "We're now set! Sooo Chley, this is my boyfriend, Brook. Brook, this is Chlea my best friend Chlea Ingrid-..."
Hyolyn was not able to finish her sentence as Chlea hurriedly stood up and hit her head at the car ceiling. Everybody in the car went silent for like 5 seconds and their faces went aghast.
The man beside her immediately turned to Chlea and asked, "Hey, are you alright?" As he sort of knocked the ceiling twice.
"Chley, what's wrong?" Hyolyn worriedly asks.
'Holy cow. How can my clumsy side butt in when I am with this fine man who made my heart skip a beat a while ago?!' Chlea said as she mentally punched herself.
Chlea then shook her head disapprovingly and turned to Hyolyn, "No, I'm fine. It's just that I am not used to being introduced by my full name. I mean this is not some sort of a business meeting, right? Haha," Chlea wearily laughed as she rapidly rubbed her head while giving Hyolyn the 'you almost exposed my identity by introducing me by my full name' look.
Hyolyn, on the other hand, changed the topic realizing that she almost unwittingly revealed Chlea's surname. Brook then started to drive seriously and is now back on the road.
"Anyway, you haven't introduced yourself yet. You are?" Hyolyn pertaining to the man beside Chlea.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Vaughn. You must be my best bro's new girlfriend right?"
'Oh, so his name is Vaughn. Suits him well.' Chlea thought to herself.
Brook, warned Vaughn in the mirror not to talk about his past girlfriends any longer or else he'll be dead by Hyolyn. Meanwhile, Vaughn then turned to Chlea offered a handshake.
"Hi there, I'm Vaughn." He smiled with his eyes almost gone.
"Oh, I heard you introducing yourself to Hyolyn just now. Anyway, I'm Chlea." She replied while reaching his hand for a handshake.
"Oh burn! We've got some feisty girl here!" Brook laughed hysterically.
"Nice to meet you, Chlea." Vaughn said and rested his head on the backseat afterwards.
Moments later, Vaughn shifted on his seat and asked, "Where are we going anyway?"
Chlea looked at the rearview mirror and replied happily, "We are going to Tisa. They're known for their delish Chinese foods such as siomai, ngohiong, steamed rice, siopao, and many more."
"After our meal, we might wanna grab some halo-halo or milk tea while walking along with nearby food houses," Brook added.
"Thay sounds great! I've been starving. I have read somewhere that Tisa is considered as the Siomai capital of Cebu!" Chlea gushed.
Hyolyn then turned to Chlea, "Yeah right! Brook and I have been hopping in famous restaurants all over the city. You guys should join us often!" Hyolyn babbled.
"Sounds great, count me in!" Vaughn answered.
Chlea kept silent as she had something else on her mind.
"Anyway, just to give you guys some information, Tisa may seem to be just an ordinary community during the day but the whole road transforms into a wide array of food houses offering various goodies at night. Isn't it great? It's almost the same as Singapore's dining at night. I'm so excited!" Hyolyn excitedly exclaimed.
For almost half an hour, the gang arrived at Tisa. Brook parked at a nearby mall and they have just walked themselves back to the food houses.
The road is decorated with bright yellow bulbs that aesthetically hang on posts. The mix of different food aromas filled the place that making them hungrier. Everybody found themselves in a huge crowd of people going back and forth to their desired food shops. There were also tents, monobloc chairs, and more that is filled with people of all social classes.
"Bro, how about the four of us split into two? There's no way we can pass through these many people together. Do you see that 'Braddex' signage over there? That's where we'll eat. Hyolyn and I are gonna squeeze ourselves first and if you lose us, we will be waiting for you there. Got it?" Brook yelled.
"Noted." Vaughn nodded.
Chlea then felt Vaughn's left warm hand firmly hold hers as they braced the flock of people following Brook and Hyolyn's lead. She felt her heart go wild once again to the point that she felt that she was going deaf. Vaughn took large strides and held Chlea's hand tightly fearing that he might lose her due to her small height in a crowd of people. Vaughn is not used to feeling this way but he feels like he had the urge to protect Chlea.
After they split up, going to the Chinese food shop did not go difficult for Vaughn and Chea because the people, regardless of gender, turned to look at Vaughn, stopped at their tracks, and made the way for the two of them. She can hear them saying:
'Woah, is he a celebrity? So handsome!' A teenage girl with cherry red blush said.
'I bet he plays basketball. With that height, he will have no problems joining the national team. Sana all.' A guy who seems to be our age remarked.
'Is that his girlfriend? They look so good together, I'm envious!' A gorgeous girl exclaimed shamelessly while endlessly hitting her friend.
'Ya, that's how you take care of your girlfriend! You gotta hold me like somebody is there to steal me. Learn from that cute guy, babe!' A girl told her boyfriend who shyly looks down while pointing at Vaughn.
Upon hearing all of this, Chlea can't help but worry what if Vaughn hears these remarks about them. Unbeknownst to Chlea, Vaughn clearly heard what those people said and smiled. He held her hands tighter and turned to look at Chlea who seemed to be shy.
'Why am I smiling?' He asked himself as he grinned.
For only about 5 minutes of passing the crowd, Vaughn, Chlea, Hyolyn, and Brook finally met. They had to endure the long queue of customers wanting to get in.
'Their food must be so good, seeing all these people lining for them.' Chlea thought while her stomach rumbled. People went and go and finally, it was their time to go inside and make their order.
"I'll have 8 siomais, 2 steamed rice, 2 ngohiongs, 1 asado siopao, 1 platter of stir fried chicken feet, 4 hanging rice, and 1 lemon iced tea. What's yours, love?" Hyolyn ordered nonstop and then turned to Brook.
"Woah, that's all yours? Well, let me have what she ordered too. How about you, Vaughn?" Brook then turned to Vaughn and asked.
"Would you like me to order for the both of us, Chlea?" Vaughn turned to Chlea and asked.
"Sure, no problem," Chlea replied while shrugging her shoulders.
"We'd like 10 pieces of siomai with extra spicy chili sauce and soy sauce with calamansi, 6 ngohiongs, 2 steamed rice, 2 siopao, 6 lumpia, 2 fresh lumpia, 1 platter of stir fried noodles and 2 cans of coke," Vaughn ordered and smiled at the staff.
"And a platter of chicken wings, please!" Chlea added.
"You guys must be starving!" Brook exclaimed with his hands up in the air.
"We are having a feast! We did not line up for almost 30 minutes for nothing!" Hyolyn replied.
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