Chapter 41

El and I arrived at a park and we stay into a tree house as the mist was strong outside. It"s already 2:00 a.m. and we've been here almost two hours. We were talking earlier, but we have lost the topic with each other thus we are silent now. I can also see the sky that has lost the star and moon that used to be light. I would not be surprised if later the heavy rain fell because the sky was so dark due to the thickness of the clouds. The wind got even stronger so we could feel the cold as the big windows and the curtains served as a barrier that"s why the wind was still blowing it. I didn"t expect everything; I didn't mean to sleep on the bus but part of me was glad because I had time to be with her for a long time. I don"t know what time we can get home and I"m sure mom is already worried about me. I am sure he has already asked my friends where I am and I have no idea what she will do when she finds out I am not at my friends "house. I hope she thinks that El is with me and we are at the beach house so that she won't have to worry about me and I hope she doesn't tell dad.
My phone is shut down and so does El. I brought a power bank but we didn't have a connector so the power bank I brought was useless. Maybe I was destined to be with El at these times and I am thankful for that. In recent days, I have noticed the strangeness of her actions; her mind always seemed to be occupied with things. I don"t know what she was thinking but even if she didn"t tell me, I knew she had a problem.
I'm happy that little by little, I'm making her happy. I"m glad she"s comfortable with me when we"re together but I notice that she still doesn"t feel good enough. I'm willing to wait and I can't get tired of waiting when she'll like me too and as time goes on, I get to know her better. I know her more in simple details like her strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and moods. I am doing my best to remember what I should remember because for me, it is one of the proofs that I am serious about how I feel.
Why would you recognize someone if you weren't serious? Why would you waste your time remembering every detail about him or her if you are not sure how you feel? I then asked myself why I had never met the woman I would like and I thought the reason was my age. I am so young and I will encounter a lot of people but I am sure that no woman can grab my attention because all the qualities I want for a woman, I only saw in El.
I want her to be the first and she will be the last. I want her to be my once in a lifetime and when I say I"ve fallen for someone, she literally has already taken my heart so she doesn"t have to worry about me. I don"t know how many other men have the same mindset with me; I don"t know if many more men can afford to be faithful to a woman because most of what I see, they misunderstood the meaning of love and infatuation. In today"s era, most people are based on outward appearance and they enter into a relationship when they don"t know each other very well so it cause is separation.
Love is not simple so if we are to love a person, we must see our future in that person. Choose the person who will change you in a positive way; don't let that person crush your character. I see changes in me and that"s because of El; she changes me in a good way and I prefer to make the right decision with her.
"El, are you sleepy already?" I asked her. She stopped talking as she hug her knee because the wind was strong so we felt cold. We were still wearing uniforms and we hadn"t eaten yet. Fortunately, we had a snack earlier in the cafeteria because if we didn't, our stomachs would definitely be rumbling because of hunger.
"I want to sleep, Ivan," she stated. I looked at her face and saw her expression because of the light brought by the solar light outside the tree house. Fortunately, there is solar because without it, it will definitely be very dark here in our place.
As I stare at her face, I see how sluggish her eyes are due to drowsiness. Her head is already tilted so I can feel her wanting to lie down and sleep. I bit my lower lip and removed the jacket of my uniform. We had two uniforms; another t-shirt still under the jacket. When I removed the jacket, I grabbed her gently by the shoulder and laid her down on the wooden floor. Her head rested on my thigh and she did not refuse such a position. She closed her eyes and I put my jacket on her feet. Her skirt was only short; it didn"t go beyond her knee so I put my jacket there so she wouldn"t get too cold.
"Good night, El," I stated, smiling. She didn"t response anything and seemed to be immediately enveloped in drowsiness. I lean my head and my back to the wall of the tree house and as I close my eyes, heavy rain pours down.
I kept my eyes closed because I was already feeling drowsy but I woke up when I heard the thunder. A few sequences of thunder were weak but they intensified as the rain weakened somewhat. I could clearly see the blazing lightning and it didn"t disappear from me that I wasn"t nervous.
What if we are struck by lightning? I do not see the lightning; I don"t hear thunder when I"m at home so I"m not used to hearing and seeing something like this. When I looked at El, she didn"t care what was going on around her. What her position was before, it has not changed. She was in deep sleeping and thinking that I am hier pillow make my nervous fade away easily. This is exactly what I want; to be her pillow where she can share her tears; she can hug when she needs care; and to give her the rest she needs.
I closed my eyes while the thunder and lightning was still fighting. I can no longer feel the nervousness because now I have felt and realized that why should I be afraid if the source of my strength is here? Why would I be afraid if I am with the person who motivates me in everything?
The drowsiness engulfed me and I couldn"t help myself to hold it. I woke up the next day because of the sunlight that hit my face and then I just realized where we are now. I immediately woke El up and the first time she opened her eyes, she immediately sat down and looked at every corner of the tree house.
"El, sorry if I fell asleep too," I stated.
Why did I sleep? How are we now? We can no longer go to school because we can no longer afford the time. I have no idea what time it is now and we have to go home because mom will definitely go crazy because of my disappearance.
"El, we have to go," I said and stood up. I held out my hand in front of her and she reached out so that she could stand. She released me and I put my hand on her shoulder to turn her back at me. I fix her hair before I reached for her wrist so we could leave the tree house and go home. When we got down to the tree house, I didn"t let her go and we approached a tricycle parking area just near the park.
"Hey, Bro," I said to the driver. He look at me smiling.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"Can you take us to the bus terminal to the Partido?" I asked and he nodded.
"Sure, get in and I'll take you to the terminal." El and I entered and sat side by side in the chair. There were no other passengers except us and this was also the first time I could ride in this type of vehicle.
"We can't make it to class, Ivan," El stated and when I looked at her expression, I could see how sorry she was. I know it's a big deal for her to be absent because there is a possibility that they have a quiz or test that she can't do. It"s a big loss in grades when there is a missed quiz or test so I hope we don't miss anything. I'm going to school this afternoon and I'm not sure if El will do the same.
"I will attend my class in the afternoon. How about you?" I asked.
She nodded and said, "I will. Do you have an idea what time it is now?" I shook my head and I turned my gaze to the tricycle driver.
"Excuse me, bro," I stated. He looked at me smiling and asked. "Why? Do you have something to tell?"
"Our phone is already shut down and we have no idea what time it is now. Do you know what?" I asked.
"It"s already 6:30 a.m.," he answered. "Where do you study? I am not familiar with the uniforms you are wearing," he added. I explained everything to him and he laughed because El and I were sleepy.
Soon, we reached the bus terminal to the Partido and I let El enter first before I followed. Just like yesterday, El chose the double seat and sat down again in the seat near the window. The bus has not left yet because it is still waiting to be filled with passengers but the engine is already on. Only a few seats were unoccupied so when a group of passengers entered, the bus started moving.
"Maybe we can sleep again, El," I said, chuckling.
She chuckled as well and said, "it won"t happen again. I'll take what happened to us until I'm older so I won't be able to sleep on the bus."
We both laughed at what he said and we were immediately enveloped in silence until he spoke. "Aren't you nervous? I am sure your mom is looking for you."
I take a deep breath and look at her. "That"s what I"m worried about, El. I'm sure she'll scold me but I'll tell her everything. I know she will understand me," I added.
I'm just nervous because maybe mom will go to the police station to look for me and then she'll go crazy because the police won't look for me because I haven't been missing for 24 hours. I know mom is different when it comes to worrying. It's also one of the reasons why I'm nervous because maybe he has already circled my pictures and has "missing" written on them.
"Do you need help?" she asked. I was confused by the type of question she asked so I asked too.
"Help where?" I asked.
She gulped and averted her eyes from me. "Maybe you need my help so that your mom won't scold you. You may need my help to explain everything to her."
I gulped and I bit my lower lip as I heard her response. "Don't worry, I can do it with myself, El." I stated. "Why? Are you ready to go home to meet my parents?" I asked.
She couldn't look at me and it took her almost a minute before she nodded in agreement. I smiled as I saw her response but I did not accept her offer to come with me today at home.
"I have a plan for when you will go home and this is not the right time yet, El. Don"t worry, it's close too. You will only have to wait a few days,"I said, smiling and it made her confused.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"On my 18th birthday, El, you can't miss my birthday," I responded.