Chapter 10 Pages 228-231
She tiptoed awkwardly up the stairs, more like a drunken ballerina
than a ninja supercat, which she had pictured imitating in her head.
At that moment, she wished she had tied something around and over
her hair, for it was dripping considerably, making her mission more
difficult. She practically fought for balance every single step up, and by
the time she was at the very last one, she almost seemed like she was
having a whole lot of fun. Again, she was dead-serious playing the part
of a supercat lady, clawing her especially sharp fingernails into Joseph’s
bedroom door. “What a nerd,” she murmured to herself. She knew
Joseph’s room as if it was her own, and so from memory, she simply
stretched her arm inside and around to get to the light switch, although
the soft rays shining that particular morning had given the room enough
of a luminosity for her to almost see the blueprint of where she needed to
be without tipping over anything. Mind you, she remained in character
throughout, slowing down to pose to an invisible camera and everything.
Then she imagined she was there to steal something very important,
and then she huffed when a certain thought approached her, “Jde, I’m
so sorry, but I am here to steal something that should have been
mine . . . your heart ha-ha-ha!” She followed it with an evil sort of
laugh, although she immediately refrained from it when even she could
not stand hearing the sound of her own voice. So there she rested by
the bedside of her best friend’s bed, watching him as he was lying there,
sleeping with his face facing at her direction. She digressed for a minute
and stared at him up close. “What am I going to do with you, and
what am I doing here? I am sorry, Jde. You and Ryan would probably
laugh at me for acting like a stalker.” She cringed at just the thought.
She then bent her knees gently down to get to the eye level parallel to his,
and all she had to do was to give him a light nudge or two at his shoulder,
and he will surely awaken, and that would have made her mission a
complete success, but then . . . she hesitated.
There was something about the situation that had made her get
caught up off of her guard. The moment had somehow captured her.
“Jde,” she whispered softly, “can you hear me? I don’t know what I
am doing. Why do I feel so strongly about you? Do you think I am
being selfish wanting more than your friendship? I am sorry, I can’t
help it. I only hope you . . . uh, hmm, you feel the same way, don’t
you? I got this feeling that you do. I just hope I’m right. Hmmm!
You look so peaceful. I wonder what you are dreaming about.” Her
face lit up as if she never had a moment with such content. If she could
only stop time, she thought, she would have. In light of her intoxication,
she went a tad overboard against her better judgment. She didn’t realize
that she was leaning a little too close to Joseph’s amiable face, and instead
of pulling back, an idea consumed her way past her inner desperation.
“Maybe just one kiss, a quick one, a small one, it doesn’t matter,”
and she almost did it too. There was just a tiny variation for her lips to
congregate with his. As a matter of fact, her lips were fashioned rather
pointedly outward, almost perfect for such a kiss, but that was when
Joseph’s eyebrows suddenly stirred sparingly. His eyes opened, packed
with curiosity forming on his face and only to soften into a semipassive
smile. His lips moved cautiously as to say, “I have missed you so much,
Abby,” followed by a fleetingly rabid of a kiss, which returned his spirit
back to his dream world.
She was stunned, every inch of her body frozen in that moment; she
couldn’t believe it, and she couldn’t move a muscle, as her mind struggled
for a single ounce of existence. Her heart was pounding like distant
echoes of a thousand feet competing to get out of there fast. After a while,
her loss of composure finally implied some sense into her. Her legs finally
received just enough blood, which can then enable her to rise to her feet.
She regained control of herself but not quite completely. The thought
of the kiss puzzled her. “Did it really happen, or did I just imagine
it? Was he awake? Aah! No, please no,” Abigail gasped nervously. She
called out Joseph’s name a couple of times just to make sure if he was
in fact awake or not, but he didn’t answer; he didn’t make one single
movement. She was relieved for that moment at least and then ran as fast
as she could out into the hallway. She went down the stairs in a world
record time, but her emotions, however, beat her by a mile it seemed. As
she continued in her delight, carrying this newly hatched feeling at the
most ultimate podium, without delay, she closed the door behind her,
and she stood there like a robot. She made no subtle movement except
for the swaying gestures on her face. It was what a million-dollar smile
looked like. Unison to a domino effect, her reactions had never spoken
more clearly. Her left hand slowly climbed up on top of her lips, while
the right one stayed close to home, calming her heart. She allowed herself
a few more chances to recall everything. She played it over and over
in her head, every single detail that has led her to the . . . She was so
overwhelmed that she cannot even consent herself to say the word “kiss”
anymore; it tickled her every time. She could still feel her heart beating
ever so wildly, pleading for some sign of a resolution. No one can ever
blame her, since it was her very first kiss—her first real kiss, that is; it was
the real thing. What made it even more special was the fact it was Joseph
who gave it to her.
She blushed effortlessly from ear to ear, and the same goes with her
smile. She was so distracted that she has forgotten the main reason why
she was there to do in the first place. “Nope . . . not now, not today,”
she told herself. She didn’t realize she has spoken louder than she would
have liked that the neighborhood’s most annoying dog started barking
frantically. She panicked, and all she could think to do was to run onward
to the front door.
This time, she rang the doorbell, and her aunt Jeannie was the one
who opened it.