Chapter 2. Acceptable Reason

Three years ago...

"Can someone tell me that my boyfriend will not break up with me?" I'm freaking out right now. I can't even think, and I guess I look like crap already.

"Break up is not a bad idea," Deniece pointed out while busy looking for

something in her bag. "Besides, you told me last month that you're not interested anymore."

"Well, that's last month and anything can change," I pointed out, too.

Deniece just looked at me and roll her eyes.

"Yeah, I think so, too," Haze said while eating her homemade cookies. 

"You think what?" I asked, hoping for a better answer.

"That breakup is not a bad thing if your boyfriend is a douchebag," Haze blurted out and laughed. Deniece also laughed at what she said.

Now great, I don't know what to do and my friends are not helping either.

Last night was a great night for both of us because, finally, I got the chance to talk to his family. We had dinner at their home, and his father seemed nice. His mother offered me a lot of food for me to taste, and his siblings were just smiling at me the whole night I was there. Everything went well, until I received a message earlier this morning saying he's tired of my little fancy life. 

I stopped thinking for a while when Deniece tapped my shoulder. "Hey, don't stress yourself too much about that. If he's going to break up with you then get over with it already," she told me right before she left us to attend her class. 

Does she think this is just too easy? Well, of course! She can say that because she never had a boyfriend and doesn't know what it feels like. 

Now, I can't really think of anything. I just thought that we were okay and then minutes ago, he will leave me for good? I have to do something. Our relationship was never a problem for either of us. We are great and suitable for each other. We've never had a big argument before that can turn into a huge mess. We were always happy and genuinely in love. What is wrong with that, huh?

What's not good about me? In my whole life, I've never been in a position where I knew I'd get dumped later on. I am smart, and almost everyone in our college department admires me and my work. My family's wealth is somehow "too much to handle for other people," as everyone thinks about it. Everyone in our family has made great achievements in their fields. Plus, I know that I am loved and appreciated by them and by many other people. I am Angela Monique Wilson-Guevarra. I am classy and outstanding among all! No other girl can replace the way I love him.

I am busy thinking about what happened, that I didn't even notice that I am already at the end of the hallway, and Haze has also left me to attend her class. For no reason, I just walked and walked while having these thoughts running in my mind about where the hell did I go wrong. Some of the students are recognizing my face, but I can't have the time to care about that. I'm in the middle of remembering all the things that I did last night.

When I reached our open field, I sat on one of the school benches, watching the school's cheer squad yell their cheers. 

I gave up. It was devastating, I guess. But what's more devastating is that I might fail if I try to study right now. My exams are coming up, and that guy is a big distraction. Ugh!

He's probably decided by now, and I don't want him to tell me that he doesn't want me anymore. 

"Why the long face, hon?" A man's voice suddenly came out of nowhere. I looked beside me and saw a man wearing khaki shorts and a plain black polo shirt. He's looking at me like I'm a weird girl.

"I'm committed, don't say hon," I corrected him.

His light brown expressive eyes widened with what I said, and he suddenly laughed. He stand up and walks towards me. I got a mini heart attack when he leaned forward and look at me. He's so near at my face that maybe someone can assume we're about to kiss. 

Kiss? What kiss? I'm just like someone who experienced a dilemma a while ago. Ugh! 

"Easy, I'm already committed, too," he boasted.

I looked at him again; well, he seemed committed, just like what he said. I know he's older than me; maybe he's already graduated from college. I'm sure he's not one of the professors here because he's not like one. He's dashing, his eyes are expressive, he's got a pointed nose, and his thin, pinkish lips look good on him. Well, he's a privileged guy, too, obviously. 

"Are you done scanning my face?" I stopped staring at him and tried to pretend that I was getting something from my bag, but then he laughed. "It's okay to look, no one's stopping you here."

"I'm not scanning; I'm simply judging your face," I said while I was still pretending to be looking for something. I'll just put out my phone. "Can you get away from me?" 

He then moves his face away and stands up in front of me. 

"You're judging my face?" He sounds amazed. "What's the judge, then?"

I finally looked at him again, and I saw his sarcastic reaction to what I said.

"You think that you're so cool," I said, raising an eyebrow as I told him. 

He suddenly laughed again, and when he saw that I wasn't laughing, he tried to stop himself from doing so.

"Relax, girls are too hot-headed today," he commented.

"Why? Does your girl also hot-headed right now like me?" I asked and his eyes widened a little because of my question.

He just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I don't even get to meet her."

I'm a bit confused.

"What are you talking about?" I asked again.

"I said I don't know," he simply answered.

"You're telling me you're committed to someone you don't even know?" Like arranged marriage?

He nodded and said, "I'm just here because my parents want me to bring her over for dinner." 

I sighed in disbelief. This guy is also going to have a sad thing for his lifetime.

"You're sad again?" he suddenly asked when he heard my sigh.

I didn't get to answer his question when I felt tiny raindrops on my lap. I immediately run back to the nearest school building before I got wet. The guy from the bench also ran in the same direction as mine. 

We were already in the building when the rain started to fall very hard; we were not that wet but my hair is damp now. I turned to him and saw that his hair was wet, yet it still looks good on him. I also noticed that he's a tall person; my height is just up to his shoulders.

"Judging again, I guess?" he suddenly asked in a playful tone. This time, I didn't look away. When he realized I will not look away from him, he then tapped my forehead. 

"I just thought that maybe you should look for your girl," I said as I began to fix my skirt.

He just smiled and said, "Do you think she's pretty?"

Who knows?

Maybe she's pretty, or maybe not. I don't know, it's their life. I already have a problem and I don't want another one.

"You better hope she's pretty," I told him. I was about to walk away when he asked again.

"Pretty like you?" 

Now, great. He's hitting on me.

I turned to him. "Well, not pretty like me. Maybe at some point, she'll look presentable and good luck about that."

He was about to say something, but I didn't let him finish and I started to walk to my second class.

When I reach our classroom, I'm still preoccupied with the thought that we're going to break up today. He's flooding me with a lot of messages and I can't even read them. I'm thinking about what I'm going to do if ever he'll wait for me in the parking lot or outside of this building. I don't want to face him saying he doesn't love me anymore. 

"Ms. Guevarra," I got called out by my professor.

"Yes, sir?" I asked.

"You might want to share your assigned recitation for today, Ms. Guevarra," Mr. Pillar said as he walked to the other side of the room.

Assignment? Did we have one?

"Sir, what's the assignment again?" I asked. 

"Clearly, you're spacing out. If you're with us today, you'll be realizing that I don't give any take-home activities," he said while glaring at me.

Great! Even my academic performance is affected by this little shitty achy heartbreak of mine.

The only perfect thing that I could think of right now is the rain. Yes, I love watching the rain, though I didn't get the chance to watch it a while ago because of that guy. I tried to listen to the lesson for today while I was simply looking outside. The rain is a bit heavy and sudden today, but it still looks special to me. 

The class ended thirty minutes early when Mr. Pillar was asked to go to the faculty room, so he had to dismiss us already. It is still raining very hard and maybe I'll just run to the parking lot.

I walked out of the classroom only to see again that guy from the bench. I didn't expect that he'd see me again since our university is a bit huge.

Wait, is her girl one of my block mates?

"Hey," he approached me.

"Your girl is from my block?" I asked without hesitation.

He chuckled a little and just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know where's her room." 

He's hopeless.

"You followed me here?" I asked again.

"Sort of," he said with an awkward smile.

I just rolled my eyes and let him follow me again. Instead of throwing him away, I'll just be with him because he also has a problem. It's not that obvious to him, but I guess he's just hiding his feelings. That's what guys do all the time; they hide, most of the time.

"You must be so nice," he commented. "You're letting me walk with you." 

"I'm not that nice, but you have a problem," I pointed out and took a look at him.

He looks confused by what I said. "I have a problem with what?"

"Arranged marriage?" I asked.

When he heard of what I said, he pulled me near one of the benches inside the building. Right after we sat down, he started to laugh. What's wrong with him?

He looked at me and he saw my confused face. "I'm not waiting for my soon-to-be bride, I'm looking for my younger sister." 

My confusion turns into embarrassment when I realized what he meant about it. All along, he's just looking for his younger sister? I thought he was stuck in a situation he didn't want to.

"You told me you don't know him?" I asked.

"Yeah, because she's my half-sister," he explained. "I don't know she exists not until now."

That made sense. 

"But if you assume that I have an arranged marriage thing, well, I have one," he said. 

"Maybe more like a promised wedding years ago."

"That's sad," I commented.

"It's not sad if you think that you can adjust," he pointed out while fixing his hair. "Plus, if the girl's cute then I can take her."

Wow, take her like what? Good for him, he can adjust eventually. Well, maybe I can do that too, but not this time.

I stood up already and he eventually followed me again. 

Adjust, maybe I'll do that if ever my boyfriend asks me to. I know I can't just suddenly leave without him; we've been together since I was in my senior year in high school up until now that I'm in my third year in college.

I just let again the guy from the bench follow me, well, I guess he's not a bad guy after all. 

When I saw the parking lot outside of the building. I turned to him and he was just looking at the parking lot.

"Do you have a car?" I asked.

He nodded and looked at me. "You don't have one?" 

"I have one," I answered him, almost in a whisper.

I looked at the ground as the raindrops hit it. I slightly smiled as I realized that this day was almost stressful for me to overcome yet, it still ended up with my favorite weather.

Suddenly, an umbrella appeared in front of me and I saw the guy from the bench extending his arm to my side. I didn't realize he has a sort of shoulder bag with him or something.

"You need it," he said. 

"What's your name?" out of nowhere, those words came out.

He smiled. "I'm Kendric," he said and took my hand to place my umbrella on it. 

I was about to tell her my name when he ran out of the building. He's soaking wet already but I gasped when he stood outside and said something.  

"I guess we can have an acceptable reason to meet again." 

I was dumbfounded about what he said but then I realize that I have his umbrella. I just opened the umbrella only to see the piece of paper hanging and attached to a string. I just smiled when I saw what was written on it.  

'09*********, my umbrella's with you. Isn't that an acceptable reason to meet again?' 

"Acceptable reason, it is," I said to myself and looked back again at his car.