BCJ 11 • john kavine

***

The day of the charity party finally came. Until then, Kao had been avoiding Pete. He would even come to their room late to make sure that Pete was already sleeping when he got there.

He was sort of expecting Pete to ask him what was wrong. But it seemed like he was too preoccupied with practicing and spending time with Celeste that he didn't even bother to ask about him.

"As if he'd care about you," he grumbled as he ticked off the items that they had already prepared for the event.

"Hi! Are you ready with your performance?"

"Hi, Sandy. Hmm. I guess?"

He actually didn't have anything prepared as he planned on leaving the party during the performances.

"Okay! I'll see you later then."

He just smiled at her as she then sauntered towards the stage.

He then continued in helping in the preparations. He could see Pete arranging the chairs for later. Surprisingly, he was not with Celeste.

"Tss. Why do I even care?"

***

Kao worked his fingers through his hair and adjusted the collar of his shirt as the guests started flocking into the venue. He was assigned to welcome them so he was just as nervous as he didn't know these people.

To cover up his nescience about the people entering, he plastered a wide smile on his face and greeted them.

It was until then that he spotted a familiar face.

"Kao?"

"Uhm.. Hi!..." his voice trailed off as he saw Kavine approaching him. He slightly transferred his gaze to where Pete was but he was already gone from his previous spot. "Why are you here?"

Donned in a dark blue suit, Kavine looked handsome. He hadn't seen Pete in a suit before but he was sure that he would look more devilishly handsome than Kavine.

He paused.

He immediately snapped back to reality.

"You look great. Why are you here again?"

"Oh, my dad is one of the sponsors but he's on vacation so I'm here as a proxy," he grinned. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"Well, I'm doing community service. You know, things just happened. I'm here to- Ouch!"

Kao immediately held his arm as someone bumped into him.

"Oh sorry. Didn't see you there."

It was Pete who was already standing in front of Kavine.

"You are not assigned to chitchat with guests, Kao," Pete said firmly, his eyes never leaving Kavine's.

"I'm entertaining our guest, Pete. Move over. You go to your assigned task."

"Oh, really? Because as I've observed, you're entertaining him in a totally different way," Pete finally looked at him, a tinge of bitterness in his voice.

He was about to retaliate but the host had already called their attention to take their seats. Kavine just smiled at him before going to his assigned seat but Pete's eyes were still boring holes on Kavine's back.

"That was rude, Pete. Kavine's our guest."

"We've got a lot of guests, Kao. Why in the world are you taking so much time talking to him?"

"Are you jealous?"

Kao immediately covered his mouth with his hand. He didn't even know where the question was coming from. He just unconsciously blurted it out.

To his surprise, or maybe not, Pete scoffed.

"Me? Jealous? Why would I even be?" he replied tauntingly before leaving Kao.

***

The party was going well with all the presentations and speeches prepared.

They were already halfway through the program when Pete and Celeste got on the podium. Pete had a guitar with him and he was donned in a dark red suit.

He looked handsome. No, devilishly handsome while Celeste looked equally stunning in her white dress.

Kao swallowed the lump in his throat. They looked good together while he looked rubbish in his plain blue shirt and jeans.

"Hi!" Pete greeted, a wide grin plastered on his face. "I hope you're all doing great. By the way, I'm Pete and here with me is a close friend Celeste."

Kao scowled. Pete had not been there for a month but he acted like they had known each other for years.

"Well, here's our little treat for tonight. We do hope it doesn't rain though once we start singing."

The audience chuckled but Kao's face remained stoic.

Pete positioned his guitar. Kao had already listened to them practicing so he wasn't that much curious about the song they were gonna sing.

But he was totally taken aback when Pete started singing.

I remember what you wore on the first day

You came into my life and I thought

"Hey, you know, this could be something"

'Cause everything you do and words you say

You know that it all takes my breath away

And now I'm left with nothing

....

Two is Better than One.

Kao scoffed. Lucky would have been a better song. He would have forgiven Pete for ditching him for someone else had they sang Lucky.

So maybe it's true

that I can't live without you

And maybe two is better than one

But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life

And you've already got me coming undone

And I'm thinking two is better than one

Kao felt the need to walk away. He didn't wanna hear the entire song nor witness how they were looking at each other like they were the only ones in the venue.

He could feel his chest tighten as he stood there rooted on his place. He wanted to go away but for some reason, he couldn't move.

And he hated himself so much for feeling that way.

He hates Pete. No, he loathes him - his presence, his arrogance, and all the things related to him so he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for the looming tears in his eyes.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and watched as Pete gave Celeste the sweetest smile he had ever seen.

Two is better than one.

Kao gasped the moment their eyes met as Pete sang the last line.

He wasn't sure how long they were staring at each other as Pete didn't remove his gaze on him.

It was then that he felt a hand on his waist.

"Hey, are you alright?"

His eyes met Kavine's the moment he turned around.

"Oh, hey. I'm just, I'm just fine. How about you? You're supposed to be on your seat."

"Well, I got bored," he chuckled. "Don't tell Miss Stella about it, okay?"

Kao nervously laughed. He tried looking back at Pete but Kavine held his arm.

"I was thinking if I could invite you out. Maybe for a dinner?"

"Huh? Dinn-dinner? Didn't you just have one earlier?"

Kavine looked around before leaning towards him. "Don't tell anyone but I hadn't had my fill."

Kavine shyly scratched his head. "I mean, if you only want to. In case, you're hungry. I haven't seen you eat earlier."

"I, uh. I have already eaten actually even before the ev-"

But his stomach wasn't that much of a liar as it started grumbling.

That earned a chuckle from Kavine.

"I, I actually ate a bit before the event but it wasn't enough as I got busy," he finally admitted.

"Then, shall we escape and eat out?"

"No! I mean, we still have a lot of things to do for the after the event."

"Is everything alright, Mr. Kavine?" Miss Stella popped out of nowhere.

"Oh, I'm just thinking of taking Kao out after the event, of course, if you will approve."

"I told him we still got a lot of things to do after the e-"

"Of course, of course. Kao has already done a lot of things for this event. You can spend the night with Mr. Kavine, Kao. I'll leave you then. I have to attend to the other guests."

"Hmmm. So?"

"But I---"

"Please?"

"No," a dark and firm voice said from behind.

Kao immediately spun around and found Pete whose eyes were fixed on Kavine.

"Your charity service ends with helping the orphanage and does not entail dating the volunteers, Sir."

"I'm just gonna ask Kao out for a while."

"I said no."

"Who are you to speak in his behalf?"

"Pete, I think you ne-" Kao tried interrupting as he could see him clenching his hands.

"I said no and it's final. Kao, let's go."

Kao couldn't even say a word as Pete started dragging him by the hand.

"Wait, Pete. Let me go!"

But Pete's grip just became even tighter. Based on the direction they were going, he was taking him to the garden.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Pete!" he exclaimed the moment Pete let him go.

"Why? Is flirting part of your community service? Huh? Kao?"

"Why don't I ask that same question to you? Is flirting part of your community service? Huh? Pete? Did you even hear a word from me whenever you're obviously making a move on Celeste? Did you hear me say a thing?!"

"We're just friends."

"Friends? Do you think I'm that stupid?"

"Look. I just don't want you to be associated with him, okay? You better stay away from him."

"And why would that be? Do you even know him?!" he exasperated as he didn't know the reason Pete was acting that way.

"Just, just follow me, okay? How hard is that?"

"No! Why would I follow you when you can't even give me a reasonable explanation?!"

"Fine! He stole my mom from me. Okay? Would that be enough?!"

"How did he... What do you mean?"

"He's my stepbrother, Kao. He's the son of my mother's new husband. That John Kavine is the very reason my mom forgot about me! He stole my mom, Kao! He stole my mom!"

***