Chapter 46: The Bet *Darkness and Light

The loud ringing of my alarm clock wakes me up. My breathing is faster, as if I ran in a marathon. My mind is fuzzy, it's hard to think straight.

Something is not right.

My muscles are sore from being in a cramp position.

Confused, I look around me in bewilderment. I remember I was with Draky and we were—

Impossible.

I thought it was real. It looked real. It felt real.

How could I dream of something like that?!

Surely, my subconscious mind did the trick because I thought of Draky before I fell asleep. I’m even ashamed to admit it.

I reassure myself that everything is going according to plan. No one will ever get hurt. Well, I won’t get hurt. I don’t know about him.

I don’t know if I should be disappointed or what, in finding out that the kiss was just a dream. Of course, I’m not disappointed! I even let out a sigh of relief.

I can’t imagine kissing the person I despise so much. Just thinking about it- ugh!

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Okay, that didn’t really happen. I don’t even know why I want to post that XD

The gift of Draky to Pie is the same rosary necklace on the cover :) Finally, they kissed, right? I wrote that scene a few months ago but I waited until the right time to post it.

The song is Terrified by Katharine McPhee ft. Zachary Levi :> Banner by BookAndMusicGeek.  Thank you!

Happy Reading! (:

Chapter 39 Part 3 *Darkness and Light*

~Sophia

“Pie, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

The words are bizarre; they play repeatedly in my head, non-stop.

I have a feeling he’s doing and saying all this because of the—

No.

I have to remember what I promised to myself earlier. I won’t think about that, even for just my birthday. I want to be happy. I’ll just face the consequences tomorrow, or the next day. What I want is to forget everything and pretend that he wants to make my birthday memorable for me. Something I will not forget for the rest of my life.

What would I feel if it’s true? I’m probably the luckiest girl on the planet. The person I’ve been dreaming of for as long as I can remember finally admits that he’s starting to fall in love with me.

Somehow, I don’t feel as happy as before because something taints in my mind, always knowing, always judging everything Draky does. I can’t blame it though, because it has a point. It doesn’t want me to get hurt.

My brain and my heart are frenemies.

Tonight, I’ll pretend that Drake Swift really is falling in love with me.

Hooray, I think sadly.

I don’t want to think about sad thoughts so I decide to make illusion in my head about happy things from the past.

It’s short lived though, because he starts to talk again.

“I just want you to know my feelings,” Draky says, brushing my hair away from my face, “you don’t need to respond if you don’t feel like it.”

So I don’t, because I don’t know what to say. I might just say something I’ll regret later.

“I find myself daydreaming about you,” Draky admits shyly. “Sometimes I’m smiling for no apparent reason at all, and then I realize I’m thinking about you.”

It’s easy to fall for him if I don’t really know what he’s up to. You can fall in love with a guy like him even for just a few days of meeting him. With his good looks, charisma, and unexpected surprises, he can capture your heart in an instant.

I lean to his chest, thinking of nothing, just this moment, not the past, not the future. I have to take one day at a time. This is present so it means that it should be the one you’re living; not something that already happened, and not something that might happen.

“Pie,” Draky murmurs, close to my ears, sending shiver and warmth in my body. “Thank you for making me happy.”

“I make you happy?” I ask, leaning back to look at his eyes. His eyes that can see right through my soul.

He touches my nose lightly with his forefinger and says, “You’re the only one who can make me feel this way."

I don’t know how to respond to that so I just smile and tighten my hands on his neck.

To my surprise, he starts to move slowly, bringing me with him.

“What are you doing?” I murmur.

“Dancing.”

Even though my eyes are close, I can imagine his expression. The corner of his mouth twitches upward, smiling his trademark smile.

“I’m not a good dancer,” I point out.

“Me neither.” He chuckles.

I don’t think what we’re doing is called dancing because we’re just swaying back and forth again and again. The soft music from a radio, I think it’s a radio, is our guide. It plays instrumental music. Before it’s violin, now it’s piano.

After a minute, he breaks the silence.

“Are you hungry?” he asks.

If you could see that I’m the one who understands you, been here all along

Suddenly, a giggle escapes from my mouth. “Seriously?” I ask between laughs.

First Love Story, now You Belong With Me. What’s next?

Draky smiles sheepishly and says, “Taylor Swift is amazing.”

“I know,” I agree, chuckling.

Draky answers his cell phone, cutting Taylor Swift’s song. “What?” he asks, after looking at the caller I.D. “Yes,” he says after a moment, glancing at me.

“Who is it?” I mouth.

“Andre,” he mouths back.

It’s hard to guess what they are talking about. Andre must be saying something important because Draky listens to him attentively, nodding his head as if Andre can see him.

“Really?” he asks. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” While he listens, his expression is changing. “Ha ha,” he says sarcastically, “funny.”

I really want to know what they are talking about!

“Okay, we’re going. Bye.”

“We’re going where?” I ask curiously.

“I think you have to go home now,” he says slowly, “they are getting worried.”

“Okay,” I murmur, disappointed. It’s not even late yet.

“Let’s go.”

“What about the lights?” I ask, glancing at them hesitantly.

“I’ll take care of them,” he says evasively.

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

To my amazement, he grabs my hand and we walk hand in hand towards his car.

What am I getting myself into?

Draky opens the passenger door for me, and then I get in and buckle my seat belt. After he slides in, he starts the car and then we’re moving.

“You know,” I say, “Andre told me who he likes.”

Draky glances at me and asks eagerly, “Who?”

“Me.”

His expression wiped from his face. “Funny,” he says dryly.

“He really told me that he likes me,” I insist, although I know Andre was just teasing me.

“You’re really funny,” he says amusedly, grabbing my hand and then intertwining our fingers.

- - - - -

The house is unusually quiet when we arrive. There are no lights, even in the porch.

“Why is it dark?” I ask, getting out of the car.

“Maybe there’s no electricity,” Draky guesses.

That’s possible. They cut the electricity before when there were snowstorms and bad climate. Now, the weather is nice. Calm, even.

Draky sees my reaction and says, “Let’s go and see.”

Getting the spare key in my pocket, I put it in the doorknob and twist it.

Draky opens the door and then we enter the house, closing the door behind us.

It’s more darker inside, than outside. When I find the switch button, I press the light, but it just click.

Uh oh.

There really is no electricity. I wonder why I didn’t notice the other houses when we were on the road earlier.

Suddenly, there’s a little light coming from Draky’s direction. “I have a flashlight,” he says, smiling.

“What are we going to do now?” I ask, making my way towards him.

He shrugs. “What do you want?”

“I’m not sure,” I say.

Because there’s no electricity, our choices are limited.

“What is that?” Draky asks, pointing the flashlight on the couch.

We walk towards it and find two boxes on top of the couch. There’s a note above the box. The words written on it are:

Sophia Taylor, wear these tonight.

I look at Draky, not believing what I’m seeing. “Who do you think left these here?” I ask.

“No idea,” he replies. “Why don’t you open these boxes so that we can see what are the things inside?”

When I open the first box, I’m surprise to see a dress. It’s pink, sleeveless, and I’m sure it will reach just above my knees. Embroidered on its hems are little flowers. There are ruffles that make it flow when you walk. Simple and classy, but elegant at the same time.

“Nice,” Draky says, nodding his head in approval.

The other box contains a pair of high heels. When you fasten it, a glittery ribbon will come into view.

Now, I’m confused. Why would they give something like this to me? Are these a birthday gift? From who?

“What am I going to do with these?” I wonder aloud.

“Wear them,” Draky suggests.

“For what?” I ask dryly. “And besides, it’s dark.”

He rolls his eyes and raises the flashlight on his hand. “Come on, I want to see you in that dress.”

“Why don’t you just imagine it?”

“Imagination is not the same with reality,” he says disapprovingly. “I’ll help you upstairs if you’re scared to go there alone.”

“I’m not scared,” I mutter. “And okay, I’ll try this dress.”

“The shoes too,” he adds.

“Whatever.”

He carries the two boxes while I hold the flashlight for us to see where we are walking. We make our way upstairs and then stops in front of my room.

“Wait for me here,” I instruct and get the boxes from him.

“Are you sure?” he asks, raising his eyebrows. “Maybe I can help you get dress.”

For the first time, I’m glad with the darkness because it conceals the blush starting to flood my cheeks.

“No need,” I mutter, shoving his flashlight to him and walking inside my room, shutting the door behind me.

Giving the flashlight to him is not a good idea because now I can’t see. I use my instinct and other senses as I strip down my clothes. And then I wear the dress, careful not to put my arm on the wrong hole.

Finally, when I’m finish, I put on the heels and lock them in place.

Unfortunately, I can’t see what I look like now. I brush my tangled hair away from my face and search for my pouch bag to apply some lip-gloss on my dry lips. When I’m contented, I decided to—

“Pie!”

The sound of Draky’s voice is coming from downstairs. I open the door of my room and not that surprised to find that he’s gone, along with the flashlight.

“What?” I ask loudly and irritably.

I can’t believe he left me here. Alone.

“You have to come here and see this!”

“What is it?!”

“Just go here and see for yourself,” he shouts back.

How can I walk without a light?!

Heaving a sigh, I try to remember the place of the staircase. I might fall off and break my neck, or worse. I don’t even want to think about that.

When I find the banister, I hold on to it as if my life depended on it, as I make my way downstairs, one-step at a time.

Why am I even wearing heels? I might just slip on them. Not wanting to come back again in my room, I just continue walking. I’m like a blind person. I can’t even see anything. It’s as if my eyes are not open.

Don’t take your eyes for granted. They are very important to you. Well, people never really know what they have ‘till it’s gone.

I breathe a sigh of relief when my feet lands on the last step.

“Where are you?” I ask.

There’s a rustling coming outside. Don’t tell me. . .

“I’m in the back porch.”

“Seriously?!” I bite my tongue to stop the complaints I want to say.

I raise my arms in front of me. The left one is outstretch beside me, while the right one is guiding me not to run straight into a wall.

In my head, I imagine the house so that I can go directly outside. It’s hard to walk without a light and what makes it worse is that I’m wearing heels.

Draky should have a good reason why he wants me to go here. I feel the cold touch of the glass door leading outside. I almost trip on the steps; thank God, I quickly regain my balance.

“Draky?” I ask, walking towards the pool. “Where are you?” I wait quietly for him to answer me, but he doesn’t. “You want me to come here for what?” I ask impatiently.

Suddenly, I feel cold. The wind touches my bare arms, sending chills to my body. How many more days are there before Christmas? Soon, snow will fall from the sky.

I glance upward and then feel disappointed because the moon is hidden from the clouds. There are no stars to light the dark sky.

All of a sudden, all I want is to go to my room and to change into my pajamas. I try once again, though.

“If you want to play hide and seek,” I say, “play with yourself. I’m going to sleep.”

When I’m about to turn around, something flickers in my peripheral vision. I look at the pool and find a candlelight floating on it. I stare, wonder-struck, as another and another fills the pool with light. There are probably dozens of them, floating, illuminating the darkness that once engulfs this place.

How the candle lights up is beyond me. I don’t have a good explanation for that.

What is happening here? I look around me but I don’t see anyone. But I have a feeling I’m not alone in this place.

My breathing comes faster and faster, as I stare at the candle lights on the pool. A gasp escapes from my mouth as different colors of Christmas lights starts to brighten Auntie’s garden. They are on the vines of the roses, on the small bushes of the flowers, everywhere in the garden. There are even Christmas lights on the tables and lounge chairs beside the pool. They look like the same lights on the clearing.

To my surprise, a soft music begins to play. Then shadows starts to come out of the darkness.