IV. Meet Twenty-Three.
JAMESSS. I greeted him, letting enthusiasm rule my tone.
Never thought I'd see you here.
He teased.
Same here. I never thought that I'd bump into a handsome prince today. I batted my eyelashes.
Well it's my pleasure to have bumped into a lovely queen today. He said, looking intently at me. So what brings the Royal Highness here? Buying school stuffs?
Oh no not really. I went shopping. I said, gesturing to my shopping bags. I just walked in. What about you?
Buying art materials, I guess? He showed me art stuffs such as colored paper, art papers and the like. I gave him the `for-what?` look. For the art project I suppose. You know how ballistic Ms. Lucile gets when you don't meet her requirements. He rolled his eyes. I believe we have the same project... I nodded lazily. Aren't we going to talk about any other things except school? Gah. So have you started with it?
Nope. I'm not doing it. His eyebrow raised in confusion. I made Mike do it for me.
You what? He chuckled. You asked somebody to do it? Why?
Cuz it's boring and I'm not interested with arts..? Besides, Mike insisted to do my project. Who am I to deprive him of that privilege to do something for the Queen, right? I told him proudly.
Haha. Sure sure. He mumbled. Only then that I noticed that besides the art stuffs, he was also holding an intriguing paper bag which I know for sure what it contains.
So for whom is that bear, huh? I asked (though I'm pretty sure that's for some plain and boring girl), eyeing the paper bag.
Oh this.. He sure wasn't going to answer me directly so I told him to spill it out and not give himself a headache just to find a distraction from my question. It's for Yza. My eyebrow automatically raised when I heard that name. I'm not surprised or what. It's just that her name really annoys me. And she herself annoys me to death.
So you really like her? And what now? You're courting her? His eyes widened in shock, maybe wondering why I know such thing. He gave me the `how-did-you-know` look. Duh. I'm not blind or anything! I can tell it. I can even bet my monthly allowance that she doesn't have the tiniest idea about your feelings. Damsels in distress like her are too dense to sense it.
Yes I like her, but no, I'm not courting her. A smile formed in my lips when he said the last one. Good thing he wasn't looking at me so he didn't notice my evil smile. He then sighed. C'mon let's eat. I'm hungry.
After that, I just found myself having dinner with James, casually talking about random stuffs. We were almost done eating when someone recognized him, a friend from his former school. Yes you heard that right. James just transferred to our school this year. Since he's really smart and has good records from his former school (which is an exclusive school for boys), he was enlisted in IV-A. I must say he doesn't belong there, not because he's not smart enough or what. But because he deserves to be in our section, IV-B. The home of smart and cool people (except Ryan and Peter), unlike A's nerds without social life.
Jake this is my friend, Jasmine. Jas this is Jake, my friend from Eastville Exclusive.
Jake extended his hand so I took it. His eyes focused on my face as his hand brushed mine a few more seconds than necessary.
Hi. He said, still staring at me and holding my hand. Nice to meet you Jasmine. He smiled.
Call me Jas. He smiled bigger with what I said, and I think I know what that smile means.
Oh. What can I say about Jake? Well, he's cute. His eyes have a hint of gray on them. He has a laid-back style but still decent. He's a li'l bit smaller than James (I think) with a manly frame.
It's really nice to see you here, dude. James said, standing from his seat when we finished our dinner. Jake nodded. Til next time! He added then gave Jake a high-five. We better go. We bid Jake goodbye then as we headed towards the door. I can feel that in a matter of seconds, he's going to follow us and ask for--
Wait up Jas! See? I told you. We stopped on our tracks then faced Jake. Can I have your number? If that's okay. He said, hopeful.
I thought you'd never ask. He smiled when I said that. The boy is smitten. He held out his phone then I keyed in my digits. I gave him back his phone when I was done. Bye 23. I murmured.
What was that? He asked, a smile still on his face.
I said my favorite number's 23. I smiled my evil smile.
