Kapittel 14

Vanessa

"Heeey!" a loud voice called out that caught our attention.

We both turned our heads to where the voice came from and saw Georgia rushing to us with paper bags in her hands. As soon as she got under the shade with us, she dropped everything that she was holding and placed her hands on her knees. She was panting heavily and was extremely saturated in her sweat that she looked like she took a bath in it.

"Slow deep breaths, Georgia," I coached as she was catching her breath, wiping the sweat off her chin.

"You okay?" Asher asked. I stood up and went beside her, patting her back softly.

"Yeah..." she muttered between unstable breaths, "Just give me a minute."

I stood beside Georgia for long moments as she recovered her lost strength, at the same time, Asher took his time napping again. "I got you guys lunch," she said after she finally rested. "I had the lunch ladies pack them up."

"Aw, you shouldn't have..."

"Shouldn't have? Shouldn't have what? Shouldn't have let you guys finish your lunch?" she asked sardonically, putting a hand on her waist and raising her brows at us. "Heck no," she declared and proceeded by opening her bag and unexpectedly taking out a neatly folded picnic blanket, and a transparent thermos with an orange-colored liquid inside it, probably juice. Wow, she's pretty resourceful.

"Scoot," she commanded, and we silently obliged. She then unfolded the blanket and carefully placed it on the ground. Elegantly, she ran a hand down her bum to hold down her skirt before sitting down. "Quit staring and get on you two," she demanded again and we obliged.

As soon as my butt and legs settled down on the soft fabric, the funny feeling of the grass against my skin immediately vanished. I almost let out a sigh of relief as I leaned my back to rest against the tree. This was more like it.

"Where's the lunch?" I heard Asher ask, the corner of his mouth was close to watering while staring at her bag.

"In those paper bags, duh," Georgia answered grouchily before grabbing the paper bags and taking out silicone bento boxes from each. Asher took the volition to take one bento box and hastily opened it, revealing the scrumptious, appetizing treasures kept.

"Thanks, Georgia. We're grateful," he expressed his appreciation, looking at her with a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah, thank you," I told her before taking what seemed to be my lunch box.

"As y'all should," she retorted, taking out the thermos' cap and pouring some juice on it before handing it over to me, which I accepted wholeheartedly. "You both don't know how scared I felt after seeing our table being occupied by the soccer team? Our lunch trays were set aside, and my bag sitting was beside Lucien Williams..." she began to rant again as she picked up the remaining untouched bento box and began eating her fruits.

Asher and I silently ate our lunch, listening to her throes. It couldn't be helped though, she took a few minutes to the bathroom only to come back to the table occupied by different people.

"And then I just learned from Gent Perez that a blonde punched Friso in the face and took away her male friend with their bags, and you both didn't include mine?! I'm hurt!" she exclaimed, clutching her chest and the lines on her face dramatically twisting for a feigned pained expression.

"I'm sorry, Georgia," I apologized, placing my hand down on my thigh. "Things happened on an impulse."

"On impulse? Did you punch Friso in front of everyone on impulse? I heard that he was trying to sit with you guys," her figure cowered, and she slide back defensively. I only looked at her in disbelief, thinking that she was having a twisted image of me punching Friso for no reason.

"What's your relationship with Friso anyway?" she asked out of the blue which made me choke on my food out of surprise. Asher was quick and handed me Georgia's thermos after he nudged her with an elbow.

"What?" she asked, looking completely clueless. I wouldn't blame her for asking indiscreetly. She wasn't present during what happened so she didn't get to sense the animosity between Friso and me.

"I'll tell you guys when I'm comfortable talking about it," I said in a small voice with a small smile, a pinch pulling on my chest. I just had Vietnam flashbacks. God, I don't want to be reminded or remember any of those again, it hurts every time I reminisce. I want to focus on my academics today, and not on all this teen drama angst.

She stared at me for a second, like she was trying to pry into the depths of my mind. "All right, suit yourself," she replied. "But mind you, that guy's got serious issues. I just hope that he won't come after you," she then warned, her gaze becoming stern.

"I know..." I lowered my gaze down to my legs, balling my hands into fists. I knew what that guy was capable of, and he could do the absolute worst. But little did Georgia know that Friso was already after me before the earlier incident.

It was all hot and windy on this unwittingly sunny afternoon, but the air surrounding us three was ominously brooding and asphyxiating. Once again, it became difficult for me to breathe to the point that my chest ached.

I looked over at my two friends and saw their pitiful gazes at me. Georgia was staring at me with a mellow gaze as if she was trying to sympathize with me while Asher was holding incomprehensible scrutiny that made me wonder what he was contemplating about my situation.

However, the gloomy, heavy atmosphere didn't dwell for long when my phone suddenly rang. I immediately picked up the device and saw that it was Katherine calling for a FaceTime. Without further ado, I answered the call and the view on the screen transitioned into a full view of Jason's goofy face leaning the screen.

"Hey," I greeted with a small giggle.

"What's up?" he grinned at me widely, probably amused with his gag. "You look blue," he stated, his grin turning upside down.

"Guess I'm a smurf now." I shrugged at him, brushing the statement off. I didn't want to dwell on the negative vibe, let alone infect him with it. Jason was a jolly, happy-go-lucky guy. But he was also pretty observant and stuck his nose into those things that involved his friends.

"Who are you talking to?" Katherine's feathery, doubting voice came out of the speaker.

"I heard a girl's voice," Nikki's voice spoke.

I could hear Jason's girlfriend gasp loudly over the other line. "Oh my God, Jason. Are you–"

"Relax, it's just Vanessa," he immediately spoke.

Katherine was one easy-to-get-jealous girlfriend. She was a frail and shy girl, who would easily get flustered at Jay's romantic advances even though most of them were cheesy. She had a rough childhood with her mom being verbally abusive, so she grew up insecure. Thankfully, she was now gaining confidence in herself ever since her dad divorced her mom and began to stabilize in a healthy environment along with us.

"Vanessa?" I could hear her sounding excited as soon as her boyfriend mentioned my name.

"Vannie, hi!" the view suddenly shook, and all of a sudden, I was seeing Nikki's face with Seandhe and Harley behind her. "I missed you!" she exclaimed, the corners of her eyes getting a bit watery.

"You mean we missed you," Harley corrected his sister.

"You guys missed me even though I've been around a lot?" she joked, which made the twins look at her in disbelief with a sigh heaving off their chest.

I laughed. The joke was a bit dry, but the humor remained. "I missed you guys too."

"Where are you?" Harley took his turn to talk to me. "That place looks like it has an awful lot of sun," he commented, looking over the phone like he was getting to see the view behind me.

"There's only one sun, Harls." Nikki rolled her eyes at him.

"No, I mean–"

"I'm at the field right now, having a small picnic..." as soon as I mentioned "picnic", I instantly remembered the two people with me. I looked over in their direction and saw their bewildered expression, especially Georgia who was inclining her ear to my direction "With my friends," I added then turned so they could see my two friends behind me.

"Hi!" Georgia greeted cheerfully while Asher just awkwardly waved his hand.

"Oh my God," Katherine gasped audibly again, her face popping on the screen."Is that school full of frigging models? They're so breathtaking!" she squealed. I forgot, her growing confidence also came with bluntness. But it was good that she was starting to say whatever was on her mind.

"Aw, thank you," Georgia gushed on her spot, leaning closer over my shoulder. "You're a breathtaking bunch too!"

"Gang, meet Georgia and Asher," I began to introduce them to each other. "Asher, Georgia, meet my friends. The girl with the curly hair is Nikki, and the two guys who look alike are her twin brothers, Harley and Seandhe. You'll know it's Seandhe since he's bulkier, and Harley's a bit skinnier..."

"Hey, I'm not skinny! I'm kinda buff too!" Harley protested, now trying to flex his muscles to the camera.

"I mean he has lesser muscles than Seandhe." I faked a cough. "That girl popping her face on the screen is Katherine, and..." Jason suddenly popped his face too, just right beside Katherine. "That one's Jason, her boyfriend."

"It's nice to meet you guys!" Georgia exclaimed. Asher also said the same thing, but with a rather monotone, collected voice. I couldn't tell if he was being shy or awkward, and they began to virtually strike up a relationship, which made Georgia get my phone off my hand.

I slide back to sit beside her, resting my head on her shoulder while they talked. Their conversation slowly bore me so I roamed my eyes on the grass and my eyes widened when my sight landed on a familiar-looking creature. It was a grasshopper, and a large one at that.

I removed my head from Georgia's shoulder to inspect the little creature resting soundly on the narrow-leafed, immobile piece of verdure. A brightly-lit lightbulb appeared above my head as I stared at it vehemently, inspecting how peaceful it was lounging, unaware of the uncertainties surrounding it. My cheeks lifted, and a small smile crept into my face when its antennae jerked.

"Hey, do you have an empty jar?" I looked back to ask Georgia, hoping that her resourcefulness could take her far as bringing an empty jar.

"One second," she said over the phone before giving it to Asher. "Just a small one," she answered, then stretched over to one side to get her bag to take out one, much to my surprise. She held the thick, fragile thing in my direction. The clean, glass-made container gleamed against the sunlight like it was looking forward to being used for the first time.

"Is it airtight?" I asked, gladly taking the thing from her hands. I glanced at her bag and almost gasped wow. She probably had a hefty lot of things in that average-sized bag, I wouldn't wonder if she had a survival kit in there.

"Oh, it's got some small holes in the lid." Okay, weird but perfect.

"What are you gonna use it for?" she took her turn to ask, raising a brow. I thought about asking her about the reason why she would bring an empty container with holes in its lid but... maybe at another time.

"Oh, nothing," I retorted.

Punching Friso in front of everyone was equal to waging war. Now, I needed to prepare as many arsenals as I could. I could now care less if he'd hated me more after what happened, I don't care about asking for closure anymore. He pressed all the buttons he shouldn't have pressed. For now, I needed to prepare myself and the things that could keep him 85 centimeters radius away from me.

I made myself busy by looming over the grass to capture the grasshopper while perking my ears, listening to my friends converse, glad that my friends were getting along.

"You guys should come here sometime!" I heard Georgia chirp.

"Why not? Hopefully, we could find some time since we have lesser credits to earn now!" Nikki replied.

"What about the Open House?" Asher suggested.

I reached the jar and lid in the grasshopper's direction, stretching my core so I wouldn't get to get off the blanket. I breathed heavily, my breath shaking and my hands quivering, my eyes focused on the six-segmented critter as its head stayed still, its mandibles maneuvering side to side and antennae jerking. My mind was boggling with worry over the possibility that it could jump off at any second. I should move fast but carefully, if it sensed me and thought of me as a threat, it wouldn't hesitate to hop away.

"The Open House?" Georgia asked him then I heard her snap her fingers. "Oh, right!"

"Wh-What's the Open House?" it was Jay who asked.

I felt the pearls of sweat on my forehead dripping down my temple, causing a ticklish feeling. I wanted to wipe it off so badly, but I needed to get the grasshopper first. I grit my teeth, internally telling myself continuously to bear it a bit longer. After all, there were only a few inches away from me and the insect.

"It's the only time the Trinity Knight opens their doors for students and other people to enter and explore the campus. We can invite other schools too!" I listened to her explain to them about this Open House thing. "Don't worry, I know how to pull some strings." I could bet a few dollars that she winked at them after saying that.

My heart began to tick and beat swiftly like it was a time bomb on the verge of exploding. I exhaled a sharp breath as I loomed closer and closer. Just a bit more... a little bit more...

"We'll look forward to that then."

"Where's Vanessa?"

"Vanessa's just over the– girl, what are you doing?"

"Gotcha!" I interjected happily as soon as I fastidiously closed the jar with its lid, completely trapping the grasshopper in it before it could get away. I raised the glass over to my face while twisting the cap and euphorically stared at the critter tapping its foreleg on the jar's body.

"Uhh..."

"Vanessa." I turned back and saw Asher looking at me with genuine concern on his face before it slowly contorted like he was about to laugh. "You okay? You might have gone nuts after what happened earl–" I didn't let him finish his sentence and raised a hand to jokingly smack his arm.

"Ow!" he blocked his arm to fend himself off while chuckling, "You... look so funny with your face earlier...! Ow!" my embarrassment got the best of me and I tried to smack his arm again and again, but the more I did, the louder and longer he laughed that he dropped the phone on the blanket and clutched his stomach. Meanwhile, Georgia picked up the phone and pointed the screen in our direction. I could tell that they were wincing at us even though I couldn't spare a glance at them.

"Okay. Stop it, you two!" Katherine screamed over the other line, which made Asher and I freeze in our spots.

"No, keep on going!" Nikki begged to object on the other line.

"No!"

"Okay..." Georgia let out a tired sigh and crawled over, putting herself between us. "Knock it out."

"Oh my God, you're still violent as ever, Van," I heard Jay comment over the other line.

"I am not," I disagreed, taking the phone from Georgia's grip. Okay, maybe I kind of have this habit of throwing light smacks on other people's arms or thighs, but it was never with the intent of malicious harm. I sometimes smack my friends over the smallest things. Things like when they tease me, and I get annoyed with it, when I feel the butterflies in my stomach when I watch a romantic movie or series, or when I hear something funny and laughing wasn't just enough to let out the wriggling humor in my body.

"Right, I bet 50 that she punched someone today," Harley kidded, and the three of us went silent as the heavy, brooding air returned.

My friends on the other end noticed that we hushed for a long moment, which rendered him to exclaim in obvious surprise, "Wait, you punched someone?!" concluding that I had already done the said deed.

"Oh my God," I heard Katherine gasp.

"What happened?" Nikki immediately left her fight-loving persona and became concerned. I looked over to my side and saw that Georgia and Asher were now sitting beside me, each had their hand on my shoulder, patting it gently as if they were comforting me.

"That person must have been the personification of miff that they got Vanessa to punch them," Jay commented.

"Jay!" Katherine chided her boyfriend.

"What?" he innocently asked, and a small bicker between the lovebirds ensued.

The display on the screen suddenly became blurry, and we came into view with Seandhe's troubled face."You good?" he asked calmly while my friends began to hover behind him. I could now hear Nikki and Harley intervening in the couple's small bicker.

"Are things going well at home?" Kath's face suddenly popped on the screen."How's Zack and Mrs. H?" she proceeded to ask. "I know you wouldn't go far as punching someone for no reason."

"Yeah, I'm okay." I let out a light yet exasperated shrug. "Things are just... getting a bit hard these days."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Seandhe requested. I wasn't planning on telling about what happened earlier, and most especially Friso but I was like a child wanting to complain to his mom about being bullied at school. Childish, I know but this childishness was getting the best of me.

"I don't wanna say much about it but," I uttered before pausing, biting my lower lip. My emotions began swelling again, my chest felt full like a cabinet overfilled with disorganized plates, and tears threatened to break out from my tear ducts. I didn't feel like crying earlier, but now I wanted to cry my heart out. "He... he mentioned dad, and I lost it." I felt like crying as soon as I mentioned dad. I was missing him again.

My chest lurched in pain, and it finally led me to open up. I didn't explicitly mention Friso but only mentioned him as some guy with whom I have some bit of bad history with me and my family, especially with my dad. I proceeded to rant about him bugging me and suddenly mentioning dad which caused me to explode. Meanwhile, My friends only patiently listened to me let my heart out, explaining how dad was precious to me and Friso just casually mentioned him after the spiteful thing that happened between them.

"Fuck, seriously?" Harley swore, his face red. Even though I was only looking at him through the phone, I could clearly see his veins popping on his neck. "Do you think we should drive there and teach that motherfucker a lesson?" he suggested, the sound of his fist hitting against his palm resonating over the speaker.

"Wait, I'm sorry if this is gonna sound intrusive, but what happened to your dad?" Georgia butted in.

"He died not too recently," I answered.

"I see..." She proceeded to pat my shoulder again. "I'm sorry."

"Just let it out, Vannie," I heard Nikki say tenderly. If we were physically together right now, she could have patted my back or engulfed me in her arms. "Don't worry. Things are gonna get better," she added, and my empty, concave chest felt like it was full again but with emotions like courage and ease this time.

"Right, but they're better if that guy gets some knuckle sandwich," Jay added.

"You!" Katherine glared at him, her lips pouting.

"Yeah... right..." I mumbled with a small sigh, holding onto my pendant, my fingers gently pressing on the cold yet comforting material. I was only touching this small, seemingly insignificant thing that could be lost in the blink of an eye, but touching it felt unbelievably comforting. It was like they were actually with me, consoling me. "Things are gonna get better."

"Miss Vanessa Cole Hathern and Mr. Friso Drew de Vries, please come to the guidance office."

Right... things are really gonna get better.

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Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my work, future works, and endless frustrations, you can find me on my Wattpad and social media accounts:

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