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"Hey Rheyna, wanna be friends?" I ask. On my knees beside her desk whilst I cross my arms and rest my head on them.
Rheyna: 1
Blink
"... Huh? Did you just..." Rheyna trailed off, utter confusion on her face. "Ask if you want to be my friend? Yes, yes I did." I say with a cheeky grin.
I can't explain why, but recently I've been feeling this strange connection to Rheyna. And at the same time, she's been avoiding me. 'Is this something platonic? Or is this love? Only one way to find out.'
Rheyna turned away, not meeting my gaze. "I... don't think it's right for me to be your friend, Mark..." her voice sounded guilty. And this left me confused. "Right?? Oh, are your parents the type who don't want you getting close with boys?" I ask, trying to make sense of her words.
Rheyna snapped to look at me. "What?! No! They're actually worried I'll die alo-" she stopped. She then pursed her lips and turned away again. "I just don't think we should be friends, Mark..." she muttered.
'Strange... Why is she acting like this?' I wondered. Confused by how Rheyna seems to avoid me, but in a way that's unusual. Almost as if she did something wrong. 'She's never done anything wrong to me, though? She's been a great classmate.'
A breath later, the sound of the wooden door sliding open tore through the noisy classroom. And then comes Mrs. Ignacio, our homeroom teacher. "Return to your seats." she commanded. And after more than a year of being her students, we all knew knew it's best to comply.
I exhale and stand up. I then glance at Rheyna one more time. "Talk later, kay?" I whispered. Having said my piece, I returned to my seat.
Rheyna looked at Mark from the corner of her eye. 'I'm sorry, Mark... We really can't be friends. I, I don't deserve you.'
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(Rheyna POV)
After school.
I hurry and pack my things. Shoving my notes and pens into my bag before standing up. I turn to the door and walk past Mark as he's packing his stuff.
'Gotta hurry before Mark talks to me!' I say internally. For the past several hours, I've been doing my best to ignore Mark's attempts to start a conversation. Yet, every time I do ignore him, it hurts. I still feel guilty, almost like I'm pretending not to know who he is after I violated him.
'I'm doing the right thing... I need to make Mark dislike me so he stays away. If he doesn't pay attention to me, then I won't be tempted by the hypnosis app anymore!' with that idea, I exit the building doors. The school gates coming into sight.
'I'll rush for the gate, and once I get out, I'll head for the nearest tricycle.2Philippine tricycle. A public mode of transport. Usually for short to medium length distances. Usually only carries 4 passengers max excluding the driver.
And right before I could step outside, a figure peeked out from the right. "Boo!"
"Ahhh!" the surprise caused me to fall flat on my ass. "What the..." I look up and my eyes widen in recognition. "Mark!?" I yell.
"Hi there, Rheyna! Where ya going?" he asks in a nonchalant tone as he squats down in front of me.
"Huh?!? How did you-" I look back, certain that I sped walk a good distance quickly, yet somehow Mark got here before me without me noticing.
"Haa..." Mark exhaled. I turn back around and see the beads of sweat on his forehead. "You ran around just to get me??" I ask. It's the only explanation I could think of.
"Ding ding! Correct!" he joked, winking one eye while his lips curled into a smirk.
"So." Mark starts. Putting his elbows on his thighs as he rests his jaw on his palms. "Why are you avoiding me, Rheyna? Do you really hate the idea of being my friend that much?" he asks in a serious tone. The sudden shift caught me off guard. "No- I just..." I trail off, averting my gaze again. 'I can't explain it. I can't say I feel guilty of violating you, using your body without your consent for my own perverted desires.'
"... Alright then." Mark mutters. I turn back to check his expression, only to see his hand grab my wrist. "?!?" my eyes widened as Mark singlehandedly pulled me up. And with a playful grin, he declares. "Let's hang out at SM!"3"SM" is a chain mall that's widely spread in the Philippines. It is the undisputed top mall chain in the country. Some cities even have more than one SM mall.
"Eh?! No, I-" before I could finish, Mark began pulling me along with surprising strength I wouldn't expect from a boy.
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At a SM mall.
As soon as we step inside, the cool AC air enveloped our bodies. Removing the heat clinging to our bodies.
I turn to Mark next to me breathing in the cool air. His hand refusing to part from mine. "So... what are we gonna do?" I ask, resigned to Mark's whims.
In response, Mark turned me and smiled. "We're gonna stroll around of course! Tour different stores and stuff. Maybe play at the arcade too."
"... Alright." I mutter. 'I'll just play along... Maybe Mark will realize how boring I am and stay away from me on his own.'
Not long after that, Mark began walking with me in tow. Together, we visited many stores, browsed various items, and openly exchanged our thoughts with each other.
And as much as I don't want to admit it, I started to enjoy his company. Forgetting that I'm supposed to make him dislike me. Yet, here I am. Receiving his attention, comments, smiles, and warmth. 'Not once did Mark let go of my hand... It feels like we're a couple...'
"Hey, Rheyna, you hungry?" Mark turned to me and asked. "Not really." I shake my head. In reality, I am feeling a little hungry. I usually buy something to eat after school, but since Mark dragged me to the mall, I didn't get to buy anything.
"Hm..." Mark's eyes narrowed on me, like he's checking if I'm telling the truth. "Well, I'm a little hungry, so let's get something to eat." he says, already leading me to the direction of the food court. "I, uh, don't have much on me right now." I replied. Which is a lie. I have about 500 Pesos (~9 USD) on me which is more than enough to get something nice for two students, but I'd rather not eat together with Mark. I'm enjoying our time together, but I shouldn't let it escalate. 'I'm supposed to create distance between us, not get closer...' I reminded myself, but something inside is whispering to me that this is okay. That it's fine to be with Mark.
"Since you're not hungry, let's just get some french fries from Potato Corner." Mark says, leading me to the Potato Corner booth in the food court. 'If it's just fries, then I can afford it.'
"Miss, one Giga po. Chili BBQ and cheese flavors." Mark ordered. My eyes widened at his choice. 'A Giga?? Just for the two of us??' Mark choosing the 2nd largest size caught me off guard. 4For reference, the biggest size is the 1000g Tera. The third largest is the 250g Mega. I couldn't find how many grams a Giga is xd
'A Giga is just 189 Pesos, though. Well within my budget- Huh?' I stopped. My eyes catching sight of Mark handing the clerk two 100 Peso bills. "Wait, Mark. Let me pay." I stepped up. My hand reaching into my bag to get my wallet. But before I could grab it, Mark squeezed my hand with considerable strength. "It's okay, Rheyna. I'm the one who chose to get fries, and I don't mind paying." he says, meeting my eyes with a maturity I rarely see from Mark.
"But still, I'm a girl. I can't let you pay for me-" Mark suddenly gave my hand another tight squeeze. "I decide how to use money. And I decide I want to buy fries for us." he says, his eyes tell me his decision is final. "I... Thank you, Mark." I say. Accepting his choice. Who am I to tell him what he can and can't do with his money? 'I'll just get him something nice in return...'
'... But what does Mark even like?' the question washed over me. We've only been seatmates since 11th grade. Before today, we've only exchanged small talk and... those stuff...
"Here you are." the clerk called out as she handed Mark the bucket of fries. "Let's go find a table, Rheyna." Mark says, both hands carrying the fries.
Fortunately, there were several vacant tables near us. "Ah, be right back." Mark says as he stands up from his seat. My eyes watch his back as he returns to the Potato Corner booth. Soon, my attention shifts to the fries on the table. 'I haven't had the chili BBQ flavor in so long that I forgot what it tastes like.' with that thought, I reach out and grab a couple fries. Placing them into my mouth, I could already taste the barbeque flavor. "So good... Potato Corner fries are the best. Better than McDo and Jollibee." I comment, satisfaction tugging at my lips as I go for more.
As I chew my third bite, my eyes catch movement. I look and see Mark holding a pair of plastic forks. "I got us some forks so we don't get our fingers dirty-" he stopped, noticing that I already went ahead and grabbed some with my bare fingers. "Oh- sorry. I normally use my hands to eat french fries." I respond. "Let me just wipe them off." I add, reaching for my handkerchief.
As my fingers touched the fabric in my pocket, I felt someone grab my hand. I turn and see Mark's face up close. "?! Mark!?" I stammer, heat rushing to face from the close proximity. But before I could process what's happening, he leaned in and parted his lips. Not toward my own lips, but my fingers. "Ahh~" Mark swallowed the two digits that's covered in BBQ powder from the fries.
What followed after is his wet tongue, lapping at my fingers, cleaning up the powder on them. Seeing a boy, or rather Mark, lick my fingers like this got my heart racing. "Puah!" Mark finally let go. A thin string of saliva connecting his lips to my fingers. "Oh, sorry about that, Rheyna." he says, reaching into his pocket and taking out a handkerchief. "I didn't want you wasting the BBQ powder." he says, wiping my fingers dry. The act somehow felt much more intimate than when I literally sucked him off. 'And I didn't need the hypnosis app for this... Mark did this on his own...'
After wiping my fingers dry, Mark returned to his seat. "Here. Use this." he says, passing me a plastic fork. "A-Ah thanks." I received the utensil with the same hand. 'I'm just playing along... Yeah. That's it. I'm just listening to what Mark says. If I do whatever he says, then I'll be paying him back bit by bit. Y-Yeah this is me repenting and this is my punishment.'
'If I must become Mark's friend, then so be it! I'll be the bestest friend!'
With my newfound goal in mind, I raise my fork and stab a couple fries, moving them to my open mouth. "Ahh-"
"Oh, now that I think about it, isn't this a date?" Mark says in a casual tone. "Pfft!" I exhaled right before the fries could reach my lips. I snap to Mark, my eyes blown wide. "D-Date?!" I stammer. 'Wait- We've been holding hands as we went around the mall and now we're eating together! No matter how you look at it, this is a couple date, isn't it?!'
"Isn't it? I didn't consider it, but this is my first time on a date. I usually go to the mall either with family or by myself. This is the first time I've gone with a girl." Mark recalled, glancing at me. A small smile tugging at his lips. "Oh, well. It's just a date between friends, so it shouldn't be an issue." he shrugs. But a second later, his expression changed. His lips curling into a grin. "Unless, you want this to be more than just friends?"
I... I'll be able to stay in the friendzone... right?
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