"Athena! Hey! Let's walk to the room together." Serena linked her arms with mine and excitedly walked while pulling me with her. I have no choice but to walk with her pace. She’s excited for our first day in uni while me, I’m excited to see Chanyeol.
Finally!!! Nasa iisang uni na ulit kami. The first time I met him was when we were 5. I was already friends with Serena and I sometimes visit her with my mother in their old mansion when we were kids. My mom and Serena’s mom are college best friends.
There was one Saturday afternoon that Serena’s brother went home early from his music class and I suddenly saw a prince walking inside his palace. He was like the prince from my fairytale book. I didn’t know that time the meaning of crush or love but I clearly know that his smile is captivating. He’s like a big brother to me but it changed when we went to high school.
That time, he was already in a band and they always perform in our school festival and in competitions. They are good. They won most of the competition they participated. Chanyeol is the lead guitarist of their band. Usually, people notice first the vocalist of the band but it was different for me. His smile and sparkly eyes got me really hard. Maybe since I was five but then I really don’t know when this feeling started. His height, fair skin and his lean body are just a bonus for me.
If Serena hadn't called me again, I wouldn't have realized that we were in the hallway and we really needed to find the assigned room for our block because we were going to be late for first class. We were walking in the hallway when I saw him inside his class with Sehun, the bassist of their band and Chanyeol's bestfriend. But the difference is, on his other side is a girl laughing with him. My forehead furrowed. I didn't know if he had a girlfriend because I hadn't heard anything, but the possibility of him having a girlfriend is as high as the sky. Most of the girls here are dying to be noticed by them,EXplOre, their band name.
“Serena, kilala mo ba yung katabi ni Chanyeol na babae? They seem close.” “Nope. I’ve never seen her. Maybe he got himself a girl while we were still in high school? You know that they are 2 years ahead of us right?” Serena answered me while thinking of how she would answer my question while minimizing the impact of it.
Serena is aware of my unrequited love with Chanyeol since we were kids. I just ignored what I saw and Serena and I just focused on finding our room. And finally, here we are sitting beside each other 3rd row of the seats beside the window where the stars usually sit. Haha. As usual, orientations every class. It's good to have the first day, so chill. Usually the first week is the first chill before the semester officially starts, so me and Serena have the time to adjust to our new university. Lunch came and we went out of our room.
“Athena, where do you want to eat? We don’t have class this afternoon because Ms. Flores said we’ll meet at the next meeting. So I’m thinking let’s go to my fave Italian restaurant. Please?”Serena went with her pleading eyes. She knew I didn't like going out. I'd just go home and go to school if Serena wasn't in my life. The truth is, I'm not a sociable person but Serena is the total opposite of me so she helps me overcome my poor fashion and my unruly hair. I used to dress up really well, Serena just made me dress up. But now I go for t-shirts and jeans and I've learned how to comb my hair properly. Tho my style is still boring but it's still an improvement from my previous looks. I can say that I look decent.
“Okay. Fine. But we’ll just eat and nothing else. I know you Serena. You love to shop.” Pumayag nako sa yaya ni Serena. “YES! Okay let’s go!”Serena happily replied. "Hey, I feel like I'm regretting it right now because I feel like I'm going shopping again after we have lunch."
We walked to the uni’s parking lot and hopped in to Serena’s car. Her car is sleek. I think this is club Mazda MX-5 MIATA in red. I'm still amazed by Serena's expensive stuff. I don't think I'll ever get used to her stuff. Serena started driving to the mall. I connected my phone to her car's audio system and played a playlist in my Spotify.
“Oh my god! I miss Trattoria Aldini. The food is simple but the taste is what I’m going back for every time.” “Hahahaha don’t at me Serena! You just like one of the server there. Don’t lie to me. I know you, girl” “What?! Who says may poging server dun? I’m not informed huh.” “What? May sinabi ba akong poging server? HAHAHA huling huli ka naman lagi Serena. Hahahaha”I continued laughing at her. Her face is as red as tomatoes. My god this girl! She’s not good at lying. We were like that the whole time we were traveling and the mall isn’t that far from our uni so the little traffic was bearable.
When Serena is done parking her car, we went inside the mall and straight to her server hahaha. I thought my best friend would be cute to my crush when we first arrived at the restaurant but I was wrong because as soon as we entered, I heard Chanyeol's familiar voice. I thought I was just dreaming and hearing him is just me imagining things but I was wrong. Here in this resto, the charismatic Park Chanyeol is having fun eating with his blockmates and of course the girl I saw earlier is here beside him again. What a day!