Chapter 35 THIN LINES
Godiva POV
Thank goodness our suspicion didn't come through. It was Jerald who came to check on us.
“I heard you guys got yourselves in trouble,” he laughed.
I frowned at his naughty jokes, and he quickly composed himself. He was really compassionate and sat through our long medical session.
He walked me to our hostel and ran back to theirs, not minding the unfriendly weather.
I stood there and watched in bewilderment as he ran toward the hostel. I didn’t know how I continually fell for his sarcasm. It was as though he used a spell on me that always made me take him seriously, even when he was being sarcastic.
I rushed and headed for the hostel the second I sighted a few of my schoolmates approaching.
“Bro, is this what we’ve become?” Dina’s voice rang behind me, followed by a slap on my shoulder.
“Ouch,” I said, reacting to the slap. “That was painful, Di,” I added jokingly. I knew I owed her an explanation for ditching her in the hall yet again.
My face lit up the second I saw her holding onto my award. I had left it in the hall earlier on when I chased after Jerald.
“Amanda left the award when she ran away from Trip security, Ben was kind enough to bring it over while you were playing love with Jerald. You didn’t just ditch me this time around, bro, you also ditched your award,” she fired at me, looking aggressive. I knew there was only one way to calm her down.
“Forget all about this,” I said, dragging her to sit on my bed. “You won’t believe why Jerald left without explaining his art.”
“Why did he leave? Did he tell you the reason why?” she asked, her face lighting up with so much anxiety. Aside from skating, gossip was the only thing that had the power to cheer Dina up in a second.
“He didn’t exactly spill it out, but apparently, it’s a scar he’s still nursing,” I replied, and began telling her all of our conversations, not forgetting all of the sarcastic yet beautiful moments.
“Why does it feel like you’re becoming more and more attached to each other?” Dina asked rhetorically, giving me a gaze that showed she was suspecting us to be an item.
“Don’t even think about that,” I said in a rush, attacking her point. “We can’t even be whatever you think we are.”
“Then you tell me, how is it that in a matter of months, you guys took a drastic fall from being sworn enemies to running after him to comfort him?” she said, raising her brows at me and smiling.
I already knew that once Dina started having thoughts like this, she’d do anything in her power to make sure she was right. I knew she’d start with all sorts of crazy ideas, which I wasn’t cut out for.
“Don’t think anything about this, bro. I’m just repaying the favor,” I said, trying to dissuade her.
“I know, I gat you, but don’t forget it all started from hate,” she teased and burst out laughing. “After all, there’s a thin line between love and hate.”
All through the night, I kept tossing around on my bed. The conversation I had with Jerald the previous evening continued replaying in my head, making me smile. It was more of a meaningless conversation, but it stuck to my memory, living rent free in my head.
I tried to snap out of it the second I started having wild imaginations about Jerald and I dating.
I finally fell asleep minutes past 3:00 a.m.
I was woken up by the staff at exactly 7:00 a.m. in the morning. We were asked to shower, fix all our luggage, and take it out before heading for breakfast.
I was a little grouchy all through preparation. I felt that way because, firstly, I didn’t want our stay there to come to an end. Being there had its pros and cons. Despite my fallout with Leo, the activities, Jerald, and the adventure were all worth it.
Secondly, I was also grouchy because I didn’t have enough sleep the previous night. Rethinking everything that morning made me realize I was only trying to hang around Jerald to hopefully get rid of Leo’s thoughts and maybe try to heal.
I knew there was only one thing I needed to do, and that was staying away from Jerald, because I was already becoming attached to him. Subconsciously, I was the happiest version of myself only when I was around him.
A part of me felt very grateful that we were leaving there. I knew that naturally we wouldn’t bond the way we did back in camp because Lis would definitely always be there to make sure we didn’t even say hello to each other.
“Why do you have eye bags?” Dina said, dropping her luggage beside mine opposite the bus.
“I couldn’t sleep well last night,” I replied coldly as I turned to leave.
“You were thinking about Jerald, yeah?” she said, laughing hysterically.
“Stop it,” I snapped angrily, looking around to make sure nobody heard her.
“I need to avoid him,” I said to Dina in whispers, with a very serious tone.
“Okay, girl, but why?” Dina asked, her tone now concerned.
“I don’t know, girl. I know what happened with Leo was overwhelming, but for someone nursing a broken heart, I’m too excited being with Jerald. That’s not healthy,” I said to her with a light smile.
“You’re scared of getting attached to him, or you just don’t want to expect what will never be?” she asked, a little more serious.
“I don’t know, girl. Maybe, just maybe, I’m trying to avoid the hurt that will definitely come if I continue being around him,” I replied coldly. “Anyways, Que sera sera.”
We usually said that whenever we were trying to just end a conversation and flow with life.
“Hey, look at your 9 o’clock,” Dina whispered in my ears, making me jumpy.
“What?” I asked.
“Your 9 o’clock,” she repeated.
I knew I was going to regret it, but for what it was worth, I looked, and immediately locked eyes with Jerald, who signaled for us to come with his hands.
Turning away quickly, I pretended as though I didn’t see him.
“What’s wrong with you, girl?” I queried Dina in whispers. “Why didn’t you tell me he was looking our way?”
“Ouch!” I exclaimed in pain the second someone pinched me from behind.
“What the!” I snapped, turning to see who had just pinched me.