Kobe and his teammates ordered four buckets of beer. When it was served, Steve volunteered to open the bottles and handed them over to each one in the group.
Honey and Kobe, on the other hand, were busy looking at the songbook and trying to find songs to sing. The same goes for Ada, Bambi, and Robin.
Jada, RJ, and Lyken remained quiet, as they watched them do their things. She doesn't know why it suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Ja, what was it your singing the other day? The one I asked you for the title?" Honey asked.
"Hmm... Need to be next to you?" Jada replied with a question, as she was not sure if that was the song she was referring to.
"Ah yeah, that! Can you sing that for me?" she asked while trying to act cute. Jada widened her eyes as a warning, but her friend just ignored it.
Jada can sing. She sings during family gatherings but her confidence was only for them. For family members only.
They were fortunate enough to hear her sing. Especially Honey, as she usually does it when it's just the two of them.
"Pretty please?" she begged.
"You seem like a good singer, let us hear it," Kobe backed her up.
Jada wanted to refuse but the title of the song showed up on the screen and Honey was already handing her the mic. Jada took it hesitantly and suddenly felt cold from head to toe.
Before she started singing, she went back to her place. Even before she could start, Honey had already started clapping along with Kobe.
The young lady forced herself to sing though she felt like she was frozen. "Go byotch!" Ada cheered when the pitch went slightly up.
Fortunately, she was able to finish Honey's requested song. Unfortunately, more requests followed.
While singing, there are instances when Lyken would glance at her. She's not even sure if he's annoyed at her voice or the music's too loud.
More songs were lined up after the first five. Lucky for them, Jada became more confident the more she drank, so she didn't refuse the next request.
"I think that's yours," Lyken nudged at her.
"What?" Jada asked, as she didn't hear what he said the first time.
"Something's vibrating, I think it's your phone," he repeated.
She checked her phone and it was indeed hers. It was her father who was calling, so Jada excused herself to step out and answer the call.
Mr. Cuevas asked where she was and asked about other kinds of stuff as well. Her parents are out of the country, that's why he's checking on her.
Jada didn't go back in right away after the phone call. Instead, she opened her car and sat in the passenger seat. She checked the text messages that she missed but none of them were important.
"Hey!" someone called. The young lady looked up to see Kobe standing in front of her while holding the door of the car.
"Hey!" she parrotted.
"Why are you out here?" he asked, looking worried.
"Ah, my father called," Jada answered with a smile.
He let out a sigh as if relieved after hearing what she said. "I see. I thought you were already uncomfortable or annoyed at RJ," he chuckled.
"Of course not. I'm actually having a good time talking to him," trying to defend his friend. She understands why he's worried. It's because he's the one who invited her and it's nice to know that he's that type of guy.
"I know your secret though!" he whispered while grinning.
"What secret?"
"You like Lyken!" he said. Actually, he sounded like it was just a confirmation, as he didn't sound like asking.
"Woah! That's a little too much!" Jada was shocked by his assessment.
He shrugged at me before squatting, "I just noticed you kept looking at him while you were singing earlier, so I assumed…" he trailed, embarrassed because once again, he assumed.
Jada cleared her throat, hoping she'd be able to clear things out by doing so. "No, I don't like him. I was looking at him because I noticed he was glancing at me while I was singing. I just felt a little uncomfortable."
Kobe nodded after hearing my defense, "I apologize on his behalf then. Just so you know, he's Robocop's relative," he chuckled.
She somehow understood what he was trying to say. Lyken was indeed quiet the whole time. If she recalled correctly, she only heard him talk twice the entire night.
The first was when he told Kobe to let her go if she didn't want to ride with them. The second was when he told her that her phone was vibrating.
Then again, maybe he's just the quiet type. Or maybe he's not enjoying their company, so he chose to stay quiet.
Jada shrugged at the thought and followed Kobe's lead. When they came back, it was Honey who was having a concert.
The singing session went on for two to three more hours. They only thought of leaving when they realized that it was already past midnight.
They headed to the parking lot and into their respective vehicles. Before getting in, she noticed Kobe and Lyken whispering about something, then Kobe turned to her.
"Jada, you sure you can drive?" he asked. She nodded and saluted them. He then turned to Lyken, whispered something, then they both went in.
She followed them just like she did earlier, but before she reached their condo building, Jada sent a text message to Honey. She told her she'd drop by the convenience store to buy some stuff.
In addition to that, she also asked her to thank Kobe on her behalf. Though there were tons of awkward moments, she still enjoyed their little night out.
Meanwhile, in Lyken's car, "Jada texted, she said she'd just drop by the convenience store. Also, she's saying thanks for the invite," Honey announced from the backseat. Though she didn't drop a name, it was obvious that she was talking to Kobe.
'Why would she even say anything to me when I wasn't the one who invited her and I didn't even talk to them the whole time?' he thought to himself.
After that, Jada's friends started conversing again. But no matter how Lyken tries, he can't seem to understand what they're saying. It's as if they're using an alien language to talk.
In their conversation, however, he can hear them mention Jada and RJ's names and that got him curious. 'What is with them?'
They reached the condo in less than twenty minutes. RJ and the rest of the guys went ahead since Kobe and Lyken still needed to drop by Honey and Jada's place.
'Or maybe Jada has already texted RJ that she's stopping by somewhere.' Lyken shrugged at the thought.
Kobe escorted Honey and her friends to her unit and when he came back, they drove to the university's parking lot where Kobe left his car.
After they parted ways, Lyken drove back to Jada's place. It's been forty minutes since they left, but she still can't see Jada's car. What's weird is that he doesn't even know why he went back.
After a few minutes, Lyken saw a car approaching. It was Jada. She carefully parked her car and when he heard her turn off its engine, he stepped out of his vehicle.
"Where have you been?" he asked out of nowhere and Jada was surprised. The young man came unnoticed and she choked while drinking. Lyken felt apologetic.
"Why are you still here?" she asked in return.
"I said where have you been?" Lyken repeated my question, thinking she didn't hear it the first time. Her expression changed from shocked to confused.
'True enough, even I don't know why I'm still here and asking her this?' Lyken muttered under his breath.
He also felt weird about what he was doing, but he felt like it would only seem weirder if he just left. So Lyken has no choice but to stay and stand his ground.
"I dropped by the convenience store, then the coffee shop. I texted Honey," she explained, though she didn't really have to.
"You know it's past midnight, right? And you're not from here. You should have just gone straight to your condo," he blurted out.
Lyken tried his best to stop himself from saying the things he had just said, but they kept pouring out. He wasn't even surprised when her brows furrowed at him.
'Really Lyken? She's not from here? She lives here for Christ's sake!'
"Excuse me, Mister Fontanilla, I live here. This is not the first time I have been out past midnight and, obviously, I'm able to come back safely just like tonight. I don't understand what the problem is!" Based on her tone, Jada was annoyed.
"I was just asking and… sorry about earlier," he muttered. Lyken doesn't even know where these words are coming from but there, he said them.
"Sorry about what?" confused as to why he was suddenly apologizing.
"For not saying sorry after I bumped into you," then the young man smiled sheepishly.
"Oh! Forget it!" she said. Her face seemed to have brightened up. He won't know if it is real or just his imagination, but she doesn't look annoyed anymore.
Maybe she was indeed a bit pissed at him. Because he didn't even apologize when he bumped into her in the corridor yesterday.
"Did you text RJ to let him know you're dropping by somewhere?" Lyken asked, again, out of nowhere.
"Nope! I don't even know his number" she answered.
He felt like something inside him celebrated after hearing her response. Most specifically, when she said that she didn't exchange numbers with his teammate.
Well, she didn't say it directly. But Lyken assumed that's what happened, since she said she didn't know his number.
"You should go home. It's pretty late," Jada suggested with a smile.
Lyken nodded and she waved him goodbye when he got inside the car. He waited for her to get into the elevator before starting the engine.
When he looked in my rearview mirror, he noticed himself smiling. Lyken doesn't know the exact reason why, but yes, it was the first time he smiled today.
'There's just something about this girl. Was it her smile? Her soothing voice? Her boyish outfit? I can't point it out, but I'm sure there's something different.'
There were other things Lyken wanted to talk to her about to prolong their conversation and make her stay longer. But for now, her smile is more than enough for him. At least for tonight.