What's Next? [One-shot]

What’s Next?

By WisdomDeath

            After a week of grieving, the sky finally smiled. The streets were a tad wet but that did not stop me from walking to the city to buy a new dress for the boat party that afternoon. It would be one of the biggest parties in town, but that wasn’t the part that concerned me. I did not even saw myself going to parties, but someone asked me to come and I was not going to disappoint him.

            It did not really take me a long time to pick a dress. I picked the first dress that caught my attention. I was not even looking at the clock that I was prepared thirty minutes before the party. It was too early.  The venue was just five minutes away from my house.

            The knock on my door made me thought if my clock was broken. I ran to the front door and opened it. My lips formed a shy smile upon seeing the man standing in front of me. “Shall we?” he asked trying to sound as formal as possible, offering a hand.

            I gave out a small laugh before nodding. I gently placed my hand on top of his. We walked, slowly, to the venue. We did not talk much but it was good enough for me. There are times wherein we just argue about the tiniest thing, that was why silence was sometimes better.

            “Is that a new dress?” he asked. He was like that most of the time, asking me if my clothes are new. I would always tell him that it was not a big deal and yet he would insist that for girls, it is a big deal. It was an argument we always had, but I was not going to start another one of those just before an amazing party.

            “Yes,” I said. I gave him a smile. A part of me was hoping that he would not say another word about my dress.

            “You look beautiful as always,” he said then twirled me.

            I laughed as he did. It was one of the moments wherein the world seem to melt, as if it did not matter. It was like it was just me and him in a world of chaos. Sometimes, it was nice to get that version of him—fun and composed.

            We arrived at the venue about ten minutes earlier. We settled in the waiting shed nearby. There was silence—a long, deafening one. Neither of us spoke. There has always been moments like that in our relationship. Sometimes, it seemed like we were strangers.

            The ten minutes that passed felt like eternity. A guard called us up, telling us that we should get in, so we did.

            The hall was pretty, but we would not stay there until after the first part, which was the boat party. We were led to our designated boat. It was not that long when the party started. Everyone became pretty much occupied with all the singing. My bag was a bit of a distraction that I set it somewhere at the side, not noticing that I placed too far—at the edge of the boat. I looked back at him as we both sang along. My eyes glanced at the spot where my bag was or maybe was not anymore. My eyes widened and he noticed it. Not wanting attention in our direction, his eyes asked me what was wrong instead. I mouthed the words, “I can’t find my bag.” We tried our best to look around but it was nowhere to be seen. I stretched my upper body and tried to see if it dropped in the water somehow.

            I knew he saw where I was looking because I saw him take his shirt off and before I could release a breath, he jumped. Some looked at my direction, mostly those nearby, but most were so focused on the loud song playing. After a while, he was throwing me things from my bag and then, finally, my bag. Although, he didn’t climb up. He threw me a glare and before I could even apologize, he shouted, "I’m tired of this!” The next string of words were indistinct. It was like I was drowning. I could feel people’s eyes piercing through me. I breathed heavily, keeping my tears for myself for a while. I stretched my arms to reach him and gave him a pat on the head. Then I ran outside.

            I ran to the waiting shed and then cried. It was normal for us to argue but that seemed to push him to his limit. Right then, I was thinking of giving up but it did not seem like an option. Giving up would be like wearing cardboard cut-out with “LIAR” written on it. It would be like saying I never loved him if I just give up. Clearly, it was just another trial in the life of being a couple.

            I wiped my tear-stained cheeks. I stood up and was ready to head back inside when I saw him walking out. I ran as quickly as I could. I hugged him and said, “Austin, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m sorry. I love you. I know I can be really stupid at times. I am sorry.” I did not care if I sounded crazy. I just wanted him to know that I know my own mistakes. He has always been the cautious one and I have always been the crazy, clumsy, stupid one. He did not speak, so I pulled away.

           His lips were straight in a straigh line but his eyes were filled with understanding, care, and love.

            “Can we talk about this?” I asked. I did not hear anything from him, but I got a nod.

           

     Then I woke up. I was not able to go back and check what happened next because there was a lot of noise coming from the outside world. Here’s the thing, why don’t you put your own twist in this story based on my dream.

     -Tagalog/TagLish/English

     -Answer the question “What do you think happened next?”

     -Dedicate the story to me