Bubble Gum Kisses
CHAPTER 52

**Kapittel 52** ***Vanessa***

**"5 minutes are over.** Please fix your chairs and go back to your original seating arrangement. Group A, prepare to take the floor," Mrs. Birmingham announced and we all complied, shuffling from our chairs and moving our chairs to their right position.

"Now, remember. Speak slowly so we can get past five minutes. Do a lot of ad-libs too," I reminded my group mates one last time. We nodded at each other like we had the same thing in mind before returning to our respective original spots. Sighing, I lounged lazily on my seat, contemplating our incoming performance. The plot we generated was mediocre, but the dialogue was a different story. We planned to hit every single line knee-deep. I had a few ideas about the things that I was going to say related to the topic, given the weeks of my learning under Mrs. Birmingham's passionate teaching. I didn't know with the others though, they seemed to be pretty much knowledgable about it too, since they were nodding and responding like they know it at the back of their hand. Still, I should prepare a safety net, in case.

As soon as the familiar presence graced my side, I felt my entire being shuddered. From the scent of his strong perfume mixed with his tangy body odor that'd effortlessly waft into my nose, to the shadow cast by his arrogant figure, to the way he composed himself in every move he made that sent tingles to the ends of my skin, I knew it was him.

My heart tumbled in my chest, and a weird surge ran down my spine. God, what the fuck was that? Why was his annoying presence suddenly swaying me? I wasn't feeling like this before. I admit, he might have swayed me that one time. But it never faltered my animosity towards him. Where had all my anger and irritation gone? Was I too affected that he showed me support during the meeting earlier? If that was the case, I should stop feeling like it.

"Nervous?” he whispered in my ear, causing me to go stiff, my shoulders raised. His cool breath fanning on my ear was making my predicament worse!

"As if." I turned away from him, pushing myself a bit to give ourselves some distance. I swear to God, this guy never respected personal space. Urgh, this may be one of his psychological warfare to put me down or something. "Right." He scoffed, looking at me with a brow raised. "You better not let me down."

Hah, such big words coming from him. "The same goes for you," I retorted.

"When have I ever?" A lot of times, Friso. A lot of times.

"You already kn-"

"We're ready to begin, Ma'am," Group A suddenly announced.

Mrs. Birmingham did a small attendance on the members first before nodding. "Begin."

I grew more nervous as each group preceding us performed. Each equally had its own merits and drawbacks, nonetheless, I couldn't deny the fact that they did wonderful presentations, praiseworthy I could declare.

I remained seated on my spot in awe and daze. My anxiety had run up on so many levels that I hadn't taken note of changes that I could apply, copied from the remarkable things I witnessed. I hoped that ours could also get to that kind of execution even though the sketch was made in haste and practice wasn't done. However, I should also lay aside my worries for a bit, my group mates were Trinity Knight students, and they weren't ones to estimate.

"Group D, you're up," Mrs. Birmingham announced, and I immediately rose to my feet with a pad of paper and colored pens as props in hand.

We all got in front, standing on the platform. The others brought their props too. Good.

"I'll give you two minutes to get ready," our instructor said while scribbling on her notes, her eyes never boring us. "Then I'll be checking your attendance and you may start."

"Yes, Ma'am," I replied stiffly before gathering my peers for one final briefing. Seeing that they were all relaxed as I briefed them, it seemed that I was the only one nervous. If ever one of them fucks up, I already had safety nets prepared. "Okay, let's do this," I said and we all got into our places. Alexie got into the front right below the platform, holding her crammed script in hand, Jersey and Kyla went to a corner where they could not be seen, while Friso and I sat on the center platform.

"Don't fuck this up," I whispered to Friso.

"Don't you have any faith in me?"

"Not the slightest," I retorted before speaking to our teacher who now looked ominously menacing when she was just sitting on the chair foremost behind. "We're ready, Ma'am." I pushed my saliva to the back of my throat. "All right, begin," she said after checking our attendance.

I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. Just do like how you always did, I told myself. Ignore the crowd, pretend like you were the only ones to exist. Better yet, your classmates were people who you see every day, just pretend that you were friends who accept you even if you get embarrassed. They weren't a pack of wolves prowling and would feast on your flesh at one mistake.

I released a long breath, opened my eyes, and nodded at Alexie who had been waiting for my cue all along.

"Vanessa and Drew are best friends who do everything together..." she began while I uncapped my pen and began scribbling on the paper. Okay, that was an unexpectedly good introduction. "From playing tag to drawing pictures..." I drew a quick picture of sunshine and flowers. "Look, Drew! I drew something!" I held it up.

"Wow. That's great, Vannie. I didn't know you're so bad at drawing." A roar of laughter erupted.

"I-I'm still practicing." I poured all my energy to curve my lips into a smile. He was testing my nerves again. "Anyway! What are you making?" I put my props aside and scooted beside him. He seemed to be making something out of a paper. "A ring," he answered, turning to me with a wicked glint in his eyes. He lifted the paper ring for everyone to see. It was only a simple paper ring but it was evident to be neatly made, no crumples, no ugly creases. Damn, his flawlessness gets me jealous sometimes. I couldn't even get the chance to badmouth his handiwork.

He suddenly took my hand and slowly slid the ring to my ring finger. "Promise me that we'll marry in the future, Vannie." This motherfu- that wasn't in the plan! "Promise me that you will be my bride." God, he took my words about ad-libbing too seriously.

"Er..." I was at a loss for words. Everyone was gushing over our act, the others were even squealing. But it didn't shield me from receiving animosity from Friso's fangirls. I couldn't see them since I refused to look at the crowd, but I could feel that some of the girls' were picturing themselves burning me at the stake.

My mind was squandering from place to place, boggling how to avoid this situation. I looked around, internally screaming, "Save me!" but most were staring at us with intrigue, especially at me. Remember, Vanessa, you were the one who came up with this childhood scene just so the skit would get past five minutes. Ugh. Whatever, this was just a skit anyway. The grades after this were important. "I..." I'm so gonna fuck you up later, de Vries. "Vanessa! It's time to go home." Nice!

Like a superhero appearing at times of distress, Kyla suddenly appeared behind me, grabbing me by the arms and pulling me up effortlessly. "Okay, nanny!" I flashed a relieved smile, clandestinely shaking my hand to remove the ring. It immediately fell on the wooden platform. Our spectators hollered: "Aww!" Probably disappointed that I failed to answer.

"See you tomorrow again, Drew!" I waved at him victoriously.

His eyes stared at the ring that lay on the platform, his eyebrows scrunching. "Definitely, Vannie!" he replied with a smile, but it was clear from the veins of his temple and hardened expression that he was restraining himself. You weren't allowed to call me with that monicker, asswipe!

"As time passed, they continued to spend time together, essentially growing together. From playing tag and hide-and-seek, they began competing in different areas..." Alexie went on with her narration and we continued to follow her words. We were finally getting to the crucial part, and this presentation would soon be over.

"One day, Vanessa came with a teddy bear."

"Look, Fri- Drew! A teddy! Guess who gave it to me?" I came up on the platform, dancing around with the teddy bear that Kyla lend us.

"Thinking that some guy gave it to her, Drew felt compelled at the thing in his best friend's hands." Friso looked at me for a moment before he snatched it from my grip and threw it to the ground.

"My teddy bear!" I gasped and began to feign crying. "Why did you do that, Drew? This is special to me!" I continued to act and loudened my cries.

"You don't need that," he suddenly said. For some reason, I thought his eyes were condescendingly boring to me. My heart began to pump crackling, boiling oil into my veins. I shook my head before it could get the best of me. I was getting carried away. I was probably seeing things.

"I hate you!" I hollered and picked up the woolly thing into my hands to walk away. But suddenly, his strong hand grabbed my wrist. I looked back at him. Was this still part of the acting?

"Why are you suddenly angry at me?" he asked, his forehead scrunched, his eyebrows almost kissing, and his eyes earnest. "Why do you care about it so much? It's just a teddy bear. Just like your shoes. I could even give you better ones." My blood pressure immediately shot up past the maximum level when he mentioned my shoes.

"Because my mom gave it to me!"

** **

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