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He is my solace, he gives me assurance, my alleviation from the noise of the chaotic world, the warmth of his comfort has me contented. With him, I learned to take chances dauntlessly, leave the past behind, love every inch of my present and embrace what awaits in the future.
There's a sudden knock on the door. I place the pen down, I was writing to ease my boredom, I slowly opened it to see if the girls are here. After having breakfast and goofing off around the beach, they went elsewhere, and I stayed here in the room.
I figured there's nothing much to do around here, so why not stay? When I peeked, Gaeb's the one who's knocking. He gave me a small smile before handing me a paper bag.
"What's this for?" I asked. He came in the room without saying a single word. I sat on the bed to open it, I looked back at him when I pulled out a small toy shovel. "This looks familiar. Where did you get this?"
"Cora and Raffa. They told me to give it to you," He says, he looks around. Our room is still a mess because we didn't fold our blankets, or even bothered making our beds. "Before they left to go back to their hometown."
I frowned when I heard that. Why didn't they tell me?
"It's alright. They'll visit Siargao again, anytime soon, and they hope you visit this place often too." He says. "I have to go. I'll just look for Ameelya. Korics is outside, by the way."
He left and closed the door. I stood there for a while before tying my hair into a ponytail. I wore my slippers, took my journal and pen, I ran outside towards Korics, who's sitting on a bench near the café.
His expressive eyes, his blinding glow, the dazzling spark of his piercing smile. I couldn't help but stare at him for so long, this feels like a fairytale. Siargao truly is paradise.
"What are you writing?" I've gone quiet because I was busy writing my most random thoughts. He may have noticed it. "Can I read it?"
"No!" I hugged the journal tightly so he won't have the chance to swipe it out of my hands. My heart is panting, but I kept my posture. "Give me some privacy, will you?"
"Who willingly dragged herself here when nobody even asked her to, huh?" He smirked as one of his eyebrows shot up. The smug look on my face faded away. "So, is that about me?"
"Ew!" I acted, looking very disgusted. It's the only thing I could do to spare myself from all of his teasing. "You are so assuming, Mister Villaverde!"
"Ouch, Miss Elviera." He held his chest, acting very hurt. I rolled my eyes and slapped his back using my journal. "Look, I'm in pain."
"Oh shut up."
I got bored, so I walked back to the lounge to interact with the staff. Some of them are on their breaks. Eventually, as we stayed longer, we got closer to the people we encounter daily.
All of them has been so nice, they treated us with so much care and respect. I sat on the sofa near the front desk, I'm here to wait for Vrylle, Nettheia, Venylie and Ameelya.
"Ma'am Sav, how long have you been friends with Sir Gaeb and Sir Nycho?" One of the staff asked, I smiled at them. "I just thought you might want someone to chat with, I can tell that you're getting bored."
"Oh, yes I am getting bored!" I laughed a bit. "I've been friends with the brothers... not so long enough. I met Gaeb in an event that happened in our school, and I met Nycho here, in Siargao."
"So, you don't know them that much?" She asked so I nodded to indicate a yes.
"Yes, I don't know them that much. I didn't even know Gaeb has an older brother, we're not that close..." I said, she kept nodding while listening carefully to me. "I didn't even know their family owns this hotel! It's quite overwhelming, actually."
"They're very nice Ma'am." She smiled. "Their entire family actually. They might not look approachable and they might appear intimidating, but they are very kind."
"I can sense that, too."
"On the other hand, you and your boyfriend look good together." She says, with a very huge grin placed on her face. I laughed awkwardly, trying to process what she has said. "Am I wrong? I thought Sir Korics is your boyfriend."
"He's not." I clarified. "But we don't know, maybe the next time I'd visit this place, he's officially that boyfriend you're talking about."
"I'm rooting for that, too." She smiled at me "You look great together, and even if you don't say anything, your eyes says it all. It's obvious you're happy with him Ma'am Sav. I'm a keen observer."
"That's for certain."
When the girls came back, I waved goodbye to the staff I got to talk to and headed back to the room. They went out to buy things in the souvenir shop, I honestly didn't want to spend my money so I stayed.
At first, we had a lot of plans for today but something came up. Kyve couldn't drive us to our intended destination since he's busy helping out in the hotel, we decided to go without him but Theia won't allow us to leave without Kyve. Saying it's a group thing, and everyone should be present.
"What did you get?" I asked, folding my clothes and not looking at them directly. They were busy comparing the stuff they bought, and the prices.
"Just some shirts," Vry shrugged, trying to fold the new clothes she bought. She even tried wearing to see if it fits her well. "And this really cool beach hat, too."
"Oh! It's such a cute hat!" Amee commented. She even clapped her hands to show excitement. "I love it! That's a great find, Gaia!"
"I bought this perfume," Venylie shows us, it's in a small baby pink bottle, with a ribbon near the cap, and there's two of them. "What? It's on sale so I bought two. Who knows how long I'd be able to come back here."
After talking about the products they bought, they rested while I sat in front of the vanity in the hotel room, there I continued writing on my journal.
Siargao... I hope the next time I visit this place, it's with you. To witness the sunrise beside you, to admire the sunset with you by my side. It has been an amazing vacation, and I'll always reminisce this moment.
The door opened, I let the pen go and looked to see who it is. It's Nycho, he smiled at me awkwardly before coming inside. He laughed while looking at Vry, who's sleeping.
"What do you need?" I asked, he sat on the vacant chair in front of the TV. "Sorry, the room's a mess. They all fell asleep, they got tired after shopping."
"Lunch is ready," He says, I nodded before waving at him. He went out, so I woke the girls up to tell them it's time for lunch. For sure, they're starving.
Believe me, it's a tough challenge trying to wake them all up. Vry started kicking me, Amee and Theia won't wake up no matter how noisy the ruckus I was making, and it's very tough to wake Venylie up. But I... succeeded.
"Here," Korics pulled the chair for me, he smiled when I sat beside him. I frowned while looking at the girls, they tired me out trying to wake them all up. "What's wrong?"
"Next time," I stared at them. "I'll never try to wake you all up. It's tiring! I'll leave all of you there."
"Sorry Sav!" They laughed and said that in sync.
"Let's just have lunch." Gaeb says. With a cold look on his face, he doesn't talk to us that much. "Sadly, our plans got cancelled... so Vern and I thought of another idea to spend our time together."
"Later, after dinner," Nycho said. "Let's have a bonfire near the beach, and maybe go stargazing if it's alright. Let's celebrate the friendship we built, after all, you only have a few more days left before you go back home. For sure you're all going to be busy in Sapient University."
"Oh my gosh!" Amee says, she looks very excited about the plan and the arrangements. "Are you guys G? Because I am!"
"We're all G!" We said in sync. "I'm G, too." Kyve appeared out of nowhere. Probably he finished with his job. He sat beside Nycho to eat lunch.
We had lunch, Korics and I helped clean the table. When we're all finished, we all decided to sleep and rest since we all planned to stay up late tonight. The boys also did the same.
The minute I woke up, I rushed to the bathroom to freshen up and wear new clothes. I just wore my floral printed dress and some black slippers I brought with me. I took my sling bag and placed my wallet inside, also my phone, even if it doesn't work.
I sat in front of the vanity to fix my hair, while the others are busy preparing too. After preparing, we all went out to sit in the lounge and wait for dinner to be served.
The boys came out of their room as well, they all look prepared too. Korics waved at me so I waved back at him too. He sat beside me on the sofa, I could smell him since he's very close to me.
There's his scent again, so natural but it lingers. I smiled, he looked at me confused about why I was smiling. I shook my head to go back to my normal state.
Gaeb stood up to go somewhere and when he came back he has his guitar with him. The same guitar he used when he performed at the Sapient University annual fundraiser event. For sure, he's going to sing for us tonight.
"Nycho? Do you sing, too?" Theia asked him, considering the fact that Nycho and Gaeb are brothers. "I mean, Gaeb's very good at singing."
"I don't," He laughs. "But I dance, Angelo and I are opposites. We don't get along that much, Jelo and I are more closer."
"Who's Jelo?" Venylie asked.
"Gav Jelo." Gaeb says. I smiled while thinking about their names, it sounds very well. Vern Nycho, Gaeb Angelo and Gav Jelo. "He calls us by our second names."
"Cute." Vry and Amee said in sync. I laughed.
The chef came out along with his kitchen staff, we all helped them arrange the table and place the food there. Vry helped ready the drinks and Amee brought out the plates. Venylie and Theia took the utensils in the kitchen.
"Want me to slice your steak?" He asked, Korics asked. I nodded and handed him my plate, he immediately sliced it in little pieces. "There,"
"Thank you, Kor." I giggled, Theia just stared at us with amusement in her eyes. "Wow, the food tastes great! Compliments to the chef."
When we all finished eating dinner, we helped clean again and we all went to the shore together. It's getting dark and no one else is in the beach so it's perfect. The boys gathered sticks and branches to start a fire.
It took them a while to start one, so as we waited for them, we gathered up things we could find around the shore to sit on. The boys finally accomplished their task, they started a fire and it grew bigger. We're all set, so we formed a circle around the bonfire.
"Hmm," Gaeb started playing his guitar. We all chatted and started playing games. Then, Nycho suggested. "Let's play, truth or dare. Kyve, look for a bottle so that we can decided who's turn it is."
"G!" We all said.
Kyve stood up to look for a bottle we could use, and when he found an empty bottle of beer. We used it to start playing the game. The first spin landed on Amee.
"Truth or dare?" Nycho asked Amee. She paused for a while. "Truth!" She laughed. "Do you like my brother? The only acceptable answer is a yes or a no. No explanations needed."
"Yes." Ameelya says and we all started shouting, Gaeb tries to stifle a smile, it's very obvious though. "Spin the bottle again!"
"Ooh, Vry!" I said, she awkwardly smiled before saying what she chose. "Hmm, dare! After all, I'm a daredevil!"
"Sit closer to Nycho!" I teased. She shrugged and did what exactly I dared her to, without any emotion on her face. I giggled. "Very good. You look cute together." The bottle started spinning again.
"Rox!" Vrylle smiled. "Sweet vengeance. Truth or dare?"
"Truth." I said, firmly. "I choose truth."
"Are you starting to fall in love with Korics Lource?" Everyone started giggling, waiting for me to answer.
"Starting? Oh please, I already did." They all screamed in excitement after I said all of those. My heart's beating quick too. "Let me spin the bottle... Kor!"
"Truth or dare?" Gaeb asked Kor, he also paused for a bit before saying... "Dare."
"I dare you to hand this..." Gaeb handed Kor a rose made with toilet paper. "...to the person you have feelings for.."
Korics stood up, and started walking closer to me. He stopped and looked down, handing me the toilet paper rose. I tried to stifle a smile but I couldn't.
"Savelle, a perfectly made toilet paper rose for you." He says, we both locked stares.
~~~