My Man 8

‘Hey your glasses weren’t aligned.’ He reached up and fixed it himself. ‘There you go.’ He said with a broad grin on his face.

Cybil smiled. ‘Thank you.’

After Cybil changed clothes, Van dragged her to the nearest hospital for a shot of anti- tetanus. She insisted on cleaning her own wounds and self medicating an anti-biotic but Van insisted on going to the hospital. With patience and a little persuasion, Cy gave in. After she had given the shot, they decided to have a stroll in the mall and watch a movie. It wasn’t Cybil’s imagination for a date but she sure was having a good time with Van’s company.

They’ve watched horror movie. She got to admit she was a little scared, she even screamed so loud inside the movie theater. Van hugged her and whispered soothing words until she relaxed. For a while Cy thought she might have another attack of her angina but surprisingly it didn’t. After the movie ended, Van was teasing her. ‘My ears are still ringing until now.’

She looked down and smiled shyly. ‘Sorry. Horror movies aren’t my thing but I felt better after screaming.’ She said. They both burst out laughing.

Cybil smiled upon remembering the scenes a while ago. After watching the movie Van brought her to a restaurant for their dinner. She looked at Van and was surprised to catch him red handed, he was staring at her. Both his elbows were on the table and his hands were under his. Cy threw him a quizzical look.

He smiled then reached to touch her cheek. ‘You got very expressive amber eyes. It such a shame how well you hid it.’ he said seriously. ‘It’s so expressive that I could see you’re pure and…’ he leaned back to his chair. He was shocked. ‘Lonely soul.’ It was then that he noticed the pain and sorrow written in her eyes.

‘Lonely soul?!’ she asked with a soft laugh. ‘Now that’s new.’ She said while withdrawing her gaze from Van’s. I really hate these eyes, she thought. It is better if they are hidden. But then, Cybil looked at Van’s handsome face. They sure are different. This one is sincere, thoughtful, intelligent, honest, respectful and gentleman. The other one is-

‘Is there something on my face?’

‘N-Nothing I’m just thinking…’ she trailed off.

He leaned forward and curiously asked. ‘About what?’

‘About how PECULIAR you and the Jerk are friends… best of friends in fact. I mean you two are opposites like black and white, day and night, yin and yang,’ she giggled from the naughty though she just had. ‘Good and bad.’

‘Yin and Yang?!’ he asked.

‘Yup. Yin and yang are complementary opposites of whole.’ She studied his reaction. ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of it? It’s a Chinese philosophy… the black and white circle.’ She said trying to explain Yin and Yang simply. She tried so hard not to sound too geeky in front of Van.

‘Okay… okay…’ he said while laughing softly. ‘I got the picture.’ He was silent for a while. So does that mean I’m the good guy and BJ’s the bad one? He asked himself. Oh boy, he said while giggling. ‘WOW! I never thought we’ve given you such impression, Cy.’ He was still chuckling softly. Minutes later he cleared his throat then said seriously. ‘BJ might be a spoiled jerk with an attitude problem but deep inside he’s a good person.’ Van was quiet for a while. He was with an inner battle with himself whether to tell Cybil about his friend’s past or leave it to BJ. But is he capable of doing so, Van asked himself. He might like Cybil but Van wanted to be fair with BJ. He would like Cybil to know BJ the way Van knew him. ‘A tragedy happened a year ago,’ he started. ‘I could say it definitely changed BJ’s life forever. For starters, Clarisse, he had given the chance- Cy?’ he called her attention. She was staring closely at the table to their right. He shook his head and studied her closely. She sure is beautiful, he though. ‘You know them?’

She shook her head blankly, her gaze were still transfixed. ‘No but I find it cute and sweet.’ She shifted her gaze and looked straight to his green eyes. ‘A father and daughter having a date,’ she said while smiling adorably at him. ‘I never expect to see one in these days.’ Then suddenly something hit her. ‘What were you talking about a while ago?’

‘Nah, forget it! It seems to me that you’re not interested.’ He smiled as Cybil made face at him. ‘Don’t worry, it’s not that important.’

After their dinner, Van pulled over in front of Cy’s house. ‘Can we talk?’

Cybil frowned. Van’s tone was different and so was his mood. I bet this is serious, she thought. ‘Sure. What’s up?’

Van hesitated for a while then he sighed, got off his car and opened the passenger’s door. ‘Let’s have a stroll.’

It took Van one hour to reveal everything to Cybil. ‘So?’ he asked nervously.

Cybil looked at him intently with one of her brows raised. She then bit her lower lip and turned her back from Van. She didn’t believe Van’s BIG revelation… in fact she didn’t WANT to believe. For her it was so surreal. But then again, she silently thought. This guy is perfect! Well, compare to the other one-

‘Cy…’ Van called her attention. ‘Oh c’mon! At least tell me what you think… please don’t turn your back on me.’ He pleaded making Cybil struggled to suppress her laughter. They were at the park’s playground sitting on some small chairs that was only meant for toddlers.

He’s so CUTE!!! She thought silently. A lot of naughty stuffs were running through her mind. She then giggled from the excitement she felt. This must be a lot fun and I can’t wait! Cybil heard Van sighed.

‘It wasn’t easy telling you those stuffs, you know.’

Opps… Cybil cleared her throat and then she faced Van. ‘I’m sorry Van…’ she said trying hard not to laugh… but failed. ‘I’m sorry.’ she said finally after gaining her composure. ‘It’s just that you look so cute…’ She said laughing and she even pinched both his cheeks. After she’d released his cheeks, she saw Van rolled his eyes and then he turned his back from her. Yeah this is fun, she thought while staring straight at Van’s slouched back. ‘Okay…’

‘What do you mean ‘okay’?’ he asked without turning his back. ‘Okay… you’ll give me-’

‘Yes…’

Immediately Van’s head snap towards her direction. ‘Seriously?!’ he asked but didn’t gave Cybil the chance to answer. Her answer was written in her amber eyes. ‘Yes!’ he shouted while jumping energetically in front of her. ‘Oh Cybil…’ he knelt in front of her then without asking permission, he hugged her. ‘I’m so happy… really.’

She laughed softly. ‘Well Mr. Spencer, it’s way to early for you to celebrate.’

Later that night, Cybil stopped brushing her hair when she heard a faint knock on her door. It was then followed by a faint voice of her brother. ‘Sis… you still up?’

She smiled. She needed not to look at the other side of the door to find out who was knocking. ‘Yes Kent… come in.’ Sure thing, her two brothers were identical twins but it was so easy to tell them apart. Kent materialized immediately at her side. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked while looking at his reflection to the mirror.

‘Can I sleep with you tonight?’ he asked sweetly. ‘You were so busy these past days… I miss you.’

She put down her brush and then stood up. ‘Okay.’ She said immediately without hesitation.

She led her brother towards her bed and they both lay on the bed. Kent kissed her cheek then said, ‘Goodnight sis. I love you.’

‘Goodnight too Kent-’ Cybil’s attention was caught by a small figure standing just outside her open door with arms crossed over his chest. ‘If you don’t want to come in, kindly close my door, go to your room and sleep.’ She said while turning her back to Kyle and she then hugged Kent. Cybil heard her door closed and then smiled at herself as she felt her blanket moved.

‘No fair.’ Kyle said as he lay next to her.

‘Where is your sister?’ BJ asked Cy’s brother.

Kyle snorted. ‘It’s seven in the morning! Could you at least give our sister a break? You’ve been dragging her for these past days.’

BJ flinched. This twin is Kyle or Kent? He asked himself. He knew the twins can be differentiated by their attitude but he forgot which twin was sweet and which one was not. ‘I want a word with her.’

Another twin came out from the kitchen. ‘Oh Good morning BJ.’ He greeted. ‘If you’re looking for sis, she’s not her. She goes to work,’ and as if BJ would asked him, Kent said. ‘The movie house.’

He smiled. ‘Thank… Kyle.’

Kent winced. ‘It’s Kent, BJ.’

‘I still can’t guess which one is which…’ BJ said honestly.

Kyle snorted and then without a word he entered his room.

‘Thank you Kent, I’ll-’ he stopped abruptly upon remembering something. ‘Kent, why did your sister decided to change her look?’

Kent smiled. ‘Due to certain circumstances…’ he burst out laughing as if he was the only one got the joke. He then cleared his throat. ‘She started acting weird back when she was in her second year in high school. It was also the time when dad suddenly stopped calling us or sending us a letter.’ He sighed and sat on the chair not far from BJ. ‘I guess dad was also one of her reasons. You see our daddy was a Civil Engineer and at that time he was frequently assigned overseas. At first it was okay but one day he just vanished. Sis was our dad’s little girl, she was so close to dad and she was so upset and disappointed…’ he trailed off.

‘And then she just changed her look?!’ he said. ‘To be honest, I don’t get it.’

‘Dad’s disappearance was one of her REASONS.’

‘So there is another one?’

Kent naughtily smiled. ‘Uhuh… and the most important one but I don’t have the right to tell you.’

‘Cy, what happened?’ Rae asked while pointing curiously at Cy’s right arm. They were busy cleaning the whole store, as their manager ordered first thing in the morning. He demanded them to come to the store early to clean up. Rae was wiping the glass windows while Cybil were removing the DVD’s from their shelves.

‘Oh this,’ Cy said while looking at the dressing on her right arm. ‘It’s nothing serious. It just my clumsiness getting on my way… I tripped of yesterday…’ she trailed off.

‘Oh… too bad.’ Rae continued her work. Not long, she noticed a silver BMW M3 stopped in front of their store. Somehow the car looked familiar to her. She stopped wiping the glass window and waited patiently for the owner of the car. She was holding her breath unconsciously.

‘Rae it’s not Joseph, so better if you relax.’ Cybil said. She noticed Rae’s gaze was on the car and Cybil knew pretty well what was inside Rae’s mind.

Rae sighed. ‘You know what Cy, I’m getting tried of this hide and seek thing.’ She said honestly. ‘It’s getting in my nerves and I’m getting paranoid just thinking about it.’

Cy smiled dryly at her.

Rae knew her pretty well. She knew Cybil sucks at comforting the people around her. Rae shook her head and resumed her work. The owner of the silver BMW just got off his car and Cybil was right, it wasn’t her brother Joseph but still the guy’s back looked familiar. Rae studied it closely but she was interrupted by a loud sound coming from their TV. ‘What was that?’ she asked as she saw Cybil was holding the remote.

‘Sorry…’ she trailed off. Cybil then gazed at the TV. ‘I can’t believe that guy’s popularity.’ She said furiously.

Frowning, Rae followed her gazed and smiled seeing the person indorsing sports apparel. ‘Looks to me that the camera loved him and…’ Rae chuckled as the model smiled charmingly at the camera. ‘HE also loved the camera.’ Rae commented. Sure thing, the model was handsome… and hot. ‘By the way Cy, how’s you’re so called relationship with you’re so called boyfriend,’ she paused to give drama. ‘Which happened to be that,’ she pointed the model in the TV. ‘Guy.’

Cybil snorted and then stuck out her tongue.

‘That bad?!’ Rae laughed. ‘But I thought you’ve got a huge crush on that guy?’

‘Please!!! Don’t remind me…’ she collected all the DVDs on the table and she arranged it on the shelves she just cleaned. She then sighed and sat on the floor. ‘That guy is a jerk Rae.’ She lazily threw the dust cloth in front of her then continued. ‘I think it’s better if I haven’t met him.’ she said softly. ‘If I haven’t met him, my viewpoint towards him might not change. Maybe I still have a huge crush on him and maybe I’ll swoon in front of him whenever I see him.’ she was quiet for a while. ‘And my life would be much quieter if we haven’t met.’ She stood up. ‘Just look at me.’

‘You look stunningly beautiful with just a pair of jeans, shirt and without make-up on.’ Rae said grinning broadly at her. ‘Just like the old days. And I have to thank BJ for bringing my best friend back.’ She added. Rae move towards her. ‘Is he that bad?!’

‘What a question!’ she said sarcastically. ‘He’s a jerk, a womanizer, a user, a spoiled rich kid with an attitude problem... and,’ she pointed her right arm. ‘He did this to me.’

Rae flinched. ‘But I thought you just tripped?’

‘Okay… I lied. The truth is…’ Cybil told Rae everything but she didn’t told Rae about her date with Van.

‘Whoa! Cybil?! You allow that jerk to-’

‘I’m his servant Rae… I owe him remember?’ She interrupted her sentence. ‘And,’ Cybil raised her index finger to stop her best friend from protesting. ‘He’s not accepting money as my payment.’ She sighed. ‘That’s his rule.’

‘But that’s ridiculous!’ Rae exclaimed. She tried hard thinking for a solution to Cy’s problem but to her dismay she hadn’t thought any. She studied her best friend and then something occurred to her. ‘Cy isn’t me and mind dirty mind or… you want to be his GIRLFRIEND.’

She snorted then said. ‘I willingly trade this,’ she was referring to her position as BJ ‘girlfriend’. ‘To anyone who dreamt of becoming his girlfriend and I would like to set my self free from him. He’s such a user… a slave driver…’ she trailed off. Cy get the broom then started swiping the floor. Not long enough, Cybil stopped swiping the floor and looked straight at Rae. ‘You know what Rae, if I were to compare BJ to his best friend Van, I’ll go with Van. I don’t have something about BJ but Van’s the total opposite of the guy.’ she paused for a moment to studied Rae’s reaction. But her best friend simply didn’t care about Van. ‘I mean,’ she continued. ‘Van’s perfect! He’s intelligent, thoughtful, sincere, honest, gentleman… I could go on ‘till tomorrow.’

Rae chuckled. She picked their trash and heeded towards the front door. ‘Do you think you’re a bit harsh with BJ?’

‘Harsh?!’ she repeated. ‘The jerk deserves it.’ she said matter-of-fact.

Rae chuckled and shook her head. Cybil put an air of toughness around her but she was still the same friend that Rae comforted years ago, the same girl who cried her heart out from a broken promises and the same girl who made almost all boys of their campus gone crazy.

Rae went out to throw their garbage but she abruptly stopped as she saw the very least person she would see in the area. The guy was standing just inches away from the open door, his back was on the wall, his arms was crossed over his chest and his head was slightly bend over. For a moment Rae didn’t know what to do. ‘B-BJ,’ she whispered. ‘H-How long have you been s-standing out here?’

BJ slowly raised his head and looked straight at her eyes. ‘Long enough…’ his voice was barely audible. ‘To hear everything.’

Rae’s eyes literarily went big and her jaw dropped. ‘Oh my God!’ she has to do something. ‘BJ-’

BJ shook his head. ‘Don’t…’ he interrupted. ‘I’ll go now. Please don’t tell Cybil about this.’

‘What?!’ BJ shouted to the other line. Someone was calling his phone. At first he tried to ignore it but the caller was persistent. After leaving having a little talk with Rae he left immediately.

‘Whoa! What’s up with that?’ Van said with laughter in his voice. ‘Anyway, we have a practice today. I failed to inform you yesterday because… I’m a little bit busy. We’re all in the gym and we’re about to start the practice match. Coach said you NEED to be here. Tomorrow’s match will be our first for this season.’

‘Yeah…’ he said.

‘What happened to you?’

BJ immediately ended the call. ‘You’re the one who caused this, you bastard.’ He said angrily to his phone. ‘You and Cybil!’ He stared at his phone and then sighed. He didn’t know why he felt so betrayed, cheated and some he felt being played. ‘You can never steal Cybil from me, Van. I won’t let you.’ He said to himself and then he stated his car’s engine.

In less than ten minutes BJ reached their gym. Everyone was on their jersey and randomly shooting some hoops. ‘Sorry I’m late.’ He said to their coach.

He just nodded at him. ‘Go change with your jersey.’

He immediately followed. After he changed his clothes, their coach divided them into two groups. One was headed by BJ and the other was headed by Van. The veterans and rookies were neatly divided by their coach. After the rules had been set, they started the game. It was Van and BJ who’ll do the jump ball. They stood at the middle of the court and when a referee started throwing the ball up BJ immediately jump and tapped the ball but his right elbow hit Van’s head. A whistle was called and BJ charged of an unsportsmanlike foul.

‘But I didn’t do anything! It’s just an accident.’ The referee won’t listen to him and he gave Van a free-throw.

It wasn’t long that BJ was charged for another offensive foul with Van and this time Van was really hurt. BJ’s shoulder hit Van’s eyes. ‘What’s wrong with you?!’ Van asked angrily. He was shouted on top of his lungs. ‘If you’re angry with me then tell me. You’re such a coward asshole!’

‘Why you…’ BJ was about to attack Van but he was stopped by his teammate.

‘Reynolds back on the beach, Spencer go to the locker room!’ their coach shouted. ‘I’ll deal with both of you later.’

Van lay on the beach. His eyes were still hurting him. He stood up and inspected his eyes in front of the mirror. His eyes were fine, and he was glad to that. He was looking forward for their game tomorrow and he will be in a damn shit if he can’t play in their first game for the new season. He sighed and stared blankly at the mirror. Bj’s acting weird today, he thought. What was- he was interrupted by the figure staring furiously at him. He turned to face BJ. ‘What are you doing here?’

Instead of answering his question, BJ gave him a straight punch and then another came another, and another and another... Then he pinned down Van. ‘Stay away from my GIRLFRIEND.’

Van choked his laughter. ‘Girlfriend?! Who the hell is your girlfriend?!?!’

His right fist raised and was about to gave Van another punch but somehow his fist didn’t touched his face. BJ tried to control himself and when he succeeded, he reluctantly let go of Van’s jersey. ‘Stay away from CYBIL. She’s my girl-’

‘No she’s NOT!!!’ Van protested. ‘I know everything about your little secret with Cybil. You want her to PRETEND as your girlfriend for you to catch Clarisse’s attention.’ He smiled wickedly upon seeing BJ’s reaction. Van seated on the floor. ‘I’ve heard everything straight from your mouth BJ.’

‘I don’t care what you’ve heard but in everyone’s eyes, she’s my girlfriend. Cybil is mine… my girlfriend, so you better back off. I have all the right to-’

‘To what?!’ Van threatened. ‘Fine she’s your girlfriend now but after all these, after you get what you want, YOU should better back off.’ he said meaningfully. ‘You can play with the other girls you like, I don’t give a damn to that but not Cy. I won’t let you.’ He stood up and looked at BJ furiously. ‘I like Cybil and I’ll do everything to protect her from you even if it means ending our friendship.’ Then without a word he left BJ.
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Actually I never planned on posting a chapter this week due to my school activities but as I've read your comments i was really surprised i got 15 of them!! hahahahahaha... for the first time! (I hope i can have 20 comments in the future) hahahahahaha... *fingers crossed* seriously it's what was written on the comments that made me decide to post one this week... :D

I know I've got so many mistakes in my writing but still thank you for reading my work. :D

Thank you so much for leaving your comments..,,I really hope you like this chapter..,, Enjoy reading and God Bless Us all... :D