Love Is Second Best — Chapter 23: MY ALL-TIME BUDDY

Carmella's POV

"Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"I am still in the library, Hope." I covered my hands on my phone as I lowered my voice as much as possible. I looked around and luckily, the librarian was not looking in my direction. Cellphones and excessive talking and loud noises were prohibited inside so I have to be really careful.

"I am coming back. I'm sorry. We talked with Mrs. Charize. That’s the reason why I am coming back a little late. See you!" She ended the call that made me glance at my wristwatch.

It was exactly 9:00 A.M. Two hours has passed and I wonder if Adrian’s game is already done. I closed the book that I am studying right now. I scrolled on my newsfeed to see updates on facebook when I received a text message just now.

IanPeepz: Hi, Princess Diana!

It made me smile like an idiot again. I glanced around me to see if other students are looking at me smiling like crazy here right now. Good thing they are not.

"Hello Ian!" I waited for two minutes to reply to him. My goodness, I kinda like him but I don't want to look desperate as well.

IanPeepz: Our basketball game is over. Wanna join me for lunch?

I am about to reply to him when Hope's message pops up. Caaarmeeellaaa! Join me for lunch later please! I am near the library now!"

Oh no. What am I going to do? I am holding my phone, thinking of who to reply when somebody is covering my eyes.

"Who's this?" I knew it was Hope and she was being silly but I clicked the side button of my phone to hide my messages. I don't want her to see that Adrian and I were texting each other. She would ask a lot about him. I don't want to make a choice, either.

"Hope?"

"Hmmp, you should pretend not to know me sometimes. You're bad." She chuckled as she pouted her lips.

"Silly girl. How could I not know you if you're noisy?"

"Oops." She giggled in a soft voice. We looked around to see if we were already drawing attention. Good thing we're not. She sat in front of me with a smile.

"Carmella..." She called my name as she looked at me with that glistening eyes.

"What?"

"Have you ever been in love before?"

Whoah, I never see that coming. Why did Hope ask this question all of a sudden?

"Hmm...yeah." I smiled as I looked at her, too. "Here." I added, getting the books as I showed it to her. She jokingly frowned as she shook her head from side to side as she clicked her tongue.

"Of course, we love books. What I mean, have you ever fallen in love with a guy before?"

I could see that she's getting serious already.

"I don't know. I guess not. I am focused on my studies. I don't have time for that and you know it."

"What? My gosh! Are you even human?"

"For Pete's sake Hope, we're only sixteen. We're still young."

"I never expected your reaction. I guess the way people think in America is different from here."

I nodded as I agreed to what she said just now.

"Yeah. Asians are conservative. When you're sixteen here, you're still considered as a kid, just take a look at my mom."

She covered her mouth as she laughed.

"Well, I will not argue with that anymore."

"Why did you ask? Have you?" I asked the question back to her. She said nothing but her sweet smile says it all.

"Who is the lucky guy?" I whispered as I leaned my face near her.

"Who's lucky? No one." She smiled as she covered her face.

"Please tell me. I am good at keeping secrets, I promise."

"Hmm...before I tell you, may I know your type of guy, dear Carmella?" She said with glistening eyes.

I automatically smiled as I remembered Adrian.

"I like guys who have a great sense of humor. I also like it when he loves to eat different kinds of food. I want a food buddy, that's why." I grinned. I can see Hope nodded.

"Interesting." She commented as she heard my kind of guy. I wonder what she's thinking right now. I've known Hope for a couple of months now but I never asked her if she had a boyfriend when she's still in America.

"Did you have a boyfriend in America?"

She shook her head as she smiled.

"It may be hard to believe but I never had a boyfriend, Carmella."

"Oh my! I should've never judged beautiful girls like you."

"Why are you saying that? You're beautiful, too. It's just that my dad is too strict that I am never allowed to date anyone."

"Of course. Any dad will be protective of their princess, you know."

"Yeah. I am happy that even if we lived in America, the Filipino values are still present within me. Dad never failed to teach me how to be conservative and on how to respect myself and other people as well."

"Yeah, my mom does it for me, too."

A moment of silence happened before us. I looked at Hope as she looked outside the window. She seems to be thinking about something while smiling sweetly.

"Carmella..."

"Hmm?" She smiled as she looked at me straight into my eyes again.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"I don't know. It never happened to me that's why I guess I can never tell. What about you?"

She scratched her head and smiled.

"I guess I am right now."

"What? Really?" I suddenly got excited for Hope.

"Yeah. It's weird but it indeed happened."

"Why? Where did you see the lucky guy?"

"He's wearing a gray basketball uniform. He's so good at playing it, I fell in love with his dimples right away."

I nodded.

"Wow. I guess he's a great guy."

"Yeah. I hope to meet him someday."

"Did you know his name?"

"I was too shy to come near him. I don't know his name yet."

"I wish you will know him soon. I wish the best for you, Hope."

"I also wish the best for you too, Carmella."

"We'll be having a great lovelife and we'll attend each other's wedding."

"Wow! I love how advanced you think, Carmella!" I giggled as I heard her reaction. She's also enjoying what I said. I hope I will also meet the guy she's telling me about. By that time, I will also be prepared to introduce Adrian to Hope.

We still spent two more hours and I have decided to decline Adrian's lunch offer because of Hope. I am also thinking of making it up to her because of what happened yesterday.

"Where do you want to eat?"

"I want to eat at Jenny’s Cafe."

"Wow, that's just near our school. Is it open today?"

"Yeah, I know they're open even on a rainy day."

She chuckled as she got my joke. She hugged my arm as we went outside the gate. When I turned my gaze to my left, I suddenly spotted Adrian with Kalix and some of the Blazing Phoenix.

"We better hurry, Hope." I grabbed her hand as we rushed into Jenny’s Cafe. This time, I am praying hard hoping that Adrian will not eat at Jenny’s because we're here already. I selected a seat near the window to see people coming in and out of the restaurant.

"What's wrong? Are we hiding from someone?" Hope asked as she also looked to the direction of where I am looking at right now.

"No. I decided to hurry up because their fried chicken will be out of stock after ten minutes if we'll be a little late."

She nodded as she understood what I am talking about.

"Let's order their famous fried chicken now." Hope said as we both stood up. I sighed with relief when I saw Adrian went inside Xyler's Steakhouse across Jenny’s Cafe. Now I am confident that our paths will never cross this time around.

We both went to the counter and paid for our lunch. Since it is a buffet style kind of lunch, I enjoyed getting foods that I miss eating the most.

"You know what? I am starting to love Filipino cuisines. The combination is perfect." Hope commented that made the servers smile.

"Thank you!" She said as she got her plate from the chicken's section. The server gave her a large helping of chicken tinola (chicken soup).

"I should try complimenting the food aloud so that I can get that kind of serving, too." I whispered in her ear that made her giggle so much.

We sat on our table and I glanced at the window one more time. I shifted my gaze on my food when I couldn’t see Adrian from the window.

"Gosh, their chicken tinola is delicious!" Her eyes almost glistened as she said between munches.

"Yeah, and their fried chicken, too. You should try it."

"Wow, Carmella. I never knew you're good at selecting the best restaurants in town."

"Not really. It so happened that this restaurant serves the best food that's why I also want you to try it to believe it."

"And you're right, dear. I also proved it myself that they serve great food."

I looked at how Hope enjoyed the food while we ate in silence, This is all thanks to Adrian. He was the first to invite me to try this place and their chicken dishes. He's really the best.