Priceless

~~~

Saturday. It was finally Saturday. Finally, after that long, stressful, busy week, I could now relax. I had thankfully survived three major quizzes, two minor ones, two groupworks, and an awful lot of homeworks; finally, the week was over.

I collapsed on my bed, deciding to rest for a little while before preparing for the date I had with Alex. It was only 4 PM anyway, he wasn't picking me up until 7, so I still had time to just lay there for a while. I was really tired due to school plus my dentist appointment earlier this day and that school activity I participated in with Justine and Amy for the upcoming seniors' week.

I closed my eyes, ready to let my mind wander off for a while, and then opened them again after a few seconds and glanced at the clock. I was surprised at what I saw.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as I jumped down my bed and hurried to get my phone. It seemed like I was only out for a minute, not for two hours and thirty minutes! But my eyes weren't lying, because when I looked at the clock again, it was indeed 6:30 and Alex was gonna be here in half an hour.

I finally found my phone and I mentally cussed as I realized that I hadn't charged it since Wednesday night, when my battery went dead. I quickly looked for my charger and when I found it, I wasted no time.

I turned on my phone after a few minutes of waiting until it lit up, and ignored all the pop outs for new messages. I scrolled through my contacts and quickly dialled Alex' number. It rang for a few times before it went into voicemail, and I figured he must've been driving already. Nevertheless, I left a message.

"Alex! I just woke up. You might have to wait just a little bit for me to get ready. I'm so sorry. See you!" I said quickly before putting my phone down and hurrying to the bathroom.

I took the quickest bath ever, while thinking what to wear and cursing myself for dozing off like that. Then I got dressed as fast as I could, and started drying my hair after that. I glanced at my clock once again; it was already 7:05 and so I hurriedly combed my hair, applied a little makeup, grabbed my phone and my purse and started down the stairs.

As I was making my way to the living room, I saw Alex coming in through the front door, escorted by Mary. I was confused upon seeing him wearing a suit.

"I thought this was a casual date?" I asked as I approached him. I pecked him on the cheek and when I pulled away, he handed me a box of chocolates, looking quite confused.

"Didn't you get my text?" he asked back.

I shook my head. "My battery died last Wednesday and I only got the chance to charge it when I woke up—which was about thirty minutes ago. I haven't read any of the texts yet because I hurried up," I answered.

He nodded in understanding. "Well, my father arranged a family dinner for tonight and I wasn't informed 'till this afternoon. I texted you about it, asking if you wanted to cancel or push through with the dinner, but with my family. You didn't reply so I figured I still should come see you," he explained. "So, what's your plan?"

The Halloween Party crossed my mind that very moment, and I weighed my options. Halloween Party with my friends, family dinner where I certainly won't be me...well, I knew what to choose already. Besides, it was probably better if I met his family some other time, when my parents could join us as well so I wouldn’t feel that awkward.

"I guess I'd have to pass," I said slowly. "Maybe I'll just spend time with my best friend. Let's just do this another time?"

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

He smiled and took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. "Well then, I'll see you when I get back from L.A. Probably Thursday night, if you're not busy," he said.

I smiled back at him. "Yeah, take care, okay?" I said before reaching up and kissing his cheek. I then walked him to the door and watched him get into his car. When he finally drove away, I hurriedly walked up the stairs and knocked at Dad's office door. I soon heard a vague "come in", so I turned the knob and entered.

"Hey, Dad?"

He didn't look up from his computer. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with Alexander tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, about that," I started, "That dinner became a 'family dinner', and I didn't want to crash, so I just decided to...kind of cancel. We just moved it to Thursday night." I chose my next words carefully, "So, I was wondering if I can just hang with Erin? I haven't bonded with for the whole week, and I think I could use a sleepover."

This time, he looked up at me. "Again? Seems like you want to have it every week," he started, and my stomach flipped, anticipating a lecture. "Don't you have some studying to do?"

"I got it done this week, Dad," I replied, trying to remain calm. "And it doesn't even happen every week. Please, Dad, I just—"

He sighed, faced me, and rested his hands on his desk. "You've been out of this house way too much. Maybe you could just invite Erin over, and you could bond here."

Yeah, but that wouldn't be fun. I swallowed hard before trying again. "We'll do that next time. Just please, Dad, let me have this weekend. I swear, it'll be long before I go to her house again," I said, knowing it was true because the boys would be gone for a while anyway.

There was silence for a while, and I became anxious by the second, dreading my father's decision. Finally, he heaved a sigh and spoke. "Well, okay then. I guess you could go," he said.

I had to keep myself from shrieking when he said that, but I couldn't avoid smiling. "Thanks, Dad," I said before turning my heel and walking to my room.

I decided to call Erin first and ask her to pick me up. As I was doing so, I started packing my bag as well. I was zipping my bag when she finally picked up.

"Aren't you supposed to—"

"Pick me up, biatch," I said happily. "I'm hanging out with you guys tonight."

She shrieked so loudly that I had to distance my phone from my ear a bit, "I'm on my way! You have to tell me why later, okay!"

With that, she hung up. I grabbed my belongings and hurried to the living room, and decided to wait for her there. I just flipped through channels until Mary finally called me and announced that Erin was there.

I practically pranced out of the house and ran happily to her car. I got in and was greeted by her smiling face.

"So, what happened? I'm sure you didn't cancel the date, though, something just probably came up on his side, am I right?" she asked breathlessly.

"Close enough." I buckled up and she started driving. "Family dinner. I didn't want to intrude, plus Halloween sounded better than a dinner with people who are pretty much like my parents." I shrugged. "It didn't take me long to realize where I should be."

"Well, I'm glad you decided to join us."

She dropped the conversation as a song from Katy Perry came in, and she started singing along, as I got busy scrolling on my phone, reading messages I’ve gotten from the previous days, which were mostly from Alex, Erin, Stephen, Jess, and John O.

I didn’t bother replying to any of those texts, since I was gonna see them all tonight anyway. Soon enough, we got to John O’s, where this year’s party was held. She parked her car next to the silver Volvo I’d recognized as Josh’s, and then we both got off her car.

Erin and I entered John's house, and I was greeted by simultaneous exclamations of my name. It was evident on their faces that they were all surprised upon why I was there, since Erin had probably informed them days ago that I was going to have a date with Alex this same night. But there I was instead, the same place they were.

"Bailey! I'm so glad you came," Jess exclaimed as she hugged me tightly. I hugged her back with a smile on my face. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you, too, Jess," I said, and then when she pulled away, there came Kennedy.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what happened? Did you choose us over a date? If so, I am deeply touched," he said in a dramatic voice. I laughed as I playfully swatted his back.

"He had a sudden family affair, but if it's any consolation, I did choose you over his invite of me crashing their family dinner," I replied.

"I'm cool with that," Garrett joined in the conversation as he pecked me on the cheek. "As long as we're the ones you're with."

I received hugs from Pat, Jared, Rachael, Brian, the two Johns, quick greetings from Tasha and Trey who were singing a duet, and a beer and a teasing remark from Josh before I was startled by someone putting a hand on my waist and swiftly turning me towards himself.

He had his infamous smirk pasted on his face, and his eyes stared into mine mischievously. We were so close together that I could feel his breath on my face, and maybe that was why my heart was starting to beat abnormally. In addition to that, I also remembered his little messages that sent smiles to my face, like the one I’d read a while ago, which was a line from a song by Ryan Adams. He was actually influencing me with his music through texts, it was a thing we had started last Tuesday, and I had no complaints whatsoever regarding that, since he had good taste in music.

"Stephen..." I started unsurely, but he cut me off.

"What?" he asked, putting his other hand as well on the other side of my waist and pulling me closer, and then he let his hands slide to my back as he engulfed me in a tight hug. "Can't a friend miss a friend whom he hasn't seen in a while? Because if you're not aware, you've been quite busy with your rich guy these past few days that you barely even have time to text me."

I frowned for three main reasons. First, how he referred to Alex; second, how he could actually complain about me having no time to text him, because as far as I was concerned it wasn't my obligation; and third, how he called me a friend when I knew that by the morning, he was gonna avoid me like a plague again because that was what he was like around me. Although he had sent me messages for the past days, I still didn’t feel like he was really my “friend”.

But against my better judgment, I didn't pull away. The way his hug made me feel was enough to make me lift my arms up and hug him back. Though his words irritated me, I had to make it a point to enjoy the times Stephen actually talked to or bonded with me, for two main reasons: I wasn’t gonna see him in a long time, and I wasn’t sure if by then, he would still act like this towards me.

I sighed aloud. "He has a name and it's Alex," I said. "And he's not the reason why I barely text you back."

"What's the reason, then?"

"I've been busy with school," I answered honestly. “My battery died last Wednesday and I only had time to charge it today.”

He laughed slightly as he slowly released me. "Fuck school, start a band," he joked.

I rolled my eyes at that. "Those are some nice words to live by, Stephen," I said sarcastically.

"I know." He took the bottle resting on the table beside him, raised it up to his lips and gulped twice before talking to me again. "You know, I honestly thought there was something going on with you and—"

I knew what was coming. "I have always treated John like my brother. No more, no less," I replied, wanting for that issue to die soon. It confused me, really, how they could expect John and I to have a thing, but expect Jess to treat Kennedy like a brother. Well, maybe it was because John and I were really used to being physically close, and he had been single for yours while Kennedy had Gabi, but still...

Stephen smirked at me. "I was gonna say Brian," he teased. I rolled my eyes and playfully poked him on the ribs.

"You can't fool me."

He brought his bottle onto his lips before saying, "Or so you think." I was about to ask what he meant by that, but he started speaking again. "I'm quite glad we were all wrong, though, about you and John," he said. "I'd thought with him being close to you all the time, he was marking you as his territory or something."

"What does that have to do with anything? I mean—"

"That's the reason why I kinda stay away from you sometimes," he said, and with that, my mouth slowly formed into an o. I had finally found out why he was kind of moody towards me. I was finally freed from the confusion he'd brought to me by treating me that way. It was because he'd thought John and I had a "thing". Not because he hated me, or he wanted to confuse me.

Still, there was one question I wanted to ask him. "Why did that stop you? I mean—"

Once again, he cut me off. "I don't like the idea of...stealing you away from John," he said with a shrug. Then he smirked at me and suddenly, I felt his hand on mine. "But now that it's all cleared up, I have to make up for lost time."

It seemed like as that past confusion faded away, a new one came in. He lost me at his last few statements, really. But I had no time to speak, since he was already dragging me away, to where Josh and the others were.

In a way, I guess you could say that Stephen and I got closer with each other. If you could define close as snuggled up on the couch sharing a pint of ice cream and a bottle of beer, then we were quite the pair. But that was only the shallow side, actually. We had shared conversations amidst drinks, food, and movies, and at the latter, Pat and Garrett had cussed at us for being so noisy. He had never left my side that whole night even after we lost against Josh and John Go in a game of cards, which was the first loss in Stephen's "records", and then when everybody started falling asleep, we laid on the couch, sharing his earphones and listening to Damien Rice’s Cannonball. He was facing my back, and his arm was casually draped over my waist, and to be honest, I had never felt this comfortable in my whole life.

He snuggled closer to me and I couldn’t help but lean a little on him. I felt him sigh against my nape, and then he mumbled, “Goodnight, Bailey.” And then he planted a soft kiss on my nape, and I felt all tingly inside.

I didn’t know if I hadn’t really realized it before, or I’d just chosen to deny it, but I fully accepted it now. Stephen Gomez was never gonna be my friend. He was never gonna be just a friend—at least that was what my messed-up feelings told me.

“Goodnight, Stephen.”