♫ Kevz ♫
Lemon sounded like she was in the middle of a good laugh when she answered the phone.
Lemon: Yes partner!
She answered in an awfully jolly voice that even Kip’s forehead creased at the sound of it.
Me: Partner, where are you?
Lemon: I’m in the car, driving to Quezon. Why?
Me: Just checking on you! I still can’t forget what happened last night.
Lemon: You should forget about it, Partner. Nothing really bad happened so let’s just move on. It’s not nice to look back at it again and again anyway.
We heard someone ask in the background, “What happened?” It was a man’s voice but she didn’t answer him.
Kip: That’s a good mindset cuz and I’m glad you’re doing fine. Who's driving by the way?
Lemon: Dad and Uncle Chris are driving the van.
Kip: Chris? As in Drew’s dad?
I chuckled at his reaction as he was in disbelief and as if we know another Uncle Chris aside from Drew’s father.
Lemon: Yep, I didn’t know they were coming too.
Kip: And you're not with them?
Lemon: I won’t fit there so I rode Dave’s car.
Roj: Dave who?!
Lemon: Mr. David Morales!
Leslie even laughed as she announced the name. We were all taken aback until Homme signaled to cut the call.
Me: All right, Partner! We’ll let go of you then! Keep us posted!
Kip: Let us know of your adventures!
Dave: Sure, we’ll do! Bye for now! Leslie needs to sleep cause we're off on a really long drive.
I ended the call without saying anything more and again, we all fell quiet. It’s as if we’re waiting for someone to speak, no one wants to go ahead.
“What is going on?” Homme asked. “Why is Drew’s family with them? And where is he?”
“Are you asking me?” Roj pointed at himself and Homme nodded. “Are you out of your mind? We’re all together here, how would I know?” he spat before they both turned to me.
I raised both hands and shook my head, quickly dismissing their thought. “I know nothing! But do you want to know where Drew is?” When they all nodded, I picked up my phone again and dialed Drew’s number.
Me: Dude, where are you?
Drew: I’m at home. I’m busy preparing for the pre-Christmas Party I’m hosting for my blockmates.
We glanced at each other, all our brows knitted in confusion.
Kip: Why didn’t you go with your family to Quezon?
Drew: I won’t have anything to do there. It’s a bonding between the oldies.
Homme: You should have bonded with them. Good thing Dave joined so Leslie won’t be bored!
Drew seemed to have taken his time processing what Homme said. It’s like his system lagged for several minutes, just like us when we first heard it.
Drew: My brother? As in my brother David?
And there goes Kip 2.0!
Me: Is there someone else? Do you have an illegitimate brother or something?
Drew: I don’t, you moron!
Me: Then that’s David indeed! Oh, it’s Dave actually!
Drew: Dave?
Me: Partner calls him Dave!
Drew: What? Why are they together? How? He’s just supposed to drive them off to Leslie’s house.
Roj: Nope, you're wrong. They're now off on a very long drive to Quezon~
Kip: Lem said the van’s already full so they asked her to go with David instead.
Drew: How? Dad even told David to watch over the party. He doesn’t even have a suitcase with him!
Me: We don’t know! We just found out about it because we called Lemon earlier.
Drew: What the f--
And the call ended. Again, silence befalls us but Homme quickly broke it. “Let’s look into this one by one. First, what party with his blockmates is he talking about?” he asked Roj.
“That’s what I want to know too! We’re not in a block and if we are, I should have been invited since we share the same curri.”
“So, who is he partying with?” Kip asked and it was obvious that not one of us know the answer.
“Second, if David’s not supposed to go with them, then why is he driving with Lemon?” Roj asked.
“As far as I know, those two weren’t formally introduced yet. But I recall that Uncle Chris is playing cupid for David and Partner,” I chimed in.
“Could this be a setup?” Kip chirped. “Like, they intentionally asked David to take them to Leslie’s residence for them to meet. Then David doesn’t have any plans of going but he had a change of heart when he met my cousin?”
“That’s possible too! But are they not aware of Drew and Lemon’s relationship?” Homme queried.
“I don’t think they do. I mean, the two were a mess!” I responded.
And again we were enveloped by silence. Seconds after, our wondering was disrupted by a beautiful girl that graced us with her presence.
“Excuse me, I'm Nica,” she greeted us. “Oh hi Roj!” but Roj creased his forehead at her.
“Oh, hi! What brings you here?” Roj asked after finally recalling who she is. “Guys, this is Nica, she’s our classmate in one of our minors,” then he turned to the girl again. “These are Kevz, Kip, and Homme.”
Nica just waved at us before turning her attention back to Roj. “I’m looking for Drew. This is the address he gave, he said he’ll pick me up here. It’s been an hour but he still hasn’t come,” she pouted.
“Drew went home around ten this morning, he said he needs to prepare for a party,” Roj informed her.
“Yeah that! The frat and sorority decided to celebrate at his house and Drew agreed but he didn’t give us the exact address,” she smirked. Roj was about to respond to her but her phone rang. It seems like it was Drew who called her as she excused herself and left.
“Frat? Sorority? Is Drew tripping?” Homme’s brows were furrowed but we can only shrug at him.
“They didn’t break up, did they?” Roj butted in.
“They did fight over Zone for several days,” I told them. “Partner told me that she barely sees him. When we’re in school, she said Drew seemed to be always looking for someone, but when she asks about it, he’ll only get mad,” I continued.
Not one of them spoke. They all looked like they were thinking of the answers to all the questions we’ve gathered so far.
“What could be happening between the two?” Kip asked before letting out a sigh.
“Exactly! They’ve only been ok recently…” Homme added.
Still, not one of us can answer. And because of that, we all decided to just go home in the meantime.
---
On the morning of Christmas eve, Lemon called me to ask about Drew. She said she can’t get in touch with him and she wants to greet him before everything gets busy.
I told her I haven't seen Drew since our last convo. That was yesterday, while they were on their way to Quezon.
She sounded so disappointed so I told her I’d look for him and ask him to call her. But I too failed to get a hold of him.
‘What’s keeping him so busy that he can’t even answer a call?’
I glanced at the wall clock in my room. It's only past 10 in the morning. Still early but I rushed downstairs after readying myself to visit my good friend.
While riding our gardener's motorbike I stopped right in front of their gate. I was about to remove my helmet when two girls came out, one of them was Nica. She was busy chitchatting with her friend that they didn’t even notice me.
When I got inside their gate, I saw Isma, their household keeper, cleaning up inside. It was still a mess, a remnant of their party last night.
“Good morning Kevz, what brought you here?” the old lady asked.
“Good morning! Is Drew home?”
“Yes, he’s in his room, still sleeping,” she chuckled. “Go ahead and wake him up!”
If they partied yesterday and Drew’s still in bed, that means they partied for almost 24 hours. That’s probably why he can’t even answer Lemon’s call.
When I walked up to his bed, I pulled off the blanket and I would say that shock was an understatement. ‘Why is he naked?’
Literally. All the way down. Ashamed, I pulled the blanket back to cover him before I pulled a chair close to his bed.
‘Could it be the two girls who just left that did this?’
I quickly dismissed the thought as it could haunt me and I might be overthinking. Besides, if something happened, I’m sure he wanted it. It was his choice.
But I believe that he won’t do something as absurd as what I’m thinking. He loves Lemon and there’s no way he’d cheat on her. No way!
I pat his shoulder lightly and he let out a groan. “Drew, wake up! Lemon’s been calling you,” then I shake him stronger.
“Ohhhh… What? Can’t you see I’m sleeping?” he spat before forcing his eyes to open. He tried to stand up but he probably felt cold so he looked inside the blanket. “Shit! Why am I naked?” he asked while staring at me.
I shot my brows up. ‘Is he really asking me?’ I stared back at him then he creased his forehead at me. “You idiot! I wasn’t the one who took off your clothes!”
He pulled his hair lightly as he let out a chuckle, “Silly, I was just thinking what happened that I’m not wearing anything.”
“Think about it later. Answer this for now,” I tossed my phone to him but before he could answer it, the call ended. He didn’t bother returning the call so I took that opportunity to ask. “Do you have a problem with Lemon?”
He looked up and stared at me again. I creased my forehead as I wait for his response but he averted his eyes and sighed.
“I don’t know what’s happening with me too,” he whispered. “I suddenly felt bored with our relationship and I started enjoying these parties with these new people,” he stated lazily.
“Don’t you love her anymore?” I asked again and his eyes flicked at me. “Dude, you won’t get bored in your relationship with her if you still love her. Now tell me, do you still love her or not?”
He was quiet for a while, pulling his hair out of frustration, “I love her Kevz. I love her so so so much. I don’t know too why I’m doing this,” he sighed. “I think my jealousy ate me. I got jealous of Zone so I tried to divert my attention to something else. I was hoping she’d notice that I was being distant to her,” then he smiled lazily.
“But you’re aware that Partner won’t be happy if she finds out about this, right?” Drew nodded and I slumped on the chair. “If Lemon’s still important to you, it’s best that you fix yourself before she comes back. You’d be pitiful if this doesn’t end well,” shaking my head as I look at him again.