"Let's go, guys; I'll join you to go home," she said in a happy voice.
"Oh! Liza, don't you want to join with Lawrence? He told me that you're going on a date. He'll probably become mad if you do not, and you want to involve us too?" Kiko asked.
"Kiko, I don't like Lawrence anymore. He's boring to go with. I want to go with your friend, because he's the one I liked."
"What?" Kiko exclaimed. "How could you say that?"
"If you don't want to let me join with you, I will be sullen. Please just let me; I'll not cause you any trouble," Liza implored and began pulling me out of the campus, as if she knew me her whole life. I could do nothing but let her, because I liked it too.
"Wait, Liza, I can walk on my own," I said, which made her hold on to me tighter than a normal woman could, possibly leaving a hand-like shape on my wrist.
"Hey! I told you not to hold my hand!" I exclaimed.
I saw the hand-like bruise on my wrist as she let go of me and said, "Sorry, sorry, I'm just eager to bring you to a restaurant."
"To a restaurant? Don't you mean 'home?'"
"No, no, I'll take you to the restaurant there." She pointed an index finger to a Carenderia restaurant. "It's too hot to go home now, she concluded.
My head itches a bit. "But I don't have any money. I mean, I didn't bring any money," I said, though I'm slightly ashamed.
"No more buts, that's not a problem, I have money here, so just follow me. I'll treat you there to recoup the bruise on your wrist."
"But how about Kiko?" I used it as an alibi.
"Kiko can go home by himself, and don't be worried, because you don't need to pay me, and we're just doing it sometimes."
I inhale, think for a while, and emit a long, deep, audible breath.
"Let's go," I decided, and headed towards the Carenderia.
She said, in a happy voice, "I thought that you'd disappoint me."
We entered the restaurant and chose a table for dining. This restaurant looks famous. Many people are eating here, and yet there's still a huge space and an open-air area. For sure, the cost of food here is so expensive that I felt shameful about lying to Liza.
The waiter came up to us and asked for our order. Even the waiter wears expensive clothes. I can no longer stay here, so I attempted to stand up and get out, but Liza wouldn't let go of me. So I just sat down again. Her eyes sparkled with begging.
I didn't say anything and became curious about how Liza knew what I wanted to eat. She ordered foods that are not so easy to digest, such as roulades of sole with lobster mousse, pickled meat, curried chicken, and whole rice, to name a few. Looking at the table filled with food, something was pulling me to get up and go out.
"So, what are you waiting for? Eat now, or do you want me to get you a spoonful of food?" Liza asked like a fool.
What the hell, if I only had the money, I'd already be engulfed in these foods, but let's take it easy, because we'll not be paying for them. Liza is just staring right at me. Is there something on my face that her eyes won't let go of? Perhaps. ...
Liza seemed to stay with me forever. Perhaps she's falling in love, but with whom? I could not judge that because I'm not the one who felt what she felt, and love cannot be defined.
After that, we ate at Carendereria restaurant. Liza brought me to a cafeteria where we listened to music while drinking coffee there. I'm perplexed as to how that girl knew what I liked despite the fact that we weren't particularly close before, and we'd never even spoken intimately.
Liza won't let go of me. She always held my hands, as if we were really lovers, although no one amongst us talked about it. Yes, I loved her as my friend (Philia), and I loved her as my crush, but I don't love her in her new version. I just want to see the old Liza.
"Oh!" Ezekiel, your coffee is getting cold," Liza said.
"I'm sorry, Liza, I really don't want you to bother yourself with bringing me anywhere and wasting your money and time. It's already twelve-fifty, so let's go back to school now," I replied.
"Why did you seem to be in haste? I didn't mean to bother you, Ezekiel. I just want to have a good time with you, but if you want us to go now, let's go." She stood up and grabbed my hand again, not accidentally as before, and this time I felt her warm hands.
"Do you have a fever?" I asked while walking out of the cafeteria.
"No, I'm just fine, thanks for your concern." She smiled and removed her hands from mine and walked separately, and I guessed the reason why. She doesn't want to infect me with her virus.
After a few moments, we reached the campus, and the bombastic guy met us, but the exact name of the person was Liza. Lawrence's sweat had diffused on his forehead, neck, arms, and perhaps throughout his body, and he was panting while going towards Liza.
"God, Liza, I'm so exhausted from searching for you. Where did you come from? Why didn't you go home with me?" Lawrence panted.
"And why do you need to know?" Liza asked, and she just continued entering the gate without minding her boyfriend, who's so worried when he touches Liza's forehead, and me, who's just following them.
"Goddammit, you are so warm. Why won't we just go to the clinic?"
"Go there if you want, but for me, I'll attend our class."
"You've been changed since yesterday. Is there something wrong?"
"Yup, there's something wrong with your face, and you need to retouch that." Liza continued walking towards our classroom. She seemed to be annoyed by the boy who wouldn't let go of her, but Lawrence gave up eventually and looked right at me.
I continued walking towards him and said, "Your girlfriend has changed a lot. She took me to the restaurant and then to the cafeteria. She didn't want me to go, even though she had a fever."
"What on Earth, did she do that? And why did you let her?" he asked.
I warned, "I'm just a friend. I can do nothing, so you better watch your girlfriend because she may do something you can't forgive."
Lawrence didn't reply to anything but stood up, sighed, and went inside our classroom. I pulled the strap across my back when someone suddenly tapped my shoulder. As I looked back, I saw Kiko.
"Where have you been that you didn't join me at home? Are you still mad at me that I bit your hand?" he asked, then pushed my shoulder. "Don't be a childish dude; don't waste our friendship."
"I'm not childish, but I realized that I wasn't wrong that Liza had changed a lot, and it seemed that she had lost her mind and old self," I said and perched my arms over Kiko's shoulder.
"So, you're still thinking about her? Honestly, I also noticed that thing, and perhaps that's the reason why you didn't join me to go home."
"You're right. I'll tell you later what happened, but for now we must get inside the classroom before our teacher can catch us here." I removed my arms from Kiko's shoulder, and we went inside.
My heart beat fast when our teacher entered the classroom. She was going to arrange us in our seats, boy, girl, boy, girl, and I would be separated from my friend. My heart beats faster than when Liza was assigned beside me. The adrenaline in me flows like a stream of a river, which won't stop as she sometimes accidentally touches my side, and I sometimes touch hers too, but I mean it.
At first, I couldn't believe that Liza was going to sit beside me because she was always sitting beside Lawrence, no matter what happened, even if they got scolded by our teacher. Liza's last name made it difficult for her to be at my side too, and I'm baffled by that.
"I'll join you and go home later," Liza whispered.
Her words made me scratch my head. "Are you sure? What if your boyfriend suspects that we have a relationship? For sure, he'll punch me if he becomes mad," I replied in a low voice.
"Let's just not mind him; he's such a bothersome guy, and don't be worried because he needs to go through me before he can punch you. So don't hesitate to stay with me, because I'll stay with you too."
"If that's what you want, we'll just take care of it so that we can stay longer with each other," I suggested and looked at our teacher and another teacher and another teacher, and the afternoon class ended.
I'm full of knowledge, but the exact description is that I'm full of testosterone, inside my white underwear, still moving, shivering, etc. I just don't want to check it. The girl beside me might think that I'm being lascivious.
"Hey, what are you waiting for there? Our classmates have already gone home, even Kiko and Lawrence. They left us here. Or you just can't stand up because of what you did to yourself?" Liza asked.
Aw, how did she know? Did she watch me or know what's inside my mind? Or did she just predict it through my actions? I can't really guess it. She's unpredictable, unlike me, who's easy to predict.
"Oh, come on, don't be shy." Liza tapped my shoulder, and—aww—she suddenly grasped my ear, which made me stand up and get my backpack. I carried it and remembered how the ghost would grasp my ears before. Erase, erase, it couldn't happen.
"Aw! My ears hurt. Please just let go of me. I'll not linger anymore."
"I won't let go of you unless you promise me not to think about wonders during our class again. Get it, Ezekiel?" She looked directly into my eyes without blinking.
"Okay, okay, I swear not to do it again. Just let go of my ears. They're going to detach from my head. Aw, aw." I cried like a child, with some tears that spurted out of my eyes.
Liza removed her hands from my ears and said, "Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She looks worried. "Please forgive me. I won't do it again, but on one condition: you'll not think I'm doing wonders, especially by using me." Liza blew air into my ears from her lips.
It's not funny, but I felt that the pain gradually disappeared. I looked right at her with a bad hunch, but I'm not an exorcist to know if it's right or wrong. grandmother again? I didn't really want to visit my grandmother, because that's just a waste of time. She'll just tell me something completely unrelated to what I'm looking for.
"Don't worry, Liza, I won't think of miracles, but I can't promise you," I said as I turned to leave, her lips pursed.