SAPPHIRE
"Aww, a regular customer of mine is here!" Theo greeted me as baby Cooper and I arrived at Hugot Cafe.
"Hi, Theo! Is Pierce here yet?"
"He is not here at the moment. But, all I know is that he is getting Priscilla. They might be on their way," he said.
"Oh, thanks," I said.
He then came towards me, "Let me get this stroller and I'll take care of Cooper."
I gave him the stroller and handed my son to Theo. Later on, he looked at me and spoke, "Are you going to tell Pierce about the truth?"
I was surprised at his question, "Why? What should I tell him about?"
"About your son, Cooper," my eyes widened at what he blunted.
How did he know that? I was about to ask him when suddenly someone hugged me. It was Priscilla so they must have arrived.
"Hi, Sapphire! I miss you!"
"Hi, Priscilla! How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. I'll go see Baby Cooper, okay?" I nodded and she immediately ran to where Theo and my son is.
I saw Pierce standing at my side and his smile was too wide and kissed me on the cheek, "Hey, babe!"
"Hey, you guys have a lot of PDA, can't you show some respect to the kids here?" Theo joked and was still laughing as if he hadn't said anything earlier.
Pierce also laughed as he put his arm around me, "You're just so jealous about everything, bro. You can call Nicole if you want. By the way, don't you have cheerleading practice?"
Cheerleading, right?
A month ago, I tried out because of Pierce, and luckily, I got the spot.
It's not that difficult because I'm used to it, although it seems like I'm having a hard time keeping up with Lara's behavior.
I don't know why but he seems very bitter towards me. Is it because I am now Pierce's new girlfriend?
"Lara and Nicole haven't said anything about it yet. Why?"
"The Athletics Basketball will be held soon but there is no date yet when the game will be held."
Pierce nodded, "Yeah, there is still no exact location where the game will be held. Maybe it will be held in Tagum City."
"Last year, we have played in Davao City and we played against the players of Ateneo Davao," said Theo.
I looked at him but suddenly Pierce kissed me on the cheek, "My baby is really cute."
Priscilla suddenly approached his brother, "I want a kiss, too! It is unfair that you kiss Sapphire all the time, so you should kiss me too,"
The three of us looked at each other and made us laugh. Priscilla is really cute no matter what!
"Aww. Is that all? Doesn't Priscilla doesn't want anything?"
She smiled, "That's all!"
"Okay. Come here you little one," Pierce kissed Priscilla on her cheeks and it was obvious that he loved her sister.
"Yehey! So I can play with Baby Cooper now!" and she ran towards Cooper. I wondered if Pierce does love kids.
What am I going to do about my son now that Theo knows about him? Where did he find out about this? I didn't say anything to him aside from him being my brother.
I approached Theo and whispered, "Can we talk later? You can visit me at home later."
He nodded, "Sure. Go ahead and sit over there," he said so Pierce and I sat down.
"So, your parents aren't at home right now?"
"Yes, they are in Surigao, as of now. They just have a busy full schedule today."
"When will they be back?"
"I don't know. Maybe, tomorrow or the next day," I replied.
"Okay. So, about your mom, does she already knows about us?
I shook my head, "She doesn't know about it and I have no intention of telling her because mom doesn't want me to have a boyfriend yet ever since what happened with my ex-boyfriend. Things aren't doing well with him. But for me, I feel like she knows about us."
He laughed, "What kind of ex-boyfriend is that? I mean, what did he do?"
Suddenly my smile disappeared and I remembered Simon. He stopped laughing when I seriously bent over the table.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong? Are you okay?" he asked.
I smiled at him weakly and shook my head, "No, I just don't want to talk about him. Past is past and you are my present," I said.
Right after that, I became silent, and soon enough, Cooper and I got home at five PM, as Pierce is getting ready for the party.
I was all alone right now and I can't help but remember the past days.
FLASHBACK
I went home carrying my bag and I am eight months pregnant but I still insisted that I still go to school.
I am not a burden in school and I was not banned and I was able to continue in grade eleven.
Dad ran up to me, obviously worried, "Darling, let me. Didn't I tell you not to bring your stuff? These are heavy."
"Sapphire King! I did tell you a hundred times that Tina will carry your bag, didn't I?" mom said and walked towards the living room.
"I also told her that I will bring it. Besides, there are only two notebooks inside."
Mom and Dad looked at each other and suddenly sat down next to me, "We have something to tell you. After you finish grade eleven, we will move."
I looked at them, "What? But why?"
"Your dad and I decided this and this is for the best of our family. Especially, for your baby. Can't you see the people around you? They always gossip and backstab you. It hurts us to see them doing that to you," mom said.
"I don't care about the people around me!" I almost yelled at her, "I have my life in here. I have my friends."
"What? The cheerleading? Now, where are they? Don't you know that your so-called friends are the ones talking behind your back? Well, of course, you have Tina by your back, but what about the others?
I kept silent and shook my head as Dad held my hand, "You know? We have already bought a house in Butuan and our house will be beautiful there."
Mom also touched my stomach and smiled, "After Simon left you, you also need to refresh. We'll leave this place and move to a place where no one knows us."
I realized they were right but what about my best friend Tina? She's everything I have since we were kids and now she's the only friend I have left.
After I quit cheerleading, I lost contact with all my friends and everyone.
I guess it's great to start new.
x x x x x
It was seven in the evening when someone rang the doorbell. I thought it was mom and dad, but when I opened the door and found out it was Theo bringing some brownies, "It's you, Theo. Come in."
"Good evening. I brought some brownies and these are Pierce's favorite and you might like them too."
I accepted that and we sat in the kitchen, "Thanks for this, Theo."
"You're welcome," he replied and seemed to be looking for someone around, "Where is your son?"
I stopped what I was doing when he asked that so I immediately looked at him, "How did you know that?"
"I'm sorry but I overheard you over the phone last week, it seems like you and your mom were arguing about something. I didn't mean to hear it, but I heard you mentioned the word 'my son. It's just that, I realized that Cooper is your son and from the beginning, I sensed that but I'm not sure. I can see it in your eyes that sparkle when you're with him and you're happy that can't be explained. I would know that because my Mom is the same as me."
"Please, please can we keep this a secret for now? I will tell him but I need more time. Also, we moved here to start a new life and no one knows who we are and what we are and especially because of my mistake. The mistakes I did before."
He hugged me, "No, it's not a mistake. You know, if I will rate you? You are the best mom in the whole world."
"Thank you, Theo. It means a lot to me," I said and my tears fell.
He loosened his grip and wiped my tears, "My advice is that you need to tell him this now that you're in a relationship and you've been together for a month. Don't let the two of you break apart."
"But, I don't know how to say it. What if he doesn't want it? What if he can't accept it?"
"Trust me. He loves Cooper too."
LARA
I faked a smile when I saw the two famous couples walking inside the school campus. They're cute, and that makes my eyes glare at Sapphire.
I can see that both of them are holding their hands. I remembered that I used to be the one holding Pierce's hands, but now, some other girl does it. I missed Pierce super badly!
I covered my ears with women screaming from behind.
"OMG! Sapphire King is so lucky that Pierce Harret is her boyfriend!"
"YES! You know, I saw them at the Hugot Cafe last Saturday."
"Me too! I thought I was some actors, but it was just them!"
"They are good together. To be honest, I'm glad that Lara and Pierce broke up."
"True! Sapphire is way better than Lara!"
"I agree! Even in cheerleading, Sapphire is a legend!"
"I heard that she used to be the head cheerleader at her old school so that's great."
Wow! I was pissed by the gossip here at school. It's so annoying!
One month is up, it's time for me to shine! I have thought of a way because I seem to notice that she is very protective of his locket necklace, I guess she is hiding something there.
They were going to the court when I stopped them, "Hi, Pierce," I said with a sweet voice and I looked at Sapphire. I faked a smile, "Hi, Sapphire. Let's practice later and non-stop. Just preparations for the upcoming Athletics."
"Ah, okay, Lara."
SAPPHIRE
"Okay. That was weird," Pierce said but he just shrugged.
"What's weird about that?"
"She spoke and greeted me. I mean, she never approached me since we broke up," I nodded because Lara greeted me too, which was unusual.
"Yeah, I feel that she is very bitter towards me."
"Just leave her alone, don't worry. It's her loss and I don't love her anymore because you're the one I love," he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.
"Stop it. The teacher might come in," I scolded him when someone suddenly coughed from behind.
"Wow, Harret. You are a very naughty guy, aren't you," we turned at who it was and it was Nichard, one of Pierce's friends.
The two of us are also quite close and he is also Nicole Woods' twin brother.
"Hi, Nich! Where's Nicole?" I asked
"She's busy with cheerleading preparations," he said, "she even sent me to give you your new uniform."
He handed me a paper bag and looked inside it and smiled, "Thanks!"
"And it's a shame you didn't go to the party last Saturday. You know, I wish you were there. Your boyfriend was kind of sad."
"Yeah, it's because I was kind of busy that time," I looked at John, "You told me you enjoyed the party?" I smirked. "You missed me, didn't you?"
"Hey!" his eyes widened but he also smiled, "Yeah. You're right. I did miss you. Because you didn't come, I didn't enjoy it much."
"That's all I'm aiming for here, I'm going to my class. See you all!"
We also said goodbye to Nichard and sat in our seats together.