PART THREE
One faithful day, she and Lovino broke up. They had a big fight, said she and she came crying to him that night. Gilbert felt happy at that time but he was afraid of showing her for she might get the wrong idea. But maybe, just maybe, it was meant to happen to let him know that he had still a chance. But he also felt pained at the sight of her crying.
'Never again,' he thought, 'would I let anyone hurt you or make you cry like this, _.'
Then, they just found themselves doing their usual things. They would play pranks together again, they would hang-out on their tree house, would play games together, and would even get to trouble together. Just the way they were before she met Lovino. The chances of telling her how he felt were one too many, but he never did. He was still afraid of being rejected.
Then, their JS Promenade came. They were at their tree-house at that Sunday afternoon talking about it.
"I was wondering…" she mused. "if you would like to be my partner, Gilbert."
He was stunned to hear that and for a second, he lost his voice but managed to say, "Aren't there too many boys that will die for you to be their partner?" then he faintly added with a smirk. "Or are you that charmed by me to actually ask?"
She then laughed. "Well, I just thought I want to spend some time with my best friend."
Best friend. Those were the very words that were restricting him to tell his feelings right then and there. He stayed silent thinking of a response.
But she leaned closer to his ear then whispered. "Don't you like to die like the other boys to be my partner, Gil?"
He just smirked at her. "The Awesome Me won't die to be your partner because you will be my partner for the Prom!"
She just chuckled and swiftly kissed him on his cheek. He couldn't believe it! She kissed him! It was like a dream come true! He turned to her as Gilbird chirped on his head. She was blushing as she looked down. Suddenly, she plopped up from where they sat and climbed down the tree house and run.
"Last one to reach the house will treat the other a chocolate sundae!" she yelled over her shoulders with a giggle.
Gilbert just grinned widely as he ran after her. But he didn't run as fast as he could. He'd rather lose and spend another hour with her in the ice cream shop.
The night of the Prom came and he wore his newly bought tuxedo. He even almost poured the whole bottle of perfume to make sure that he was awesome enough for the night. He then went to her house to pick her up.
When he saw her, he thought he saw an angel descending down from heaven instead of his friend walking down the stairs.
"How do I look?" she asked sheepishly with a blush.
No words escaped his mouth for they hung open. Then he remembered the corsage that he was to give her so he fixed his self and walked and wrapped it around her wrist. "To the most beautiful girl in the world," he whispered.
"Is that true?" she asked.
He looked at her and her eyes were hopeful. He just nodded with a grin.
When they arrived at the gymnasium, other students where already there and the music was already playing. Gilbert turned to her.
"This will be quite unawesome but…" he uttered. "May I have this honor to be your first dance?"
She gladly took his hand. "Of course."
And they danced. They moved in synch as they glided on the dance floor. His eyes were lost in hers as they stared at each other. Everything was perfect. Then he thought about the things he wanted to say. The feelings that he badly wanted to tell her about. He leaned down next to her ear as he mustered all of his courage to tell her those three enchanting words…
But then, the music stopped. The magic ended and they went back to their seats. He didn't get to say it…again. He then went to get her for some drinks but when he came back, she was nowhere to be seen. He asked a friend of hers, Lili, if she had seen her but with no luck. He searched and searched and he found her in the garden…with Lovino. He could tell that they were making up since they were close to each other. His heart fell, shattered. His body lost strength and his mind was furious though not functioning well. But he just turned away with clenched fist.
Since that night, he avoided her. He would use a different hallway when he would go to class. He made sure that he always had Antonio or Francis around to distract him if ever she was around. Many times she tried to approach him, talk to him, but he never let her get near. He was afraid to hear that it was Lovino whom she loved and not him. He would rather hurt his self by distancing his self from her rather than be wounded by her words. It was killing him to do so but he thought that it was the only way to forget. His heart was already broken so he wouldn't let his pride be the next.
The day of their graduation came and he decided to move to the next town where his Old Fritz was. He would study Business Management at the university there. As the program ended, she approached him and he had nowhere to escape. But instead of words, she handed him a rose. She stared at him with something held in her eyes: sadness and…something else. Something that couldn't quite explain. Then, she smiled at him but it was not the same smile she would always give him. It was empty and blue. Just that and she silently walked away from him.
So he left just like he had planned. He was accepted in the university and became its top student. He studied hard and worked hard, a very unusual for him to do. But it was all for her. All that he was doing for her. He had promised to his self that no matter what, he would be successful and that was the time he would confessed to her to assure his self that he was worthy of having her.
