Chapter 2

Frank Hardy paced back and forth their living room. The eighteen-year old had a look of uneasiness in his handsome face and kept on looking at their phone as if waiting for a phone call. Then his blond, seventeen-year old brother entered the room and said, "Frank, stop. Aren't you getting dizzy yet? I'm watching you from the dining room and I'm the one getting dizzy." He sat down in their couch and then reached for the remote. "Hey, sit down bro." Then he opened the television.

Frank looked at his brother and sighed. Well, he's in good mood. Why can't he be? He had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. Unlike me and… he sighed and then sat down beside Joe.

"If you're waiting for Callie to call, forget it. She and Van are in the mall right now and I doubt if they're on their way home now," Joe said to his brother while his eyes still on the television. He was changing from one channel to another, trying to find a decent show to watch. Giving up, he switched off the television and looked at his brother. "Really, Frank. What is it that you and Callie had fought about? It can't be that serious, right?"

Frank remained silent as if Joe hadn't said anything.

Joe sighed and then leaned back on the couch then muttered to himself, "Yeah, I'm invisible. No, Frank. I haven't said anything." Then threw a dirty look at Frank. What wrong with my brother anyway? Oh yeah, that thing with Callie…

"Hey Frank?"

Frank turned at Joe and said, "Yeah?"

"What is it? C'mon, tell me. What did you and Cal argue about? I mean, I know I'm not supposed to ask this since it's supposed to be something private but bro, you look, uh, confused and everything," Joe said.

Frank looked at Joe then said, "All right, all right. It's just that… the other night before, the night before Valentine's Day.." he shook his head lightly, then continued, "..I was at Callie's, right?" He waited for Joe to remember then said, "We were trying smooth things out between the two of us since, well, you guys noticed that Cal and I have been kind of having short fuses for some weeks ago. We thought that it would be really nice if things are perfect between us on Valentine's Day and onwards. Big mistake! We told each other to give reasons for our unusual behavior for those few weeks and we ended up having an argument. You know, the kind that "… you shouldn't have tried to do that.." or "..that doesn't make sense.." and well, you get the idea. We didn't listen to each other when we reasoned ourselves out." He leaned back on the couch and said, "Now, we celebrated Love's Day by ourselves. Nice," he said ironically.

Joe looked at Frank with a confused look and cleared his throat before saying, "That's it?"

Frank gave Joe a surprised look and all he can say was, "Huh?"

Joe looked embarrassed a bit then said, "Van and I argues that way all the time. No, no. I mean, sometimes. But we make up right away. Then, you're telling me that that's your reason for.. all of this?"

Frank felt like he wanted to punch his brother, but held himself and instead, he found himself chuckling.

Joe blushed then asked defiantly, "What's funny?"

"You, little brother, you." He shook his head as if amazed then said, "You compared me and Callie from you and Vanessa?" He chuckled again. "That's like comparing black from white."

"Oh, really? And you guys are the white and Van and I are black? Haha. Very funny," Joe said with an annoyed look.

But after that, Frank's smile was now gone and was replaced again by a problematic look, "But Joe, how do you solve it? Don't tell me it's just a "..sorry hon.." and then it's done?"

Joe nodded, "Exactly. Of course, you have to explain yourselves CALMLY again so that everything's settled."

Frank was still dubious but said, "Okay……………"

Joe chuckled and said, "Really Frank. The way you acted and all, I thought it was something serious. Not that it wasn't serious and all, but, oh never mind."

Frank looked at him questioningly.

Joe replied his look with "It's just that, uh, it's not worth missing the spirit of Valentine's Day and …"

Just then the doorbell rang.

"That must be them now," Joe said, happy for a distraction and went to open the door.

Frank got nervous and thought, C'mon Frank, it's just Callie. You have to sort things out now.

Vanessa greeted Joe with a kiss in the cheek and then said, "Hi Frank!" Callie, on the other hand, was greeted by Joe with a high-five. Frank couldn't help thinking how things changed between his brother and his girlfriend. Before, they're like cats and dogs. But now, things between them seemed to be smoother than between me and Cal.

"We decided to buy a pizza before going here," Vanessa announced to them with a sly smile to Callie. Whatever she was smiling about, the two guys had no idea. Frank decided to just leave it to the two of them, but Joe…

"Yes? What is it that you two are thinking about?" Joe asked pointedly to the girls.

"Joe!" Vanessa couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Really, some things are just left to us." Then she gave the box of pizza to Joe and dragged him to the kitchen. "We'll be just preparing, uh, our drinks." Then she gave Callie an encouraging smile. Joe, understanding what Vanessa has in mind, just remained quiet and lead Vanessa to the kitchen.