Lost & Found
Ch.10 – Lost & Found
Pia rushed into Pixie's one-bedroom apartment and got her black backpack and headed inside the bathroom.
"What happened?" Kyle asked Pixie.
"I think it didn't go so well." added Kate.
"I think so too." replied Pixie.
"What do you think happened?" asked Kyle.
"Maybe we should try to talk to her…" said Kate.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. She doesn't look so good." replied Pixie.
"Yeah, but I mean we should still check on her. I mean we're her friends! Shouldn't we even try to comfort her?" added Kyle.
Pixie agreed and knocked on the door. Pia came out with her eyes full of tears.
"What happened, hon?" Pixie asked as she gave her a hug.
As soon as Pixie asked that question Pia burst out crying. Just then Kyle and Kate went over to Pia to give her a hug as well.
"What happened?" asked Kyle.
"I'm so sorry." said Pia.
"For what? You need to tell us what's up girl!" said Pixie.
"He kissed me!" said Pia as she took of her glasses and wiped her eyeliner smeared eyes.
"He did?" screamed Kate. She was about to jump for joy just then Kyle held her back and asked Pia a question.
"So what are you crying for?" asked Kyle.
"I refused him." said Pia as she burst out crying again.
"Why? This is like a dream come true isn't it?" asked Kyle.
"Imagine… Utt and you! Pia Panichkul… sounds nice doesn't it?" commented Pixie.
"I don't know. Why me? Why is life so complicated? I mean why does it have to be me? Can't it be someone else? Like that VJ what's her name..." whimpered Pia.
"Denise?" replied Kate.
"Yeah. Can't it be her?"
"Well from how you're telling the story, I think it'll be someone else. Why'd you refuse him anyway? I mean you do love him, right?" asked Pixie.
"No. I don't really know…you know what guys I think I don't want to talk right now. Can we just go home? We still have shops to manage tomorrow." Said Pia.
"Oh Pia!" Kyle burst in tears as she started to somehow feel what Pia felt. She hugged her tight and Pia smiled.
Suddenly Pixie and Kate were crying tears of both sadness and joy. They all hugged and formed a big group hug.
Pixie wiped her tears dry and said, "You guys go home. You have work tomorrow! But Pia promise to tell us the full details of the night okay?"
Pia nodded her head as she wiped her tears dry.
On the other hand, Utt was on his way home. Speeding his way through the empty streets of Singapore, he turned his CD player on and played his Linkin Park CD blazing loud. He opened all the windows of his car to let the cold air in. He didn't know what he felt. He couldn't express his feelings. The only way he could let it out was scream or talk to someone through the night.
He went to a complete stop when he reached the front of his town homes. He parked his car, went in his home and went straight to bed. He stared blankly at his white ceilings.
"What did I do wrong?" he thought.
He picked up the phone and dialed Jay's number.
"She turned me down too." Utt told Jay.
"What? Who's this? It's 1:01 in the morning." Jay replied unknowingly that it was Utt on the other line.
"It's Utt." Utt replied.
"Oh it's you."
"Yeah, see here Jay… she turned me down too. She didn't refuse your offer because of me. Alright?" said Utt in a low tone.
"That's good. Bye." replied Jay.
"Don't hang up. Please."
Jay hung up anyway.
"Damn it!" screamed Utt.
He picked up the phone and called Donita. She was always there for him. They were like siblings to each other.
"D?" asked Utt.
"Yeah, what do you need?" replied Donita in a sleepy tone.
"I need to talk to you." Utt said it in such a heartbreaking tone that Donita felt suddenly awake.
"What happened?"
"I just lost two of my friends."
"Who?"
"Jay and Pia."
"Why? I mean don't tell me that you're just jealous of them being together…"
"No. Jay's mad at me for 'quote quote' stealing Pia. Then Pia turned me down."
"Is that so? Well you didn't really steal Pia right? So explain to him. Then about Pia, what happened? I didn't know you liked her, why didn't you tell me? She's just probably shocked of your suddenness."
"Yeah, I never thought I would fall for her either, but I just feel this need to be with her! There's something about – Pia. There's just something about her…I mean even though she doesn't seem so attractive, I see her as a very attractive woman because of how she is."
"Well, well, well…I guess you do love her. Hey maybe your soul mates!" chuckled Donita. She kind of found Utt's mood funny; she hasn't seen (actually heard) Utt act like this. He was deeply in love.
"C'mon D! I need help here! What should I do? I have a feeling I won't see her after a long time or I won't see her at all!"
"Relax Utt! Breathe! Follow me…inhale – exhale!" she chuckled again, "So do you feel better?"
"No. I think I can't breathe!"
"Utt don't die on me!"
He chuckled back, "Nah! I'm just kidding! I do feel better, but I'm still very much troubled about this situation!"
"Okay… you know what … I'll drop by your house tomorrow and we'll work this out okay? You just sleep and get some rest!"
"Alright."
Utt took Donita's advice and went to sleep. He dreamt about Pia over and over again that he decided to just wake up. He stared at his TV for the whole night, though he still couldn't stop thinking about her.
He picked up the phone and dialed her number. Her phone rang and she picked up, but Utt just sat speechless. He sat on his couch and fell asleep there.
A loud bang was heard from Pia's door.
"I'm coming!!! I'm coming!!! Hold on!" screamed Pia.
As she opened the door, Kyle and Kate rushed in and insisted that she gets ready to go to her Dentist appointment.
"Oh Crap!" Pia hit her head.
She quickly ran to the bathroom, took a quick bath and got dressed.
"Kate can you call Pixie and tell her if she can run the shop at the galleria today?" asked Pia.
"Why?" asked Kate.
"You're coming with me – Kyle, as always please run the shop downstairs! Thanks!" Pia hurried off to her car. She honked at Kate and she ran down to Pia's car and tagged along with Pia.
Pia came out of the dental clinic without her braces. She smiled her biggest smile ever, and let out a big sigh. Teeth freedom!
She dropped Kate at the galleria.
"Thanks for coming with me...see you later!"
"Promise not to tell my sister and Pixie what happened until I get home okay?"
"I promise!" Pia smiled and raced out of the galleria.
She headed to the park where she had been before meeting Utt on that Galleria opening day about two months back.
She parked her car at the side walk, grabbed her book and her light jacket. She took a seat in the grass and started reading. She spent the whole afternoon in a green environment. People went and gone, and she was still there. What if two months ago she didn't come to that galleria event, didn't lose her gift from Pixie, and didn't find out about branches. What would've happened...? She wouldn't have met Utt and be in this utter confusion about the way she's looking into things, feeling about events, feeling about Utt.
Then she wondered if she could stay how she is forever. Young and Single. She laid back, spread her arms on the grass and looked up at the blue skies. She closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and then bounced up in a seating position. Somehow she felt that in a night her whole world changed. She seemed so troubled about … about Love. Why did it have to be her? Why did Utt fall for her? What was it about her? She found nothing about herself that Utt could possibly be in love with. Sure she was a confident woman, someone who can get anywhere because of her independent personality, other than that ... she thought to herself, 'Someone like him,' she sighed, 'a famous, lovable guy, falling for this simple city chick. I can't handle this big of a thing.' She lay back again and just closed her eyes and thought about all these questions. "Why, why, why, how, how, what, what, what?" She asked herself over and over again. Just then her phone rang, and once again she sprang up to answer it.
"Where are you? It's almost five in the afternoon and you're still – where?" Pixie was screaming on the other end of the line.
"I'm sorry!!! What do you want anyway?" replied Pia.
"The story!"
"I promised Kate that I wouldn't tell you guys until she got home."
"Argh! Fine! I'll go to PIA…I'll meet you there! Okay?"
"Yeah…Bye!"
A few hours later Pia arrived at PIA and told her 'story'.
The questions started raining on her,
"So where did you guys go?" asked Kyle.
"Where did you guys eat?" asked Kate.
"How come you came so late?" asked Pixie.
Pia chuckled, "Well, what do you expect mother?"
Pia gladly answered all the questions being thrown at her.
"What you guys stayed here?" exclaimed Kate, "I should've stayed in for the night so I could've spied on you guys!"
"There wasn't really anything to be spied about, it was just a normal night, with a few different touches." Pia looked away. Somehow a feeling of secretiveness came over her...she didn't want to disclose her thoughts, her thoughts that would just open up another topic about her really loving Utt.
Pixie snapped her fingers in front of Pia's face.
"Are you okay? You know you shouldn't be thinking so much." Kyle looked at her with a very concerned look, "If the guy likes you great, don't pressure yourself into not loving him if you really do. Just because he's some big famous guy, you shouldn't stop yourself from feeling what you feel."
"Why exactly are you telling me this?" Pia asked with a smile.
"You don't have to tell us what you feel, we see it in the way you move." Kyle smiled, "You know we know you more than you know yourself!"
"I guess...but..." Pia shut her mouth and chuckled.
"But what?" asked Kate, "I think, honestly- it'll be something different dating someone like him, but you can try to make things better."
"The media will always be there." Pia nodded her head.
"So if you get into the MTV studio...get me some autographs okay?" Pixie cackled, and Kyle gave her a serious look, "Just Kidding!"
The girls all laughed, and Pia silently thought, "It's always worth a try."
Earlier that day, Donita was at Utt's house.
"So what happened?" Donita asked Utt.
"Well…we went out for some simple dinner and talked and joked around at her shop at the Galleria." He replied.
"And? I know I'm missing a lot of tiny details here."
"I dropped her at her friend's house coz she had her stuff there. Then I kissed her."
"So…???"
"She ran away from me."
"Sad. Well you know what you should do…you shouldn't give up if you love her that much."
"I'm afraid she'll go away more and more."
"You'll never know unless you try. Right? Why don't we go see what's up in the studio…? Maybe it'll help you loosen up!"
"I can't I have filming."
"Well I'll keep you company. I'm free for today."
"Thanks. I'll get ready and be down in 40 minutes."
"While you're up there I'm gonna grab something to eat okay?"
"Sure. Eat anything you want…cook me breakfast while you're at it!" Utt laughed.
"It's nice to have you back!" replied Donita.
The next day…
Pia and her friends we're having a little get together at Pia's apartment.
Seeing Pia without braces made all her friends go in a make-over mood.
"You shouldn't be wearing your reading glasses all the time! They're going to ruin your eyes!" exclaimed Pixie.
"I think they already are!" replied Pia.
"I don't think so, I think that you're just really used to having your glasses on all the time that you can't last a day without them." commented Kyle.
"Hmm…I guess." replied Pia.
"That's why we're going to dispose them! You're just gonna use your reading glasses when you're going to read long articles, documents, or books!" Kate grabbed Pia's glasses and put them in a case and threw them over Pia's bed.
"See? You look better without them!" said Pixie.
Pia took a look at herself, and again, didn't find the changes that interesting.
"Now about your hair!" grinned Kyle as she took out some scissors and a thin black comb.
"Oh no! Not my hair! You are not cutting it!" shouted Pia.
"It's too long! You should dispose of some…I think some layers will do great on your long silky black hair!"
"Yeah, I think so too!" agreed Kate.
Kate and Pixie pushed Pia into a chair and held her back. Pia whimpered, then gave a chuckle. She just closed her eyes and waited for the cutting time to be over.
Kyle took all Pia's hair and twisted it on the top of her head and then cut off about three inches of it.
"There! You look so pretty!" said Kyle.
Pia rushed to the mirror and gasped. Though she kind of liked the change, the idea of changes left her mind and suddenly her mind thought of – Utt.
Utt on the other hand was thinking of her too.
It's been about a week and Utt has been calling, emailing, and text messaging Pia. Though Pia ignores all his doings, he still keeps on trying to reach her. He wasn't ready to face her yet, but he wanted to so badly!
He tried calling Pia the 3rd time in a row. Finally she answered.
"Please don't hang up!" said Utt, "if you've read or heard any of my messages, probably not, anyway they stated my explanations."
"I'm sorry, but no…I didn't read any of your messages and I'm afraid I can't talk and face you right now." replied Pia.
"Why? Are you afraid to love? Are you afraid to love me? I promise not to hurt you Pia."
"How can you be so sure that I love you? I can't imagine words like those would come out of your mouth! How can you be so conceited and say that?"
"I love you Pia! And I can't stand being without you! Why can't you give me just a little love?"
"I can't."
"You can't, or you won't?"
"I'm sorry Utt." Pia dropped the phone.
"Shit!" said Utt.
The next morning Utt's doorbell rang.
"Utt, Utt!!" screamed Donita.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" Utt fell out of his bed as he was screaming. A loud 'thug' was heard from upstairs.
"Are you okay?" screamed Donita.
"Yeah!" he replied. Suddenly he saw a brown package under his bed. It was the drawing. He grabbed it and answered the door. He was surprised to see Donita with someone else. –Jay.
"Hey man…I'm sorry for getting a bad temper just like that. I mean I shouldn't blame you for Pia right?" Jay reasoned out.
"I guess." Utt opened the Package and looked at the poster board.
"What are you doing? Are you over Pia now? Is this you're new gal?" chuckled Jay.
"No. I think…"paused Utt.
"I think what?" asked Donita.
Utt took a careful look at the picture and examined it. He saw a super tiny initial at the lower right corner of the poster.
It read, "P.I.A."
"This is Pia. These are Pia's eyes!"
Utt ran upstairs took a super fast shower, grabbed the poster board, and grabbed his keys.
"Where are you going?" asked Donita.
"To find Pia." Utt replied.
"I'm coming" she said.
"Hey me too!" added Jay.
Utt speeded through the streets to get to the Galleria. Donita, Jay and him rushed to find Pia in the whole Galleria. Utt was hoping to find her in Pulp. She wasn't there, but Kate was.
"Kate!" screamed Utt.
"Oh…Utt!" she was shocked and almost dropped the drinks she was holding.
"Is Pia here?"
"Nope."
"Where is she?"
"P.I.A."
"I know… I'm looking for Pia. Where is she?"
"P.I.A.!"
Donita and Jay rushed through and interrupted.
"P.I.A.'s the main branch of Pulp!" screamed both Donita and Jay.
"Jinx! You owe me a bubble tea!" said Donita. Jay and Donita laughed, and then Utt shook them.
"What? I'm lost! What's PIA?" he said.
"Don't you know about it? This is just a branch of Pia's shop. PIA is-." Jay was about to explain the whole branch story when Utt cut him off and instructed to show him the way to Pulp in Alley (Ave.).
On their way, Donita and Jay explained the whole P.I.A. idea.
Utt arrived in front of P.I.A. He grabbed the poster board and headed inside the shop. He went to the cashier and asked the worker if Pia was around.
She turned around and an expression struck her face.
"Pia?" Utt held her hand. He looked at her straight in the eyes. She looked different, but he was sure that nothing else changed about her. Her 'always on' reading glasses were gone, her braces were off as well, and her hair was different and down.
She slipped away and stood up and prepared to leave.
"Please talk to me. I wanted to tell you that I love you and I don't want to loose you." Utt said quietly.
"I never was with you." she replied. Her eyes were full of tears, and she was ready to burst and cry.
Kyle was coming from her apartment upstairs when she saw Pia talking to Utt. She paused, looked around and saw Donita and Jay.
She waved to Jay and Donita. They signaled her to come to them.
"What's happening?" asked Kyle.
"I don't know…he's talking to her I guess." said Jay.
"We should just leave them, we'll wait in a table or something." added Donita.
"I don't feel so good about this." Said Jay
"Why?" asked Kyle.
"I feel this pain in my chest." Jay said as he touched his heart.
"What heartburn?" laughed Kyle and Donita.
"No. I mean…I can't have her." whimpered Jay.
"Guess what? Utt might not have her either! So stay cool. You might get a heart attack!" said Kyle.
Pia was preparing to head out the store when Utt handed her a brown package.
"I believe you lost this. I'm giving it back coz I found It." Utt took a deep breath and waited for Pia's reply.
Pia stayed where she was standing, opened the package and found her long lost drawing. She stared into Utt's eyes. His eyes never looked so pitiful before.
He whispered, "Don't you think we're soul mates or something? I'm supposed to be with you. I guess I just said everything to soon. But I know that I'm supposed to love you! Why can't you love me too?"
She touched his cheek and kissed it. She hugged him tight and whispered into his ear, "I lost you once, and I don't want to lose you again."
Tears streamed down her face. Just then Utt kissed her, then stared into her deep brown eyes and wiped her tears dry.
"I'm so sorry, Utt!" she said as tears began falling from her face again.
"I was afraid…afraid of changes and I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough for you. I was afraid to love you because I don't want to lose you!" she continued.
"You'll never lose me, and I'll never lose you. See how I found my way here? I'll – We'll always find each other." he smiled and leaned over to kiss her.
She leaned back, smiled and said, "Lost & Found."
Ch.10 – Lost & Found
Pia rushed into Pixie's one-bedroom apartment and got her black backpack and headed inside the bathroom.
"What happened?" Kyle asked Pixie.
"I think it didn't go so well." added Kate.
"I think so too." replied Pixie.
"What do you think happened?" asked Kyle.
"Maybe we should try to talk to her…" said Kate.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. She doesn't look so good." replied Pixie.
"Yeah, but I mean we should still check on her. I mean we're her friends! Shouldn't we even try to comfort her?" added Kyle.
Pixie agreed and knocked on the door. Pia came out with her eyes full of tears.
"What happened, hon?" Pixie asked as she gave her a hug.
As soon as Pixie asked that question Pia burst out crying. Just then Kyle and Kate went over to Pia to give her a hug as well.
"What happened?" asked Kyle.
"I'm so sorry." said Pia.
"For what? You need to tell us what's up girl!" said Pixie.
"He kissed me!" said Pia as she took of her glasses and wiped her eyeliner smeared eyes.
"He did?" screamed Kate. She was about to jump for joy just then Kyle held her back and asked Pia a question.
"So what are you crying for?" asked Kyle.
"I refused him." said Pia as she burst out crying again.
"Why? This is like a dream come true isn't it?" asked Kyle.
"Imagine… Utt and you! Pia Panichkul… sounds nice doesn't it?" commented Pixie.
"I don't know. Why me? Why is life so complicated? I mean why does it have to be me? Can't it be someone else? Like that VJ what's her name..." whimpered Pia.
"Denise?" replied Kate.
"Yeah. Can't it be her?"
"Well from how you're telling the story, I think it'll be someone else. Why'd you refuse him anyway? I mean you do love him, right?" asked Pixie.
"No. I don't really know…you know what guys I think I don't want to talk right now. Can we just go home? We still have shops to manage tomorrow." Said Pia.
"Oh Pia!" Kyle burst in tears as she started to somehow feel what Pia felt. She hugged her tight and Pia smiled.
Suddenly Pixie and Kate were crying tears of both sadness and joy. They all hugged and formed a big group hug.
Pixie wiped her tears dry and said, "You guys go home. You have work tomorrow! But Pia promise to tell us the full details of the night okay?"
Pia nodded her head as she wiped her tears dry.
On the other hand, Utt was on his way home. Speeding his way through the empty streets of Singapore, he turned his CD player on and played his Linkin Park CD blazing loud. He opened all the windows of his car to let the cold air in. He didn't know what he felt. He couldn't express his feelings. The only way he could let it out was scream or talk to someone through the night.
He went to a complete stop when he reached the front of his town homes. He parked his car, went in his home and went straight to bed. He stared blankly at his white ceilings.
"What did I do wrong?" he thought.
He picked up the phone and dialed Jay's number.
"She turned me down too." Utt told Jay.
"What? Who's this? It's 1:01 in the morning." Jay replied unknowingly that it was Utt on the other line.
"It's Utt." Utt replied.
"Oh it's you."
"Yeah, see here Jay… she turned me down too. She didn't refuse your offer because of me. Alright?" said Utt in a low tone.
"That's good. Bye." replied Jay.
"Don't hang up. Please."
Jay hung up anyway.
"Damn it!" screamed Utt.
He picked up the phone and called Donita. She was always there for him. They were like siblings to each other.
"D?" asked Utt.
"Yeah, what do you need?" replied Donita in a sleepy tone.
"I need to talk to you." Utt said it in such a heartbreaking tone that Donita felt suddenly awake.
"What happened?"
"I just lost two of my friends."
"Who?"
"Jay and Pia."
"Why? I mean don't tell me that you're just jealous of them being together…"
"No. Jay's mad at me for 'quote quote' stealing Pia. Then Pia turned me down."
"Is that so? Well you didn't really steal Pia right? So explain to him. Then about Pia, what happened? I didn't know you liked her, why didn't you tell me? She's just probably shocked of your suddenness."
"Yeah, I never thought I would fall for her either, but I just feel this need to be with her! There's something about – Pia. There's just something about her…I mean even though she doesn't seem so attractive, I see her as a very attractive woman because of how she is."
"Well, well, well…I guess you do love her. Hey maybe your soul mates!" chuckled Donita. She kind of found Utt's mood funny; she hasn't seen (actually heard) Utt act like this. He was deeply in love.
"C'mon D! I need help here! What should I do? I have a feeling I won't see her after a long time or I won't see her at all!"
"Relax Utt! Breathe! Follow me…inhale – exhale!" she chuckled again, "So do you feel better?"
"No. I think I can't breathe!"
"Utt don't die on me!"
He chuckled back, "Nah! I'm just kidding! I do feel better, but I'm still very much troubled about this situation!"
"Okay… you know what … I'll drop by your house tomorrow and we'll work this out okay? You just sleep and get some rest!"
"Alright."
Utt took Donita's advice and went to sleep. He dreamt about Pia over and over again that he decided to just wake up. He stared at his TV for the whole night, though he still couldn't stop thinking about her.
He picked up the phone and dialed her number. Her phone rang and she picked up, but Utt just sat speechless. He sat on his couch and fell asleep there.
A loud bang was heard from Pia's door.
"I'm coming!!! I'm coming!!! Hold on!" screamed Pia.
As she opened the door, Kyle and Kate rushed in and insisted that she gets ready to go to her Dentist appointment.
"Oh Crap!" Pia hit her head.
She quickly ran to the bathroom, took a quick bath and got dressed.
"Kate can you call Pixie and tell her if she can run the shop at the galleria today?" asked Pia.
"Why?" asked Kate.
"You're coming with me – Kyle, as always please run the shop downstairs! Thanks!" Pia hurried off to her car. She honked at Kate and she ran down to Pia's car and tagged along with Pia.
Pia came out of the dental clinic without her braces. She smiled her biggest smile ever, and let out a big sigh. Teeth freedom!
She dropped Kate at the galleria.
"Thanks for coming with me...see you later!"
"Promise not to tell my sister and Pixie what happened until I get home okay?"
"I promise!" Pia smiled and raced out of the galleria.
She headed to the park where she had been before meeting Utt on that Galleria opening day about two months back.
She parked her car at the side walk, grabbed her book and her light jacket. She took a seat in the grass and started reading. She spent the whole afternoon in a green environment. People went and gone, and she was still there. What if two months ago she didn't come to that galleria event, didn't lose her gift from Pixie, and didn't find out about branches. What would've happened...? She wouldn't have met Utt and be in this utter confusion about the way she's looking into things, feeling about events, feeling about Utt.
Then she wondered if she could stay how she is forever. Young and Single. She laid back, spread her arms on the grass and looked up at the blue skies. She closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and then bounced up in a seating position. Somehow she felt that in a night her whole world changed. She seemed so troubled about … about Love. Why did it have to be her? Why did Utt fall for her? What was it about her? She found nothing about herself that Utt could possibly be in love with. Sure she was a confident woman, someone who can get anywhere because of her independent personality, other than that ... she thought to herself, 'Someone like him,' she sighed, 'a famous, lovable guy, falling for this simple city chick. I can't handle this big of a thing.' She lay back again and just closed her eyes and thought about all these questions. "Why, why, why, how, how, what, what, what?" She asked herself over and over again. Just then her phone rang, and once again she sprang up to answer it.
"Where are you? It's almost five in the afternoon and you're still – where?" Pixie was screaming on the other end of the line.
"I'm sorry!!! What do you want anyway?" replied Pia.
"The story!"
"I promised Kate that I wouldn't tell you guys until she got home."
"Argh! Fine! I'll go to PIA…I'll meet you there! Okay?"
"Yeah…Bye!"
A few hours later Pia arrived at PIA and told her 'story'.
The questions started raining on her,
"So where did you guys go?" asked Kyle.
"Where did you guys eat?" asked Kate.
"How come you came so late?" asked Pixie.
Pia chuckled, "Well, what do you expect mother?"
Pia gladly answered all the questions being thrown at her.
"What you guys stayed here?" exclaimed Kate, "I should've stayed in for the night so I could've spied on you guys!"
"There wasn't really anything to be spied about, it was just a normal night, with a few different touches." Pia looked away. Somehow a feeling of secretiveness came over her...she didn't want to disclose her thoughts, her thoughts that would just open up another topic about her really loving Utt.
Pixie snapped her fingers in front of Pia's face.
"Are you okay? You know you shouldn't be thinking so much." Kyle looked at her with a very concerned look, "If the guy likes you great, don't pressure yourself into not loving him if you really do. Just because he's some big famous guy, you shouldn't stop yourself from feeling what you feel."
"Why exactly are you telling me this?" Pia asked with a smile.
"You don't have to tell us what you feel, we see it in the way you move." Kyle smiled, "You know we know you more than you know yourself!"
"I guess...but..." Pia shut her mouth and chuckled.
"But what?" asked Kate, "I think, honestly- it'll be something different dating someone like him, but you can try to make things better."
"The media will always be there." Pia nodded her head.
"So if you get into the MTV studio...get me some autographs okay?" Pixie cackled, and Kyle gave her a serious look, "Just Kidding!"
The girls all laughed, and Pia silently thought, "It's always worth a try."
Earlier that day, Donita was at Utt's house.
"So what happened?" Donita asked Utt.
"Well…we went out for some simple dinner and talked and joked around at her shop at the Galleria." He replied.
"And? I know I'm missing a lot of tiny details here."
"I dropped her at her friend's house coz she had her stuff there. Then I kissed her."
"So…???"
"She ran away from me."
"Sad. Well you know what you should do…you shouldn't give up if you love her that much."
"I'm afraid she'll go away more and more."
"You'll never know unless you try. Right? Why don't we go see what's up in the studio…? Maybe it'll help you loosen up!"
"I can't I have filming."
"Well I'll keep you company. I'm free for today."
"Thanks. I'll get ready and be down in 40 minutes."
"While you're up there I'm gonna grab something to eat okay?"
"Sure. Eat anything you want…cook me breakfast while you're at it!" Utt laughed.
"It's nice to have you back!" replied Donita.
The next day…
Pia and her friends we're having a little get together at Pia's apartment.
Seeing Pia without braces made all her friends go in a make-over mood.
"You shouldn't be wearing your reading glasses all the time! They're going to ruin your eyes!" exclaimed Pixie.
"I think they already are!" replied Pia.
"I don't think so, I think that you're just really used to having your glasses on all the time that you can't last a day without them." commented Kyle.
"Hmm…I guess." replied Pia.
"That's why we're going to dispose them! You're just gonna use your reading glasses when you're going to read long articles, documents, or books!" Kate grabbed Pia's glasses and put them in a case and threw them over Pia's bed.
"See? You look better without them!" said Pixie.
Pia took a look at herself, and again, didn't find the changes that interesting.
"Now about your hair!" grinned Kyle as she took out some scissors and a thin black comb.
"Oh no! Not my hair! You are not cutting it!" shouted Pia.
"It's too long! You should dispose of some…I think some layers will do great on your long silky black hair!"
"Yeah, I think so too!" agreed Kate.
Kate and Pixie pushed Pia into a chair and held her back. Pia whimpered, then gave a chuckle. She just closed her eyes and waited for the cutting time to be over.
Kyle took all Pia's hair and twisted it on the top of her head and then cut off about three inches of it.
"There! You look so pretty!" said Kyle.
Pia rushed to the mirror and gasped. Though she kind of liked the change, the idea of changes left her mind and suddenly her mind thought of – Utt.
Utt on the other hand was thinking of her too.
It's been about a week and Utt has been calling, emailing, and text messaging Pia. Though Pia ignores all his doings, he still keeps on trying to reach her. He wasn't ready to face her yet, but he wanted to so badly!
He tried calling Pia the 3rd time in a row. Finally she answered.
"Please don't hang up!" said Utt, "if you've read or heard any of my messages, probably not, anyway they stated my explanations."
"I'm sorry, but no…I didn't read any of your messages and I'm afraid I can't talk and face you right now." replied Pia.
"Why? Are you afraid to love? Are you afraid to love me? I promise not to hurt you Pia."
"How can you be so sure that I love you? I can't imagine words like those would come out of your mouth! How can you be so conceited and say that?"
"I love you Pia! And I can't stand being without you! Why can't you give me just a little love?"
"I can't."
"You can't, or you won't?"
"I'm sorry Utt." Pia dropped the phone.
"Shit!" said Utt.
The next morning Utt's doorbell rang.
"Utt, Utt!!" screamed Donita.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" Utt fell out of his bed as he was screaming. A loud 'thug' was heard from upstairs.
"Are you okay?" screamed Donita.
"Yeah!" he replied. Suddenly he saw a brown package under his bed. It was the drawing. He grabbed it and answered the door. He was surprised to see Donita with someone else. –Jay.
"Hey man…I'm sorry for getting a bad temper just like that. I mean I shouldn't blame you for Pia right?" Jay reasoned out.
"I guess." Utt opened the Package and looked at the poster board.
"What are you doing? Are you over Pia now? Is this you're new gal?" chuckled Jay.
"No. I think…"paused Utt.
"I think what?" asked Donita.
Utt took a careful look at the picture and examined it. He saw a super tiny initial at the lower right corner of the poster.
It read, "P.I.A."
"This is Pia. These are Pia's eyes!"
Utt ran upstairs took a super fast shower, grabbed the poster board, and grabbed his keys.
"Where are you going?" asked Donita.
"To find Pia." Utt replied.
"I'm coming" she said.
"Hey me too!" added Jay.
Utt speeded through the streets to get to the Galleria. Donita, Jay and him rushed to find Pia in the whole Galleria. Utt was hoping to find her in Pulp. She wasn't there, but Kate was.
"Kate!" screamed Utt.
"Oh…Utt!" she was shocked and almost dropped the drinks she was holding.
"Is Pia here?"
"Nope."
"Where is she?"
"P.I.A."
"I know… I'm looking for Pia. Where is she?"
"P.I.A.!"
Donita and Jay rushed through and interrupted.
"P.I.A.'s the main branch of Pulp!" screamed both Donita and Jay.
"Jinx! You owe me a bubble tea!" said Donita. Jay and Donita laughed, and then Utt shook them.
"What? I'm lost! What's PIA?" he said.
"Don't you know about it? This is just a branch of Pia's shop. PIA is-." Jay was about to explain the whole branch story when Utt cut him off and instructed to show him the way to Pulp in Alley (Ave.).
On their way, Donita and Jay explained the whole P.I.A. idea.
Utt arrived in front of P.I.A. He grabbed the poster board and headed inside the shop. He went to the cashier and asked the worker if Pia was around.
She turned around and an expression struck her face.
"Pia?" Utt held her hand. He looked at her straight in the eyes. She looked different, but he was sure that nothing else changed about her. Her 'always on' reading glasses were gone, her braces were off as well, and her hair was different and down.
She slipped away and stood up and prepared to leave.
"Please talk to me. I wanted to tell you that I love you and I don't want to loose you." Utt said quietly.
"I never was with you." she replied. Her eyes were full of tears, and she was ready to burst and cry.
Kyle was coming from her apartment upstairs when she saw Pia talking to Utt. She paused, looked around and saw Donita and Jay.
She waved to Jay and Donita. They signaled her to come to them.
"What's happening?" asked Kyle.
"I don't know…he's talking to her I guess." said Jay.
"We should just leave them, we'll wait in a table or something." added Donita.
"I don't feel so good about this." Said Jay
"Why?" asked Kyle.
"I feel this pain in my chest." Jay said as he touched his heart.
"What heartburn?" laughed Kyle and Donita.
"No. I mean…I can't have her." whimpered Jay.
"Guess what? Utt might not have her either! So stay cool. You might get a heart attack!" said Kyle.
Pia was preparing to head out the store when Utt handed her a brown package.
"I believe you lost this. I'm giving it back coz I found It." Utt took a deep breath and waited for Pia's reply.
Pia stayed where she was standing, opened the package and found her long lost drawing. She stared into Utt's eyes. His eyes never looked so pitiful before.
He whispered, "Don't you think we're soul mates or something? I'm supposed to be with you. I guess I just said everything to soon. But I know that I'm supposed to love you! Why can't you love me too?"
She touched his cheek and kissed it. She hugged him tight and whispered into his ear, "I lost you once, and I don't want to lose you again."
Tears streamed down her face. Just then Utt kissed her, then stared into her deep brown eyes and wiped her tears dry.
"I'm so sorry, Utt!" she said as tears began falling from her face again.
"I was afraid…afraid of changes and I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough for you. I was afraid to love you because I don't want to lose you!" she continued.
"You'll never lose me, and I'll never lose you. See how I found my way here? I'll – We'll always find each other." he smiled and leaned over to kiss her.
She leaned back, smiled and said, "Lost & Found."