CHAPTER 16: PINCHES AND PAIN

“Yo! What the hell are you spacing out for?” Ward, one of the decoration crew members, snapped me back from my empty thoughts. 

I was supposed to cut this huge cardboard box into the shape of a mountain but I was spacing out while holding the saw (don’t do this, it’s highly dangerous). I smiled apologetically at Ward, continuing my job, sighing heavily.

I had been a little out of it since last night. Since Allen kissed my cheek. I didn’t know why it bothered me so much to the point that I couldn’t seem to focus on anything. I mean, it was not like I had never been kissed before (by a guy, cause I, of course had been kissed by a girl, I mean, c’mon). Chuck kissed me all the time. And it was not like he kissed my lips. So why was I making a big deal out of this? I mean, Allen didn’t seem to make a deal out of it. We met earlier this morning and we chatted and joked normally. Maybe I was overthinking it. I mean, the fact that another guy besides Chuck kissed me. All these times, he was the only person close enough to me, daring enough to be able to kiss me and I only let him because well, he’s Chuck.

Allen… Allen was… I was not really sure myself. I mean, he was a good guy. Very considerate and very kind. He helped me a lot. And he was like the first person to be able to get this close to us since, forever. And it was not like I hated it when he kissed me. I was far too used to Chuck’s behavior towards me and something like that was pretty normal to me. Well, maybe that was it. Maybe Allen just picked up one of Chuck’s bad habits. Right?

I sighed and scratched my head and decided that that was the best excuse for what happened last night, though after trying to explain it, I was getting even more confused. But, whatever. 

(I got kissed! By a guy! On the cheek! Not Chuck! Get over it!)

At lunch that day, the four of us (me, Chuck, Allen and Joy) sat together in the D cafeteria. Allen looked normal. He looked just like when I just met him. More cheerful, even. I studied him discreetly as he chatted with Joy. Maybe they had worked things out, whatever that was. That was good. I smiled, looking at them. 

Ouch! What the hell was that? 

I scratched my chest after a weird pinching sensation came and gone so quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Chuck asked, noticing as I was grimacing slightly. 

Now all eyes were on me. 

Great.

“Nothing,” I said awkwardly. “I’m starving,” I told him and he chuckled, putting his arms around my shoulders.

“What a glutton,” Chuck said, “Didn’t you already finish the strawberry shortcake I bought you?”

“I need rice!” I pouted. 

Yep, that did sound like I was a glutton, but, like I care. Heh heh heh. 

Chuck chuckled and turned to Allen and Joy. “You guys coming to my friend’s party this Saturday, right?” he asked them. Allen turned to Joy questioningly. She shook her head, answering.

“I have a business meeting at Lavina this weekend. I’ll be back late Sunday,” she told us, “You guys go ahead and have fun,” she said, holding Allen’s hand with a look that told him that she was giving him permission. Allen smiled and pecked her cheek lovingly.

Ouch! What the?! Oh, food!

Just then, the waitress came with our food in her trays. I smiled as if I was seeing an angel that had just come down from heaven. Chuck smacked my head when he saw me drooling at her shamelessly.

“Start eating or I’ll finish yours,” I threatened him as I began eating my own food.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chuck said as he took my cauliflower (I didn’t really like them) and replaced it with some of his scrambled eggs, before dumping a ton (no, really, it was a lot) of chili sauce in his food (that looked terrifying).

I glanced at Allen. He was as attentive to Joy as Chuck was to me. That must be nice. He was making sure that there are only the things she likes on her plate. Well, kinda’ what Chuck does to me, but still…. We’re not a couple. They are. I grimace when the slight pinch came and went just as quickly as the first one.

What the hell was wrong with me now?

“Schedules,” Chuck then suddenly said, as if he was just remembering about it himself. I rolled my eyes exasperatedly.

“Band practice at two for an hour,” I started despite everything. “Then I’ll be staying with the decoration crew until dinner.”

“I have practice until eight,” Chuck said thoughtfully. “You guys?” he turned to Allen and Joy.

“Me too,” Allen said almost apologetically.

“I’ll be free by dinner,” Joy told us.

“Ok then. So, I’ll pick Joy up for dinner at seven then you two can join us,” I told the two guys who nodded and then I turned to Joy. “Where will you be?” I asked her.

“Sport faculty’s gym,” she told me.

Now that that was settled, we went our separate ways after lunch.

Later that night I found myself and Joy sitting on one of the round tables in the new Mexican restaurant not far from campus. She said that she was craving some Mexican, so here we are. The two of us. We haven’t had the chance to really sit and talk for some time now. She was very busy, like Allen said. But she looked happy. Or, at least, to me she looked that way.

We ordered our food and settled down on our seat and started chatting about anything, mostly Allen. Didn’t get how he was the subject to our chat, but it just happened to be that way. She told me stories about how they met, became friends, best friends until finally they became lovers. Very insightful, really. I got to know a lot of things about these two new friends of mine and it was actually very interesting and exciting.

Except for the fact that I think I didn’t feel well. I mean, I might be exhausted and my head kept pounding and my heart kept having this slight pinch every now and then. Not only was it uncomfortable, I was also starting to get scared. What if I was really sick? I couldn’t afford to get sick! I had jobs!

It was not getting better by the time Chuck and Allen arrived (it actually got kinda’ worse until I have to keep rubbing my chest every few minutes). It was only getting better when I finally walked inside my dorm room, throwing my backpack on the couch, getting myself a bottle of beer and plopping down on the carpet in the living room.