Page 24

I was just about to pick up a piece for myself when my phone buzzed again. I smiled to myself, when I saw Colton’s reply in the notifications.

Colton:

2 pm.

Why?

Thinking I could quickly shoot him a text, I sent off my reply before locking my phone, and turned it face down.

Clara:

Just thought I would send you a good luck text before the game.

‘What’s with the giant smile on your face?’ I heard Nina ask.

‘Hmm?’ I hummed in question, lifting my head to meet her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, a suspicious look on her face. ‘Are you texting someone? Who is it?’

I didn’t even get a chance to answer her when she let out a gasp, her eyes widening. ‘Colton texted you.’

I told my brain to act nonchalant, but it seemed the message got delayed, and my eyes immediately widened at her accusations. My cheeks heated up, as if I was caught doing something scandalous.

My silence was all the confirmation she needed.

‘So, you guys are texting now,’ she said, her voice filled with excitement. ‘Well, what did he say?’

‘We just started texting today and it’s nothing major.

’ I shrugged, trying to brush it off as nothing to be excited about.

‘He has an away game on Thursday, so he won’t be attending class this Wednesday, and we won’t be able to practice ASL this week.

But it’s just one week, so I think we’ll be fine. ’

Sensing my lack of excitement about the situation, her happiness started to fade too. ‘What’s wrong?’

I shook my head and let out a sigh. ‘Nothing’s wrong.

It’s just that I can’t help but be disappointed that I won’t be able to see him this week.

And I also feel this sadness, you know? Like the sadness you get when you’ve been looking forward to something only to have it cancelled?

And I know for a fact, I wouldn’t be feeling this way, if it weren’t for this stupid crush on Colton. ’

‘Well, there’s nothing wrong with being disappointed with not getting a chance to see your crush,’ Nina replied. ‘And what’s so wrong about a crush?’

‘It’s not the matter of a crush, but more of this crush.’

A confused look came over her. ‘What do you mean?’

When I had returned home last Saturday night, fully prepared to tell her about the curse, Nina quickly stood up from the couch, with a very concerned look on her face. ‘Is everything okay?’

Not wanting her to think of the worst things possible, I had quickly reassured her. ‘Everything’s fine. I had a great time tonight,’ I paused before adding, ‘but there’s something I have to tell you.’

Her eyebrows had narrowed slightly at my request. From the look on her face, I could tell her brain had been trying to decipher what it could be. ‘Okay,’ she said, her tone suspicious. ‘But how urgent is it?’

While I hadn’t understood the relevance of her question, I still answered, ‘I would say, not too urgent.’

Nina had stayed quiet for a moment, before replying, ‘You know you can tell me anything, right?’

I gave her a nod. ‘Of course I do.’

Giving me a smile, she had said, ‘Look, I’m here if you want to talk about whatever it is you wanted to tell me.

But from what I could see,’ she paused while making it a point to look at the jacket, ‘and from what you said about having a great night, maybe we can save the conversation for another day.

You deserve to have a memory of the night without having it spoiled by whatever it is you wanted to tell me.

‘We can talk about it now, or we can talk about it later,’ she concluded with a shrug.

I might have been ready to lay down whatever it was that had been bothering me about this thing with Colton, but Nina was right. And if that was the only time I would ever get to go on a night out with him, I wanted to preserve it as best as I could.

So instead of me revealing the curse to Nina, we had ended that night with rewatches of Gilmore Girls .

But now, it was Monday. A different day.

And I wasn’t high on late-night brain fogs or adrenaline rushes any more.

The way I saw it, I didn’t really have to talk about it then—or ever. And if I could have it my way, I would have forgotten about it altogether.

But being a hopeless romantic and knowing that she is one as well, I knew Nina would love to hear all about my not-date with Colton. And boy, was I dying to tell her all about it.

And that meant it was time to tell her about the curse.

Here goes nothing.

‘You know, how my parents got divorced and Eliza called off her engagement?’ I asked.

She nodded.

‘Well, there seems to be a pattern in how my parents got together and how Eliza and Nathan did,’ I continued. ‘Both their relationships had started out by partnering up for something: my parents back in high school, and my sister at her workplace.’

Nina just sat there, slowly taking bites of her food as she took in my words. ‘Okay,’ she said, giving me a nod, and silently asking for me to continue.

I sighed. ‘Another similarity they bore was that there had been an element of the cliché love interest in the relationship. For my parents, it was the bad boy cliché love interest. My mom was what people considered the “good girl” in high school. You know, the one who follows the rules, hands in her homework on time, and rarely gets into trouble. While my dad was the total opposite, he was the “bad boy”, breaking the rules and missing most of the classes. And of course, like any love story with a cliché love interest, they got together, got married, and had two kids. They were supposed to live happily ever after.’

‘But they didn’t,’ Nina said.

‘But they didn’t,’ I repeated. ‘Instead, they got divorced, and it pretty much fractured my illusion of a happy ending. But then, one day, my sister brought someone home to meet the family. He was a colleague of hers and they had been paired for an assignment together. Sounds normal, but the cliché part? There were work rivals: always staying later than the other person to get ahead. But, of course, as a love story with a cliché love interest, they ended up getting along well and falling in love. When they got engaged, I thought maybe such stories do last. Though that hope didn’t last very long, when they decided to call off the engagement three months later. ’

I composed myself. ‘I know it sounds crazy, but maybe my family is cursed. Maybe we’re just not meant to have relationships with cliché love interests.’

‘And you’re scared of the same thing happening with you and Colton?’ Nina asked.

I scoffed. ‘I’m paired up with my crush who’s the college star baseball player—the cliché writes itself.

I mean, technically, the curse wouldn’t work if we just stayed friends and it’s not like he likes me back.

And even if he does, nothing can happen between us.

I won’t let the curse get in the way of us dooming what we have now.

But has that stopped my heart from liking him?

Nope. Now, I just have to live with this feeling, and know that we can only ever be friends. ’

I continued. ‘Why did he tick all the boxes in a checklist I didn’t even know I had and also be a star athlete?

’ I groaned out, putting both of my elbows on the kitchen island, my head between my hands.

‘You must think I’m childish to believe in something stupid like this.

’ I breathed out a laugh, hearing how ridiculous it sounded, now that I was saying it out loud to another person.

I waited for Nina to laugh along with me, but she just stayed silent. As the silence continued to stretch on, I held my breath, scared of what words would come out of her mouth.

But her reply came in the best way possible.

She got up from her seat and put her arms around me, embracing me in a massive hug. ‘Thank you for telling me,’ she said, her arms gripping me tighter.

‘You don’t think I’m being ridiculous?’ I asked her, feeling vulnerable over the conversation.

I couldn’t see her, but I could feel she was shaking her head. ‘Definitely not. I think you’re right to believe in something like this, especially after seeing what happened with your family. So no, I don’t think you’re being ridiculous.’

I don’t know how long we stayed like that, me just staying in her embrace. When she finally pulled away, I felt lighter than I did before.

‘So, what happens now?’ Nina then asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I said with a shrug. ‘I mean, although Colton and I might never happen, at least, I’ll have the memory of Saturday night to hold on to.’

At that, she arched her brow at me. ‘So, it was his jacket then,’ she pointed out.

A smile automatically appeared on my face at the mention of his baseball jacket. ‘Yes, it was.’

And that was how we spent the rest of our night: two best friends at the kitchen counter, a pizza in one hand, and a Sprite in the other, as I giddily recalled the wonderful moments of that fateful night.

After we finished our pizza, we cleared whatever trash we had and went over to the living room to continue our Gilmore Girls rewatch from Saturday. I decided to go through my phone while Nina set it up, and I found Colton texted me back about an hour ago.

Colton:

If you do that, I’ll make sure to hit a home run.

Just for you.

‘Are you ready?’ I heard Nina ask from beside me.

‘One second,’ I answered, quickly sending a text to Colton.

Clara:

Then I’ll be sure to send you that text.

Once I made sure it was sent, I locked my phone and said, ‘I’m ready.’

We managed to watch two episodes before we got too tired and decided to call it a night. We wished each other goodnight as we headed for our rooms.

After finishing my skincare routine and brushing my teeth, I went to my bed and checked my phone one last time before turning it off.

There was a new message from Colton, sent almost thirty minutes ago.

Colton:

I’ll be looking forward to it.

That night, I lay in bed with a smile on my face, the six words floating around my mind as I drifted off to sleep.