It's Magic --- PART I - Chapter 5

A romantic chapter...

Chapter 5

 

        I sit on the chair facing Kevin

“Have you had your lunch yet?” He says with asking eyes.

        “I haven’t yet, how about you?” I ask him in return.

        “Nope,” he begins and smiles. “Why don’t we just have our lunch here? My treat, Kate…”

        My face brightens at the thought, and eventually I agree. “Sure, why not?”

        And so we did. He said I can order anything I’d like for lunch, so I chose broccoli, two bacon and some toasted bread slices with cold lemonade as beverage. He chose the same meal and the same beverage as well, which makes me feel “inspired” to know that there’s also someone who bears with my taste, and that’s Kevin.

        After our lunch, Saab takes the utensils we used in the dishes tray, cleans our table, and leaves us. Then, from my small shoulder bag, I get my checklist.

        “Here are what I have to buy…” I begin. “One black robe, one ash white wig, five pairs of long crooked nails, face prosthetics, and an apple which has a green side.”

        “Is that all?” he asks.

        “No.”

        “Then what else?”

        “I also need the creepy-looking slippers, fake cobwebs and spiders, and my big jar filled with potions and poisons!” I say, pouting. Then he bursts out laughing, which is very natural. It’s cute of him to do as well. Sssssh!

        “Then let’s go to the costume shop…” He answers, and our shopping begins.

        We go to the nearby mall, and enter the only costume shop, walking. Well, along the way is not boring, it has a fair and lively mood which is driven by conversations, but sometimes he pisses me off with his “way” with words so I stare at him badly, then he would pinch my nose or my cheek, and I would tickle him on his waists, as I always do, and we would be running around like cat and mouse, and then where would we be?

        Inside the costume shop, I go first to the cloaks and robes area. There are many colors: red, violet, white, blue and many others with weird designs. But I don’t need those; I need a plain black one. I fondle and fondle until I see what I need. It’s only one, and when I tried it, it fits me. It’s a little bigger, though. But didn’t the witch in Snow White have a hump back? I guess the allowance is for the real fit.

        I show myself to Kevin as I’m still slipped into the plain black robe.

        “How do I look like?” I say, turning for him to see me fully.

        “You don’t look like a witch, Kate. You look like a black nun!” And then he laughs. I just flash him a deadly glare and I take the robe off my clothes. I’m taking it anyway.

        Then I proceed. Finding and purchasing the rest of the materials �" well, excluding the apple and big jar. We bought the fake cobwebs and spiders and creepy-looking slippers in the neighboring cosplay shop, since the costume shop don’t have those.

        Well, while we are looking for the apple and the big jar, touring around the mall as well, Kevin volunteered to bring all of what I bought. Well, all is in a regular-sized thick carton bag only served by the cosplay shop and is not so heavy. Even I, alone can bring those. Those are just props anyway.

        “Hey, Kevin, let’s try looking for a big jar there.” I say, pointing a native and clay-works shop.

        “Okay.” He says, and it surprises me when his free hand reaches for my wrist and drags �" yeah, drags me to the shop. I’m too terrified in my position a while ago to move on my own.

        As we enter the shop, a greeting from an older woman welcomes us.

        “Good afternoon sir, ma’am. How may I help you?” Oh, it’s a saleslady.

        “Umm, do you have a witch’s jar miss?” Kevin asks which makes me laugh.

        “Witch’s jar?” the saleslady asks in confusion.

        “No, he’s just joking…” I say, and for the first time, I manage to reach for his nose and pinch it. The moment I did so, I felt magic, and I’m then out of words and actions. His nose is still pinched by my pressed fingers, and our eyes are locked on each other. Right now, what I could feel is the race of my heartbeat. Oh my goodness.

        “Yeah, I’m just joking…” he says and pinches my nose back with a held-back smile, which takes me back to my senses, and we both let go of our noses at the same time. What he did next much surprised me. His free hand reaches for my shoulder, pushing me closer to him, and his arms lock on my neck, but letting me breath well. Again, I felt magic. My eyes follow his arms to the side towards his eyes �" he is also looking at me and his natural smile across his sleepy-looking eyes is visible. For a while we are just like that, eyes locked on each other, and then he raises his head and smiles at the older woman again.

        “So, do you have a big jar?” he says. His beautiful voice seems to resonate on his chest and I seem to hear it considering my position in which my head is almost touching his cheek.

        “Yes, sir. But you may choose here.” And then she goes to a certain area.

        We follow. Well, Kevin seems to drag me…

        “What are you doing Kevin? I can walk on my own, you know.” I complain.

        “No, let’s just stay like this for a while, please?” He pleads, looking at me in the eye.

        “O-okay.” I say, unable to resist his eyes. He smiles and pulls me closer to him then.

        “Here are the jars, sir and ma’am…”

        “How much does that cost?” I point out the smallest one, which is the one I will use.

        “Twenty-seven dollars, ma’am…” She answers. “I’ll get that one.” I decide.

        By the way, did you think that I’m rich? Well the answer there is no, not so… I forgot to tell you that the budget I used in buying the necessary materials I need in the play is a portion of the Acting Department’s money. That’s for your info, anyways.

        She gives it to us. Good thing that it’s almost featherweight. And I give her the cold hard cash.

        “Wouldn’t you like to customize that one ma’am?” she asks me.

        “What for? I need it as props only.” I say.

        “No, Kate.” Kevin interferes, still “side-hugging” me. Yeah, that’s the term I used to shorten the description of what he currently does to me. “I’ll customize it, miss.” He smirks then.

        “How will you customize that?” I ask him.

        “Just let me do it. It won’t be a bother in your play anyway.” He says and smiles then. “Can I borrow your clay scrapper miss?”

        “Oh, sure.” And the saleslady gets something from the table near the jars. She then hands what she got to Kevin.

        Kevin lets go from his “side-hug” and as our skin parted, it’s like I already miss his warmth around me. My goodness, what’s happening to me?

        He then scrapes the side of the jar and form circles. Two circles… And my instincts are right when he shapes them into eyes. He draws eyes again. The way he draws it is like how he drew my eyes last time, and I still can’t forget it. It’s just too memorable.

        Then, below the drawing he scrapes a dash and then writes two letter Ks in which one was inverted and attached to the other like an extension.

        What’s the good thing about his work? It only takes a small space on the side and it isn’t much visible if you’re twenty and above yards away.

        “It’s done.” He says and goes to me with a smile, and there goes the emphasis of his sleepy-looking eyes again. “I only draw your eyes this time, Kate, and I’m sorry if it doesn’t have colors. It’s just unavailable.”

        “Why did you do that?” I ask him, appreciating what he did again.

        “How many times do I have to tell you that I like your eyes, Kate?” he says and we both smile. The thought makes me happy inside. He likes my eyes, but will he like what it sees? That what my eyes see is not Kevin himself but instead Ron? Oh, well. I really don’t know. Right now, I just don’t know what I should feel.

        “But you’re the one with the best eyes, Kevin.” I compliment him back.

        He just smiles at me in return. “By the way, Kate. I just want to let you know that the letter “K” and the inverted “K” there stands for our initials, Kevin and Kate.” He says which brightens my face and again, I can feel tension. I’m just so damn happy!

        “Thank you.” I say. “You’re welcome.” He replies.

        We bid goodbye to the saleslady and before we go out, she smiles as she says, “You make a perfect pair,” and Kevin “side-hugs” me again.

        We go out of the shop, with him bringing the boxed jar and me bringing the carton bag.

        “Say, why don’t you just search for the apple tomorrow, Kate? I think it’s already late in the afternoon to look for such. Fruit stores may be closed by now.” Yeah, it reminds me. Fruit stores close at four-thirty in the afternoon. And based on how dim the light the sky gives, I can say that it’s about six o’clock in the afternoon.

        “Oh, well. I guess I have no choice.” I say. “I’m going home, how about you?”

        “I’m with you.” Then he winks at me.

        “What?!” I exclaim.

        “I said I’m with you. We take the same way home right?”

        “Oh, yeah…” is all that gets out of my mouth. And then what he does next surprises me, which takes me back to my childhood memory with Ron in the city’s park. He holds my hand! And there goes my heartbeat again, unusually overbeating… I turn my head to him in surprise, our eyes locked with each other’s.

        “W-what are you doing?” I ask him bluntly.

        “Let’s stay like this for a while…” he says with a sweet smile, and the spaces between my fingers are filled with his. “…do you mind?”

        “Kevin, w-why?” I ask, with broken words and narrow eyes.

        “I don’t even know.” He shrugs. And then we both chuckle. “Let’s go.”

        He starts the motion and our hands are swaying while we are silently walking on the way. All the while, I feel magic. Well, there aren’t much people around except for children who are teasing us, but we just let them be. In fact, I even like it. It’s romantic, because every time we are teased, we are just looking at each other and smiling.

        We reach the gate of Clarkson village, and it is about sunset. And then I remember Ron. Kevin’s grip on my hand tightened which leads me to think about a quotation I once read.

        Do you know why sunset is more colorful than sunrise? It’s an irony of life saying that sometimes, good things do happen in goodbyes.

        And then my thoughts were connected. I think I have to forget Ron, let him go; since he seems to have forgotten his promise to me, up until now he hasn’t returned yet, and I guess he never will. And now that I have Kevin in my life, I think I don’t want to live my life in fantasy forever. I think I want to see reality with him.

        His grip tightens more, and I notice something. “Is something wrong, Kevin?” I ask him.

        “Nothing.” He plainly answers.

        “But I can feel it…” I then look at him.

        His eyes are closed, but his eyebrows seem to meet each other and a sweat forms on the side of his eye.

        “Never mind, Kate.” He says in his usual tone.

        “Kevin…” I say in a worried voice. Something’s really wrong. I break from the way he holds my hand, and I hold both of his shoulders with both of my hand and then he opens his eyes, wet and red. I think he fights tension within him, and within seconds of looking at him directly in his eyes, he relaxes. His eyebrows return to normal, the sleepy look on his eyes is back, and a tear runs down his cheek.

        “Kevin, are you crying?” I ask him, driven by concern.

        “No, Kate…” he says in his gentlest voice.

        “Then what’s with the tears?”

        “I just don’t understand myself.” He smiles then. “But never mind. It’s gone anyway.”

        “What?” I ask, unsure. “What’s gone?”

        “I’m sure if I’d tell you, you won’t understand. So please, never mind.”

        “O-okay…” I conclude. “I’m going ahead.”

        “Oh, are you sure you can carry all these?” He asks in high intonation.

        “Yup.” I say with a smile. And then he smiles, too, which relieves me.

        “But before that…” I hold his face, my thumb massaging his cheek to make him face me eye-to-eye. “Thank you, Kevin. Words can’t tell how much you’ve made me happy today.”

Our eye-to-eye contact is very firm, that I can almost clearly see my own reflection through his hazel eyes.

        “Thank you also, Kate. You made my day complete… and �"”

        I didn’t let him finish, because I don’t want words to fill me up, but his warmth, so I wrap my arms on his back, lean my head on his shoulder, and I close my eyes. At first he hesitates that I hug him, but later on his arms also wrap around my back and I can feel his chin on my head. A while later, his hand reach for my hair and strokes it gently. We are just like that, and when I open my eyes, which was a long while before I did so, the sun is almost gone, and the color of the sky from sunset orange is almost lavender that speaks of nighttime.

        He pulls me closer, and after a while, we finally break from the memorable hug. He smiles sweetly, so I do my best to give him the same. Now I just realize that the beat of my heart is extraordinarily fast. I wonder if he felt that.

        “Goodbye Kevin. Thank you for the day.” I thank him, and he’s speechless. I get the boxed jar from him and then I run, bringing my other things with me.

        As I reach home, I greet my parents and then go upstairs to my room.

        Later on, Camille enters, so she’s later than me in arrival.

“I saw you with a boy, Kate. Who’s him?”