Meet-up

by Joyce Jorge

~

            She did it the way the perky girls in her class did it.

            She tried her best to apply the raspberry-flavored lip-gloss over her thin pink lips without getting any on her teeth and the sides of her face. She tried her best to put on a whimsy pink blusher over her cheeks to make her not-so-prominent cheekbones stand out a little.

            She carefully chose what to wear. Planning a preppy girl look, she picked out a powder blue ruffled skirt just below the knee. To go with the skirt, she chose a simple white sleeveless top with its collar just short of shoulder length paired with a navy blue cotton long-sleeved bolero. As for the shoes, she chose her favorite black leather ballet flats. She donned a long necklace made of synthetic dark bluish-gray pearls and prepared her Cosé denim shoulder bag.

            She tried her best to make herself look good.

            This was the first time Amber was going to leave the house without permission, and she had already made up her mind to do so.

~

                “Never forget that you’re only allowed to have a boyfriend once you have finished your studies and landed a job,” her father always reminded her. Amber couldn’t understand what was wrong with that. After all, many girls in her class already had boyfriends. Besides, she was 12 years old. She was no longer some childish and immature little girl. She knew she was perfectly capable of having a boyfriend.

            “How’s your day?” her father asked her while they were eating dinner one Friday night.

            She couldn't think of what to say to him. She felt weird and awkward towards him ever since that incident a year ago…

            “Daddy, I think I’m sick.”

            “Why?”

            “I have blood in my panty! What should I do? Am I going to die?”

            Her father let out a very hearty laugh and patted her on the head with affection.

            “Amber, that’s what you call menstruation. When girls grow up and become young ladies, they have that monthly bleeding so that they can remove the dirty blood from their body.”

            “So… I’m normal?”

            “Yes my dear, you’re perfectly fine. Believe me.”

            Ever since that day, for some reason, she became shy of her father. She couldn’t talk to him about the boys she had a crush on lately because he immediately warned her about having a boyfriend after that bloody incident.

            “You’re not a little girl anymore, Amber. You are becoming a young woman, and you need to take care of yourself. Of course, don’t be shy to ask me anything if you feel like it. It’s normal for kids that age to be curious.”

            It’s weird. Although her father said she could ask him anything, she couldn’t shake off the newfound awkwardness she was feeling. Things used to be different. Ever since her mother died while giving birth to her, Amber’s father was the one who took care of her. She was close to him, and she could tell him anything. Actually, Daddy was her idol, and she wanted to be just like him – an engineer.

            “Amber? Amber! Are you okay?”

            Amber snapped out of her thoughts.

            “Amber, I’ve noticed that you’re not talking much about yourself lately.”

            Amber can’t look at him straight in the eye.

            “Are you hiding something from me?”

            “N-No, Dad…’’

            “Perhaps you have a boyfriend already.”

            That was it. The last straw. She was so tired of her father constantly nagging her to not have a boyfriend. She couldn’t believe her father would think she was disobeying him.       

            She dropped the spoon and fork she was using loudly on her plate.

            “You think I have one?! You don’t trust me!”

            “I didn’t say that! Stop raising your voice at me!”

            “You don’t understand my feelings at all!”

            “I used to be a teenager just like you, you know. When I was your age, I never raised my voice at my father or my mother! I never disobeyed them.”

            “Oh, yeah? How come you got Mom pregnant when both of you were still in college?”

            Suddenly, the dining room grew awkwardly quiet. Amber realized she had crossed the line.

            Her father took a deep breath.

            “Yes, you’re right. I was never the good son. That’s the reason why I’m being strict with you now. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. Thank God that I was still able to finish my studies. But not everyone is given a second chance like I was. Amber, I’m doing this for your own good, believe me--”

            Amber quietly stood up, and raced towards the staircase and into her bedroom. She dived into her bed and cried bitterly. How could her father not trust her? She couldn’t understand why her father was so strict with her. She was not a flirt, and so he’s got nothing to worry about.

            She sat up on her bed. She had to tell patrick374 about this.

            She switched on the desktop computer and logged on. She hoped patrick374 was online today.

            “patrick374 is offline. Send a private message?”

            Too bad he's not online today, she thought. patrick374 was the one whom she could talk about anything with, and get good advice from. He was a very nice guy, and Amber was perfectly sure of that although she had no idea what he looked like at all.

            She waited for him to go online. While waiting, she finished her assignment in Math and did a quick reading for their HEKASI lesson tomorrow.

            She heard a twinkling sound from the computer.

            “patrick 374 is online.”

            Immediately, Amber typed an IM for him.

            “Hi patrick374!”

            A few moments later, he replied.

            “Hello ambergirl18! How are you today?”

            Amber told him about the argument she had with her father. patrick374 seemed a bit bithered by that and he told her that her father was just doing it for her to be safe from bad guys who may hurt her by making her cry and have her heart broken. He also told her that she needed to apologize to her dad.

            “No, I can’t do that. He’s the one who should be sorry.”

            “You see ambergirl18, I really love you that’s why I care about you. I can’t stand the fact that you’re not going along well with your father.”

            Whenever he said things like that, Amber couldn’t help having a warm fuzzy feeling inside. ambergirl18 and patrick374 had been going steady for 3 months now online. Amber began liking him ever since she met him in a Phil Collins fan chat room. She discovered that they had a lot of things in common, like ice cream flavors (love Cookies and Cream and hate Chocolate). They both loved swimming and biking, and just like her father, patrick374 was also an engineer. Amber lied to him telling him that she was in college studying Civil Engineering. It was a relief that he never asked her that much about her lessons, otherwise her cover would be blown.

            But mostly, patrick374 reminded her a lot of a father she once was so close to…

            “Go say sorry to your father. I know he loves you way more than I do.”

            Okay. She tried to muster all the strength she could to say sorry. It was never so hard to do so. Amber realized that she really wasn’t as close with her father as she used to be.

            She quietly closed the door of her bedroom and tiptoed her way to her father’s bedroom. She was about to knock when she heard the sound of computer keyboard keys tapping quickly.

            Daddy’s busy with work. I shouldn't disturb him, she thought. She went back to her room and read the messages patrick374 typed when she had been AFK.

            “I miss you baby. There’s not a moment that I don’t think about you. I really hope you and your father would be okay. I never longed for anything but to make you happy.”

            Even though it was so cheesy and corny at the same time, Amber couldn’t help smiling.

            “You’re flattering me. You don’t need to say that. I love you so much!”

            As days went on, she became closer to patrick374. There was something about him that made him irresistible, she thought. She really believed in her heart that he was a gentleman and her Mr. Right, as her classmates call their crushes. With her father though, they hadn't been able to talk much ever since that argument they had. All the awkwardness just worsened and she found it all the more difficult to say sorry to him.

            “ambergirl18, would you like to meet me?”

            Amber stopped for a moment and reread the message thrice.

            “Are you okay with that baby?”

            “Of course patrick374! I have wanted to see you ever since.”

            “Maybe we can go grab a bite at SM Fairview or something. We can go bowling too, if you like.”

            Amber couldn’t hold back the intense excitement she was feeling.

            “When?”

            “Are you free this Saturday? We can meet at 3 in French Baker.”

            “Sure, I’ll be coming. I’m so excited to see you!”

~

            Amber was running late. Luckily, her father told her that he was going somewhere and gave strict instructions to keep the doors locked at all times and never leave the house nor let anyone in. Last night, patrick374 told her to wait for her father to leave the house and wait 45 minutes to make sure. Amber groaned at the thought of waiting for so long but she used that time to prepare herself for the meet-up.

            I must look beautiful for him to love me more, she thought. She almost did not sleep a wink the night—imagining how he looked like. He said he was 21, so perhaps, maybe he was that cute boy-next-door chinito type. Or maybe, he was a moreno who looked manly and mature enough to take good care of her. The thoughts of him being a bad guy or even a maniac entered her mind, but she quickly brushed them off. Surely, he was a very very very nice guy.

            As she entered the mall entrance near Timezone, she walked slowly to savor the attention she got from some boys who were staring at her. With the confidence boost, she congratulated herself for a job well done of looking good today. Surely, patrick374 would love it. She remembered what he said he would be wearing...

            “I’ll be wearing a blue and white checkered polo and form-fitting dark metallic black jeans. I’ll be seated at the leftmost portion of the café eating a croissant and sipping a cup of hot coffee, holding a bouquet of red roses. When you approach me, say '374' and I’ll know that it’s you.”

            Finally, after walking for what seemed like forever, Amber reached French Baker, and she scanned the café for any signs of him.

            Oh my god.

            There he was, wearing a blue and white checkered polo and dark metallic black jeans. He had a bouquet of red roses. He was eating a croissant and sipping hot coffee from a cup on a table at the left side of the café.

            What’s Dad doing here?

            She stumbled backwards, trying to assess the situation. Did her father read their conversation last night and did this to catch her in the act? Maybe her father had a date with someone and it was pure coincidence that he dressed exactly like patrick374?

            And it struck Amber like lightning.

            She turned around and immediately left the place, while her father glanced at his watch and eagerly looked around as if he was waiting to meet someone…