Chapter 19 #2
Watch me have more fun when I pull off getting your husband back.
This could really be my parents’ breakthrough. Pa didn’t change colors because he and Ma were flirting. That all happened because Ma saw Seph give me siopaos, which made her remember Pa.
Once Ma sees all these high schoolers awkwardly holding hands with ice cubes, she’ll then remember the moment when she awkwardly held hands with Pa. All the memories will rush in, Pa stays for good, Dr. Derrick disappears—a win-win for everyone!
While I station myself at the kitchen counter where I have an optimal view of my parents, Dani marches toward me.
“Hey, Nika, are you seeing anyone?”
My heart stops for a second.
Is Dani trying to signal to me that she can see Pa’s ghost too?
“Like, are you and Seph a thing?” she clarifies, and my heart quickly resumes its regular activity.
Never mind. She’s asking me about unimportant stuff.
“Did Auntie Baby put you up to this?”
“I just noticed some vibes,” she says, and pauses. “Will I get on Auntie Baby’s good side if I bring you and Seph together?”
After I tell Dani that my love life will have no merit on her leadership award standing, she waves for a random boy to come over. For some unknown reason, the boy actually follows.
“Why is he walking toward me?” I whisper, trying not to panic as he inches nearer.
“Hans Ang. I overheard him call you cute and his sister used to work in the production crew of some musical you were in.”
Before any of this information registers, Dani forces an ice cube in my hand, and the boy is suddenly standing in front of me. “Nika, Hans; Hans, Nika,” Dani introduces us. “Enjoy the game!”
My mind is racing for ways to escape when Hans engulfs the ice on my hand with his hand. My eyes scan the rest of the room and everyone else is paired up and “mingling” over ice cubes.
Who in their right mind invented this stupid game?!?!
I try catching Kayla’s attention, but Dani got to her first, probably forcing her into holding hands with another strange boy. Meanwhile, Pa is too focused on circling around Ma and enjoying the privilege of being invisible.
After the world’s longest stretch of silence, Hans speaks. “Your name is Nika, right?”
“Yes.”
“Is it short for anything?”
“Annika.”
“Cool.”
Another long pause.
God. Why is my heart beating so fast? I’m in the middle of resurrecting a ghost. Talking to a boy shouldn’t make me this stressed.
I clear my throat. “And you’re Hans? Is that short for anything?”
“Just Hans.”
“It’d be funny if your last name were Some.”
“Oh, my last name is Ang.”
“Right,” I say, grateful that the ice is masking the sweat dripping down my palms. “But if it were Some, your name would be Hans Some. Gets?”
“Ahhhh, gets.”
Dani then reminds us that we’re not supposed to switch partners until the ice cube we’re holding fully melts. I suddenly wish I paid more attention in chemistry class. Maybe I missed a lecture where Ms. Abad shared ways on how to increase your body heat.
“You might know my sister…,” Hans then mentions. “She used to volunteer for the production crew at all the Trumpets shows. Trixie?”
“Trixie Ang!” I say, excited that we finally reached a topic I can talk about.
“Is she still doing prod work? She was the reason the High School Musical set was so good. Trixie has such an eye for detail and she really knows how to light a stage too.”
I go on and tell Hans about my first Trumpets musical and how Trixie went above and beyond to make sure my wig looked real for my Little Mermaid role.
“Your sister is super talented!” I say. “The only time that the theater acoustics sounded good was when Trixie was handling production. I’ve always liked your sister. Really, really liked her.”
Hans blinks. “Sorry, she’s uh … taken.”
“Oh! No, no, I don’t mean I like Trixie in that way. I’m not one of those girls who like other girls in that way.”
“Um. My sister is one of those girls who like other girls that way.”
My face grows hot when I sense the bite in his tone.
“Love that for Trixie! L-love that for other girls too! I love that they can all love one another. We need more love. That could be a great surname too. Hans Love.”
While I’m burying myself into an increasingly deeper grave, Hans looks over his shoulder. “I think it’s time for us to switch partners.”
I glance at the ice in our hands. “I don’t think it’s melted yet…”
Hans nevertheless moves on and leaves me with a half-melted ice cube. To be honest, I don’t blame him. It’s for the best.
Before anyone else notices that I’ve been abandoned, Seph swoops in and joins me as my ice game partner.
“Nice to meet you.” He reaches out his hand. “I’m Seph Love.”
I bite my lip, hating the part of my brain that found that remotely funny.
Dani’s timer goes off and she tells people to switch partners while handing out a new batch of ice cubes. She lingers and gives me a knowing look when she passes by Seph and me. I return her look by sticking out my tongue.
The second round of the ice game commences and everyone starts holding hands again.
This time, I make sure that my hand is lifted and slightly hovering over Seph’s hand and the ice cube.
I truly don’t get the point of this game.
Imagine thinking sparks would fly with someone all over a block of ice.
“Go on with the jokes,” I tell Seph. “All the hirit. I can take it.”
“Telling a guy his last name could be Love isn’t so bad.”
“He thought that I was hitting on his sister and then realized I’m actually homophobic.”
Seph blinks.
“So … you’re saying people go to you for flirting advice too?”
I can tell he’s holding in a smile. “You’re proud of that joke, ‘no?”
“Made you laugh,” he points out.
I scowl in defiance.
“What made you nervous anyway? Did Hans say anything weird?”
“Dani said he called me cute.”
“Oh.” His face twists when he realizes I have nothing to add. “… How dare he?”
Seph laughs when I elbow him.
“And for your information, I wasn’t nervous.”
He cocks his head. “So you usually hit on guys through their sister?”
“Moseph, I’m going through a lot right now and talking to guys is the least of my concerns.”
His mouth then bunches to the side. “And where does staying mad at me rank in these concerns?”
“Still top priority.”
The smile on his face fades and I’m surprised he doesn’t reply with a comeback. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Moseph actually looks … affected.
“I thought Auntie Beth wanted to surprise you with her wedding dress,” he explains. “I didn’t know you were going to be hurt—”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’m really sorry, Ilagan,” he says, ignoring what I just said.
I groan. “We’re still talking about this?”
“Yeah, I’m still sorry.”
Seph finally drops the subject after I stop responding. But just when we settle into semi-comfortable silence, he asks, “Are you still mad at me?”
I want to say no, but from the way he’s pouting, it’s like turning down a puppy.
“You really can’t stand people not liking you, huh?”
He shakes his head.
“There are many benefits to you forgiving me.”
I laugh. “Yeah, like what?”
“I can help you with Hans!”
When I shut him down, Seph asks, “Any other guy you’re interested in?” He gestures to the Saint Francis class president. “Can vouch for Gio. He’s smart and fun.”
“Oh, dumb and boring guys are more my type.”
He shakes his head, laughing. “Come on. Maybe by the end of this soiree, you’ll be able to talk to guys you find cute.”
“I have no problem talking to you.”
The words come out of my mouth without me thinking. I blame the ice. Freezing my hand is messing with the part of my brain in charge of impulse control.
“Don’t,” I warn Seph in case he gets the wrong idea. Judging from his expression, though, I’m already too late.
“You think I’m cute?” he asks, his cocky grin on full display.
“Nope.”
This only makes his smile grow even bigger. “Can’t believe Nika Ilagan thinks I’m cute.”
“Hey, you know, I think it’s time for us to switch partners…”
My face flushes when I notice the ice cube Seph’s holding has fully melted, and my hand has been resting on his.
This is actual skin-to-skin contact. Like, I-can-feel-the-calluses-on-his-fingers type of intimate contact.
I know I’m holding Seph’s hand, but does this mean that we’re actually holding hands? !
I stop spiraling when the flash on Auntie Baby’s camera almost blinds me and Seph. Our hands immediately spring apart.
“Ay!” Auntie Baby covers her phone’s camera lens as if that would hide the fact that she’s been recording. “Beth, you didn’t tell me the flash was on!”
Great, just what we needed. Enabling Auntie Baby’s delusions of pairing her son and me together even more.
But all thoughts related to Auntie Baby’s matchmaking go out the window as soon as I notice Ma right beside her. It’s her expression when she goes to her scary quiet place again.
“Ma, are you okay?” I reach for her when I see her eyes welling up.
She pats her cheeks and waves me off. “Ah, it’s nothing,” she says. “Seeing you and Moseph just brings back memories.”
Ma leaves the room and I trail her, unsure of what’s happening. Pa appears beside me and I whisper-ask him what happened.
“Your mom was just watching you hold hands with Baby’s son.”
“What? We weren’t…” I avert my face from him when my cheeks flare up again. God, Nika, focus! There are way more important things going on than the stupid ice game with Moseph.
Was this plan too much? Maybe we pushed Ma too far?
I check in on her again. “Ma, are you okay?”
“Go, keep enjoying the games,” she says. “I’ll just freshen up in the banyo.”
Pa’s floating in front of the bathroom door when Ma sidesteps around him. “Sorry, excuse me,” she says, swerving before she enters.
…
Did Ma just swerve around Pa?
Swerving means she must see him, right?!?! One does not swerve for anyone—especially not for invisible people!
“Pa, do you think—”
I stop when I notice his feet, which are now firmly planted on the floor.
I frantically check my legs and if everyone else in the soiree noticed anything.
People would have some kind of reaction if the world’s gravity system suddenly changed, right?
My phone would probably be blowing up with breaking news about gravity from my aunties.
No, it doesn’t look like the world changed …
Only Pa’s ghost did. For the first time since his ghost appeared, Pa isn’t floating.