CHAPTER THREE: AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE
D2.
DANIEL
I have been waiting outside Anna’s house for quite some time now. Her parents don’t really know anything about our relationship so I can’t just barge into her house whenever I want to. I am almost certain that her father would be around. She tells me a lot about him but I haven’t really met him. Not that I am looking forward to it. Meeting your girlfriend’s father is always intimidating.
After what feels like forever, I can’t contain my excitement anymore. But I am also getting tired of waiting. I check my watch. It’s been two hours since she went home preparing for her “surprise” to me. I get a bit irritated. Is this a surprise? Waiting for her for as long as I can? Anyway, I try calling her, but she doesn’t answer. It is so frustrating but I compose myself. This isn’t the first time she made me wait. It feels like I am always waiting for her whenever we go on a date.
She also has never invited me inside her house ever. I start to sense that something isn’t right. Maybe I am so blinded by love that I allow myself to be treated this way? If I was some kind of a priority in her life, why am I always the one waiting? But despite all of these things, I just really love her. It’s not hard to let go of petty things I dislike about our relationship when I remember that.
Two hours of waiting turn into three. I can see a light coming from her room – at least I think that is her room I am looking up at, as she pointed out to me once – so I am really wondering what is taking her so long. I wait even a bit longer but she doesn’t come down from her room nor appear at her window just to maybe let me know something came up and she can’t make it to our dinner date. I am so appalled upon realizing how little I must mean to her.
It crosses my mind to just go out and date some other girls to punish her, but that would be so lame. I know I won’t enjoy being with anyone else anyway. I never really liked dinner dates. It is just something I enjoy doing with Anna alone.
I am at a loss at what I would do now. It surely didn’t go as planned. Some anniversary it is turning out to be. I drive and drive to nowhere. I don’t really know where to go. Finally, I see two girls that I recognize. Isabel and Jenna. I don’t usually like driving this way because this road is surrounded by woods. I stop the car and open my window to talk to them.
“What’s up, girls? Where are you headed to? It’s kind of late,” I say.
“About to really have a good time,” Jenna jokes, flirtatiously.
“Actually, Dan, we were waiting for your car to pass, because you’re going to drive us to the hottest bar in town and we’re going to dance, dance, dance,” adds Isabel in a singsong voice.
“Where would that be?” I ask as if I don’t know. I used to go there with my teammates to have a good time, pretending to be older than we really were, before Anna came into my life.
“To heaven,” Isabel quips. She laughs. “Oh my god, Daniel, look at your face! You’re the only hot guy I know who sticks to one loser, I mean, girl.” She rests her head on my shoulder. “I dare you. Dan, take me to heaven.” That is not-so-subtle flirting. The nerve! I have known her since we were kids, but sometimes I don't understand her humor if you can call it that. I don’t answer. I just look at her blankly.
“I’m kidding, Dan,” Isabel quickly reiterates. Yeah, right, you are. “You know what? You’ve been very busy lately so I haven’t really had the time to tell you this. I’m very happy that you’re doing well in school now, with basketball and academics. You may be dating a loser, but at least she has done wonders for you. You really love her so much, don’t you?”
I just shrug. It’s not so cool to admit to anybody that I am very much in love with this girl. I won’t even normally admit that to myself. Thinking of her just makes me remember what happened today, so I try to push her out of my mind.
“You’re so quiet, Dan, you know that?” Isabel says. “Come on, let’s go dancing.”
I don’t really want to go home yet so I agree. But even when I am already at the bar dancing with Isabel, I am still thinking about Anna being a no-show. Our kisses before we went separate ways in school cross my mind. Surely if she can kiss me with such passion, nothing can possibly be wrong, right?
“Hey, Dan, are you okay?” Isabel must have noticed me lost in my own thoughts.
“Yeah,” I answer shortly.
After dancing, Isabel buys us drinks. I drink bottle after bottle, not really caring anymore. I am still upset at Anna for never showing up. For never explaining anything. Soon, my anger is replaced by good memories I have of her. My favorite memories. I think about her flirtatious smiles, the way she bites her lips whenever she asks me a favor, the way she laughs as if there’s no tomorrow. I think about all our passionate kisses especially the one in the car earlier today right before I watched her leave. I don’t even know why I love her so much. I just do. I can’t even take her off my mind for a second.
I finally get home around two o’clock in the morning but I fall asleep immediately because I am so drunk. I don’t even remember how I managed to drive Isabel home. We left Jenna at the bar hooking up with some random guy, but I had to drive Isabel home because she didn’t have her car with her.
I am awakened by a phone call a few moments later. I look up at the clock. It reads 3 am. Then I check my phone and am so relieved to finally get a call from Anna!
“Dan… Are you still awake?” she asks.
“Yes, I am awake now,” I reply. I want to tell her badly that I am upset at what she pulled but there is something about her voice that makes me worry. Why am I worried like this? “What happened, Anna? Why didn’t you show up? I waited for hours right outside your house. You never showed up! I prepared so hard for that dinner. Why did you have to ruin it?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t anymore,” she says.
“What do you mean you can’t?” I ask, confused.
“I just can’t anymore, Dan. I’m so sorry. Please forget about me.”
“What! No! Are you crazy? What’s wrong? You just can’t give up on me like that! What have I done???” I am holding back tears. I am about to explode. “You can’t. It is our anniversary. You can’t do this.”
“I know,” she says sobbing.
“Then don’t give up on me. Whatever it is we can fix it. We can fix anything! And please, please don’t cry. I’m not upset. We can fix this.”
“I’m so confused. I’m in so much pain. I think I know – “, she trails off, but seems to cut off what she is going to say. “Please. Please just forget about me. I’m really sorry.”
Does she really think forgetting her is that easy? Is my love for her not enough? What kind of joke is this? But she just keeps on sobbing as she has already made up her mind about this. I know I should not cry, but I am crying. This can’t be happening to me.
“What did I do? What did I do, Anna? Whatever it is, I’m sorry, okay?” I say in desperation. My pride is telling me she’s just a girl and after breaking my heart like this, she’s really not worth it. But my feelings win over my pride and I start crying just like that.
“Anna?” I call her name upon noticing she has gone quiet. But she already hung up! She hung up on me! I can’t believe it. There must be some explanation for her sudden odd behavior. I swallow my pride and dial her number over and over but I still don’t get any answer. I’ve got a 6 a.m. practice today and I haven’t even slept properly yet. I’m going to suck at practice definitely. It’s enough reason for my father to bench me in the upcoming game. He tells me all the time that I can’t lose focus even at practices, because I have to prove to everyone that I deserve my spot in the team, that he didn’t choose me as team captain because I am his son.
He is sometimes so serious I wonder if he’s even capable of having a good time. I can feel my eyes already closing, though my heart is still aching. I don’t want to sleep. This can’t be real. Anna must be joking. I don’t want to believe she really broke up with me. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not going to let it happen. I’ll beg her to come back to me if I have to. I feel hot tears streaming down my face. I feel my heart-shattering piece by piece. This isn’t happening. I am not losing Anna. I can’t. I’m not going to make it without her.