Chances

He looks at me with those eyes that seem to see right through me, before he extends his hand and mutters, "Hi. I'm Mark."

His lips turns up into a smile. Being the polite girl that I am, I smile back and offer him my hand, and introduced myself. And in that brief moment, I felt home.

*********

I

"You know what? I was just telling myself a while ago that I would be going to this reunion alone, as usual. I mean, you have Axel. Kat has Mic. Geca has Ayeeh. Choco has Rej. Not that they're together. Anyway, my point is, when will I be the one who will bring a guy to one of our get-togethers? Hay nako. Never mind what I'm saying."

I turn to Jam, one of my very close high school friends, who was fixing her hair and checking if every single lock of her mane was in place. I smile as I take in her appearance. She was wearing a top from The Ramp, something she said was a great investment, a very nice waist-length shorts, and black pumps.

"Aww. Don't be like that." She looks at me like I was crazy or that I was drunk already before the real drinking session started.

"Do you remember back in high school when I was the only one who was in a relationship, and the rest of you were single? Wow. Destiny is just amazing. " We laughed at my sarcasm. I shake my head as I recall memories of our high school life. Jam looks like she was doing the same thing.

"Oh well. Maybe I'll get lucky tonight and meet someone." I had a good feeling when I said that. I had a feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night. I think Jam was right about me being drunk. Did I just quote a Black Eyed Peas song? Oh my god.

"You look really good, Jam. And, I'm happy that you found Axel." She smiles at me. And I notice that every time I would mention Axel's name, her face would light up, and a rush of color would slowly creep on her cheeks.

"Thanks Eu. Tara na, Axel will be here soon. He just texted me."

I let her drag me out of my room, grabbing my bag on the way out. And just in time, Axel pulls over and we were on our way.

"So, how lang have you been in Abu Dhabi?" Axel asks me while looking at the rearview mirror. I made eye contact and smiled at him.

"A little over a year." I answer him, and as I look out the window I remember the day I decided it was best if I leave everything behind to fix what's left of my life after what happened.

It's something that always haunts me every time it's brought up. It's not something I can't avoid, because everything that's happening in my life right now is because of that decision. But decisions have been made and things already happened. And I know I dealt with them in the best way I can. But there will always come a time when you think if it was all worth it. You start to think about how much you've missed out on.

I shove those thoughts away, knowing that they would do me no good. It's a good thing that I have Jam, Axel and the rest of the gang tonight. I really missed them and it would really be great to catch up with everyone. The last time we saw each other was during our high school graduation. And even then, we weren't able to spend time with each other because everyone was in a hurry to get out of their graduation gowns and shoes. Jam and Kat, my long-time bestfriend were an exception. I saw them earlier this year when I visited for a week. But that was it. We stayed in touch through e-mails and Facebook.

The car ride was quick. Traffic was not that horrible which is a miracle. We arrived at the place we're supposed to meet up in twenty minutes. As we pull over in the parking lot, I didn't know that we were meeting a friend of theirs. Axel's bestfriend, to be exact.

"He's here na daw. He said there's a girl sitting at the back. Stalker much?" Axel tells Jam, as we were both getting ready to step out of the car. I laughed because this stranger actually used me to prove that he was there.

Axel and Jam walked together, and I followed quietly. I was feeling awkward, so I kept glancing at my watch or my phone. And the bitter feeling from earlier is starting to make its way back. I heard Jam greet someone and noticed that Axel was nowhere in sight. He probably went and got his shirt, I thought. I heard someone laugh and talk to Jam, but I wasn't aware of what they were talking about.

I looked up, and saw a guy looking at me. This must be the bestfriend. Jam introduced us, but I was only half-listening. I recovered fast. I don't want this stranger to think that I was ogling him.

I think I was melting, not because he was hot like Jake Gyllenhaal or Taylor Lautner, but because of the way he looked at me.

He looks at me with those eyes that seem to see right through me, before he extends his hand and mutters, "Hi. I'm Mark."

His lips turns up into a smile. Being the polite girl that I am, I smile back and offer him my hand, and introduced myself. And in that brief moment, I felt home.

***********

II

The bitterness and worries suddenly went out of the window. All I could think about was I'm happy. This stranger's presence makes me feel happy and safe. I know that's wrong but something was telling me that everything is just right and going the way they were supposed to go. I glance at him at the same moment he glances at me.

He pulls out a cigarette and placed it on his ear like a pencil. Who does that these days? Well, him, apparently. Jam noticed and makes fun of him.

"So, what are you trying to prove?" Jam laughs and lightly punched him on the arm. Axel arrives just then, wearing a new shirt. Just as I thought.

"It's badass kaya." Mark tells Jam as they both laugh at that. I laughed along with them. Of all the words he can use, he used badass, one of my favorite words. It's the word Rose, my favorite fiction character, always use to describer herself and Dimitri, the love of her life. So, I can't help but join the conversation.

"Ooh, badass. That's one of my favorite words."I said. And this actually caught his attention. He smiled at me like he was glad that we had something in common.

"Really? Wow." He smiles at me again. And I swear I think I turned into a pool of jelly.

His smile was so genuine. The corners of his lips would turn up in the most amazing curve I've ever seen. And at the same time, two deep dimples would pierce his skin where the corners turned up. I wish I could paint that smile, or at the very least, photograph it. And pair that smile with those eyes, his deep black eyes that makes me feel like drowning in them happily.

I think I hear Taylor Swift playing Superstar (You smile that beautiful smile, and all the girls in the front row will scream your name.) in the background followed by You Belong With Me (You've got a smile that could light up this whole town).

We waited at that spot for about fifteen minutes, before Jam suggested that we start looking for the bar where we were supposed to meet. So, Jam and Axel being the unofficial couple that they are, walked together ahead of us. I find myself walking alone with Mark. We were laughing the whole time.

I kept on sneaking glances, but he would always catch me looking. So I would always end up joking about something so he won't realize how he was making me nervous and comfortable at the same time.

After about ten minutes of walking, we finally gave up and just decided to ask some people where this bar is.

"It won't hurt to ask." I tell them. So, Axel immediately called Mark and told him to ask the waiter of another bar.

"Mark! It won't hurt to ask daw." Mark asked the guy. And suddenly, my phone was ringing. I flipped it over and I almost dropped it when I saw who was calling.

"You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding." I said very loudly to myself as I was still staring at my phone, refusing to believe that it was my mom who's in Abu Dhabi at this very moment, was calling me.

Mark appeared out of nowhere, looking very concerned and amused at the same time. He asks, "What's wrong?"

I said, "Nothing. It's my mom." I looked like I was about to laugh. I picked up my phone after who-knows-how-long it was ringing.

I actually miss her. I haven't talked to her in a week. Hence, I wasn't able to tell her that I would be having a night-out with friends today. She's not ver strict when it comes to these things, but she wants me to tell her this stuff as a sign of respect. Of course, she doesn't have to tell me that. I have a good girl image, which I'm planning to keep for the rest of my life. At least, as far as my parents are concerned.

I told her about my night-out and she was fine with it. I felt relief when she told me that she only called to ask me something very technical. I found it amusing, because I know she won't call unless there's an emergency. And apparently, learning to download movies from Torrent is an emergency.

So,I hung up and turned to my friends who were standing a few feet away from me. It looks like they were discussing something very funny, because they were all laughing when I got to them.

"What's up?" I ask with pure confusion. I was totally oblivious to what was going on. Mark was the only one who recovered from all the hysteria and laughter caused by this unknown situation.

"The bar we're supposed to go to is closed already. It got burned down a few weeks ago." He said in between laughs. Wow. Can this night be even more interesting?

I texted the rest and told them about what happened. They weren't aware that their favorite bar has closed. So, they told us to wait and they would look for another place we can go to. We went to Starbucks.

*************

Wow. I did not expect this to happen. I was just supposed to tell you about how my Saturday night went. I did not expect that I would actually be telling you what exactly happened. So, yeah, this is a true story. I did not even bother to change the names of my characters.

I've been wanting to write something since last week. And I guess this is also the product of reading Marla Miniano's books too much. If you don't know her, she's the one who wrote the Every Girl's Guide series, Table for Two, and other heart-warming Summit books.

Saturday night, to say the least, was one of those nights I won't forget. It was a night of pure laughter, happiness, catching up, forgiveness, and maybe even, love. For the first time in many months, I know I was smiling in my sleep. For the first time in many months, someone kept me up almost the whole night because I was busy thinking about him. For the first time in many months, I woke up smiling. And I wasn't able to stop since.

As the weeks would go by, I hope that I'll be able to continue writing this true story. I'll post the next two chapters tomorrow or on Tuesday. I hope that this will last for more than four or five chapters.

But what I'm really hoping for is, I hope this would last. :)