Page 65 of Chasing Mr. Prefect

“Cholo is obsessed with fixing stuff. What he can’t fix for himself, he tries to fix in others.”

“Of course,” I said weakly.

“Vinnie, please,” he pleaded, his grip on my hand getting tighter. I felt his sincerity and my stomach clenched at the thought of not being good enough for him. What good have I done in my life to deserve this?

“You’ll be late if you don’t leave now,” I answered, trying to smile. His eyes were fixed on mine, determined. “Text me when you get there. And don’t get drunk.”

“But Vinnie...” he said again, a little more exasperatedly and I cut him off with a quick kiss.

“Clock is ticking, tick tock,” I told him softly. “And believe me, Cholo. I know. But you’d be just as screwed as me if you turned up late. Gusto mo ‘yon?”

“I don’t care about Ate Mikayla. Not anymore. All I could think of right now is that I’m a jerk for yelling at you.”

“But you care about Ephemere,” I answered. “Your team is there, waiting for you and while I’m here, I’ll be rooting for you, too. Now go. Make us all proud.”

“I love you,” he answered.

I pulled him in for a longer, more heartfelt kiss and opened the car door while he was distracted.

“Okay,” I said, letting go and getting myself out of the car. “You have an event to launch!”

He shook his head and drove off. I entered the house feeling a little lighter but when I got inside my room, it all just sunk in. I got kicked out of Ephemere, Miss Co was going to flunk me because it was part of the agreement, and I was effectively delayed by one year.

My eyes caught my Seoul trip piggy bank and I started crying like a baby as I remembered my deal with dad.

I felt like the biggest failure in the world.

CHAPTER 29

It definitely got Dad upset.

I was grounded—yes, I could still apparently get grounded at my age—until the school year ended. Maybe more, but it did not really matter as I wasn’t going to attend club meetings anymore. Cholo was not allowed to come over and I was strictly going to turn up at our meeting place where dad picked me up two hours after my last subject ends, which he would now know as he asked for a copy of my schedule.

He was even going to keep my phone until Monday just to prove a point.

Tita Cris and Liana tried to appeal on my behalf, asking me to tell them everything. Dad did listen when I told him the whole story but he stayed firm on his decision. I didn’t bother protesting because I truly needed it.

Yuck, what was that? I did not even sound like myself anymore these days.

“I think he’s trying to make up for all those years that he was too scared to ground you,” Tita Cris had said in an attempt at humor when she brought me chicken soup in my room just after Dad gave me that long-ass sermon.

Liana was beside me on the bed back then and she had given her mother a withering glare.

“Real funny, Mom.”

“Do you want me to ground you, too?” said Tita Cris and I laughed at Liana’s expense as I ate my soup. “Pati si Gian, pagbabawalan kong pumasok!”

“You’re back together?” I sputtered, looking at Liana disbelievingly. “And you were going to tell me when?”

“Well, I was about to tell you pero since you just got yourself kicked off the club and delayed from graduating by a year, I couldn’t bring it up anymore,” she said, shrugging. “I had to give you your moment.”

“My moment?”

“Yes, your moment,” she joked, eyes glinting in mischief. “Wouldn’t want you to accuse me of stealing your thunder.”

“‘Nyeta ka!” I shouted, spilling soup all over myself as I aimed a kick at her.

“Oh, Vinnie!” Tita Cris complained, sounding like a hamster that got poked by a fork. “I just changed those sheets. You are in so much trouble, young lady!”