Chapter 2 – Okay. Guys aren't all jerks.

Chapter 2 – Okay. Guys aren’t all Jerks.

“I could happily take the picture for you guys with my camera.” The stranger offered.

“No thanks,” I said as I smiled sarcastically. “We can manage on our own.”

“Come on Rachelle! He’s already offering. Let him take the shot. At least you’ll be in it.” Tina bantered. “You should respect the dude’s manly kindness.” Mark, as expected, seconded her motion.

“Okay! Okay!” I said to my friends. I just agreed to keep them from saying anything else that would make me the bad guy. I approached the stranger and whispered to him. “This doesn’t change anything.” I joined my friends and tried to smile. I should be happy. This kind of trip won’t happen every summer. I won’t let this pervert of a stranger ruin it.

Click. The stranger took the picture. “Thanks man.” Patrick said. “No problem.” The stranger answered.

“Hey! Um. Why don’t you come and join us?” Joseph offered. I panicked. I went behind the stranger and gestured a big “NO” to Joseph and Patrick. “It’s ok. I’m not hungry. And besides, I think your friend wouldn’t want m in your table. Thanks anyway.” The stranger said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards me. “No. Don’t mind her. Come on. We insist.” Mark inserted. I smacked my forehead with my palm and rubbed it down my face in frustration. “Well, okay.” The stranger agreed. I have such great friends.

We all sat down to eat. I sat the furthest from the stranger. The guys brought out their beer but they didn’t bring it all out. They must be saving the rest for later night. “I’m Patrick Milano by the way. This is Tina Asuncion, Mark Letigio, Joseph Soriano, and Rachelle Yuzon.“ Patrick introduced. “Hi! I’m Daniel Rivera! It’s nice to meet you all.” The stranger said, pushing back his shades.

“Your name sounds familiar. Are you one of my ex-boyfriends?” Tina asked.

“I don’t think so.” Daniel answered.

“Oh. I almost forgot.” Daniel added. He rushed back to the boat and took out this large black tray covered with foil. He set it down the table and spoke. “I made these this morning for my best friend and I to eat here. But he had to leave for some emergency so left me with all this to eat. Of course I won’t be able to eat it all.” He removed the cover. “Woaahhh!” The boys said in sync. My eyes widened as well when I saw what was under the foil. Different types of beautiful and delectable sushi organized to look even more mouth-watering.

We all started to eat. I tried to resist the temptation of getting a piece of sushi and dip it in kikoman sauce with wasabi and lime. Daniel noticed that. I think he was enjoying himself because of it. That jerk, bribing me with sushi. If I get just one piece, he’ll think I’m forgiving him. But the fact is, I didn’t want to forgive him. Ugh. Torture.

Patrick shared joke while Mark was drinking beer. Mark , with his shallow sense of humour, laughed instantly and spewed his beer on Tina . God! How I loved that. We all laughed. Tina was irritated but forgave Mark almost instantly and kissed him romantically. I hate live kissing so I looked away.

After eating, we went island hopping. Now that Daniel’s newly acquainted with use, the guys welcomed him to our group. Joseph swapped his seat with Daniel’s. So it was just me and Joseph in the “stuff boat”. The engine started and the two boats set off to another island.

“You seem to be annoyed by him.” Joseph said.

“Really? OMG! How did you notice?” I replied sarcastically.

He laughed. “But why? He seems nice.”

“He touched my ass. How is that nice? You also saw taking pictures of me, right? And you know how much I hate getting my picture taken by strangers, right? ” I rolled my eyes away from Joseph.

“Was it on purpose? “

“Um.. yeah.. of course..” I answered gawking at him.

“Oh.. so he’s a pervert.. But why did he do it then?” He asked

A thought occurred to me. “Did he put you up to this?”

“Not really, he just told me the whole story of saving your life and all.”

“ Yeah its true he save me, but that doesn’t give him an all access pass to my body.”

“But his lighter fell in your shorts.”

“Well, that was no reason to feel my ass for it.”

“Look, the lighter might be sentimental to him. Hear the guy’s side of the story.”

“A lighter? Sentimental? I don’t think so.”

“Think about it. He brings it around with him but he doesn’t smoke.”

“Well, maybe he wants to look cool. I mean he’s a guy, right? That’s what you guys love to do.”

He paused and sighed. “Look, Rachelle. We also have the capacity to be sentimental. Ninety percent of the pictures in our wallets are pictures of our wife and kids, or probably memorable pictures of us with our girlfriends. We keep greeting cards, poems and stories given to us, and when we have the time, we look through them. We keep things that were resided by those who have left us. We cherish those things because we want to remind ourselves that whoever gave us those things are important to us. “

I was silenced. I knew he just wanted good vibes from everybody but I must have ticked him off with that last sentence. Joseph stopped looking at me and stared blankly at the sky. He held the silver butterfly necklace he always wore around his neck. I understood why he spoke like that.

I forgot, that necklace was his girlfriend’s, Trixie. He gave it to her on their first anniversary. They were perfect for each other, so happy. But a few weeks after their anniversary, a grave illness took her life. Joseph blames himself but I don’t know how an illness is his fault. “Joseph, I’m sorry about what I said.” I apologized.

“It’s okay. I mean, we are individuals with different points of view, right?” He looked at me and smiled.

“But you’re right. I should give him a chance.”

Joseph smiled wider. Well, I just said that to keep him from getting all emotional.

We arrived at our next island. The attraction there was a cave filled with sea water. The fun part was that you could jump off the rocks and land on the water. To get out, you had to swim out of the cave and back to the shore. I jumped first. I took my shorts of because it was hard to swim in them. Under my shorts was my bikini. I noticed the guys watching, checking me out. I jumped quickly. I forgot to blow air out of my nose so sea water went inside it. Tina jumped wrong too. She got irritated with the sea water in her nose that she asked Mark to swim her back to shore. I stayed and watched the others. It was Daniel’s turn. He removed his camera bag and his shirt. I didn’t want to accept it but he had a seriously toned body, abs and everything. He removed his shades. I tried to look at his face but the sun coming in the entrance was hindering me. When my eyes adjusted a bit, I couldn’t accept what he looked like. He was good looking, like an angel, and the sun light from the entrance added effect.

He crouched down and asked,” Um, Rachelle. Could you please move a bit further?”

“Tsss.” I hissed and moved back so he could jump.

After the cave, we headed to another spot. It wasn’t an island. Rather, it was like a docking station for boats. Patrick was removing some snorkelling gear out of a bag. “We’re going snorkelling here. The catch is we have to swim to the spot. The boats can’t go near because they might damage the corals and kill the clams.” Patrick said.

“Where’d you get the fancy gear?’ I asked Patrick.

“My parents love to go scuba diving; my sisters and I just go snorkelling when we come with them on trips. I borrowed these from the, so don’t lose them. They’re worth a lot more than they look.” Patrick said. We all put in our gear, but just before we were about to jump in, Daniel and Patrick called our attention.

“Before you wear your mask, spit on it and rub it on the glass.” Daniel said.

“Ew! That’s gross.” Tina said. Mark took his off and, without hesitating, spat on it. “Ew Mark!” Tina scolded. “But he told me to.” Mark complained.

I butted in. “Are you serious? What will we accomplish by doing that?” I asked that because I knew he was kidding.

Patrick answered for Daniel. “We have to do it so our masks don’t fog. Scuba divers do it all the time.”

I ended up embarrassing myself. We jumped in the water. I looked down but all I see is water, nothing but blue. “Swim towards the buoy!” Someone shouted. We all swam towards the buoy, with Daniel leading us. I started to see the sand and fish. We swam a bit far from the docking station but we found the clams. “Touch them at the side of the mouth. But only on the side.” Patrick said. Joseph dove and we watched him do it. The clam shut close its mouth. He got startled and we all laughed. We saw different kinds of fish and a sea snake. We all got tired so we headed back to the boat.

The next destinations were caves. The men enjoyed them the most. They climbed the rocks and posed for pictures Tina and I were too fragile to do that so we just stood around. Daniel enjoyed the most because he was able take beautiful shots of the rock formations.

Chapter 1 – Vacation

“We don’t have all day Rachelle! The Hundred Islands won’t wait for us you know”, my friend Tina yelled at me as she let her obnoxious boyfriend, Mark, wrap his arms around her waist. I hurried to the docks carrying the heavy cooler from our van containing nothing but beer, all by myself. I’m the one carrying it though I don’t drink. I glanced at the upward and rested for a second after that burst of energy. I admired the cloudless summer sky.

“Yeah! Chuvs is right! The Islands might have a board meeting.” Mark obnoxiously seconded as he laughed boisterously. I got pissed. I glared at him and rose an eyebrow His joke wasn’t even funny. And who in the world calls his girlfriend “Chuvs”?

“That’s enough Mark!” said my other friend, Joseph, stopping Mark in his tracks. “If you wanna help, stop making lame jokes. Be a man and help the girl you ass!” Patrick scolded Mark. I guess they’re both pissed too. Joseph and Mark took over, carrying the load to the docks.

I asked them, “So where’s the boat?” Patrick replied as he was watching his steps towards the docks. “Were going to rent two boats ‘cause one can only carry the load of five people, including the boatman but not including the stuff we’re bringing.” Joseph continued. “A stranger generously agreed to share his boat since no one else but he is riding it. One of us is riding with him, along with our stuff. “

“Please tell me Mark’s riding with our stuff.” I said. Joseph replied with disappointment. “Sadly, he‘s staying where Tina is because she said so. And our load is already the weight of two people. Only one can ride with the stranger.”

“I’ll do it.” Patrick said. I disagreed. “It’s ok, I’ll do it. Stranger’s better company than Mark would ever be.”

I stepped into the stranger’s boat. “Hi!” He greeted as I entered. I smiled and said,” Hello! Thanks for letting us share your boat. Sorry about the load.”

“Everything’s good. You’re welcome.” He said as he smiled and nodded.

I couldn’t help but observe him. He was wearing vintage shades and a plaid bluish shirt. He was wearing a camera bag around his neck suggesting that he’s a photographer. He noticed me looking at him. I quickly looked away.

The boat started to move. I was excited because we’ve been planning to go island hopping here in Hundred Islands for months. I had to eat Pancit Canton for lunch break to save money but it was worth it to be with college friends on a vacation, without our parents. The boat ride was thirteen minutes to the first island so I had nothing to do but text. I sent a group message to our other friends who weren’t able to come. They had a summer affair back in the Campus so they had to stay there Manila. “John, Niks, Erin. Wish you guys were here.” I closed the message and noticed that I was out of bars. The service in that area was bad, apparently.

I heard a clicking sound. I looked below my seat checking if something from our load fell off. I glanced at the stranger and saw him toying with this shiny blue Zippo lighter. He flipped it open and close. “You smoke?” I asked. He shook his head sideways. “Then why carry it around?” I added.

“Just for fun.” He replied. “How about you? Do you smoke?”

“Nope. “ I answered.

“Why not? I heard it’s relaxing.”

“Yah. But it’ll kill you.”

“Precisely why I don’t smoke. We only live once. So why not make it last, right?

I smiled and nodded. That last one finished the conversation but he was still looking at me. I’m not sure of what he was looking at. He was wearing those vintage shades, making it hard for me to see his eyes. I just looked away again to prevent any further exposure from his eyes.

We were nearing the first island. I wasn’t sure what it was called but I think it was the “Mayor’s Island”. The shore line wasn’t that long. I expected that because the Islands aren’t that big. There was a small house elevated near it. The boat man said that the house was the Governor’s. Hence, the name Governor’s Island. About a mile away from the shore, the stranger took out his camera. It was a Cannon DSLR with a zoom lens attached to it. He took several pictures of the island. He was displeased with them. When we docked, he took some more. It looked like he was including us in them.

“Guys, I think the strangers taking pictures of us.” I whispered to Joseph and Patrick. Tina overhearing, she said, “Oh? He is?” then she started to pose candidly, looking at the sky and the sea, pretending that she didn’t notice. The guys followed her, flexing their biceps as they carried the load from the boat. And of course, how would it be a candid photo shoot without Mark taking his shirt off and posing beside Tina. Ugh.

I hated getting my picture taken by strangers. It made me feel like I was being stalked. So unlike the guys, I just looked away as I covered my face. The stranger was persistent, constantly finding an angle that he could take a picture of my face. I walked around but he followed.

“Could you please just stop?!” I shouted in irritation. I crossed my arms and decided to face him. But when I turned, he was just inches in front of me. His hands and his camera were in the air, probably preventing his camera from hitting me in the face. I looked up to look at his face, but we were too close so I jumped back and looked down, slightly looking away. “Could you please stop?” I said again, but politely this time.

He apologized. “My apologies, but it’s just a rare opportunity to come across a lady with such a beautiful face.”

“I admire you’re flattery, but I just hate getting my picture taken by people I don’t know.” I said, still slightly looking away.

“I see. I will refrain from taking pictures of you now.” He finished. He smiled at me and I looked at his face and smiled back. I guess he’s not that of a jerk after all. Well, that’s what I thought for a split second. Click. Like a flash, he took a surprise picture of me while I was off guard. That cunning bastard, he acted polite just to catch me off guard. My smile instantly turned into a frown. He removed his eye from the viewfinder and smiled at me wider. “Ugh! Jerk!” I shouted. In my anger, I fast walked away from him. This fast walking lead me to a trail. I decided to follow it. I thought I just walk my anger off. The trail lead me higher and higher up the island. After minutes of walking, I stumbled upon the islands peak.

The view, it was stunning, panoramic. The sun was set so high in the sky, it sheds it’s light beautifully on the Islands. It was hot. Luckily, there was a hut there. Under the hut, I held on to the chains that kept people from falling off the side of the hill and leaned forward. The breeze countered the heat. I closed my eyes and felt it brush against my face. Serene, was the only description I could think of this. So peaceful. So beautiful. Then, “Click. Click.” I got irritated. I knew it was the stranger’s lighter. The jerk still followed me here?

“Beautiful isn’t it?” He said in a whisper. He stared at the distance, like me, admiring the view. Still irritated, I said, “It was beautiful till you looked at it.”

“Now that was uncalled for.” He said, still looking at the view.

“Why do you keep following me?” I asked raising my eyebrow at him.

He stopped looking at the view and said, “For your information, I didn’t follow you. I just came up here for the view. “

“What’s so special about this view? It’s nothing worth walking for. Admit it! You were following me.” I looked back at the view.

“My brother and I used to come up here. He taught me something valuable right here in this spot. He said, ‘Look at this well little bro. Life... and love is like... Well, this view’ ” He looked dazed far.

“Why is that?” I asked inquisitively, regretting what I said about the view.

“Those were the exact words I asked. My brother followed, ‘Well, it’s beautiful, isn’t it? And we share it with those who are dear to us.’ I thought he was turning gay, but what he said next proved me wrong. ‘Well, it’s only beautiful up to a point.’ He pointed at the horizon and continued. ‘See, it all ends there. And someday, we’ll get tired of all that we see. It will even disgust us at a point. But all we have to do is to keep moving. Because beyond that point where everything ends... are far more beautiful views to discover. Far more beautiful views to share.’ I told him that I didn’t understand. He told me I’ll understand it when the time comes.” He stopped and started toying with his lighter again.

I nodded and said, “Wow, that’s deep.” Then I asked, “So where’s your brother now?”

“Oh. He’s off somewhere far with my mom and dad.”

“So why didn’t you come with them. I dunno. My brother just didn’t want me to come with them.”

His brother must hate him. This stranger must have done something bad to his brother. Then I heard a snapping sound. The chain that I was holding on to broke. I was slowly falling forwards. I closed my eyes and screamed. Then I just stopped falling. The stranger was able to grab me. One of his hands held on to my board short while the other hand was holding on to the strap of my bikini top. He used his strength and pulled me back. I put my hand on my chest and tried to slow down my heart rate. I thought I was gonna die. “Now aren’t you glad that I was here?” He said.

Then he gasped. He looked down on where I was about to fall. He seemed to be searching for something. He then put his hand on my ass and patted it everywhere. Then he grabbed something beneath my board shorts. “Aha. There it is.” He said. I realized it was his lighter. It must have fallen there when he grabbed me. I slapped him hard and he fell to the ground. "You may have saved my life, but you’re still a jerk and a pervert!” I said. I took his lighter from my shorts and threw it at him. I stormed back to my friends.

When I got back to my friends, they were already setting up lunch. “So what’s for lunch guys?” I asked.

Joseph, always noticing me first, answered me. “Well, on the menu today, we an exquisite selection of grilled fish sided with unripe mangoes, tomato, grilled eggplant, and fish paste. We have some beautifully cooked rice. We also have pork cooked in garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce. And for desert, blueberry cheesecake.”

Of course, I knew he was joking. “So you’re saying it’s grilled milkfish, adobo, rice and egg pie?”

“Yeah, but not the egg pie. The blueberry cheesecake was serious.” He took out this container from the cooler full of beer and opened it in front of me. It really was blueberry cheesecake.

We took some picture taking of our own with Patrick’s digital camera before we ate. We wanted to take a group picture but the guys argued on who was to take the picture. Nobody wanted to miss a picture, so I volunteered. “I’ll do it guys. Sheesh. It’s just a picture.”

I aimed the camera at them and counted to three. Before my lips reached the number three, a click came from nowhere. I thought it was the camera, but then I remembered the pervert’s stupid Zippo lighter that fell in my shorts.