When the song ended, Noah walked me back to the table and thanked me. I smiled politely at him in return, and I was glad I didn't have to endure more questions from him. I liked him, but I wasn't comfortable talking about my dating history.

Jeff and Brian, who both remained sitting during the first song, gave me a look.

"I don't know why he asked me for his first dance," I said, knowing we were all thinking of the same thing.

"Are you?" Jeff asked, gesturing me to Brian.

The latter waved him off. "I need some more rest."

Jeff nodded before facing me. "I guess it's my turn to ask you."

He stood up and reached out his hand to me. I took it and his hand was warm like the smile on his face.

We walked over to the dance floor where I noticed Miguel and Vino had exchanged partners. My eyes darted back to Jeff and I had to tilt my chin to look up at him since he was a lot taller than Noah.

His hands grabbed my waist as I rested my hands on his shoulder.

He squinted his eyes, making his long lashes more visible.

"What?" I asked with a hint of a smile.

"Nothing. Just that Brian and I tried to guess what you and Noah possibly talked about."

I chuckled. "You wouldn't believe it."

He raised his bushy eyebrow at me, urging me to continue.

"He asked if I was single or if I hadn't dated anyone since Vino."

"Since Vino, huh?"

I shrugged.

We were moving in small circles and now I was facing the rest of the dancing crowd. My eyes darted towards Vino and Bianca. They were a few feet away from us and Vino looked calmer now.

"What did you say?"

"I told the truth—I dated in college."

Jeff smiled and nodded. "So, you talked about your ex?"

"Talked about my first boyfriend," I corrected him.

"Does that make it sound better for you? He's still your ex, you know."

I rolled my eyes at him. I still had the urge to refer to Gab as my first boyfriend instead of just merely an ex-boyfriend. I didn't know why but it sounded better in my ears even if it wouldn't change the fact that we had broken up.

"You told him how your college friends introduced you to each other during your semestral break a few years ago?" Jeff asked, teasing.

I had met Gab when I was enrolling for a new semester. He was cousins with one of my very few friends from class and he transferred to Sacred Heart University. It turned out he was also taking up Biology and would be our classmate in some of our subjects.

I wasn't particularly interested in him at first but he seemed cute. When we got to take classes together, I found out he was smart and that was how my infatuation started. It was annoying how I got attracted to smart boys.

"No," I chuckled. "And I didn't tell him that Gab plays the flute."

Jeff laughed, and his dimple appeared on his cheek.

"I can still remember the first time you told us about Gab. You told us he plays the flute as if it was the most important detail about him."

I felt my cheeks burned, embarrassed about the memory he brought up.

When I first started dating Gab, I had this urge to build him up in front of the squad—especially with Lily and Bianca. Lily was very critical of the boys Bianca and I were interested in and our boyfriends—ex-boyfriends—were no exception. I especially felt the need to boost Gab in front of them, even if they had never met him because I always thought people around me were secretly comparing him to Vino.

But now I realized, maybe it was me who unconsciously compared the two of them. It was as if I had this mental checklist of both of them. They were both bright when it came to academics. Gab was taller than me but he was much smaller than Vino who stood over six feet. Gab wasn't into sports, unlike Vino. But Gab played the flute and Vino definitely didn't play any instruments.

I chuckled at how ridiculous my comparisons were and the mere fact that I kept on comparing them. It became some sort of habit but could anyone blame me for it?

"Well, he does play the flute."

Jeff nodded. "And he also never met us."

"Because he's a busy student," I replied quickly as if I was defending Gab. "It's not like we met Bianca's ex or even Lily's."

"You met them," he insisted. "Us boys didn't."

"Right."

"How does it feel to talk about Gab?"

"It doesn't hurt as it did before," I replied.

It was true. Talking about Gab tonight was unexpected but I never felt the familiar ache in my chest. I hadn't thought about him all night but I guessed his name could pop up in conversations at a high school reunion even if he was never part of my high school life.

"That's good, right?"

I nodded. "I guess you could say that."

"Oh, wait," he muttered, suddenly remembering something. "Gab met Vino, right?"

#

3 years ago

Gab and I had been at a bookstore to buy Hadley a graduation gift. I couldn't believe that she was done with elementary school. I could still remember how I had felt when I graduated from elementary. I had been disappointed I didn't become the valedictorian, but it was overshadowed by my excitement about high school. I had thought that when you're already in high school, you would have everything figured it. It turned out I was hugely mistaken.

"What do you think about this?" Gab asked, snapping me back into reality. He was holding up an expensive boxed set of colored pencils—the specific brand that Hadley talked about non-stop. "I think she'll love it."

My heart swelled with joy as I watched him beam at me. I appreciated his efforts in getting to know my sisters and making them happy, especially Hadley who had just started accepting him.

"I think so too," I replied.

He nodded and proceeded to the cashier to pay for it. I wandered through the young adult section of books and scanned the newly released titles on the shelves.

"Kane?" I heard an unfamiliar voice called.

I looked towards the direction where the voice was coming from and saw a girl with chestnut brown hair tied into a high ponytail, her wispy bands almost reached the tip of her long lashes. She was a couple of years younger than Hadley but she was looking all grown up and definitely far from the little girl she once was.

She jogged towards me with a bright smile on her face—the same one she used to wear even when she was younger.

"Hey, Caela," I greeted, offering her a smile in return. I averted my gaze around us, expecting someone to follow her.

I wasn't disappointed when he came into view—tall, broad-shouldered, and fair-skinned. He was holding three children's books in his left hand.

"Cae, I was asking you—Kane?"

His eyes were wide and his eyebrows met as if he was confused as to why I was right in front of them. He ran his fingers through his chestnut brown hair and broke into a friendly smile.

"Vino," I mumbled, feigning surprise.

It was the first time we had seen each other since we had graduated. He had obviously gained more weight after high school and it suited him. I could feel butterflies in my stomach, fluttering.

I remembered he was single again. Lily had told me that Vino and Lanie had broken up and I couldn't believe he was standing right in front of me after a long time. When Lily had broken the news to me, I couldn't do anything about it mainly because I was already dating Gab at that time, and I had convinced myself that I had moved on.

He was about to say something when Gab appeared behind me.

"Hey," he whispered, touching my shoulder. "I've been looking around for you."

I felt bad when I almost cringed from his touch. For a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a hurt expression on Vino's face but it was gone in an instant. His sister glanced up at him with a questioning look. He only gave her a tight-lipped smile in response.

They were all looking at me expectantly and I remembered I should introduce them to one another. It was the proper thing to do.

"Gab, this is Vino, my high school friend. This is his sister, Caela. Guys, this is Gab."

Caela stayed still and didn't speak. Instead, she gave a tiny smile.

"Hi," Vino was the first one to greet, nodding at Gab.

"Hey, so you're Kath's classmate?" Gab asked.

Vino furrowed his eyebrows before his eyes darted towards me. I bit my lower lip as I felt the situation getting more awkward by the second. He broke into a knowing smile as if understanding the situation.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Kath and I both studied at Eastview."

Caela's head jerked towards Vino, suddenly baffled by his brother referring to me as Kath.

"It's nice to see some of her old friends," Gab said.

I wanted to roll my eyes at his remark. I never said Vino was an old friend. We still considered each other as friends despite the complicated history between us. Or at least, he was still a friend to me.

"Well, it's nice to finally see the boy who stole her heart," Vino teased, but I could hear a hint of spite in his voice.

I never told Gab about Vino. I figured he didn't need to know. On the other hand, Vino and I hadn't talked to each other since my birthday the previous year and I had never mentioned Gab so he didn't know. Of course, unless Lily or Bianca already told him.

Gab laughed and squeezed me closer to him.

We talked for a few more minutes and eventually, I said goodbye to the Williams siblings.

"Regards to your mom and your sisters," Vino mumbled and I nodded. "And tell Hadley I said, congratulations."

I nodded. "Sure. Thanks, Vino."

Gab and I walked out of the bookstore and I didn't dare to look back as we walked further away from the bookstore.

It had been a long day and Gab accompanied me home after another hour of strolling around the mall and grabbing some snacks from his favorite café.

We stood outside the front door of our house and he handed me the paper bag with Hadley's gift inside.

"I can't stay any longer," he explained after talking to his mom on the phone.

I nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

He had leaned down and planted a quick peck inmy lips. But I had felt like the worst girlfriend in the face of the Earth. Myboyfriend had kissed me goodbye but a certain brown-haired boy suddenly poppedinto my mind. It had disappeared as quickly as it appeared like a lightningstrike.