Life is a Soap Opera

Chemistry class was boring as usual. I think I went on auto-pilot during the on-the-spot recitation. I guess I did okay. The professor was smiling and thanked me for my answer. So I go back to mindlessly doodling on my notebook. Behind me, I could hear the class bitches giggling about their latest flings. In front was the class jock checking himself in the mirror for the 25th time this hour. To my right was Chloe, texting discreetly to the point of making it a refined art. To my left was Klyde, writing notes diligently. Well at least there's one guy paying attention. I sighed and continued on the professor's caricature for the upper left corner of my notebook.

The bell finally rang. Chloe dashed off to her class in the other building. I placidly collected my things and put them in my bag. I had a 30 minute break anyway. It seems that everyone else has vacated the classroom. Except for Klyde. He just sat there, staring at his open notebook.

"Hey," I lightly punched him in the arm. "What got you dazed and distracted?"

Klyde looked up at me and forced a smile. "It's nothing. Just haven't been sleeping well, that's all."

I could tell that it wasn't. But since I had no right to press the issue, I just shrugged and turned to leave. "Well, if you say so. See ya around."

"Laura, wait." He suddenly stood up and handed me his notebook. He looked at me shyly, his cheeks slightly blushing. "You're a writer, right? Uhm, could you, uh..."

I smiled and took the notebook. "Sure. What do you have here, dude?" I read a pageful of writing. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I was speechless.

Klyde shuffled uncomfortably where he stood. "Yeah, I know it sucks. But I needed a second opinion and well, now I know it does. So thanks for reading it..."

My eyes widened with delight. "Klyde, no. It's good! I didn't know you could write like this."

"It is? You think so?" His eyes filled up with hope. "You really think so?"

"I must admit, it's no Shakespearean sonnet. But it's pretty good. Simple, sweet and straight-forward. I'd be damn flattered to get a love letter like this." I handed it back to him. "So who's the lucky girl? Anyone I know?" I grinned.

Klyde's face blanched. "No one, really. I just felt like writing it, that's all." He hurriedly stuffed his things in his knapsack. "I have to go. Thanks for reading it, Laura. See ya."

I watched him as he practically ran out the room. There's something wrong with him, I'm sure of it. But I couldn't place my finger on it just yet.

******

Chloe was loitering in the hall when I stepped out of my French class.

"Hey girl!" She beamed at me. Obviously in a very good mood.

"Hey," I smiled, "What's got you bright and perky all of a sudden?"

"Oh nothing..." She sighed, doing a fake swoon. "I just realized that you're classmates with the love-of-my-life-for-the-moment."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who is it this time?"

"You can't guess? Why, it's Klyde, of course! He's so cute." Chloe giggled, "And he's smart and funny and a perfect gentleman. He's also very artistic and he's prim and proper. Oh, Laura, you're so lucky he sits right beside you!"

I grinned. "But don't get your hopes up. I think he likes someone else."

"Really?!" Chloe grabbed me by the shoulders. "Oh do tell! Who's the apple of his eye?"

"I don't know. But he showed me this thing he wrote during class and I think it's for someone special."

"A love letter?!"

"Sort of..."

"No!" Chloe gasped, going all drama queen again. "I haven't even made a move on him yet!"
"Oh, my poor young heart. I'm going to cry now."

"Snap out of it." I said, rolling my eyes. "I thought you were still in love with Adam."

"Oh, Adam isn't in our batch. He's not even in our course. I still need eye candy. And Klyde is perfect eye candy. Find out what you can about him for me, will you?"

I shook my head in dismay. "Whatever..."

******

My next class wasn't for another 2 hours. I decided to make a quick trip to Starbucks for a good dose of caffeine. With my tall hazelnut latte, I scouted for an available seat. I found one vacant table and headed for it when someone got ahead of me. I took one good look at him and to my surprise, it was Klyde. He blinked at me, perhaps just as surprised as I was.

"Hey Klyde, mind if we split the table?" I smiled.

He nodded mutely and offered me a chair. We sat down and I drank my coffee in silence. Klyde was looking at me uncomfortably, the notebook on his lap. He sipped at his coffee and held it as if it were a demitasse cup. Odd...

"So, how's the letter coming along?" I asked, trying to make small talk. Anything to lighten the atmosphere.

"It wouldn't matter how it's coming along," he sighed. "Nobody else knows about it anyway. Except you, of course."

I frowned, "How come?"

"I'll never be able to give it to the person I wrote it for."

"Klyde, this is not the time to get cold feet. If this girl is already your friend, maybe she would see you in a different light after reading the letter."

"It's not that easy, Laura. Things are more... complicated." There was an awkward ring his voice.

A sudden feeling of suspicion was growing in my mind. "Complicated how...?"

He looked utterly helpless and speechless. I raised an eyebrow. I think I know what will happen next. "Uh huh..."

Klyde was shrinking in his seat. "Uhm... You see, I... I'm... I'm gay, okay!?" He half screamed in a whisper. My jaw dropped to the floor. He blushed. "There, I said it. Now you know why it's complicated." Klyde sighed with relief, "Wow, I finally said it..."

I managed to get my jaw back in place. I blinked at him, "Really? Since when?"

He shrugged, looking a bit more comfortable in his skin. "Ever since, I guess. I don't know."

"I see..."

"Laura, please don't tell anyone about it. I'm not ready to go public yet." He pleaded. How could I say no to those puppy dog eyes?

"Sure. It's a secret." I gave him a reassuring smile. "I promise I won't tell."

"Good." He sighed again, "Now the problem is that letter. I'll never have the guts to give this to him. Ever."

I couldn't think of anything to say. Maybe I should treat this like any regular love situation. I should at least give it a try. "Maybe I could help. If I know who you want to give it to, I can give it to him. He'll never guess it's from you if it came through me."

"Really?" His eyes lit up. "You'd do that for me?"

I smiled, "Yeah, why not? I always do that for my other friends, why can't I do you the same favor?"

"Oh, that would be great! Thank you, Laura." Klyde held my hands tightly, his eyes shining. "Oh, I'd be finally be able to tell Adam that I like him in my own way."

My smile froze. "Adam...?" I said through clenched teeth. "That wouldn't be upperclassman Adam Dario from Engineering you're referring to, would you?"

Klyde's smile broadened, "Oh you know him too! Cool! That makes things simpler."

I remained smiling. But my mind was screaming "Oh my gawd, that's Chloe's Adam! Her crush is gay and has a crush on her two-timing boyfriend!! How insane can this scenario get?!"

"This is great, Laura." Klyde continued gushing, in a manly way. "You know him too. I never thought it would be this easy. You know him! Of course you'd know him. You're friends with the higher batches. I know he has a girlfriend but that's okay. I don't think he'll ever consider going... you know..." He grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah," I said weakly. I could already feel the pressure of all this information weighing me down already. School will definitely be more interesting now.

******

The next day, I went straight to Starbucks before going to school. An iced double espresso was called for. I have a mock debate later in Literature class. I sat on the empty couch and took out Klyde's letter for Adam. It was in a brown parchment envelope, sealed with red wax.

"How classic," I grimaced. "Who would have thought...?"

Just then, a clear familiar voice reached my ears. "One venti mocha frappuccino, no whip, please." Said the guy by the counter. I turned my head slowly. I had to make sure who it was. I was right, it was Adam.

I stared at him. Adam obviously hasn't seen me yet. How convinient that he should be here just as I was looking at Klyde's letter for him. A little too convinient, actually.

Now I have to plan my next move. Adam isn't one of my favorite guys on earth. And he knows that. It would be damn awkward to approach him out of the blue, much less give him a love letter from another guy... Uh oh. He saw me.

"Hi, Laura." he said cautiously. "Haven't seen you in a while. Chloe's not with you?"

"Hey, Adam." I said in a civil tone. "Chloe has class later at 3 p.m. You guys have a date tongiht, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Adam smiled crookedly, scratching his head. He rigidly held his drink with his other hand.

"I see..." I sipped my drink. "Uhmm, you want to sit down?" Damn, talking to him is just too damn awkward.

"Uh, sure. Thanks." He gingerly takes the seat opposite mine, placing his backpack on the table. He was obviously uncomfortable around me too. He was always uncomforatble around any of Chloe's friends. Especially the ones who knows of his other girlfriend.

We sat there in silence, minding our own drinks. Halfway through his venti, Adam stood up and excused himself to get some water. He politely asked if I wanted some and I said yes. Adam was obviously relieved to leave the table, even for just a few moments.

I quickly slipped the letter in the front pocket of his bag. He was careless enough to leave an opening big enough for it. This was way too easy.

He came back with the water and I was just about to finish up my drink. "Thanks," I said as he handed me a paper cup. Adam sat down again and didn't seem to notice the extra item in his bag. I took one last gulp of coffee and downed the water like a shot. "I got to go now. See you whenever." I gave him a quick smile. Adam nodded and waved goodbye. I left the place as calmly as I could manage. Once I was a safe distance away from Starbucks, I burst out laughing. That was way too easy!

******

I calmed down as the day went by. The espresso kicked in just the right time for Literature class and the debate went smoothly. Though my professor did notice that I giggled every now and then during my turn. By Chemistry time, I was exhausted from all the supressed laughter building up in me. Klyde was there in his seat, eagerly waiting for my arrival. He stood up when I entered the classroom grinning. He walked towards me with a big smile. The class bitches were watching us with menacing eyes.

"Laura, did you...?" He asked excitedly.

I nodded and gave him a thumbs up. Klyde laughed and hugged me and laughed some more. A lot of the girls present audibly gasped.

"Thank you, Laura! Really, thank you! You're an angel!" He said out loud. In the background, I could hear whispers and murmurs drifting about.

I just smiled. But in my mind, I was grimacing. "Great. Another issue," I thought. "Now they'll think Klyde and I have something going on for all of this." For like Chloe, a lot of other girls think of Klyde as the perfect guy too. Little do they know that their "perfect guy" is actually a perfect closet case.

Chloe came in class late, as usual, so we didn't get to talk. But I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was dying to tell me something. So she resorted to the old-fashion method of classroom communication: passing notes.

She tore a page of her notebook, scribbled some words and discreetly placed it on my desk. Chloe always did these things discreetly.

C: Guess what? I saw Adam a while ago. He showed me something.

I wrote my reply promptly and handed it back to her.

L: Is that why you were late? What was it?

C: Some girl put a love letter in his bag! Can you believe it!?

It was all I could do to keep a straight face. The "girl" was sitting one seat away from her. I stiffled my laugh by pretending to cough.

"Are you alright, Laura?" The professor asked, pausing from his lecture.

I cleared my throat, "Yes, Sir. Just dry cough."

The professor nodded and proceeded with his discussion. I quickly wrote a reply.

L: You know who it came from?

C: No! That's what bothers me! Adam doesn't know either. It wasn't even signed. He thinks someone must've slipped it in during his class. He always leaves the front pocket of his backpack half open.

L: Interesting. Let's talk about this after class. I need notes on how to determine acidity levels...

Class couldn't end soon enough. With a sigh of relief, I got our of my chair and waited for Chloe to fix her stuff. Klyde walked up to me and gave me a one-armed hug. "Thanks again for everything, Laura. I owe you big time." He grinned. The class bitches stopped in their tracks to watch us. Even Chloe froze.

I just laughed, "Don't worry about it, dude. I'm glad I could help out."

"You're an angel. Really. Well, I have another class. So see you around, okay? You too, Chloe. Bye!" He gave me a pat on the back before leaving the classroom. Chloe unfroze long enough to stare at me.

"Explain what that was all about." she said coldly.

"Let's just say I did him a favor." I quickly changed the topic with "So Adam has a secret admirer?"

"Yes!" Chloe said, glad to finally be able to discuss this with me. "I mean, whoa! It was written on parchment paper and sealed with wax and everything! And it was written so well too. Oh, I want to find out who it is. She better keep her hands off my Adam."

"Right. You worry about him being in the hands of his secret admirer, while he has another girlfriend? Chloe, you are strange." I rolled my eyes.

"Love makes you do strange things." Chloe said defensively. "Oh well, I guess it's no big deal. She didn't even sign her name."

"So that means she has no intention of stealing him away from you." I said matter-of-factly, "She probably just wants Adam to know how she feels, even if she'll never tell him who she is. Loving him from afar, so to speak."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Chloe said, smiling at last. "And at least I know that Adam is that lovable, even if you or any of my friends don't like him very much."

"I guess." I said, giving her the benefit of a half-smile regarding her boyfriend.

"By the way, I've been hearing things about you and Klyde lately. Like you guys holding hands in the coffee shop. Plus he did hug you a while ago. He even called you his angel. Is there anything going on between the two of you? I mean, I'll be totally okay with it if there was..."

"There's nothing going on between us, Chloe. He isn't even my type." I said flatly. "In more ways than one." I added to myself. Really, gossip can spread like wildfire. Sheesh... "I just did him a favor and now he thinks he's eternally grateful to me."

"Really? Okay!" She grinned, "He's still okay eye candy for me then. By the way, what did you do for him that made you guys so close all of a sudden?"

"It's a secret..." I said and gave her an enigmatic smile.