"Amerigo Vespucci!" answered Angelo, who was lying down on the carpeted floor.
We were at the living room in Carly's house that Wednesday afternoon in the blistering heat studying for our History exam. Her parents were still working and her older brother's still at the university so we had the house to ourselves. To think, Christmas is only a few months away and yet we're sweating like crazy! Carly refused to turn on the air conditioning unit saying that we needed the fresh air; and look what we got instead. So we contented ourselves with using some of our binder fillers as little fans.
"Who was the Portuguese explorer who discovered the ocean route from Portugal to the East?" said Ellen, who was stretched across the couch.
"Vasco de Gama", replied Roger, as he walked in from the kitchen, holding a glass of water.
"Name the five ships that Ferdinand Magellan used in his expedition in 1519", said Carly.
"Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, aaaaaaand", Bear broke off, his face fixed with concentration.
"Victoria, and Santiago", I finished for him, smiling.
"There! I forgot about those", laughed Bear before giving me a high-five.
"Wait, was Francisco Pizzaro Spanish, or Portuguese?" said Amy, her brows knitted together just visible above the reviewer she was holding in front of her nose.
"I think he was Spanish", said Bradley slowly from the armchair near the computer, where I sat at the arm as he scanned his notes. His eyes traveled down his notebook before nodding. "Yup, he's Spanish".
"Boy, they were really ambitious", muttered Amy, scribbling on her reviewer.
"Pizzaro...wasn't he the guy who conquered the Incan empire?" asked Roger.
"Uh-huh", said Ellen.
"Nice", commented Rosie, smiling to herself, her gaze lingering on her notebook as she sat near the low coffee table.
"And who was the guy who defeated and conquered the Aztec Empire?". Carly really wouldn't rest until we got everything right.
"Easy. Hernando Cortez", said Chad proudly.
"Who was the first European to explore Florida, searching for the Fountain of Youth?" she continued.
"Uhhh..wait", said Bradley, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. "I know that guy".
"You do? And you haven't introduced us? That's nice", said Rosie sarcastically.
"Ha, ha", returned Bradley. "Crap", he said irritably. "Its at the tip of my tongue!".
I leaned closer to him. "I don't see anything", I said innocently. We giggled quietly; even Carly couldn't stop herself from smiling.
"Aha! Juan Ponce de Leon!" cried Bradley triumphantly.
"Took you awhile", I said as I rolled my eyes.
"Then why didn't you say so?" demanded Bradley.
"I just knew you were gonna get it. But I didn't think it would take you that long", I said jokingly.
He scowled at me but I only laughed at him.
"Which English explorer defeated the Spanish Armada?" asked Angela.
I grinned. "Francis Drake. He reminds me of Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. Hard to forget".
"At least you'll be sure to remember something", mocked Bradley, elbowing me in the ribs.
I winced and slapped him away. "Looks like we're even", I said darkly.
"Which French explorer traveled the St. Lawrence River?" said Rosie, not looking up from her notes.
"Jacques Cartier", said Chad smugly, leaning on the couch as he sat cross-legged on the floor.
"How about the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope?" fired in Angelo.
"Prince Henry?" said Roger, unsure of himself. Angelo shook his head.
"Barthelomeu Diaz?" asked Bear, a little more confident than Roger.
"You got it!" beamed Angelo.
Carly surveyed us, clearly pleased that we managed to take in a lot of information in the past few hours. "Alright, good job, you guys", she said happily. She looked at the clock that was hanging over the couch. "I think its time that we all relax for a bit before you head on home. It's getting pretty late".
"Good idea", said Chad as he got up and stretched, yawning widely.
I slumped onto the couch, forcing Bradley to make room for me then I rested my head against the arm, where I was just sitting moments before. My head was still buzzing from all the information that flew back and forth across the room and I was still too muddled to think of anything else. Carly already drew up our schedule until Friday; we'll be studying Biology tomorrow and Literature on Friday. I wasn't looking forward to Biology, since I absolutely suck at it.
"Anybody thirsty?" I heard Carly call from the kitchen, amidst the clinking of glasses on the counter.
Bradley got up and when he saw that I haven't moved, he offered to get me a drink. I smiled gratefully at him, and the squabble we had earlier seemed insignificant.
I felt my cell phone vibrate twice in my pocket. I already knew who it was before I unlocked the keypad and read the message; I didn't even need to look at the sender, although my eyes took a quick glance at it just out of habit.
"Hey there", it said; "has Carly finished torturing you yet?"
I smiled as I replied:
"Yes, she's done. It went better than I thought. I guess we really should study more just so she'll stop bothering us".
Bradley came back, holding out a glass for me as I let my cell phone rest on my lap; he squeezed beside me.
"Who's been bothering you?" he asked as he took a sip from his glass.
"Huh?" I said in confusion.
He nodded towards my lap just as my instrument lit up and vibrated again.
"Oh", I said trying to sound indifferent; "it's just Anthony". I picked it up again.
"That's good to know", the message said. "If you suffer from severe hemorrhages then you know who to blame".
"What? Me or Carly?"
I was suddenly aware that Bradley was watching me, his eyes alight with curiosity; but from the way he looked, I think he was more curious to see my reaction, not what I said in reply to Anthony's message.
"You two are getting pretty close". It wasn't a question.
I shrugged. "He's a nice guy". I took a long sip of the orange juice that Bradley gave me; I didn't realize how thirsty I was. By the time I was done, it was empty.
"What do you guys talk about?" he continued conversationally.
"Nothing in particular. We talk about something then later on we'll talk about something else, then we'll go back to the first thing we talked about". I chuckled. "It's a mess".
"Like what?" he continued as if he hadn't heard me.
"Likes, dislikes, favorite stuff. You know, the things you ask from those autograph thingys", I rambled.
"That's it?" He looked a wee bit disappointed.
"What were you expecting?" I asked testily.
He was about to answer when he looked down, then back at me. "Aren't you gonna answer that?" he said instead.
I looked down and sure enough, I had another message. I guess I didn't feel it.
"I guess you can say both", and I could imagine him smiling as I read it; "but I would like it more if it was Carly's fault rather than yours".
"Why? You don't like blaming me?"
"I don't know", said Bradley as if we were never interrupted. "I remember you telling me that you guys talk a lot. Have you seen each other since we were in the pier?"
"I ran into him a couple of times around campus", I said as I twirled my cell phone around with my fingers.
"And...?" he trailed off.
"And what?"
He sighed. "Look, I'm not saying anything against the two of you", he said. I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off. "I know you guys aren't an item yet, but it seems to me that your heading in that direction".
This time, I felt my phone vibrate again. I looked at Bradley, and he nodded for me to look.
"Of course not! I wouldn't enjoy that one bit".
Was he teasing me?
"But what if it really was my fault? I couldn't blame Carly. That would be mean".
"He seems pretty smitten by you", said Bradley, amused.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked warily. Now it was my turn to cut him off. "And what makes you think that he's 'smitten' by me?"
"He wouldn't stop looking at you since we first met up with them last Saturday", he said. apparently thinking that I was too dense to notice. "And your the only one he's kept in touch with, even though he's got everybody's numbers".
I don't know why, but I suddenly felt light-headed. "He doesn't text you?" I managed to say weakly.
"Nope. And as far as I can tell, he hasn't texted anyone else, either", he said as he indicated towards the rest of the group.
Before I could answer, I felt that familiar signal reminding me that I was also having a conversation with someone else.
"Your too nice for your own good. You make me look like a devil".
"Oooh. The horns suit you".
As I put my cell phone down, I thought of possible reasons as to why he would only talk to me, and not to the others. Surely, I'm not very interesting to talk with; I can be boring sometimes. Then, what? I searched my brain, looking through everything that my mind could come up with, but I ended up with nothing.
"Are you okay?" asked Bradley, breaking into my thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine", I said distractedly.
He looked at me, his eyes kind and a soft smile on his lips. "You don't like the idea of him liking you?"
"I don't know", I said, shaking my head. "But don't you think its too soon?"
He scoffed. "You do know that there's never a right time", he said wisely. "If it feels right, then go for it. That's all there is to it".
I was already reading the latest message before he was even finished.
"I'll take that as a compliment. And take mine when I say that your such an angel and that I don't have the faintest idea on how you ended up here on earth".
I felt the blood rush to my cheeks; Bradley chuckled.
"Even the innocent must fall sometimes".
My finger paused about less than a millimeter from the SEND button. What was I doing? I should say something else. But my mind was still blank. This is starting to get annoying.
I sighed and leaned back on the chair. I was expecting Bradley to continue where we had left off but he seemed satisfied with himself and his theories. He stood up, took my empty glass and walked back to the kitchen.
And before he even reached it, my phone was in my hand, scrolling away.
"But you didn't deserve to fall. Your too perfect".
I cringed at the last word. I didn't even want to repeat it. I wondered at the sudden turn of our conversation; first we were joking around, then he starts complimenting me? What was he getting at?
Of course, he wants to show-off his good side; typical. I really shouldn't be surprised, but I can't help but question his intentions. As for me, I don't even know how to respond to this.
I've been asking myself for the past few days if I'm ready to get into another relationship. He's a nice guy, and I'm easily drawn to nice guys; and he's very good-looking, too, which is a big bonus. Anthony's resurrecting the feelings I once thought I couldn't feel anymore. But then again, I was pretty bitter about my break-up for a while so I ended up swearing that I will never trust guys again. Looks like I just ate my words.
Upon further reflection, I thought that it wouldn't do me any harm if I gave it a shot. I was too hasty in saying that all guys are the same; unfaithful to their significant others. There are plenty of good guys; my friends, for example. I've never heard them cheat in a relationship before, so I'm glad that at least they're not playboys.
There's another thing that's bothering me: my relationship with Chris ended because he found someone else; someone more interesting and more pretty than me. What if that happened again? I don't think I can handle the same pain.
But all things considered, deep down, I knew that I was going to be a good girlfriend. I've had a clean slate in all my previous relationships; meaning, I never screwed up. So I guess that means that I'm ready. And that thought didn't comfort me.
It terrified me.
