Chapter 11

Alegria slowly opened her eyes. She saw the sunlight coming through the window, and hurt her eyes. So she turned and hugged a pillow. The pillow hugged her back. 'Wait...' Her eyes windened as she immediately got up and checked who the 'pillow' was and boom! It was Bruno!

"Good morning! Sur...prise...?" Bruno said as he got up and kissed Alegria's cheek.

"How did you get here? Have you been here for long?" Alegria asked, astounded.

"Of course I knocked on the door and your brother was already awake, so he opened up and let me see you here in your room. I came just fifteen minutes ago." Bruno said, smiling.

Alegria looked at her clock. "It's just 6:32am.. What are you doing here?"

"I missed you so much yesterday, and I got excited to see you. So I came here early." Bruno said as he caressed Alegria's cheek. "Wait, close your eyes."

"What?" Alegria asked, confused. "I just woke up, and now you're letting me close my eyes again?" Alegria jokingly said.

Bruno didn't answer. He grabbed something under the bed. "Open them now."

Alegria opened her eyes and she saw a cute brown teddy bear. "Wow! This is sooooo cute! I love it!" Alegria said as she grabbed the teddy bear and hugged it.

"You like it?" Bruno asked.

"Of course I do! All girls love cute teddy bears. Well, at least I do. But yeah, thanks!" Alegria said.

Bruno just smiled and stroked Alegria's hair.

"Well, I gotta get ready for school." Alegria said as she got up and put the teddy bear on her table.

"I'll make your bed for you." Bruno said.

"No, no. I'll do it. Just wait for me until I got my self prepared." Alegria said as she tied hair hair into a bun.

Bruno got up and made the bed, completely ignoring Alegria.

"Come one, I said I'll do it." Alegria said as she snatched the blanket from Bruno.

Bruno grabbed Alegria waist and smiled.

"What?" Alegria asked.

"Nothing.. Now, you go downstairs and eat your breakfast. I'll do this." Bruno said.

"You sure?"

"Of course. Go now, or you'll be late for school. I'll drive you there later."

"Well, okay. I'll get ready as fast as I can." Alegria said, as she got out of her room. She saw the mysterious bouquet of flowers on a vase. She had goosebumps and remembered about the man last night. "Calyx, please throw those flowers away."

"What? Why?" Calyx asked, confused.

"Just.. Throw them away. Please." Alegria said, irritated.

"Well, okay.." Calyx immediately took the vase and put the flowers on the trash bin. "There. Happy now?"

"Yes, thank you so much." Alegria said as she walked away.

Bruno saw how she reacted when she saw the flowers and got curious. "Why did she get suddenly angry?"

Calyx shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

Alegria then prepared and brushed her teeth, ate her breakfast, brushed her teeth again, took a bath and changed her clothes. She went inside her room to blow dry her hair. Bruno looked at her as she prepared. "What are you lookin' at?" Alegria asked, now applying her make up.

"Nothing.. You're just... You're really beautiful." Bruno said as he smiled.

Alegria saw Bruno's reflection in the mirror and smiled back.

"Thank you, Mr. Bruno Mars." Alegria said.

"It's my pleasure, Ms. Erickson." Bruno answered.

Alegria smiled as she finished doing her make up. "Come on, let's go." She said, as they both stood up and went out of the room.

"Calyx, we're going now." Alegria said as she opened the front door.

"Yeah, take care, you two." Calyx said.

They went out and rode Bruno's car. Bruno drove Alegria to school.

"So, how was the show and the interviews yesterday?" Alegria said.

"Well, it went good. One radio station asked me if I was dating and I said yes. Then they asked me if I am still single. Of course I said I'm not." Bruno said as he looked at Alegria and smiled.

"You know, I can imagine the faces of all of your fans when they listened to you yesterday." Alegria said.

"Naaahh.. They'll be happy for me." Bruno said. Alegria shaked her head in disagreement. "What?" Bruno asked.

"Nothing, just drive." Alegria answered.

Bruno suddenly remembered about the flowers and asked Alegria. "Who gave you those flowers? Why did tell Calyx to throw them?"

Alegria froze and remembered the man again. "It was nothing. Oh look, we're here already!" Alegria said, trying to distract Bruno.

Bruno stopped the car infront of the gate. "Who gave you that, really?" Bruno asked.

"It was nothing." Alegria kissed Bruno's cheek as she got out of of the car. She waved good bye to Bruno and got inside the school. She walked towards her classroom and started her class.

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"Alegria!" Rose shouted as she showed her laptop to Alegria. She let Alegria read the article on a website. "Bruno Mars has a girlfriend!" Rose said.

Danielle got curious. "Lemme see it, Lemme see it!"

"Alegria, are you not sad at all?" Rose asked.

"Well.. No.." Alegria answered as she shook her head gently.

"What? You were such an avid fan of him! Why?" Rose said.

"Oohh.. I guess it's because of the man who drove her here earlier. Come on Alex, who is he? Tell us! Tell us!" Danielle said.

Alegria chuckled. "You guys, really. Don't you have anything better to do? Well, I have so I'll go to my classroom now. Lunch time's almost finished. Bye guys!" Alegria said as she stood up and opened the faculty room.

"Hey, no fair! You have to tell us later!" Rose said.

Alegria smiled and got out of her room. Suddenly, she saw the new teacher staring at her. She had goosebumps. "Weird.." Alegria said as she got inside her classroom.

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"Okay class, don't forget about to pass the masks tomorrow. And as what I have said, you can design it whatever you like, an anime, a cartoon character, whatever you want. You design it. Now, class dismissed." Alegria said. The students immediately went out of the classroom and she came out after. Suddenly, Calyx called.

"Alex, you're still at school right? Can you buy me a marker? I forgot to buy one earlier." Calyx said.

"Yeah, of course. I guess imma buy some ballpens later too. Well, is that all?" Alegria said.

"Yes, thanks. Bye." Calyx said as he hung up.

Alegria rode a bus and went to a store and bought the marker and ballpens and headed home. She got out of the bus and walked towards her home. Suddenly, she felt like someone was watching her and turned around. She saw a man, but couldn't see his face clearly. She started getting nervous and walked faster and turned to her right. She stopped and took her books. She wanted to see who was her stalker was, so she waited until the man turns right. Suddenly, the man showed up and Alegria immediately she smashed the head of the man and started shouting.

"Who are you?! Why are you following me?! You jerk! You think I'm scared of you!" Alegria said as she smashed the man.

"Stop! Stop it!" The man said as she looked up and held Alegria's hands. It was the new teacher, Alexander Reed.

"What? You're.." Alegria's jaws dropped.

"Yes, I'm your secret admirer." Alexander said as he looked straight into Alegria's eyes.

Alegria suddenly got angry. "Why you!" She said as she kicked his balls and ran towards her house. She saw Bruno's car, and opened the door immediately.

Calyx and Bruno were surprised. "What happened?" Calyx asked.

"Uhm.. Nothing." Alegria said as she put her bag down. Trying to catch her breath. Suddenly, her phone rang. She hurriedly took it out from her bag and cancelled the call.

"Who was it? Why didn't you answer the call?" Bruno asked as he walked towards Alegria and looked at her phone.

"It's nothing." Alegria said. The phone rang again and Alegria looked at her phone. Then at Bruno. Bruno got suspicious and took the phone from Alegria. Bruno answered it and pushed the loudspeaker button, but he said nothing.

"Alegria.. I'm waiting outside your house. Whatever you do to me, I don't care. I'm still here to watch you." The man from the other line said. Bruno opened the door and saw a man. The man was startled to see Bruno and started to run away.

Bruno hung up the phone and looked at Alegria. "Who was that?" He asked as he gave the phone to Alegria.

"He's..Nothing. Don't worry, that was nothing." Alegria said.

"How should I not worry? You suddenly came home, trying to catch your breath, like someone was chasing you and now I found out a man was waiting for you outside? Now tell me, how would I not worry about you?" Bruno said, angry.

"You know, forget it. It was nothing, really." Alegria said.

"Alegria, I'm your boyfriend. Don't you have trust in me? Can't you tell me what your problems are?"

"Bruno, you don't understand. You would just get worried if you found out, so I didn't tell you."

"Of course I would get worried, I'm your boyfriend!"

"You don't understand.."

"How would I understand if you don't even tell me what your problem is?! " Bruno said he looked straight into Alegria's eyes and shook his head. He went out and started his car and drove it. Alegria didn't say a word. She just watched Bruno as he walked out of the door.

"Alegria, can I have a word with you?" Calyx said as he sat beside his sister. Alegria looked at him, but didn't answer him. "You know, I hate to tell you this. But the reason why Bruno reacted like that because you don't tell people how you're hurting or what your problems are. You don't want us to feel that you are a problem to us, so you don't tell us anything about your problems. But you make people even more worried about you because of that. Bruno was just concerned about you. You know, us guys, we're protective when it comes to the people that we love. I can tell that Bruno's like that too. So don't worry, as soon as you explain to him, everything will be okay." Calyx explained.


"Calyx, am I a bad person?" Alegria asked.

"You're not. You just.. Don't tell us how you feel or how much you're hurting. That's all." Calyx said.

Alegria nodded. "Thanks Calyx.."

"No prob. Now, let's eat, I'm starving." Calyx said.

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"Class, kindly pass all of the masks that you made. And oh, did each of you write your name on the back of the mask?" Alegria asked the class as she collected the masks.

"Yes, Miss Erickson." The class answered.

"Very good." Alegria said as she went to her table. "Now, since everybody have passed their masks, you may now go home. Class dismissed." Alegria said as she arranged the masks and put it inside her bag. She grabbed her books and went outside of her classroom.

"You going home already?" Danielle asked as she walked towards Alegria.

"Yeah. Uhm.. Danielle, why don't you come over to my house and eat dinner?" Alegria asked.

"Well, I'm not that busy. Okay, I'll go." Rose said.

"Wait, where's Rose?" Alegria said.

"She had a date, so she went home early."

"Oh, right. She did tell me about that earlier.. Well, I guess it's just the two of us."

Alegria and Rose rode a bus and after a few minutes, they got off and walked to Alegria's house. They were talking about many things when Danielle cut their conversation and asked. "Wait, that's the red car that I saw  the other day and yesterday!" Danielle said.

'Uh-oh.. Bruno's here..' Alegria stopped and looked at Danielle. "Wait here.." Alegria said as she ran and went inside her house. She saw Bruno and Calyx.

"Alegria, I'm so sorry about yesterday.. I didn't mean to--" Alegria didn't let Bruno finish and dragged him behind the curtains.

"Stay here. And don't move." Alegria said. Bruno did as to what Alegria had ordered.

"What's the problem?" Calyx asked, but Alegria didn't answer. She opened the door and let Danielle come in.

"Uhm.. Calyx, this is Danielle. My co-teacher. I invited her here to eat dinner." Alegria said.

"Ohh.." Calyx said and nodded at Alegria. He now understood what was happening. "Come, take a seat. I'll just prepare dinner." Calyx said as he pointed the couch to Danielle.

"Thanks." Danielle said as she smiled at Calyx. "Wow, Alegria, your place is really nice." She said as she looked around Alegria's house.

"Uhmm.. Thanks.." Alegria answered.

Danielle suddenly remembered about the red car. "Alex, come on. Tell me, is the guy here?" Danielle asked.

"What? What are you talking about?" Alegria said, trying to look innocent.

"Alex, don't act like you don't know anything, I know he's here." Danielle said as she looked around Alegria's house.

"What? Aside from you, there's no one else who is inside this house." Alegria lied.

"Wait, did that curtain just move?" Danielle said as she stood up and walked towards the curtains.

Alegria and Calyx panicked. "Uhm, Danielle." Calyx called her and ran towards her. He held her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes and kissed her. Calyx looked at Alegria and signalled them to go out. Alegria understood and dragged Bruno and went outside the house. They immediately went inside the car and Bruno drove it.

"Whew..I thought she was gonna find out that you were there.. That was close.." Alegria sighed in relief.

"I didn't think Calyx would do that just to save us." Bruno said, smiling while he drove.

"Me too! I mean, he just met her and.. Wow!" Alegria said.

"Uhm.. Alex?" Bruno asked.

Alegria quickly melted when she heard Bruno call her 'Alex.' She never heard Bruno call her by her nickname. It just felt so good. "What?" She said as she looked at Bruno.

"About yesterday.. I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to shout at you.." Bruno said.

"It's okay.. You know, I should be the one to say sorry. I should have told you who that man was.." Alegria said.

"Who was that, really? He looked suspicious. I asked Calyx about it, but he said he had no idea."

Alegria sighed. "That was my co-teacher, Alexander Reed. He's my stalker." Alegria said and looked at Bruno. "Remember the time that I called you and asked you if you sent me some flowers?"

"Yeah, why?" Bruno asked.

"The flowers are from him. That was the day he started stalking me."

"Ohh.. So that's why you were scared when you arrived yesterday."

"Yeah, he was following me, and then I attacked him. And I eventually found out who he was." Alegria explained.

"If I ever see him again, I'm gonna crush him into pieces." Bruno said.

Alegria smiled. "Okay, enough with the stalker guy. Change topic. Where are we going, by the way?"

"I don't know.. My place, maybe?" Bruno answered.

"Oh, that's great. You've never brought me there before. I have an idea, how about we cook dinner in your house and eat there?" Alegria asked.

"Well, sounds good. Aight, we'll eat dinner at my place." Bruno smiled.

"Wait, do you have something in your fridge that we could cook?"

"Uhm.. Cereal?"

Alegria chuckled. "Alright, let's head to a store. We'll buy some ingredients there. You do have some cooking untensils, right?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Wait... I forgot! If people see you there, they might crowd us. Wait.." Alegria said, thinking.

"What?" Bruno asked.

"Oh yeah!" Alegria took the masks from her bag. "We'll wear these." Alegria smiled.

"Good idea! Wait, where are those from?" Bruno asked.

"My students made them. These are their assignments." Alegria smiled as she chose one from the masks. "I'll wear this one. You wear this." Alegria said as she showed Bruno the Mickey and Minnie mouse masks.

"Nice..." Bruno said while looking at the masks. "They match."

"Yeah, that's why I picked these." Alegria said as she smiled at Bruno.

"Okay, problem solved. Alright, to the grocery store we go!" Bruno said as he drove the car.