Alice And Alison

"I didn't know that you two are roommates... If I only knew, I shouldn't have wasted so much time looking for you" Gabby said while scratching his nape with his right hand and his face covered with redness from embarrassment.

Alice decided to head back to their room and let the two catch up with each other.

"Well, you should have just called me," Alison said.

"I don't have your contact number and I wanted to surprise you" Gabby explained

"Yellow book?" she said

*Author's Note: Yellow Book or Yellow Pages is a thick book from telephone companies that contains the contact numbers and addresses of their subscribers.*

"Well, to be honest, I did not process or plan anything because I was too excited about going here. We are both attending classes in this prestigious university just like we dream of."

Technically it was not a lie but Gabby let out the fact that he was there only because of Alison.

Ever since that night, Gabby goes to their room almost daily with food that Alison loves. He also discovers that Alice is the daughter of Mr. Madrigal, the man who sponsored him. It is also the reason why the headmistress personally asked Alison to assist Alice in school because she doesn't know the run around in the Philippines since she grew up in the States.

Months later, Alison and Gabby finally started dating and Alice witnessed all their dramas, from the telenovela-like sweetness gesture that Gabby will do for Alison, to the nonsense petty jealousy games. She was so caught up that she even became their bridge/ messenger/counsellor whenever they fought.

Alice was never close to Gabby even after he joined their circle of friends. Well, they talked but they never had much of a conversation before he found out that Alison was her roommate.

Alice still kept her distance especially after she had her most embarrassing moment with him because he mistook her for Alison and deep down she really thought that it was her he was calling and she liked it. She thought that he might have feelings for her too because she swore she never felt that for anyone before.

*Flashback*

"Hi, is this economic class for Com-A?" Gabby asked Bryan who was standing by the doorway

"Yeah," he said and pointed inside with his thumb.

"T-thanks" Gabby said and entered the room looking for a vacant seat. He was a bit shaken because Bryan had a very intimidating aura.

Meanwhile, Alice was busy scribbling when a boy from her back spoke. "Nice. Is that Harry Potter?"

Alice looked over her left shoulder and she gasped when she saw a good-looking guy only inches away from her face.

Her heart almost skipped a beat.

"Did you draw that without any reference?" he pointed, "I always wanted to draw but I find it difficult since my work ends up no way near what I imagined so I decided to marry math instead." he smiled

Alice quickly turned away from their closeness and focused on what she was doing but her hands were shaking like crazy. "Drawing or any art requires a lot more emotional attention. Maybe you should stop thinking and start feeling it."

She knows that her face is already burning red and her stomach is cramping and turning which makes her skin sweat like crazy.

"I guess you're right by the way is this seat taken?" Gabby asks pointing the seat behind Alice.

"You can take any seat you like. We don't have sitting arrangements yet anyway. What are you 12?" Bryan said from Gabby's back with a friendly smile though he sounded insulting for some reason. "But unfortunately, you can't take this one," he added then threw a glance at Alice.

Alice turned around and threw a piece of crumpled paper to Bryan, "Stop it!" she hissed and looked at Gabby, "I-it is fine. You can sit there." she said with a friendly smile then turned to Bryan with a completely different face. Now her warmth became icy cold, "It is not like anyone owns that sit." she added while fixing her glare to Bryan.

Gabby felt that something was going on with those two so he decided to just exclude himself from the picture. "No. I'll just sit someplace else," he said

Bryan laughed and tapped Gabby's shoulder. "Just messing with you dude. I'm Bryan. Bryan North. You?" then he hands over his right hand.

Gabby accepted his gesture and shook Bryan's hand, " Gabriel but you can call me Gabby." he replied

*End of flashback*

Alice decided to ignore whatever she felt for Gabby since he never actually befriended her or anything. Well, who would be in his right mind to choose her over someone like Alison? Alison whose perfect and desirable. They are poles apart from each other. She is the yin and Alison is the yang. But she and Alison are not in bad shoes, in fact, they find each other comforting as if they are blood-related sisters.

"Hey, are you going to the school dance?" Alex asks Gabby.

They are now standing in the hall near their room while waiting for their professor. Alex, Gabby, Bryan and the other 2 guys from their pack.

"Of course, he already has a date." Bryan cut in

Gabby scratched his nape shyly and nodded. Alison just said yes to him about a week ago so they are still new.

Alex slapped his back hard, "Dude! Stop acting so lovey-dovey! It's creepy!"

Then the boys started laughing.

"How about you? Are you going?" Bryan asks Alex.

"I don't know. Doesn't have a date yet," he shrugged

"Eh? Aren't you already got second base with Roxy from the fashion department?" the other guy asked

"Well," Alex paused for a bit while thinking, "I don't think she's the type of girl that you should be taking out as a date at a huge college party." he said, "she's a bit clingy and I don't think I will be able to enjoy the dance with her around," he added while scratching his right temple with his forefinger.

"Men! What a jerk!" Bryan said

Alex just shrugged his shoulders and threw a naughty smirk like a jerk he was.

"Well, she is prettier than Alice so she would probably be a better option don't you think?," said Gabby out of the blue

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"What do you mean?" asked Bryan in a slightly hostile tone.

Everyone suddenly feels awkward since Bryan is not hiding the fact that he is interested in Alice and insulting a woman in front of her suitor is a big ego punch for a guy.

Gabby senses the threat in Bryan's voice and quickly raises his hand as a sign of surrender, "I am just saying that compared to Alice, Roxy is a bit show stopper and Alex shouldn't have a problem ditching her during the dance because somebody else will surely willing to distract her." he explained

Alex laughed a bit, "Well, still men. Of all the girls here on campus, why choose Alice as a gauge?" he said trying to lighten the mood

The boys continue without knowing that Alice is currently standing behind them.

Gabby who is still unaware of Alice's presence continues commenting/bad-mouthing, "Can you see how ridiculous her rainbow-colored braces are? And her hair looks like it never met a comb or a hair dryer before which makes her look like she hasn't taken a bath for weeks. She even has these huge eyeglasses that make her look like Lex in that game 'Bookworm' with shabby sneakers."

Alex and the other guys tensed upon hearing Gab. They can not seem to understand why he suddenly saying some pretty hurtful stuff about Alice.

Alice was about to say something when Bryan cut Gabby off, "Well, I didn't know you spent so much time staring at her Gab because I thought you only had your eyes for Alison."

Everyone was astounded by what Bryan said. And as much as he wanted to take things lightly, Bryan wasn't able to hide his irritation from what Gab said about Alice.

"Ooh burn." Alex teases breaking the awkward silence that surrounds them again.

"You already have yours so please stop eyeing mine," Bryan added

Gab realized what he said was insulting though he didn't intend to insult anyone, especially Alice.

He was about to apologize when Alice came out from behind him

"Bryan, can you help me with this?" Alice butted in and handed over a notebook to Bryan deliberately ignoring Gab. "I can't understand this equation," she added while pushing her glasses that kept on falling off her nose bridge.

Bryan turned around to help Alice in her ordeal when Alice spoke again, "Darn these glasses, I guess I should pick a smaller frame. What do you think Alex?" she said to Alex who was beside Gabby and let him know that she heard all those hurtful things he said about her.

Alex laughed awkwardly, "Well if it will make you comfortable," he answered then elbowed Gabby to signal him to apologize.

Gabby quickly caught up and opened his mouth to utter his apology when the homeroom teacher came.

This isn't the first time someone made a joke about her looks but it still hurts hearing mean words, especially from someone you like but she can't get mad at him since he is telling the truth. She does look like she hasn't taken a bath for weeks and her braces really are too colorful for her age she definitely looks like Lex with those huge corrective glasses.

The day had passed quickly.

Alice decided to stay a bit longer in the library even after her shift at the library just to avoid Gabby. She knew that he was right inside their dorm room until late tonight just like the nights before so she decided to take out her sketch pad from her bag and start drawing instead.

After a few strokes here and there she decided to stop because her vision didn't match the ones on her sketch pad. Even if she wanted to ignore being hurt her body won't let her. Now she suddenly wishes that she is as beautiful as Alison.

Alice looked at her wristwatch and saw that it was almost midnight so she decided to pack her things back in her bag and head back to the dorm.

During normal days, Bryan walks her back to the dorm but tonight he has some errands so he can't.

She quietly opened the door avoiding waking Alison who might probably be sleeping already when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist as soon as she closed the door shut.

"Eeekk--mm!" she almost squealed but the huge warm hand quickly covered her mouth.

The room is almost pitch black since all the lights are off but she exactly knows who it is in front of her because of the familiar scent of cologne he is wearing.

Alice forcefully removed Gabby's hand from her mouth, "What is wrong with you? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she whispered loudly then turned on the light.

"Sorry but I thought you were Alison," he explains

"Well if you switch on the light and not creep in the dark like some maniac, you probably noticed the difference," she said sarcastically

Alice placed her bag on the edge of her bed and looked at Alison's side of the room. It was empty.

"She texted me that she'll gonna be late tonight so I decided to wait here," Gabby said and sat on Alison's bed. "Do you have any idea where she is right now?"

"No, I don't," she said and closed the curtain that serves as the divider between hers and Alison's.

Alice changed into her usual pyjama pair and loose her hair then lay on her bed and shut her eyes. She didn't even bother to open the cover because she didn't have any intention of keeping him company while waiting for Alison.

"Alice?" Gabby called

"Hmm?" she answered nonchalantly

"About earlier today--" he wasn't able to finish talking when Alice opened the curtain to confront him

"It is fine. Don't overthink it," she said and closed the curtain again, "Besides, you're not the first person who said those things about me," she added

Gabby got tongue-tied and it does not put him at ease. If he is just going to be honest, the real reason he stayed until now was because he wanted to apologize for being so tactless but she completely shunned him.

He didn't know either why he said those things in the first place.

Talking about dates for the dance suddenly made him think about her. He was trying to brush off the thought that he spoke those words out loud.

Gabby stayed there for about a minute or so and when he heard that Alice was already sleeping, he decided to get out and head back to his dorm. But before he shut the door he whispered: "I am sorry".