ONE
1763 Words
"THAT'S A BUMMER,"
I heavily sighed.
"I am so sorry that you have to do these crazy tasks by yourself. That freak! Irereport ko na talaga siya to the dean's office, the next time I meet the man,"
"Oh don't worry about him, Rickson. Karma is a b***h, di' ba?" I mocked and he just laughed at me.
"Right! What if I make it up to you? Let's do the tasks in the library after class... or at my home, if you want to," He urged me as he gently snatched my bag on my shoulder and things I am holding at the moment, and I just unknowingly tilted my head out of thinking.
"The library will do just fine," I responded with a smile.
I watch as Rickson's worried face lightened up and his eyes shined like diamonds. "Great! Then let me walk you up to your next class then," I just nodded.
This guy who I was with at the moment was one of my closest friends since birth. The reigning Student Government Council President of our school, Erickson Croassian. Both of our mothers are best friends since their high school days and of course, we always meet for holidays and normal occasions so we sort of became close friends as well.
I meant, we simply just 'clicked' you know. Magkaugali kami, hobbies, likes, dislikes, you name it all, we are always the same.
I know that the advisor of the Council had given me a lot of tasks that are outright 'impossible' to finish for today and he's worried that I might have to skip sleeping if I do it at home. He's so caring!
Habang aming dinadayo ang kahabaan ng corridor papunta sa susunod na klase ko, sunod-sunod 'rin na pagbati at kawayan ang aming natatanggap mula sa mga nakakasalubong naming mga estudyante. Binati 'rin namin sila pabalik ng may malawak na ngiti sa aming mga mukha. Well in my opinion, that is one of the perks of being elected in the Student Government Council. You will become extremely famous, overnight.
I like the attention, I'm not gonna lie. Though sometimes, 'with great power, comes great responsibility, and I am LITERALLY suffering from the responsibility of being a part of the council right now.
"And this is where we part our ways, Mr. President." Pamamaalam ko kay Rickson nang marating namin ang pinto ng classroom ko. Inilahad ko ang aking mga kamay upang maging senyas na nais ko 'nang kuhanin ang mga gamit ko mula sa kanyang mga bisig. Instead, he teasingly looked at me and I felt confused at the moment.
The next thing I knew, he was already gone inside of my classroom, and put my things neatly at the top of my table. I was shocked that I couldn't even stop him from entering the room. He then looked back at me again as he let out a snicker that made my mouth utter a small gasp. The small commotion that we unintentionally created caused a lot of attention from my startled classmates to the people that somehow happened to be passing by the room.
Maraming nangantiyaw, sumipol at humiyaw sa nangyari.
I am embarrassed! I feel like my whole face is heating up, meaning I was blushing. Maybe it can be compared to the color of a fully ripened tomato right now. Nang muli itong makalapit sa kinatatayuan ko, hindi pa 'rin naalis sa mukha nito ang isang ngisi na naging dahilan para paluin ko ang nanahimik nitong braso. "Loko-loko ka, hindi mo na kailangang gawin pa 'yon. Attention-seeker ka talaga!"
"What? 'Yon lang kinilig ka na?" He chuckles again. I furrowed my brows at what he said. Ako? Kikiligin sa kanya? Kapal talaga ng mukha, ah. Naagaw ang atensyon ko mula kay Rickson nang marinig ko ang mga munting bungis-ngisan sa aking likuran. Napatingin naman ako sa aming paligid at napansin ang pagdami at pagbubulong-bulongan ng mga ito.
"Kuya Rickson!" Sigaw ng isa sa mga kaklase kong babae dahilan upang mapukaw nito ang atensyon ni Rickson mula sa 'kin. "Yes?"
"Kayo na ba ni Xenia? Mukhang may progress na, eh!" Hagigik nitong tanong habang patuloy na nag aantay sa magiging sagot ni Rickson. Napakunot naman ako ng kilay sa naging tanong nito habang sumilay nanaman ang isang ngisi sa mga labi ni Rickson at saka biglang hinila ang aking baywang papalapit sa kanya. I wasn't able to react fast at all and at the end, nagmukha kaming isang couple na nagyayayakapan sa harap ng maraming tao.
Maraming mga estudyante ang humiyaw ginawang move ni Rickson. "Hindi pa 'ba halatang kami na?" Nanlaki ang aking mata sa sinabi nito. I am not pleased with his answer so I nudged his ribcage hard that earned a small groan from him plus he was forced to release me from his strong grip.
Simula kasi noong nagsimula kaming tumakbo for specific positions in the Student Council. Whenever we are on our campaign breaks or lunches, due to his caring nature and gentle presence, he would always get me a bottle of water, food, and clean towels. He would accompany me wherever I go and people seemed to misunderstand his intentions and relationship with me. Siyempre, I grew up with him kaya alam ko na it's normal for him to be that kind and reliable all the time, though he loves to tease and kid me a lot.
I looked at him as if he was some kind of a disease. "Heh! Di tayo talo, sasampalin kita sa kabaliwan mo." Mariin 'kong pagbabanta dito at saka hinarap ang mga nagkumpulang tao sa aming paligid. "We're just friends, everyone. It's a kind gesture."
"Gestures like that don't come off between people who just consider their relationship as simply 'friends', Iyah." Another familiar voice comes from the scene. I looked in the direction where I heard the voice.
I groaned out desperately, but somehow people took it off as something funny and laughed at it. "Carina, don't make it a thing." I sneered.
A familiar figure stood out amidst the crowd of people and there I saw her, Carina Fernandez. She's my girl best friend.
I met her when Rickson and I went to a reality show a few years ago, not as contestants or anything but as mere audiences only. Back then I was fond of that reality show, but then my parents couldn't accompany me since they were busy with their jobs and the only way for me to go on that reality show, is to bring a guardian with me. Of course, I convinced Rickson to go with me so that his mother would accompany us as a guardian while watching the show. She's the daughter of a famous producer known for her award-winning movies and reality shows.
She walked towards Rickson whose holding his stomach at the moment and started to pat his back gently while whispering something in his ears.
"I am going to whack your head for that Carina," He sneeringly uttered as he straightened his posture.
Nagkibit balikat naman si Carina rito. "Your loss, Rickson. Not mine."
Anong pinag-uusapan nila? "What was that?" I questioned Rickson. He just smiled and told me that it was nothing, so I just brushed it off. "Anyway, I need to go na. My class also starts at the same time as yours."
I bid him farewell and then went inside the classroom with Carina. Karamihan pa 'rin sa mga kaklase namin ang hindi pa 'rin magkamayaw sa kakangiti at pagtingin ng para 'bang nang-aasar. Naudlot lamang ang kanilang tinginan 'nang dumating na ang aming subject teacher upang magturo.
Fortunately, he dismissed us earlier than usual, so I have a bit of time at my expense before Rickson's class finishes. I invited Carina to go with me to the canteen but she refused, saying that she's going to go attend her club activities for today. I guess it's a 'me' time today, huh?
As I stroll across a big field while currently holding a yummy BLT sandwich, hoping for a nice walk around the campus, a very strange person caught my sight. It's a person wearing a hooded jacket in the middle of a hot summer, rummaging each trashcan he sees.
Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing bad about rummaging trashcans aside from acquiring germs and bacteria in them but what he does after that is what's weird. Without any signs or heads-up, he's taking a bite of each food that he got fresh from the garbage. Not to mention that this campus doesn't practice proper segregation of waste.
Now, that's straight-up disgusting.
Napangiwi ako sa aking nasaksihan. Napatingin rin ako sa aking dala-dalang pagkain at saka napabuntong-hininga. I lost all of my appetite after what I had observed and this sandwich does not look appetizing as it was before.
This campus is an international school accepting scholars from every side of the world, pero I cannot hide the fact na mahal pa 'rin ang bilihin sa loob nito. But to think that some students are resorting to these techniques in order to feed themselves broke my heart. Nakakaawa, pero a bit of an extreme decision in my opinion.
To ease my heart, I carefully cut the part of my sandwich where I took a bite and wrap it again to look untouched. A sudden vibration from my skirt shocked my body in surprise. I immediately answered it without knowing who it was. /"Xenia? Where are you?"/
It was Rickson. /"Oh, I was just wandering around the campus. You know, releasing a bit of stress build-up."/ Marahan kong bulong. I used my shoulders and head to hold the phone up habang dahan-dahang kumuha ng isang sticky note at few stomachache medicine mula sa aking bag.
/"Why were you whispering? Does something happen?"/ Pabulong 'rin nitong tanong pabalik. Bakas sa boses nito ang pag-aalala at pagtataka. I just replied that I am in a good place and nowhere near any danger. Nagusap pa kami ng kaunti habang nakatutok pa 'rin ang aking mga mata sa misteryosong taong nanghahalungkat ng pagkain sa basura. We've decided to meet in the front gates kaya ibinaba ko na rin ang tawag.
Now that was over,
Nagsulat ako ng note para sa taong iyon and then I slapped it on the sandwich and place it near him along with medicines where he can grab it later after his little excavation.
I took a last glance at the person, making sure that he/she was still okay.
WELP, I guess that's enough weirdness for today.
- Writer
