Another Us in Parallel Universe

Travel

CHAPTER 3

travel.

"So, the earthquake lasted for 5 minutes and this can still have continuous ground shaking in some hours..."

Kanina pa nagsasalita si Logan habang hinihilot ang paa ko pero ni isa ay wala akong maintindihan. I have been thinking about what happened earlier. It was so clear to my eyes and mind of what I saw. And it's really impossible to have my mother and sister here when in fact, I am all alone here. I know for sure that I am not dreaming because Logan saw me with my wet self! Nakapagpalit na ako ng damit at ngayon naman ay pinaupo lang ako ni Logan para hilotin paa ko.

"Heather, naririnig mo ba sinasabi ko?" He asked.

Tinignan ko siya at tumayo ito. "Anyway, you haven't answered my question yet. Bakit basa ka?"

"Bakit nandito ka?" I changed the topic.

Nagulat ito sa tanong ko kaya napabuntong hininga ito. He went to the table and grabbed the plastic on it. "I bought you medicine for your headache. I am sorry if I went here without your consent, pero kasi hindi ka sumasagot sa tawag ko. And that pushed me to go here inside, at hindi kita nahanap. Nahanap nga kita, basang-basa ka naman. Tell me what happened." Mahabang eksplanasyon niya na kulang nalang ay agawin niya ang trono ni papa dahil sa striktong boses nito.

"I was taking a bath and heard some thunderstorms, so lumabas ako para kunin sana ang mga nakasampay. Okay na?" I lied.

His brows knitted while his eyes squinted as if he knew that I'm lying. Ano ba 'too, baka alam niyang nagsisinungaling ako.

"I won't buy that. Tell me," seryoso niyang sabi kaya napabuntong hininga ako.

"Hindi kumidlat kanina, you are lying." Namilog mata ko sa sinabi nito.

ANOO?

"Kumidlat!" sigaw ko.

"Oh, ba't galit?"

Sinamaan ko siya ng tingin dahil nakuha niya pang magloko. His phone rang after, so he gave me a signal to wait. Nang lumabas siya ay napaisip ako. Dinig na dinig ko ang kulog, paanong hindi niya narinig niyo? May connection ba 'to sa pagdiskubre ko sa kabilang mundo? 

Ano ba kasing nangyayari? Bakit biglaang may ganito?

Napatingin ako sa kabuuan ng kwarto ko. Sobrang layo talaga nang nakita ko kanina. Wala akong kahit anong picture frame na nakasabit sa dingding ko maliban sa isang quote lang malapit sa pintuan.

"If there is another universe.

I'll find you there & let's make it together."

I wrote it when I got rejected by Asher so many times, hoping that there will be another universe where we could be together Libre naman mangarap diba, pero alam ko naman kasing impossible 'e, kaya dinisplay ko na lang. Pero ngayon sa nakita ko, parang bigla akong nabuhayan ng pag-asa. 

Nakita ko nga kapatid at ina ko doon, paano pa kaya ang sarili ko? O, si Asher? 

Mr. Villaruel even said that in the parallel universe, everything is reversed. So, what if gusto ako doon ni Asher?

Kailangan kong bumalik doon. Gusto ko makasigurado.

"Naniniwala ka ba sa parallel universe?" I asked out of nowhere when Logan came back.

"What are you saying? There's only one world, okay?" He laughed. "Don't be such a nincompoop. What they are saying was only a theory and never had strong evidence. You should rest na, kung ano-ano na pumapasok sa utak mo."

Inayos niya ang kama ko saka binuhat ako at pinahiga.

"I'm gonna meet my mom. I already told your dad about this and he's now on his way home." He smiled. Ngumiti na lang din ako.

"Thank you," I said and he kissed my forehead, and then left.

Logan is such a sweet guy. If only Asher didn't exist, I'd probably fall for Logan. Pero hindi 'e, I met Asher first so he was the one who captured my heart first. 

Saka, sa unang kita ko kay Logan, hindi naman ako na-attract. Yeah, he's handsome. Pero alam niyo 'yong feeling na gwapo nga siya, pero hindi mo naman bet? Ganern. Siguro ‘yong nga purpose ng standards natin, kasi hindi pwede lahat magustohan natin. May limitasyon.

Tomorrow morning I wake up because of a loud noise from the backyard. I immediately jumped out of bed only to find out that dad is harvesting the grass.

Nanlaki mga mata ko nang papalapit na ito sa kung saan ako tumalon ako kahapon. 

Hindi ko rin alam ang biglaang pagpanic ko. I feel like he shouldn't know about it too soon. Hindi pwede. Hindi sila magkasundo ni mama, lalo na baka atakihin siya sa puso 'pag nakita niya ang kamukha niya doon.

I don't know what to do, so I took a deep breath and opened my mouth..

"DAAAAD!" I screamed.

He looked up and smiled. I waved my hand awkwardly.

"Breakfast is on the kitchen, I'll just finish this," balik niyang sigaw at pinagpatuloy ang ginagawa nito.

Nooo! Hindi nga siya pwede dumaan diyan. I face-palmed and took another deep breath.

"AWWW ANG PAA KO SOBRANG SAKIT DAD! I NEED YOUR HELP!" I faked crying.

Umepekto naman ang pagdadahilan ko dahil iniwan niya ang gardening tools saka tumakbo papunta dito.

"Hey, you okay baby?" He looks so very worried. I smiled inside, this is the first time I saw him like this. In my 18th year of existence, he never cared. He was always busy with his work. Natuto na ako mabuhay mag-isa dahil sa araw-araw na paggising ko ay wala na siya sa bahay, and everytime I go home, I sleep first. Kaya ngayong araw ko lang siyang nakitang nandito sa pagising ko, tapos ganito pa.

"I'm fine, papa." I admitted. "Anyways, bakit nga pala nandito ka? Wala kang trabaho?"

Kumunot naman noo nito dahil sa biglaang pagbago ng modo ko. Tumayo na lang ito kaya napatayo rin ako. I’m sorry pa, I'm not good at acting.

"Halika, naghanda ako ng breakfast mo." We went to the kitchen and ate together. Napag-alamam ko na nandito pala siya dahil hinintay niya akong magising bago siya magtrabaho, to make sure that I'm fine and can stay at this home alone. Dad is a computer engineer. He couldn't leave his work now because the company needs more people to reach their quota.

After hours of talking, napagdesisyonan na lang nito magtrabaho. Kaya ngayon, mag-isa na naman ako dito sa bahay. I just waited for almost an hour before I went to the backyard again. 

Kinakabahan kasi ako dahil baka bumisita muli si Logan dito at hanapin ako. Pero halos kalahati naman ng oras hindi pa siya sumusulpot, baka busy. 

Luminga-linga muna ako para sigurado. Nang makita kong walang tao ay hinawakan ko ang sampayan. Dito kasi 'yon, sa sampayan mismo. 

Napangiti ako nang naramdaman ko ang kakaibang pakiramdam ulit. 'Yong parang lumusot kamay mo na nakikita mo naman, pero ramdam na ramdam mong may kakaiba. Without having any doubts, I jumped out of it. 

Napatawa na lang ako nang marealize kong parang tanga ako sa ginagawa ko. It's just the same place, but not the same world nga lang. 

Para akong magnanakaw sa sarili kong bahay-- no, hindi na nga pala bahay namin 'to. This is already Heather version two's house, and I still haven't met her yet. 

"Mom, kuya Asher went here earlier."

My brows met. Asher? 

Kumabog nang malakas ang dibdib ko. 

So, Asher version zero point two is existing here as well. 

"What did he say?" Mom responded. 

"He was just looking at Heather, though. He didn't say a word." 

Ano kaya kailangan nito?

"But he had flowers on his hand."

And now, my heart beat won't stop from beating loudly. Hindi ako makahinga. Ano ibig sabihin nito? 

Narinig ko ang yapak nilang papaalis, bago pa ako pumasok sa kitchen ay tinignan ko muna ang bintana ng kwarto ko sa taas. 

I immediately hid inside when I saw someone open the window. 

And si Heather 'yon! 

Bago pa bumalik sila mama ay nakahanap na ako ng daan palabas. Luckily, we have the same home and same set up, kaya saulado ko na ang mga daan. Lumabas ako ng gate at napamangha sa nakita ko.

This. is. unbelievable.

Totoong-totoo ito, at saktong-sakto ang lugar namin! 

Hindi pa ako nakalayo ay may dumating na sasakyan. Huminto ito sa harap ko, at halos mabingi ako sa lakas ng pintig ng puso ko.

Asher came out with a bouquet of flowers.

He walked and stopped in front of me.

"Hi," he greeted me while handling me the flowers.

Sa sobrang kaba at kilig ko ay tinanggap ko ito. 

"Ahm, I went here earlier but your sister said you were still sleeping," nahihiya niyang sabi pero nakangiti. 

Damn!!! 

He never smiled at me not until now!

"I'm sorry but.. I just want to say this before it's too late."

My eyes widened.

"Can you be my prom partner?"

I gulped.

So, does it mean Asher likes Heather, here?!