Sleepwell Mr. Sungit

Chapter 16

Early in the morning, i'm on my way to our classroom. Today is tuesday kaya Business Math yung klase namin.

Before makaabot sa building namin ay madadaanan muna yung gym na katabi lang naman nung building namin kaso yun lang nasa 4th floor pa yung classroom namin. Nakakapagod.

"Triana!" agad akong napalingon ng may tumawag sakin galing sa gym. I saw andrea papunta sa akin. It's been two? Or three days since that night, we talked.

"Oh, Hi andrea! Goodmorning." she kissed me when she got nearer. Then she faced me and give me a small smile.

"Goodmorning too, just wanna update you about your partner. Medyo nahirapan akong suyuin siya haha. Pero okay na, he agreed naman na so i'll see you both this weekend?" she asked waiting for my confirmation.

"Okay, but you sure you didn't tell him about my favor to you?" it's better to be safe. Baka iba-iba pa isipin non. Minsan pa naman may pagka assuming din. Char

"Yesyes, just tell him that some teachers suggest him. I didn't even know that his also good on your class and some teacher liked him. So yeah, so easy." she laughed a little. I smiled at her and thanked her then i started walking again.

When i got inside our room, nakita ko si keiro na nagbabasa na naman. Today, i won't bother him. Or maybe the whole week? Well, i'll try.

Naupo na ako at kumuha ng notes at nag-advance reading para sa klase namin ngayon. Ang hilig-hilig pa naman ni ma'am dana magpa recite. Although this subject is kinda easy but still it's a major.

Nag-review lang ako hanggang sa unti-unti ng dumami yung mga classmates ko at dumating na din yung teacher namin.

"Before we start our class, we'll going to have a short review about our topic last time. Please write your name and date today on a ⅛ sheet of paper, then passed it to me by the count of 10...9...8..." dali-dali kaming nagsulat at nagpass ng papel kay ma'am.

That's our routine in our everyday class with her. Recitation then discussion.

"Mr. Walton, please stand up." lahat sila ay napatingin sa likuran. Syempre hindi ako tumingin, wala lang trip ko lang.

"What is self-employment?" nakatutok lang kay maam ang aking atensyon habang nagsasalita siya. Pagkatapos niyang magsalita mga 2-3 segundo ay may sumagot na.

"Self-employment.. A person who works for themselves rather than for an employer." walang pag-aalinlangan na maririnig sa boses ni keiro.

"Example?" taas-kilay na tanong ni maam.

"Writers, freelancers, lawyer, traders/investors, insurance agents." sunod-sunod na sagot ni keira. Hindi man lang mahimigan ang kaba sa tinig niya.

Hindi naman ang mga tanong ang nakakakaba kundi si ma'am. Parang kasing pagtumingin siya habang sumasagot ka, parang makakaramdam ka ng doubt sa answers mo at pagiging paranoid kana at nagpapanic. Ewan.

"Next, Ms. Ellison. Stand up." pinigilan kong matawa ng maramdaman kong parang nanigas si keisha, siniko ko siya kaya agad siyang napatayo at namumutlang nakatingin kay ma'am.

"Ma'am..." kinakabahang ani keisha, patagong tinawanan ko siya , tinignan naman niya ako ng masama. Sumulyap ako kina alisha at gesiah na tumatawa-tawa habang nakatingin kay keisha.

"Give an example of the company-initiated benefits in Employment Conditions and Employee Benefits under the Philippine Labor Law." nakataas ang kilay na sinabi ni maam kay keisha. Huminga muna si keisha at nahimigan ko ang pagkaginhawa doon. Siguro nag review to haha.

"Leaves, may it be you are on a vacation, sick or an emergency. on top of the mandated service incentive

leave, some companies give their employees additional paid holiday and

vacation leave. The number of days allocated for these leaves usually varies

from company to company and might depend on the number of years the

employee has been of service to the company." confident na sunod-sunod niya sagot. Muntik pa akong mapapalakpak dahil hindi siya nautal.

"Okay, follow up question." si ma'am, namutla ulit si keisha, pati kami ay nagulat. Usually kasi hindi nag-f-follow up question si ma'am!

"P-po ma-am?" kinakabahang tanong ni keisha. Napangisi naman si ma'am.

"Just kidding, you may take your seat. Baka himatayin ka." pangisi-ngising sabi ni ma'am napatulala naman kaming lahat hanggang sa nagsimula na si ma'am na mag-discuss. Nakatulalang napaupo si keisha na parang na trauma.

"I won't ask if you're okay, 'cause obviously you're not. But... That was weird." i commented while looking in front pretending that i'm listening.

"Y-yeah s-so weird." parang ngayon lang bumalik sa sarili si keisha ngumiti ako ng tumingin siya sa akin.

Nakinig na kami sa discussion ni ma'am hanggang sa natapos yung pang-agahang klase namin.

When lunch came napili namin na sa resto sa labas ng covered canteen kami kumain. We just want some peace at dahil konti lang yung mga kumakain sa resto, tahimik dito ay medyo relaxing na rin dahil sa classical music and ambiance of the restaurant.

"Ano kayang nangyayari kay ma'am dana. Mukhang napagtrippan ka keish." napatingin ako kay alisha ng bigla siyang magsalita.

"I don't think so." sagot ni keisha na nagpakunot sa noo niya.

"What do you mean?" tanong ko. Napatingin naman siya sa akin, sa aming tatlo.

"Her brother, Daniel. He's hitting on me. I don't know maybe he tell her about me or she saw him hanging around me." tulalang sabi ni keisha. Nangunot yung noo ko. He never told me about this. Did she just keep a secret from me?

"Wait? Hitting on you? Since when? You didn't even told us about that." I nodded with alisha's centiment.

"I was about to. Sorry, it's just that... I'm shy... For how many times i told you, guys that i will never date a guy like daniel." after saying those ay napatungo siya, nababakas ang guilty sa mga mukha.

"So, he's not hitting on you." i said na nagpaangat ng tingin niya sa akin. "anymore. Because you two, are dating." i concluded. I didn't even bother to ask, i already concluded. That's keisha.

When it comes to that thing she always keep it a secret. She never tell us about her love life. Minsan magugulat nalang kami iiyak siya, sasabihing nag break sila ng boyfriend niya. Like wtf? We don't even know that he already had one. Tapos malalaman lang namin kung break na sila.

"U-uh kinda." she said shyly. I sighed.

"Whatever. We don't even expect you to tell us about your boyfie. Anong nangyari? Si miss dana lang pala makakapaamin sa'yo eh." panunukso pa ni alisha. Gesiah smiled sweetly while i, i'm looking at her seriously.

Can smell something fishy with her actions right now. I can't tell what by somethings wrong with her.

After lunch ay bumalik na kami sa room. Pagkaupo ay kaming dalawa palang ni keisha. So i decided to confront her.

"Keisha. I can sense that there's something wrong. You can share it to me, kunh hindi mo na kayang sarilihin." i said while lookinh at her intently. I'm worried okay?

I'm not really used to witness my friend's struggling. And i can't keep with that. When i noticed that my friends is having a hard time i can always feel that heavy burden in my heart. Like i wanted to just take their burden and transfered it to me.

She looked at me. Eyes brimming with tears. She shaked her slightly then hugged me so tight. I gave her a tight hug back.

"Ma'am dana... She wants me to break up with daniel." she said, sobbing. I felt my tears stream down my cheeks. I can feel her pain. This is what i'm talking about.

"I c-can't tri, i just c-can't. I-i l-love him. I know we are too young for any commitments pero hindi naman batayan ang edad diba? We just want to be happy and love each other." nakikinig lang ako sa kanya habang yakap siya. No, i won't say a word.

Sometimes it's better to make a person feels that there's someone who's willing to listen. Someone who can understand you and your feelings. Someone who won't just you because of your decisions.

"S-she said, i'm a bad i-influence to d-daniel. B-but i can't see anything wrong with what we were doing. Nag-aaral naman kami ng mabuti, in fact most of our date is in the library, studyinh together. Umuuwi din naman kami ng maaga. We're not doing anything wrong." i just let her cry until she's better. She's a strong girl. Her appearnce tells so. But when it comes to her love ones she always became soft and fragile. And that fragility scares me the most.

When her dad died, she attempted to end her life twice. She got trauma and it takes time for her get over it. And when she got better she got more stronger and braver. Not until now, and that scares me the most.

I felt her heavy breathing. When i look at her , she's not crying anymore. She's just sleeping peacefully but her eyes are puffy red.

I looked around and thank God when i saw that we got nothing attention. But when my eyes met his gaze, it gives me chill that i bones shivered. I looked away but before i take my eyes off from him, i saw his forehead creased with confusion written on his eyes.

What are those stares all about keiro, huh? Is it for me, not talking to you? Or i'm just being assuming and you being concern with keisha?