Match Made in Hell

MMIH [4]

I swayed my hips to the beat while making my morning coffee. God, I feel so tired. Ano bang nangyari kagabi? I don’t think I remember anything.

I froze on the spot when I heard a sharp whistle. “Good morning, babe,” he greeted. Nanlaki ang mata ko at dahan-dahang napatingin sa likuran ko only to find Matthew grinning at me. “Nice view,” he added.

Doon lang nag-register sa’kin lahat ng nangyari kagabi. And what the eff!? Bakit hindi pa umaalis itong lalaking ‘to? I clearly remembered kicking them out of the apartment pagkatapos kong makalabas sa kwarto ko!

“Why the hell are you here?” I hissed. Why do I feel na dumidikit sila sa amin? Dati rati naman, they don’t even spare a glance. Pero ngayon, kung makadikit, akala mo close friends kaming lahat! Something’s up. This is not normal.

“Is it bad that I wanted to see you this early in the morning?” nakangising sabi niya. I flipped him off and he faked a heart ache.

“f**k off, Matthew.” I heard him mock a laugh. Ugh, nakakainis na siya ah!

“Your tongue is getting sharper by the minute, Heaven,” nakatawang sabi niya.

“This is not funny. Get the hell out of the apartment or I’m going to throw this coffee at you,” I threatened. My god, masyado pang maaga pero he’s getting on my nerves! I doubt I’ll remember this day kasi ‘pag lumipas ang galit ko, nakakalimutan ko ang nangyari. Just like that.

“If you can, Louisse,” he accepted. Nanlisik ang mata ko and the next thing I knew, kinuha ko ang set ng tinidor na malapit sa’kin and threw them one by one like shurikens. Unlucky for him, I’ve been taught how to throw sharp things the right way. My family is weird but awesome like that.

Ang hindi ko inaasahan, he has the skills to avoid them. I’m fast but he’s faster. It’s either dumidikit sa wall ‘yung mga tinidor na binabato ko or nasasalo niya ito.

Finally, all the forks I was holding were gone. Pero hindi pa ako satisfied. I want to see him suffer. Para malaman niya ang consequence if he ever does this again. I settled on the kitchen knives na malapit sa counter area.

“Chill out, Heaven,” pahabol nito pero nakangiti naman siya at pinagtatawanan ako. The nerves of this guy!

I started focusing and throwing them one by one. Plano ko talagang saksakin siya, but miss his vital points, syempre. Doon lang sa parts na hindi masyadong malaki ang damage. But I was surprised of the fact na he can dodge it skilfully. Para bang dumaan na siya sa trainining na ‘to.

“Ano ba!? What’s with the noi—“ Muntikan ng tamaan ng flying knife si Felix but he quickly ducked. Malakas rin ang reflex nito. What’s with them? Bakit ang galing nila? Ano-ano na bang napagdaanan nila?

“Woah, anong nangyayari?” Felix asked, dazed.

“She won’t chill out, dude. Ikaw nga ang kumausap,” sagot ni Matthew.

“Ano bang ginawa mo?” he asked flatly while looking at Matthew. Napatawa naman ng malakas si Matthew.

“Bakit ako tinatanong mo?”

“Kasi ikaw naman talaga ang nanguna!” singit ko.

Kaso hindi na nagsalita si Felix. “Uh, Matt, would you move to the side?” utos ni Felix.

He snorted. “Ano bang meron?”

“The wall. It’s full of—“ Sabay ulit silang napatingin doon sa wall. Napanguso ako nang makitang maraming knives and forks ang nakadikit doon. Panigradong lagot ako kay Ate nito, she’s going to kill me!

Pero mukhang hindi iyon ang tinitignan nila.

I just made out two letters from the forks and knives. HF.

***

“Heaven, ano na naman bang ginawa mo? Why are there marks on the wall?” pambungad na tanong ni Joy.

“And why is your initials visible?” sunod na tanong ni Jeymi.

“Oh god, your sister’s gonna kill you,” pailing-iling na sabi ni Jam.

“Eh kasi, sino ba naman ang nagpapasok ulit sa kanila? I already kicked them out, pero bakit nandito pa rin sila?!” tanong ko pabalik. Don’t blame all this s**t on me, because I was still sleepy during that time. At dahil din doon ay lumamig ‘yung coffee na ginawa ko and I had to make another one. What a waste of good coffee.

“Naawa lang kami sa kanila. They said pinalayas daw sila sa hideout nila,” sabi ni Joy.

“Uto-uto ka naman. They’re clearly hitting on you.” I rolled my eyes. Mahina kasi ‘tong mga ‘to sa mga pogi.

“You think so, too? Oh gods, I like that glasses guy,” kinikilig na sabi ni Jam.

“Who? Kiel?” tanong ko.

“Yup! Him! He looks smart but awesome at the same time! He’s so dreamy.” I flinched when I saw Jam swooning over the guy. Just, eww.

“How ‘bout Andriel? Siya ang pinaka-mysterious sa kanilang lahat. He gives off that scary aura but I heard from the rumors na he’s sweet daw,” sabi ni Jeymi.

“He’s sweet kay Janine lang,” Joy corrected.

“Who’s Janine?” I asked, clueless.

“What do you mean, who’s Janine? Hindi mo siya kilala, Heaven?” gulat na tanong ni Jam.

“Uh, yeah?” Bakit ba parang gulat na gulat sila na hindi ko kilala ‘yang Janine na ‘yan? Who’s she? On second thought, I don’t really care pala. Pero nakaka-curious rin.

“Ugh, you don’t have to know. Mamaya, you’ll blurt it out accidentally and bigla kang habulin ng mga humahabol sa kan’ya,” umiiling na sabi ni Jam.

“Yeah, I agree.”

“Si Heaven pa naman ‘yan, alam naman natin ‘yung ugali niya.”

I frowned at them. Napakabait naman talaga ng mga kaibigan ko.

“Oops, sorry, but I have to go. My first class starts in 5. See you!” I watched as Jam raced out the door while clutching her backpack with her right hand. Ni hindi ko napansin na nakabihis na pala siya.

“Mauna na rin ako. I have a class in 30. I think may test kami sa class na ‘yun and I haven’t reviewed a thing,” sabi ni Jeymi at kinuha ang handbag niya. I almost rolled my eyes. She’s a student pero tignan mo ‘yang dala-dala niya, ‘yung make-up kit niya. No books nor notebooks. That’s why kailangan niya pang manghiram sa iba para makapasa sa klase.

“That’s because nakipaglandian pa kayo sa Devil’s Tribe. Tsk tsk.”

“We were not! It was just a harmless movie, Heaven,” protesta ni Jeymi. Pero bago pa ako makasagot ay lumabas na siya ng pintuan, leaving me and Joy inside the room.

“Go and take a bath, Heaven. Malapit na rin ang class mo.”

“Wait, are you sure na there aren’t any more boys lingering in the apartment? Kasi, as far as I know, si Felix at Matthew lang ang pinalabas ko kanina. Pero kagabi, there were 4 of them.” I locked my arms together when I noticed that Joy panicked.

“Of course! Bakit naman ako magtatago ng lalake sa kwarto ko?” She then let out an awkward laugh, which made it obvious that she was lying.

“Hoy! Buksan mo ang pintuan! Lumabas ka d’yan!” I kept on banging Joy’s door habang siya naman ay naka-facepalm sa likuran ko.

“Heaven, calm down. He’s likely sleeping right now.”

“Imposibleng tulog pa siya while I’m making all this ruckus!” I answered and kept on making noises. 10 minutes na akong nag-iingay, still, he won’t open the door.

“Open the door or I’m gonna break it down!” I threatened.

I was about to kick the door since my hands were throbbing but it suddenly flew open. I stopped halfway as I gaped at the guy in front of me.

“Why the f**k are you being an idiot for?”

I came to my senses and accusedly pointed a finger at him. “Ano bang hindi mo naiintindihan sa ‘Get the hell out of my apartment?’ ha?! Why are you still here? Kung makaasta ka, akala mo feel at home ka! You’re not being welcomed as a guest!” I babbled on about how he should be ashamed.

But in the end, sinarhan niya lang ako ng pintuan. I immediately stopped speaking after that.

“Ang bastos kausap, bwiset! At siya pa talagang may ganang pagsarhan ako ng pintuan ah! Kapag ‘yan sinumbong ko kay Ate, lagot siya!” I muttered.

“Wait, Heaven!” Joy stopped me from going in my room.

“Bakit ba?”

“Don’t tell your Ate about this! Tsaka, ano namang magagawa ng Ate mo, right? She can’t exactly help you about this.”

Napanguso ako. Something’s up. Bakit niya ako pinipigilang sabihin kay Ate ang mga ito? “You’re being weird, Joy...”

“Basta, don’t tell this to your Ate!”

“Okay, if you say so.” Pasimple akong nagtungo sa kwarto ko then quickly locked it after. Mukhang na-sense rin ni Joy na hindi ko siya pakikinggan because she started banging on the door like mad.

“Heaven! Stop!”

“Oh geez, stop over-reacting, Joy. I’m just gonna talk with Ate about this.”

“Stop! Don’t!”

I opened the laptop and plugged in my earphones. Opened Skype then clicked on my Ate’s account.

Maya-maya lang ay nag-connect na siya.

“Heaven, napatawag ka?” she asked. I smiled nang nakita kong nakaupo siya sa office niya and looks liek she was working on something.

“Did I bother you, Ate?”

“Not exactly. Hindi naman importante ‘yung ginagawa ko ngayon. So, why did you call?”

“Masama bang tawagan ka? I missed you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop the drama, Heaven. What do you want?”

I grinned. “Wala! I was just curious. Lalo na when Joy wants to stop me.”

“Ano ‘yun? Hurry up at marami pa akong gagawin?”

“Do you know anything about the Devil’s Tribe?” Okay, straight to the point na. Since I can see na Ate’s really busy right now.

“What about them?” tanong niya but she wasn’t looking at me. Parang may tinitignan siya that was out of the range of the cam.

“Kilala mo nga? Why? Are they that famous?” I asked. Bakit niya kilala? Don’t tell me, she’s secretly a gangster? OMG, that’s a big secret she’s hiding then.

Napatigil si Ate. “Is there someone there with you?” tanong niya.

Agad akong nagtaka. “No, wala... I think. This is my room and I locked the door.”

“I can sense another presence, Heaven.”

“Really? Where?” Agad akong naalerto. Nakakagulat naman itong si Ate, bigla-bigla na lang nagsasabi ng gano’n. What if she was talking about a ghost? That’s creepy as s**t.

And doon ko napansin. The shadows from my bathroom.

“Wait, Ate. I think someone’s there.” Tatayo sana ako but she stopped me.

“Oh, wait. It’s fine. He’s harmless.” Biglang sabi ni Ate. I was again confused. Why? Paano niya nalaman when she’s just looking at me? How can she sense that?

“Kilala mo?”

“Yeah. It’s Webb.”

“Webb?”

After I said the name, the doorknob started to turn at lumabas mula roon si Ezekiel. Nanlaki ang mata ko habang pinagmamasdan siya.

Akala mo naman kung sinong cool guy ‘tong si Kiel since inayos niya pa ‘yung glasses niya.

“I have to go, Heaven. I’ll contact you next time. Bye!”

Before I could even speak a word, nawala na siya sa harapan ko. I frowned and then closed the laptop.

“Who was that?” I jumped off from my bed nang marinig ko siya sa likuran ko.

“Oh god! How did you get there? Ang bilis mo naman! You scared me!”

“Who was that?” he asked again.

“Wala! Just my Ate. Anyway, why the hell are you in my room? I thought I asked you to leave last night?” Pumeywang ako sa harapan niya.

“Jeymi let us in again,” tipid niyang sagot.

“Why are you even here in the first place? Sino nag-invite? Sila Jam ba or kayo mismo?” I was still irritated because of the fact na nagpapasok ng mga lalaki dito sina Jeymi and we don’t even know them that well! Kakakilala lang rin naman on that same day!

“You don’t have to know.”

“What? I have the rights to know! And I am confused as f**k!”

“My lips are sealed, Heaven.”

“Fine! Pero pwede bang lumabas ka na? You’re not invited!”

He nodded at siya na mismo ang nag-lock ng kwarto habang palabas siya. Napasimangot ako. Who are they? And why are they here? There has to be a reason.