Chain of Restrictions

Kabanata 10

Late

3:25 pm, natapos ang palabas, na nasa bisig niya pa rin ako. Nahagip ng aking mga mata yung grupo ng lalaki na nagmamadaling lumabas sa pintuan ng sinehan.

Pagkalabas namin sa sinehan ay mabilis akong nagpaalam na mag si-cr. Nagtataka naman ang tingin nina Mika, Nicholette, at Katalina, habang yung tingin naman ni Kreia ay parang sinusuri ako.

Pagpasok ko sa cr ay, pumasok agad ako sa isa sa mga cubicle at nanatiling nakatayo. Ramdam na ramdam ko pa rin ang mabilis na t***k ng puso ko, para naman akong nilalagnat sa sobrang init ng aking mukha. That time when I'm on his arms, wala na ang atensyon ko sa pelikula, yung lamig na naramdaman ko ay biglang nawala.

Natapos tuloy ang palabas na wala akong naintindihan!

Pinakiramdaman ko ang sarili ko tas lumabas sa cubicle at bumalik sa mga kaibigan ko. Hugh's been staring at me since I went out from the cr, at hanggang ngayon na papunta kami sa Ice Skating Rates. He's always staring! Pinaparamdam talaga niya sa akin na nakatingin siya!

Di ba siya nahihiya? Ang kapal naman ng mukha nito.

Nang di ako makatiis ay lumapit ako kay Mika, I hold her right arm and circled my left hand on it. Nagtaka naman siya kaya napatingin siya kay Hugh, binalik naman agad sa akin ang tingin. My face turned red, when I know that she definitely notices something. On the way, she didn't say anything though. Kaya nga si Mika 'yung nilalapitan ko kasi di siya nagtatanong.

Pagkarating namin sa rink ay pinili namin ang 450 pesos sa price list, the time will be unlimited, we can also use the bears, along with the skates. So all in all it will be 3,600 pesos para sa aming walo, 'di naman kami ang magbabayad si Nicholette naman.

Siya kaya ang nag-aya!

Excited naming sinuot ang skates, pero bago kami sumalang sa ice rink, we took a group photo, using Karsyn's yellow iphone 11, as a remembrance of our very first gala.

We then went inside the ice rink. Hugh and I rarely skates, kaya nakakatuwa sa pakiramdam ang bumalik, and we're obviously rusty in this. Nilingon ko naman si Hugh, na sobrang chill kung maka skate, masaya akong napailing nang mahusay siyang nagskate, paatras. I change my mind, ako lang pala ang kinakalawang.

"Bish! Teka! No!" Napalingon naman ako kay Karsyn na nasa entrance pa rin ng rink, na pilit na hinihila nina Kreia at Nicholette, habang si Mika naman ay chill lang na nagsi-skate na nanonood sa nangyayari. Napatawa ako at lumapit sa kanila at hinila rin si Karsyn. Lumaki naman ang almond nitong mata takot kaming tiningnan, nilingon naman nito si Mika, tingin na nanghihingi ng saklolo, pero Mika chose to avoid her eyes as she skates away.

Heartless.

"Bish, come on, let go! Tuturuan ka naman namin." Natatawang sabi ni Katalina, napabitaw naman ang kanang kamay ni Karsyn at mahinang napamura ng muntikan na siyang maslide. Natatawa kong hinawakan ang kanan niyang braso at inalalayan siya, si Katalina naman sa kaliwa, habang si Nicholette naman ay paatras na nagsiskate sa unahan.

"Lika ka na bish, mahal rin nabayad ko di-" Di natuloy ni Nicholette ang sasabihin niya nang may makabangga siya at diritsong bumagsak ang pwet niya sa ice. Napa-aray naman kami, sobrang sakit kaya niyan. Naiinis na nilingon ni Nich yung bumangga sa kanya, pero bumilog ang mga maliit nitong mata nang makita kung sino 'yon.

Sino ba kasi 'yan?

"Y-You?" Gulat na tanong ni Nich pagkakita niya sa lalaking nakabangga niya, inis naman na napabaling ang lalaki sa kanya at parang nagdadalawang isip na tulungan si Nich. But he helped her anyways, nakita ko naman kung paano chumansing ang kaibigan ko, nang hinaplos niya ang kaliwang braso ng lalaki, habang may malanding ngiti sa labi.

My ghad Nich! What are you doing?!

Pagkatayo ni Nicholette ay agad ring tumalikod ang lalaki. Snob siya girl. We then continued our way, when Karsyn already knew somehow how to balance the blades, ay amin siyang hinayaang mag-isa, but Katalina and Nicholette stayed.

"Carter! Stop! Haha." I saw Carter playfully push the back of the bear across the rink, where Kreia is on, she's laughing happily.

Aw, they looked cute!

Bigla namang napalingon si Carter sa akin, he then stopped pushing the bear and happily smiled as he waved his right hand, I also smiled and waved my right hand. Nagtataka naman si Kreia sa biglaang pagtigil at nilingon din ang tinitingnan ni Carter, as she saw me, mabilis niyang iniwas ang kanyang tingin, as the smile fades on her lips.

Uhm, did I do something wrong?

As I was about to approach them, someone pulled my left hand and skated me skillfully, papunta sa kanya. Pagtingin ko it was Hugh, he then starts to skate backwards, while he's facing me.

"Leigh, you're so naive. Let's mind our own business and have fun, shall we?" He gently smiled, as he caressed both of hands.

I decided to set aside those feelings that've been bothering me lately, and just want to enjoy this moment with him. We actually know how to skate, dinala kami ni Mom when we were little sa Australia and made us learn skating as a hobby.

He then held my right hand as he went beside me to skate. We skate hand in hand in the ice rink. A music then suddenly played out of nowhere, making what we're doing romantic. He swiftly holds both of my arms and carefully slides me in the ice, I saw how my blades cut the ice. We are actually making a scene here, but yeah, don't care.

He smiles as we synchronously did the usual footwork. He grabbed my left hand, and with strength he carried me, his left arm holding my waist and his right hand holding my upper right leg. I encircled my right arms on his neck, while my left hand and leg is in the air, he stops along with the music, as the finale.

I looked into his eyes as we skate in the rinks. I then heard loud claps, which broke our eye contact. He puts me down, mabilis naman akong nag skate papunta sa mga kaibigan ko, who's also clapping happily, except for Karter and Kreia though.

Natapos ang pagskates namin doon. Nicholette was very talkative about what happened on the rink, and she's obviously happy about something else. While Katalina and Karsyn were talking about how we skillfully skated, making me embarrassed. Uuwi na kami kaya sumakay kami sa elevator papuntang basement. I noticed how Kreia and Karter are very silent, which made me remember Kreia's reaction.

What's with her?

Malapit na kami sa Van ng mapansin namin ang nakabukas na pintuan ng driver seat at ang dinig na dinig naming tunog na 'Ay ricoxbang mashup'. Sobra kaming nagulat ng makita namin si Manong na naka shades habang nag ti-t****k.

Oi, sumasabay sa uso. Gusto ko yan!

Hataw na hataw pa si Manong sa pag kendeng na di pa kami napapansin, siguro dahil sa suot nitong shades. Lahat kami ay napatingin kay Carter, di naman siya nagulat pero puno ng pagmamalaki ang tingin nito habang nanunuod kay Manong.

"Ay naku, Sir! D-Di ko po kayo nakita." Nahihiyang saad ni Manong habang dali-dali naman niyang tinanggal ang kanyang suot na shades, at maayos na tumayo, nanatili namang nagpiplay pa ang music.

Tiktokerist ka pala, Manong.

"No Manong, it's fine. Ang galing niyo po pa lang kumendeng." Masayang saad ni Carter at nilapitan si Manong at tinap ang braso nito, mas lalo namang nahiya si Manong. Umagree naman si Nicholette at inencourage pa si Manong na ituloy ang pag ti-t****k. Napatawa naman kami at iyon ang naging topic papauwi.

Today is Monday, 6:05 am. Naligo agad ako, nag-ayos at sinuot ang aking uniform. I then went down and saw Mom preparing breakfast as always. Umupo ako sa aking upuan, umupo naman si Hugh sa aking tabi, na kababa lamang.

"Hon, I saw a truck outside, it looks like someone just transferred here." Mom brought up a topic, whilst preparing our breakfast.

Transferred? Who?

"Oh really? I wonder who it is." Dad as he sipped on his coffee. Umalis naman kami ni Hugh and as our car went out from our gates, I saw the truck that Mom talked about. Nabaling naman ang aking atensyon kay Hugh, when in between the silence, his phone loudly vibrated. He instantly canceled the call.

Is it the same person that's been calling him? He should have blocked that.

Dumating kami sa paaralan at agad ding bumaba. We went to our room and Ma'am Castillo then arrived announcing something.

"Class, we have a late comer, so she's going to be part of our section now. Please come in, miss." The sound of the heels clacking can be heard as someone elegantly went inside our door.

Spanish features, hazelnut eye color, small nose, morena skin tone, thick and properly shaped eyebrows, red bow-shaped lips, visible freckles on her nose and slightly on the cheeks, and black straight hair na hanggang itaas lang ng kanyang balikat.

She's wearing our uniform in a new stylish way. Naka tuck-in ang blouse na bukas ang dalawang butones and her skirt is shorter than normal. She has this 'bratty' aura around her.

"Hi. The name's Dahlia Faye A. Cortez. It's going to be pronounced as 'Dollyuh' not 'Dalya', okay? Learn some accents please! And yeah nice to meet you bitches." With sophistication she said, and without permission, she then went to the vacant chair situated beside Kreia. Maam Castillo was rooted speechless. Nagulat din kami sa kanyang introduction.

Very unique. Indeed.

The bell rang and it's snacks time. Pumunta kami sa canteen, except for Hugh and Mika. Ayaw sumama ni Hugh cause he's napping, again, and for Mika she's doing her homework na di niya daw natapos.

I brought a burger and a drink, 'di naman kasi ako gaanong nagugutom, at bumalik agad sa classroom. Papasok na sana kami ng biglang huminto si Kreia sa pintuan at may kung ano sa kanyang tingin ng nilingon ako.

What is it?

Lumapit naman ako at tinignan ang loob ng classroom and what I saw clenched my heart dramatically.

Dahlia a.k.a. 'b***h', is sitting on Hugh's armchair and is now holding his face, while she has this flirty smile on her lips.

What the actual f**k?

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sshandi

After 2 days uli and update