Over the Mountain

CHAPTER 17: INFORMAL DATE

CHAPTER 17: INFORMAL DATE

Sunset is indeed one of the romantic moments that someone can encounter. And even in my injured knee, I was still able to witness how magical and beautiful the sunset can be. And that’s all thanks to Leo. The man who just confesses his feelings for me.

I bit my lower lip as I feel my cheeks burning. It feels unreal. I am still processing what he just said, and he is letting me too. Giving me time to process his confession. Seconds later, I finally grasp his confession. He is still kneeling in front of me while still holding my hands. I smiled at him sweetly and he immediately returned the smile.

“Is that really true, Leo?” I ask, still assuring if everything was real.

“It is, Sierra,” he confidently answered. “Grandma was right, I have been liking you even before I met you,”

“How come?” I curiously questioned.

Leo then chuckled. “I also don’t. I just saw your picture back then the first time I went to your house and then, that’s when it started. And whenever grandma and I go to your house, I always spare time to look at your pictures there,” he confesses. “You were like a mountain. Visually beautiful in the picture. But magnificently beautiful in actual.”

“Now you are being sweet in your words, eh?”

Leo chuckles again. I could see that he is genuinely happy. “I want to tell more but it’s getting dark,” he notices the surrounding where the sky is indeed turning dark, and stars were already entering the picture. “I’ll send you home,”

Hindi na ako umangal pa at hinayan na lang siyang alalayan akong makasampa sa kaniyang likuran. Gamit ang malaki at maliwanag niyang flashlight ay tinahak naming ang daan pababa ng bundok. Ni hindi nga namin namalayang kung gaano kabagal o kabilis namin iyong natahak dahil abala kami sa pagkwe-kwentuhan at pagtatawanan hanggang sa makarating ka namin sa tapat ng aming bahay.

Nais pa sana niya akong ihatid hanggang sa loob ng bahay ngunit nagmatigas na akong huwag na lang dahil kailangan na niyang umuwi ng hindi na siya gabihin masyado.

“I’ll leave then,” he said smiling.

I smiled back at him. “You take care,”

“I will,” and then he waves goodbye at me.

I watch him walk away and even he is already facing the other side; I could still feel his vibe. His positive vibes. And I know what the reason for his positive vibe is. I look up at the sky and smiled widely after whispering a thank you prayer.

Masuwerte na lamang siguro ako dahil mabilis na binigyang sagot ang kahilingan ko. Pero sa tingin ko ay tamang-tama lamang ang lahat. After all, it was planned by him. The one above. Nang maramdaman ko na ang malamig na simoy ng gabi ay nagpasya na rin akong pumasok sa loob. Paika-ika akong naglakad ngunit nanatili ang malawak na ngiti sa aking labi. Tila ba dahil sa nangyari ngayon ay biglang gumaling ang iniinda kong sakit sa tuhod.

Mom knows everything. Kaya naman ay hindi nakaligtas sa kaniya ang maaliwalas kong itsura. Hindi ko na rin naman nagawang maglihim pa dahil wala namang dapat ipaglihim. Hindi pa naman ako nakikipag-relasyon kaya wala akong dapat ikabahala na ipaalam kay Mama o kahit sa kanilang lahat pa ang pag-amin na ginawa ni Leo kanina. But since they are a pro-Leo, they were all happy. Genuinely happy and they immediately advise me not to rush thing. Of course, I’m just brat but I still listen to them.

“Oh my!!” impit na sigaw ni Tin matapos kong ikwento ang nangyari kahapon. “For real? As in real? Real na real!?”

“Ano ba!” inis kong irap sa kaniya. “Sa tingin mo naman ay hindi ako nagsasabi ng totoo? Yah, I’m just a brat, not assuming,”

Ngumiwi si Tin at tsaka ako inirapan bago marahang lumapit para bumulong. “Did he…kissed you?”

“Celestine!” mabilis kong sigaw kaya naman napatingin sa amin ang ilang classmate namin. I raise a peace sign and smile sweetly at them. “Nakaka-inis ka. Kung ano-ano ang naiisip mo. May narinig ka ba sa kwento ko na hinalikan niya ako? Diba wala? So, wala.”

Tin squinted her eyes on me as if assessing if I was telling a truth. “Totoo? As in wala?”

“Wala, Tin. Wala. You know that I will tell everything to you, right? Kahit pa private na iyong iba. I will share it to you because you are my other half,”

Tila kinikilig na ngumiti si Tin. “Alright. Naniniwala na ako. Pero gosh! Ikaw na talaga girl!”

“Para kang fangirl na nakita ang idol crush niya. Umayos ka nga.”

“Aba at oo naman! Nakaka-kilig kaya,” aniya pa. “You are the first person he like. And magiging first girlfriend din niya.”

“Hindi tayo sure sa una mong sinabi. We don’t know. Baka may nauna siyang nagustuhan bago ako.”

“Gaga. Eh, hindi ba’t dati pa lang ay may pagtingin na siya sa’yo? Picture mo pa lang eh, nagkagusto na siya. So, how come that he likes someone else before you?”

“Don’t you know? You can like two persons at the same time,”

“Eh, kakanood mo yan ng romance drama!”

I just laugh at her. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. He likes someone else before me, or I was the very first person he likes, whichever, what matters is that he likes me now. I was extra attentive to the class and when lunch came, my heart did a summersault emotion just by thinking that I will get to see Leo again. Before, it was just me and him. We sometimes invite Tin, but she usually declined it. But lately, we always eat our lunch with Tin, Erik, and Suzy who just joined us recently.

Suzy, Erik, and Leo walk on the corridor, and I could see how girls are admiring the two guys beside Suzy. While the boys at all grade levels were admiring Suzy. I can’t deny the fact that most of the visual faces in this school were all at the senior level. Even Irene. She has beauty. But not the personality. If she’s just nice, even not nice as Suzy, I would bet that half of the boys here will fall in line just to have a glance at her.

Mabuti na lamang at nagagawa ko ng makahakbang ng tuwid pero mayroon pa ring kaunting kirot kaya naman ay nakakayanan ko ng maglakad kahit walang alalay. Pero si Leo ay naka-mata pa rin sa akin. Ang totoo niyan ay inaasahan ko ng magiging kaswal lang siya sa akin dito sa eskwelahan. Pero mukhang mali ako. He is holding me on my elbow as we walk. I know that he is just supporting me but why do I feel like he is being extra caring? At mukhang tama ako dahil nakita ko iyon sa uri ng tingin ng nakaka-kita sa amin.

“You are too observant,” Suzy exclaimed which made me look in her direction.

“Again?” I ask.

“I said, you are too observant on your surroundings. Especially in human,” she stated.

“Am I?” tanong ko at sabay silang tumango ni Tin.

Kasalukuyang kaming tatlo lamang ang nasa lamesa dahil sina Leo at Erik ay nakapila na para sa aming lunch. Iyon naman ang madalas na mangyari at hindi naman nagrereklamo ang dalawa. Well, that’s their gentleman side.

“Is it wrong? Mali bang maging too observant ako sa mga tao?”

“Hindi naman. But it might push you to a wrong judgment,” sagot ni Suzy.

“How come? Hindi ba’t kapag observant ka ay makikilala mo agad ang ugali ng isang tao?” muling tanong ko.

“Pero hindi naman sa lahat ng pagkakataon ay tama ang nakikita mo. Kahit malinaw ang mata mo, may pagkakataon pa ring mabubulag ka sa isang bagay,” si Tin.

“That’s too deep,” sambit ko bagaman nakuha ko naman ang kaniyang punto.

“Our mind adopts the things we see and think. Kapag nakita mo na masama ang isang tao. O na-observe mong masama ang ugali nito. Your brain will record that data. At iyon na ang magiging pananaw mo palagi sa taong iyon,” paliwanag ni Suzy kaya naman tumango ako. “Loosen. Hindi naman masamang maging observant. Pero huwag din masyado. Though I can see that it’s natural to you,”

“Sa tingin ko rin. I agree with that. It’s her nature,” pagsang-ayon ni Tin.

“Kung ganoon ay walang masama kung masyado kang observant. If it’s your nature, then it will always be your nature,” muling pahayag ni Suzy at eksakto naman dumating ang dalawa bitbit ang pagkain naming lahat.

I sigh secretly when I felt a pair of eyes eyeing me to death. I don’t have to turn around and find who it is because I already know that it’s Irene. Her black stare has been familiar to me that even in a distance, I know that it was her. Her black stares send a chilling feeling. But I am not scared. If she can give me a black stare, I could give her the same too with extra hardness. Instead of thinking about her, I just diverted my attention and joined the others in the conversation.

Leo on the other hand is truly extra caring today. He always fills a water on my glass whenever I emptied it. He also asks me if I still want to order extra rice, hands me tissue and share me his shanghai. Which by the way is very tasty and one of my favorites here. Dati naman ng maasikaso si Leo pero pakiramdam ko ay domoble iyon ngayon. O baka ay masyado ko lang binibigyang kahulugan ang aksyon niya dahil alam kong…gusto niya ako? Siguro ay ganoon na nga. Hindi naman siguro masama iyon dahil pareho naman kami ng nararamdaman.

“Why are you biting your lips secretly?” he asks, enough for us only to hear.

“Bawal ba?” tanong ko pabalik.

“Hindi naman,” aniya at mabilis niyang binasa ang kaniyang labi na ikinagulat ko.

I roll my eyes at him and made him chuckle. After minutes of staying after we finished eating, we finally decided to go back to our respective rooms. And just like what he used to do; Leo reminded me to wait for him in our room. We were serious about talking when Erik copied Leo’s words and said it to Tin who just roll her eyes at him. We all chuckled before they finally walk away.

I can’t help but tease Tin about Erik, but the former was just annoyingly rolling her eyes on me. We were laughing and teasing each other as we enter our room, but someone caught my eyes. It was Irene. She’s on the far corner. And based on her facial expression, I’m that she witnesses everything. I inhaled and exhaled calmly and proudly chined up to her before entering our room.

“You know, I was observing earlier,” Tin said as we wait for our teacher.

“What?”

Dahan-dahan siyang umikot ng upo upang maharap ako at tsaka naniningkit ang mat ana tinignan ako. “You and Leo are dating…Informal date nga lang dahil mayroon kayong tatlong alipores,” aniya at mabilis akong inirapan na siyang ikina-hagalpak ng aking tawa.

Informal date? It’s not bad at all.