Of Lilies Time and Remorse

Chapter 2

“ Guys, picture tayo for memories!” Sweet called.

We gathered in front of our main building. We took a lot of photos and several boomerangs.One of it, we girls kicked in front and the boys tossed their top hats. Nang matapos we congratulated ourselves once again,  at nagkaniya-kaniya na para umuwi. Nasa gate na ako when I saw Sixto. He came closer to me.

“Congrats!” he sounded so energetic. I pouted.

“Congrats? What for? We didn’t even win the special award.”

Napatingin ako sa suot ko. Well, honestly we looked cute. The girls wore black leotards, gold and silver skirt, black stockings and white shoes.

We even braided our hairs with matching ribbons! On the other hand, the boys were wearing white long sleeves , black slacks, black shoes, black suspenders ,and topped the look with black top hats.

I mean you all be lying if you say we ain’t cute. Napasimangot ako.

“Cheer up! I’m congratulating you ‘cause finally you can cross speech choir out. Nabawasan na ang activities niyo. Besides, you did a great job there.”

I looked up at him.

“I can see that you have memorized well, at hindi ka din naman nahuhuli sa mga hand choreographs. You did great Lucy.”

Napaisip ako sa sinabi ni Sixto.  Tama naman siya eh, be a sport na lang. I smiled at Sixto.

“ Yeah, we still did a great job. Wait, pa’no mo nalamang nakasabay ako? You watched?”

“ Yes. I watched.” he scratched his head. I thought he looked shy.

“Umabsent ka?” I gave him an accusing look. He held his hands up.

“Well, excused.” I raised my brow at him. “What do you mean excused?”

“I told my teacher that I wasn’t feeling well.” he said in a matter of fact tone.

“You lied!”

He covered my mouth with his hands. I went silent. Realizing that we were getting attention.

Napatingin ako sa paligid and the students were staring at me weirdly probably because of my shouting.  Baka akalain nila nag e-lq kami ni Sixto.

“No. It was true. Hindi rin naman ako mapapakali kung hindi ako makakanuod. So same thing. Besides vacant ko na sa next time slot namin.”

Napailing ako.I tried to stifle my smile, but I failed. I smiled so wide that I thought I look pathetic showing all my teeth.

The thought of Sixto making excuses just to see me- I mean us perform is should I say, touching. Top student si Sixto. No doubt GC ang kuya. I laughed in my mind.

“ Tara libre.” he said while showing off his perfect set of pearl white teeth with the cute dimples just below his lips that appears every time he smiles.

“Ko or mo?”

“Ko?”

I frowned at his answer. Siya pa ang nag-aya eh mukhang ako pa ang manglilibre.

“Syempre ako. You did well earlier.”

“So, where?” I asked preventing to show too much excitement in my voice.

“Twist” he replied. Twist is an ice cream parlor just across the street.

“Tala na dai”

He said as he offered the hem of his shirt for me to hold on to. I bit my lip as a punishment for smiling too broadly behind his back as we were crossing the street.

The thought of ice cream excites me. Yep. Congrats indeed.

I really had fun with Sixto today. He paid for my favorite ice cream which is by the way, cookies and cream.

He got himself the best-seller. Something with mangoes I think? Anyways, he gave me two medium cups which made me even happier.

I just finished reading a sci-fi book when I decided to check my social media accounts. Baka sakaling may makuhang tea. Well may pagka  chismosa din naman ako. I first checked my sss.

Ben tagged us in his post. It was a short video of us composing of the photos we took earlier. You know, the one teens do when they edit? That’s it. I laughed at the caption.

“Ang importante alive! #THANKGODWE’REALIVE #goldenvoiceless #taloperohappy

Ang conyo ng kupal. I reacted ‘HAHA’ and shared it on my timeline.

Next, I checked my twitter account. I retweeted some of my classmates tweets like ‘Good job guys! We did it! Heart,heart.’

I was having second thoughts whether to check my i********: but I did anyway. I don’t really have a lot of high-end photos and my feed is actually boring.

Just some photos I took that have the blue palette, although I’m planning of changing it to some warm colors or pwede namang wala na lang theme.

Well in my defense, masasabi ko naman na the colors and the photos represented my personality, like calm,deep and yet boring.I took my i********: boars seriously.

Wala naman akong masyadong ginagawa paggabi. Bath, read, scroll through my news feed and then read another book. I’m quite a fast reader naman kasi. At hindi naman ako grade conscious kaya nag-aaral lang ako minsan.

This time I decided to read a teen fiction book. I was halfway for the fifth chapter when I heard my phone beeped. It was a message from Sixto. I read his message and rolled my eyes before typing my reply.

6to: What do you call a potato that holds a high rank in the police?

Lucy: potato chip…

6to: was that too easy? Hindi mo sana sinagutannn. Napaka unfair naman.

I laughed. I mean napakadali naman’non, duh. I hesitated at first but then I just typed a message anyway.

Lucy: You’re a family of potatoes. You’re potato dad have a brother. What do you call him?

I waited for his reply. After a few seconds, my phone beeped.

6to: Potuncle

Gagi HAHAHA. I bit my lower lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. Damn this guy!

Lucy: noooo! That wasn’t even funny noh. It’s POTITO luh.

What a great liar I am. Hindi naman niya malalaman so who cares?

6to: ay weh? Mas nakakatawa yung sakin uy pero to give you credit, ok.  HAHAAHAHA LOL   XD

6TO: talaga? Hindi nakakatawa? So I guess u laugh at something that’s not funny? On your 3 o’clock miss.

I turned and was surprised to see Sixto grinning from ear to ear. He’s standing by his window.

I blinked. Gosh! Bukas ang bintana ko! Nakita niya siguro ako kanina. He probably saw me laughing and lying straight to his face.

Nakakahiya! I immediately closed my window shut.

    6to: hindi mo naman kailangan isarado.             I saw it all senyoooritaaa.

   6to: really. Good thing I made you laugh, u did great earlier, lucy.

I smiled and typed ‘Thank you,you made it okay.’ but decided not to send it.

My phone beeped again

    6to: good night, lucy

     Lucy: yeah, you too.

I peeked at my window and saw Sixto still smiling while looking at his phone.

I climbed on my bed and stared at my blank ceiling for a while.

You might want to tell me about home works. You might say that I’m flirting and you’re right.

Well, I do my home works first thing in the morning. At school. Oo na hindi na yun homework.

But who cares?

I’m excited to go to wonderland. Someone’s waiting for me.

I lazily opened my notebook and tried to study. Totoo nga ang sinabi ng clssmates ko na may test.

Nagkagulo pa kami kung anong subject ‘yun. Turns out it was Math. First subject.

Arrrgh!

I’m not that good in Math. Okay, to tell you the truth, I am really not good in Math. Hindi rin naman ako nakikinig.

Nakatitig lang at kunyari nakikinig pero ang totoo nag-iisip lang ng mga scenarios or kahit ano even unicorns, UFO, unsolved mysteries or a pink banana.( I saw a sock with pink bananas on them)

Tuwing may test sa Math ay chill lang ako kagaya ngayon. I didn’t bother studying so I closed my notebook.

Wala rin naman akong maiintindihan. Maghihintay na lang ako ng answers ni Janna.

10 minutes before time ay nangopya ako kay Janna. I know it’s bad, pero sa Math lang naman. Pagbigyan niyo na.

I can handle the rest of the subjects.

Nasa panghuling subject na kami para sa morning. ESP. To be honest, I don’t think it’s really that important.

    Nasa tao naman ‘yan kung gusto mong gumawa ng bagay whether it’s good or bad, knowing the circumstances. It’s up to you. I don’t think it’s good to include the subject in the grading system.

Grades should not be the one to describe of how good of a person or a student you are.

We all are liars. We always choose the best answers among the best tuwing may exam kahit hindi naman talaga iyon nga gagawin mo for real.

I answered a question like; What would you do if you see an old woman trying to cross the streets? A. Help her B. Continue walking C. Let another person help her.

Of course I answered letter C. Alam ko naman sa sarili ko na hindi ako marunong tumawid. (Thanks to the trauma I got when I was in grade school) Tumulong pa kaya? Baka masagasaan lang kami.

My classmates laughed at me, and my teacher gave me a weird look. It was for Pete’s sake an oral recitation! But on the other hand, I was honest that time.

Gusto niyo bang magsinungaling ako and answer letter A instead? Hindi ko alam. I just believe na hindi dapat natin bina-base ang grades dito.

We all have our choices. Kahit pa paulit-ulit na idiscuss ito, people will still do what they want.

Hindi pa ako sinungaling noon pero ngayon, natuto na ako.

I always pick the kindest and goodest answers that I even want to p**e. Anyways, I have nothing against our teacher.

She is nice naman. And for today, she asked us to write a letter for someone we are thankful. 

It should be written nicely with pleasant designs. Wala naman akong problema maganda na kasi ang handwriting ko.

Karamihan sa nakakakita ng handwriting ko ay akala nila typewritten.

Next week pa naman ipa-pass so I didn’t bother writing anything. Wala pa rin naman kasi akong naiisipang bigyan.

Dapat pa nga ay mag reply ito sa letter. Babasahin din namin ito in class.

The bell rang at obviously ay lunch time na. May usapan kami ng mga bestfriends ko.

May mga kaibigan din naman ako.  J2 and J3. And they call me J1. J3 or Suzanna is in the first section. Well, yes the smart one. J2 or Thea is in another section. Classmates kami since 7th  to 8th grade before.

Nagkahihiwalay lang kami simula last year. We met by the gate.

“ Haist, you know what? Nakakainis yung teacher ko sa TLE!” J2 said as she got her phone and checked something.

“ You always looked stressed out.”  I told her. Binaba niya ang phone niya and then pouted at me.

“Grabe ka naman J1. I hate you na.” 

“ Excuse lang ha, pero nagugutom na kasi ako. We should go. May test pa ako.” J3 interrupted.

Palabas na kami ng nakita namin si Sixto. “ Hey, Power Puff Girls!”

“ What power puff girls ha? Nakapameywang na tanong ni J3 kay Sixto. The latter just laughed.

“Basta ako si Blossom ha?” J2 giggled like a kid. Napairap ako.

“ Ngi. Hindi bagay uy. Ikaw na lang si Bubbles.” 

“ Oo tapos ikaw si Mojojojo. Kamukha mo naman.”

Sixto was about to say his defense when I interrupted him.

“Anyway, bakit?” 

“Schedule niyo ngayon?” tumango na lang ako.

Kahit iba-iba kami ng sections, we still managed to find time together. Sabay kaming nagla-lunch at least twice a week. Hindi naman kasi pwedeng everyday may iba din naman kaming gagawin.

“Oh, okay. Sama na lang ako sa mga kaibigan ko.” 

“okay”  I answered.

He waved his hand at us as he walked away. Three boys smiled at me. I know their faces but I’m not familiar with their names. Isa lang ang kilala ko. One of the two girls waved and smiled at me. I smiled and waved back. I turned to J3 and J2.

“Oh, hindi siya sasama sa atin? He’s with that girl again.” J3 raised her brow at me that made me roll my eyes at her.

“ He’s with his friends.”

“ With that Hyacinth girl.” sabay na sabi ng dalawa.

I just shrugged at them. So what if he’s with that Hyacinth girl?