Avoid
1324 Words
Eventually, Thunder went home, and I walked him to the gate of his house when someone called out to him
"Hello? How are you, baby? What happened? Oh, baby, you should take care of your health, okay? Don't be so hard-headed. It's for your own good. Yes, baby, don't worry, I'll see you soon. Yeah, yeah. I'll FaceTime when I get home. Okay? I love you too."
Hearing those words stirs up emotions in me that I can't quite comprehend. I feel hurt knowing he already has a girlfriend. I felt jealous, but I don't have the right to feel that way because I am nothing to him.
"Are you okay?" tanong niya sa akin
"Yeah yeah. I have to go na, so you can rest. It's getting late na kasi," sagot ko naman sa kanya, at pumasok na sa bahay. Hindi ko siya hinintay pang magsalita.
Tanga mo, Arrietty, may girlfriend na pala. May baby na tinatawag. Tanga ko, ang tanga ko. Akala ito na yun, pinapansin na niya ako eh. Siguro, he's just so nice.
"Hoy, ano ba ang iniisip mo dyan? Matulog ka na. Late na ng gabi," pumasok si Manang sa kwarto dahilan para maputol yung iniisip ko.
"Wala naman, Manang. I was just thinking about my academics," simpleng sagot ko.
"Bakit? May problema ba?" tanong ni Manang, nagpapakita ng kanyang pag-aalala.
"Wala naman, Manang. Maganda naman siguro yung grades ko," ngumiti ako kay Manang upang tiyakin na okay talaga ako.
"Oh sige, iha. Alam ko naman yun. Kung ano man yung iniisip mo, ipagpabukas mo na yan," at umalis na si Manang.
I was sitting here in the cafeteria, having my lunch. Sobrang pagod ko kaya nagutom, malala talaga. I put my earphones on, playing my favorite tunes, and kumain na.
"Hey, Arr," tawag sa akin ni Abi at kinuha yung isang side ng AirPods ko. Pagtingin ko, kasama pala ni Abi sila Thunder, Kai, McKay, at Jeremiah."
"Hello guys," simpleng sabi ko lang at patuloy sa pagkain. Nakita ko naman na nakatingin si Thunder sa akin.
"Hey, I haven't seen you for a while now. What do you up to ba?" tanong ni McKay sa akin.
"Why do you ask ba? She's busy okay? Focus si Arrietty sa acads. Wag mo nga siyang gayahin sayo," singit naman ni Abi sa usapan namin ni McKay.
"Shut up, Abi," Abi just rolled her eyes to her brother. "Ano na ba order niyo?" tanong naman ni Jeremiah sa kanila. Agad naman silang tumayo lahat para bumili ng lunch.
"How about you, bro?" tanong ni Aidan kay Thunder nang mapansin niyang hindi man lang ito tumatayo sa kinauupuan niya.
"Just order me anything," Thunder said coldly, not even removing his gaze from me. He just stared at me. In my nervousness, I decided to ignore him and continued eating. I felt awkward with the silence between us, so I pretended to be listening to music.
Until they returned, and I decided to go back to our building. Before I left, I noticed Thunder’s serious expression. There was something in his eyes that I couldn’t understand. I didn’t know how to avoid him, so I decided to just be alone with the sadness I felt.
"Guys, I have to go," sabi ko sa kanila.
"Why so early ba, Arrietty? Sabay na kaya tayo." sabi naman ni Abi sa akin. Gustuhin ko man pero hindi ko na talaga kaya yung mga tinginan ni Thunder.
"Powder room muna," hindi ko na hinintay yung sagot ni Abi, umalis na din ako agad.
I finally arrived at the building. I decided to wait here for Prof. Enriquez. I’m just reviewing for the quiz she has today. I decided to focus on my review, but I couldn’t stop my mind from returning to the events in the cafeteria. Thunder’s glances at me earlier were still playing in my thoughts.
"Why are you avoiding Thunder?" tanong agad ni Abi sa akin pagkadating niya sa room.
"I'm not avoiding Thunder," sagot ko naman sa kanya, but I couldn’t deny the nervousness in my voice.
"Girl, don't play me okay. You weren't like this before. You used to be excited whenever Thunder was around, but earlier, you barely talked to him. Nagmamadali ka pa na makaalis," Abi said, with a hint of understanding in her voice.
"You know what, Abi, you're just overthinking, okay? May quiz pa tayo later kaya nagmamadali ako to review," tanging nasagot ko lang. Totoo naman eh na umiiwas ako kay Thunder.
"Oh shoot," sigaw naman ni Abi. Sure ako na hindi ito nakapag-review, kaya dali-dali siyang nagbuklat ng book at nagbasa. Hanggang sa dumating na yung oras, pero wala parin si Prof Enriquez kaya I spent my time na rin to review, pati na rin si Abi.
As we continued reviewing, napansin ko ang mabilis na paglipas ng oras. Abi and I exchanged notes, nagtulungan para masiguro na ready kami sa quiz.
Finally, biglang nagbukas ang pinto at pumasok si Prof. Enriquez, "Okay class, let's move our quiz later, 7pm dahil na mix na naman yung schedule ko, so for now, you just have to do your activity."
The afternoon passed, I just attended all my subjects and now waiting for the quiz of Prof. Enriquez. While chatting with Abi, suddenly the basketball team members entered. Obviously, they're going to take the quiz as well. I saw McKay, and he smiled at me and the others, but I also saw Thunder walking straight ahead and sitting at the back with his teammates. Hindi ko na lang pinansin. I just focused on this quiz first.
"Okay class, I guess all are here, so are you ready for the quiz now?" tanong ni Prof sa amin, pero ni isa walang sumagot. I know they are already tired. "Please class, no cheating. Ano, sino unang matapos ay unang makakauwi."
After a few hours, I saw Thunder passing his papers. Since I was also close to finishing, I slowed down my writing so as not to catch up with Thunder. When I saw him leaving the room, I waited for 15 minutes before submitting my papers to make sure that Thunder had already left. Lumabas na at nagpaalam na rin ako kay Abi, na mauuna na akong umuwi. Pagkalabas ko, I was a bit scared kasi nga madilim na sa hallway kaya binilisan ko na lang yung paglalakad ko.
"Ahhhhhhhhh," I exclaimed as someone suddenly pulled me along the hallway.
"Shut up. It's me. You're so loud," Thunder said coldly. This guy is different too. He's calm even though I'm extremely nervous about what he's up to.
"Ano ka ba? Bakit mo 'ko biglang hinila? Papatayin mo ako sa takot," galit na sinabi ko sa kanya. Sino ba naman ang hindi magagalit, eh bigla-biglang nanghila.
"Let's talk," he said briefly and pulled me towards his car.
"Get in," he said. Dahil hindi ko pa lubos na naiintindihan ang nangyari kanina at ako'y nabigla, sumakay na lang ako sa sasakyan. Tahimik kaming dalawa sa buong biyahe. Hindi ko maiwasang magtanong sa sarili kung ito nga ba ang tamang daan papunta sa bahay ko.
"Where are we going?" tanong ko sa kanya. Tinignan niya lang ako at binalik ang tingin sa daan.
"What the hell?" bulong ko.
"Watch your mouth, Ysriel," inis na sambit niya. Oh, second name basis na pala kami ngayon. Nakakakilig sana kung wala siyang girlfriend eh. I just rolled my eyes at hindi na lang siya sinagot. Lumiko kami sa daang may lubak, pero malawak naman.
"Now, you're scaring me. Are you going to kill me? Are you planning to offer me as an alay or something?" bigla siyang napatawa sa mga sinabi ko. Hindi ako nagbibiro, pero bigla siyang natawa. Huminto kami sa isang lugar na maraming puno pero raman din namang sasakyan sa paligid. Hindi ako nag-atubiling bumaba agad.
“Let’s go,” he said briefly. As we entered, it turned out to be a restaurant.
- Writer
