Unromantic Romance

Chapter 1

"You know what I hate the most?" I asked Ayii while tying my hair into a ponytail. I am in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection.

"What?" She asked pero wala naman talagang pakialam.

"Ang sirain ang maganda kong tulog!" I cried,as I approach her. She just rolled her eyes at me and lazily stood up.

"Well sorry, princess. Bakit ba kasi nakalimutan mo ang lakad natin ngayon!?" Naiiritang tanong niya habang magka-krus ang mga braso. Sumalampak ako paupo sa kama that made me bounce a little.

"I didn't forget. Nagpa-alarm ako pero kulang pa ang tulog ko kaya I turned it off and got back to sleep." I answered that made her frown. She was about to say something when her phone beeped for a message.

"Oh my gee, nandoon na siya Le'! Let's go," she said, a bit panicking. Awtomatikong tumaas ang kilay ko sa sinabi niya. Bago pa ako makaangal ay nauna na siyang lumabas ng kwarto ko.

"Alam mo ba ang pinasukan mo, Ayii?" I managed to ask her habang pababa ng hagdanan. She halted and turned to me. Nakatingala siya sa akin ngayon kasi mas nauna siyang bumaba.

"Oo naman. Bakit? Ikaw lang ba pwedeng mag-boyfriend ha?" Medyo iritado niyang tanong.

"Fine, fine. You always use that against me." I murmured while raising my arms, surrendering. Ang dami kong talo sa babaeng 'to!

"I'll hitch a ride! Day off si Manong ngayon." I informed her as we are heading to the parking lot.

"What? Plano ko pa namang sasakyan niyo ang gamitin." My mouth formed an 'o' that made her laugh. The guts of this girl!

I am silently enjoying myself by the view outside. Hindi sobrang lapit ng mga kabahayan at maraming puno kaya maaliwalas ang lugar ng Ayazo. This is the place where I grew up and I love this place. Wala na yata akong makikitang lugar na kasingpayapa ng Ayazo. If I were to choose to leave this place or stay, I will choose the latter. I can stay here forever!

The car was so silent that I have to nudge Ayii who's busy fiddling her phone. She looked at me with her brows furrowed.

"Where are we going? Are we going out of Ayazo?" I asked.

"No. Pero malayo-layo ang pupuntahan natin Le'. May bagong bukas kasing coffee shop doon." She answered, a bit excited.

"You owe me a milktea. I didn't bring my money with me."

Tumango naman siya at bumalik na sa pagte-text. We are going to meet his boyfriend yet she is still so busy texting him eh magkikita lang rin naman sila mamaya. It seems like she's not interested in talking to me so I opened my phone and checked f*******:. I don't like to put my phone into a silent mode so as soon as I turned on my data, notifications and messages came flooding. It made consecutive sounds that made Ayii turn to me. I didn't bother returning her gaze and just fiddled on my phone.

"Wooo ang dami 'nun ah," she chuckled. I was busy checking my notifications when an email popped up. Awtomatikong tumaas ang kilay ko sa nagsend 'nun. I am in a battle if I should open or ignore it but after a while, I found myself opening it. Baka naman importante.

The message is from rlewis@gmail.com

Good day, Ms. Montemayor! I have to move our meeting schedule kasi may pupuntahan ako ngayon. The meeting is tomorrow at the same time and in the same place. I already told anyone in our group. Thank you!

I scoffed upon reading his message. Hindi naman pala gano'n ka importante, sana hindi ko na lang chineck. Tsaka isa pa, email talaga? Ang formal formal naman niya!? On the other hand, oo nga pala. Sending an email for a message like this is so like him. Oh well, whatever! My opinion of him stays the same.

"Why are you scoffing?" Ayii asked. I immediately turned my phone off at sumalampak sa inuupuan.

"Nothing. Sa group project lang," I answered.

"Oh? Nagpa-participate ka pala doon? Akala ko pabuhat ka lang eh," pang-aasar niya. I mimicked her and rolled my eyes. Binalik ko na lamang ang tingin sa tanawin sa labas.

"Yes! Labas na Le'! Super tagal mo ah."

As soon as I got out of my car, I surveyed the coffee shop. Isa lamang ang palapag pero malapad. The interior design is nice and the building is painted with chocolate brown and white. It's pretty decent. Tamang-tama para sa gustong mag-relax habang nagkakape o di naman ay kung mag-aaral. Malayo nga lang.

Nauna ng pumasok si Ayii. Pagkapasok ko ay may nilapitan na siyang lamesa kung saan may nakaupo ng lalaki. The table is not near the window but placed at the center of the shop.

Pagkalapit ni Ayii ay hinalikan siya ng lalaki sa pisngi at naglahad ng upuan para sa aming dalawa. I immediately sat on my chair. Ayii is still standing and in a daze.

"What? You won't sit?" I asked which made her look at me and sat down, panicking. Hinalikan lang siya sa pisngi, nawala na agad sa ulirat. I stared at the guy sitting in front of Ayii and low key observing him. He is obviously gwapo, and a few foreign features are evident on his face. His hair is curly in brown color. I don't know if it was colored or natural though. His earring on the left ear is shining, halatang mamahalin. He is wearing a white sweater and I can see the neckline of his shirt from the inside paired with maong pants. Halatang bago lang dito, sino kaya 'to? I know most people residing here in Ayazo and his face is new to me.

"This is Nashir Alonzo, Le'. My boyfriend." The guy stood up when Ayii introduced her. He held out his hand that I immediately shook.

"Hi! I'm Ayeshian's boyfriend, Nashir. You can call me Nash." Oh? He calls Ayii by her true name meaning they are still new.

"Le'," I replied. Ayii's mouth gaped na parang 'di makapaniwala. Bumalik na sa pagkakaupo ang boyfriend at nagtawag ng order. Habang kausap niya ang waiter, Ayii leanedcloser to me.

"Just... Le' huh?" She asked.

"Yeah. What else should I say?"

"You should have introduced yourself properly. Why not mention your full name?" She whispered. I just shrugged as an answer. Nang umalis na ang waiter ay umayos na sa pagkakaupo si Ayii.

"You're new here, I guess?" I asked Nash. He flashed a smile and nodded.

"Ah yeah, I am. I'm from States but I am now living at my Tito's house." He answered. Ayii then nodded.

"Oh. Who is your Tito?" I asked him while we are at it. I saw Ayii shot her brows up and low key rolling her eyes at me.

"Tito Ramil... uh... you know him?" He trailed off. So that means that this guy is somehow related to Tito Ramil's son? 

I flashed a questioning look to Ayii who just shrugged. So she knew?

I don't want to be rude so I let out a small smile at him and nodded. "Yes, I know him."

Not long after, our order came and they started to eat. I just ordered milk tea. I just ate my breakfast after Ayii barged in my room. They were chatting something I am not concerned with so I just checked my phone for any messages but aside from my mother's message, there are none.

"I invited someone over nga pala. I wanted to show him this newly opened coffee shop, if that's okay with you?" Nash probed. Ayii nodded, obviously, she has no problem with that. I have no problem with that too.

"Oh? Saan na ba siya?" Ayii asked and looked around.

"Male-late ng kaunti pero pupunta iyon--- oh he's here." He waved his hand at the entrance kaya napalingon rin kami.

"Bro!" My forehead creased. He is wearing a white, plain shirt paired with brown shorts and a pair of brown, strappy sandals.

Ayii turned to look at me and mouthed something defensive, I guess. I just shrugged to let her know that I absolutely have no problem with having Regis here.

"I'm sorry. May dinaanan lang," Regis said before sitting in front of me. Hindi pa yata niya ako napapansin kasi busy pa siya makipag-usap kay Nash.

"This is Ayeshian, my girlfriend. The one I was talking about," Nash introduced Ayii to Regis who smiled and waved. "And her friend, uh... Le'," then they turned to me. Regis' raised her brow and smirked. I looked at him and turned my gaze upwards to sideways, low key rolling my eyes that I am sure he would notice.

"I know both of them, Nash. They are my schoolmates." Nash was a bit taken aback but immediately recovered and let out a laugh.

"Oh? Ako pala talaga ang bago dito ah," he joked. Pumunta sa counter si Regis and ordered whatsoever. After a while, he came back with a cup of coffee and sat in front of me. The couple beside us were busy chatting, forgetting our existence. It's not like I care. I am the third wheel here!

I cannot stand this. Ayii brought me here para ipakilala ang boyfriend niya which I didn't know na ka-date niya for two months na pala. I really don't want to go pero pumayag na lamang akong sumama kasi wala rin naman akong gagawin sa bahay besides I got to discover this new coffee shop. Kung ganito lang din pala, sana nag-invite siya ng guy for me na rin para double date! Yeah, her boyfriend invited someone over pero it's this guy! I cannot stand to be in the same place as this guy, breathing the same air.

Napalingon ako sa kanya when he chuckled. I looked at Ayi and Nash but they didn't seem to care, so why is this brute chuckling?

"Ang problemado mo ah? Don't worry, I didn't know na kayo pala ang kikitain ng pinsan ko." Regis said. I can sense a hint of teasing in his voice. 

Tapos magpinsan sila ni Nashir?

"I am not," I denied. As much as possible, I don't want to talk to him. I am okay on my own. I can deal with this 'out of the place' situation.

"Oh really," he sarcastically said. 

My phone rang for a call. I fished it out of my pocket and saw my Dad calling. I looked at Ayii who's attention is diverted to me now. I pointed at my phone and gestured that I'll go outside to answer the call.

I sat down at the bench outside of the coffee shop before answering my father's call.

"Dad," the other line was so quiet. "Napatawag ka po?"

"Uh anak... hindi muna kami makakauwi diyan mamaya. Ang dami kasing aasikasuhin sa pag-aangkat sa mga palay kaya dito muna kami magpapalipas ng gabi." He informed. I nodded and smiled like he can see it.

"Is that so? Okay lang naman po ako, nandoon naman si Manang Aryela so I can manage. Plus I am 18 now, no worries."

He laughed on the other end.

"Yeah alright. Sige, ibababa ko na ito. Take care." He said before ending the call.

I was about to go back inside when I saw Regis standing at the end of the bench I am sitting. What is he doing here? I checked our table and saw Ayii and Nash still talking and laughing while showing each other's phone.

I was about to open the door when he said something. "If the meeting was not canceled, I see that you are not coming seeing that you are here now."

Kumunot ang noo ko sa sinabi niya. Tumaas ang isang kilay ko.

"But the meeting was canceled, what is your problem?" I asked, annoyance is evident on my voice.

He was just silent and when I figured out that he doesn't have any plan on answering, I opened the door before going inside. The door chimes whistled so I guess he is coming back to the table too. While on my way back to the table, he said something that made me stop.

"You must go to our meeting tomorrow," he said a bit authoritative. My brows shut up. I faced him once again that made him look sideways then back to me.

"I... no----the group needs you," sabi niya bago ako nilagpasan at naunang bumalik sa table namin.

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