|31| Tayo

Faith's Point of View

I concluded everything.

Now I know behind those suspicious acts of Stay. Unexplainable words, cold but caring sometimes, I have no idea before about that.  Well, dating two guys is fun. Isang mature at isang bata — both have a feelings for me. Hindi ko lang alam kay Samuel, he never said he like me, he just wanted the 'date thing'.

"Oh ano, kailan mo balak sagutin?" Lara asks after she sipped her coffee.

We're now in the resto we use to eat every lunch. Maambon ang panahon at malamig ang simoy ng hangin, perfect time para magkape. Besides that, we're celebrating our success. Feeling ko nakapasa naman kami ni Lara, I helped her reviewing so 100% confident ako about sa grade namin. Pustahan pa!

"Sagutin ka 'dyan! Eh dating lang kaya ko ngayon no."

"Gusto mo naman s'ya."

"Hoy! Hindi ko s'ya gusto, ikaw pa nga nagsasabing Familiarity breeding contempt chuchu ka d'yan." I roll my eyes.

"Breeds 'yon, bobo."

"Bobo ka din."

"Aray ha." She place her hand to her chest, as if she's hurt physically.

I softly chuckle and sip the coffee. Then my phone rings so I quickly answered the call, it's none other than him — Stay. My lips form a smile as I place my phone to my ears. "What?" But deep inside, I'm about to burst.

[Where are you?]

Stay is so free, tapos na rin kasi ang exams nila. In time s'ya umamin para makipag date ah? Iyong wala na s'yang busy sched, pfft!

"Resto, bakit?"

[Fuck.]

"H-ha? Bakit?" I ask that makes Lara lean to hear who's the caller, but she failed.

[Never mind. Study well, I love you.]

"Oh I love you daw, anong sasabihin?" sabat ni Lara na kinatalim ng tingin ko sa kan'ya. How come she heard it? Nakakahiya ah!

"Ingat ka, sige bye." Then I turn off the call and lean to glare at Lara. She's just comfortingly sitting while holding a cup of coffee, great. What if Stay heard it? What if he assumed we're talking about him? Nah! I'm going to explain later.

"Walang hiya ka talaga."

"Hihi, peace!" Then she pose a peace sign while grinning. Inubos ko na ang kape at niyaya si Lara na bumalik na ng DMU.

Everything's fine, except from what I saw earlier. Coleen did write something on a brand new book, maybe she'll give it to Stay again. I'm curious about the notes, kaya may plano akong buksan ang mga binibigay n'yang libro kay Stay. Teka, hindi ba parang mali naman 'yon? I mean, sino ba ako para mangielam?

"So, the exam is over. I hope you guys will have a passing score, is my subject easy?" tanong ni Prof.

Tumahimik ang lahat. Walang makasagot, ang iba ay busy sa kani kanilang ginagawa at ang iba ay nakatulala lang sa bintana. The weather makes us students feel sleepy, the breeze is so cold and it looks like the rain wants to burst from the dark clouds. And about the subject?

Ah, no. It's really a calculation. Nevermind, kumopya naman ako kay Soni. Lord, patawarin Nyo 'ko, 10 items lang naman ih. Tsaka nagpapakopya rin naman ako minsan lalo na nung highschool.

"Hey, guys? Are you with me?" The nerdy professor asks.

"Yes po..." We whisper in a lazy tone. It looks like we're still in highschool to act like this, as if we never take this seriously.

"Okay! So, I'll start to discuss the new individual project, alright? Here..." She face the white board and starts to write in the upper left corner.

The students have their own reaction, some are disgusted, cursing, and over reacting in a low tone, which our professor will never hear, one of them is Lara. Some never cares and still doing their own businesses. While me? I put my head on the desk, wanting to fall asleep because of the cozy feeling.

Suddenly, our professor's phone ring, it reaches a deafening crescendo which makes us awake. Is that intentional? Gosh, I'm not in the mood to study now.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She quickly pick it up. "I'll be back, class. Just a minute."

Marahan kong inumpog ang ulo sa desk habang hinihintay dalawin ako ng antok. I'm about to take a quick nap when my seatmate from the left tap my shoulder, it's Wendy — the bitchy but friendly student. Iniangat ko ang tingin sa kan'ya, nakanguso s'ya sa may pinto ng room. I face the direction she's pointing.

There, I see Stay with his hand on the pocket. Wearing uniform and lying against the door, my classmates make their own discussion as we saw him. Lumapit ako sa kan'ya. Hindi ko mapigilang mapangiti, ganoon rin s'ya.

"Seems like you're bored."

"Math, eh," bulong ko.

We softly chuckle. "Ano, tara?" He asks.

My eyes widen. "Game!"

We sneak off in the class with my bag. Shiz, I know we're doing wrong. But it's fine, we used to do it back in highschool, one time every week. Can't you imagine that? But atleast we're on the rank. Valedictorian pa nga ako noong 4th year (pero s'yempre bagong buhay nang nawala si Stay).

Nang makalabas kami sa building ng walang nanghuhuli, magkahawak kamay kaming tumakbo papuntang parking lot. Saktong nagsimulang umambon, we can't help it but to laugh while running as fast as we can.

Sa bawat pagtakbo, tumatalamsik ang tubig mula sa daan. Kasabay non ang pagkabasa ng uniform namin pati narin ang katawan. Surely, guards are busy sleeping and didn't got time to caught us. What a shame.

Nang makasakay kami sa kotse, ini-start n'ya agad iyon. "Saan mo gustong pumunta?" He is panting.

I catch my breath before answering. "Sa park!" Itinaas ko ang nakayukom na kamay na para bant sinasabing 'sugooood!'.

Sumandal ako sa upuan at binuksan ang bag. Mabuti naman walang nabasang notes and printed papers. Binigyan ako ni Stay ng towel kaya agad din akong nakapagpatuyo ng katawan, nabasa na pati upuan dahil sa lakas ng ulan. I check the weather but there's no occuring typhoon, sadyang rainy season na nga.

Nang makarating sa park, agad akong nakaramdam ng excitement dahil maso solo namin to. Tumakbo ako palapit sa swing, walang pake kung madulas o madapa man sa madulas na lupa. Nagpataas baba ako sa swing habang si Stay ay inaalalayan ako sa likod, s'ya ang tumutulak no'n.

Hinayaan kong mabasa ng ulan at dumausdos iyon sa balat ko. Hinigpitan ko ang hawak sa chains ng swing nang lakasan ni Stay ang pwersa.

"Hoy, papatayin mo ba 'ko!" I say in the middle of swinging. Gosh, nagmukha akong siraulo! But then, Stay just let out a loud laugh. We make fun without thinking any problems in life.

Setting aside everything for a while is fine but always remember you can't escape from the reality. Because in this world, you can rest but should never give up.

After swing, pumunta kami sa seesaw. And while pushing each others feet so we can go up or down, I can't help but to be teary eyed. This is the best thing that re-happened in my life with him. This day will be the best of all. Going back to my life as a kid before makes me feel nostalgic.

"Waaaaah!" I react everytime I don't feel my feet on the ground.

"Ano ba 'yan, bakit wala ng iba? Psh. Pangit tong park nila," he asks.

Bumalik kami sa swing, pero ngayon nakaupo na rin s'ya sa isa. "Malamang, eh malapit dito yung daycare. Ito lang naman kaya nilang gawin."

"Really? Then, where's the slide?"

"Ay... Oo nga 'no," I say with a realization. Bakit nga ba walang slide? Kaya pala parang may kulang. "Uy." I glance at him. "Picture tayo."

He look at me, then I get my cellphone on the pocket but it's not there. "Naiwan ko sa kotse. Sandali, kunin ko lang." Agad akong pumunta sa kotse at kinuha yung cellphone.

Kumaripas ako ng takbo hanggang sa madulas ako sa putik at napadapa. Muntik nang sumubsob ang mukha ko sa madamong lupa pero napigilan yon ng kamay ko. Napahiga tuloy ako at tinignan ang cellphone, walang kasira sira, mukhang bago pa din. Phew. Pumangit na 'ko, h'wag lang ang phone ko.

"Psh, ang lampa mo!" sigaw ni Stay na palapit na sa'kin at agad akong binuhat na parang bagong kasal. My heart is pounding so hard while my cheeks start to heat up. It felt like I ran in a marathon.

"H-h'wag kang gan'yan baka sagutin na kita," wala sa sarili kong bulong. He roll his eyes and put me back on the mud. Agh it felt sticky! Walang tulong ang ulan dahil medyo humihina na ito.

Teka, bakit parang ayaw n'ya pang sagutin ko s'ya? Ganoon ba s'ya kaarte? Ako ba ang manliligaw?! Ako ba ako ba ako ba?

"Marupok ka." Kinuha n'ya ang hawak kong phone at akmang pipicturan ako. "Hoy! S-sige subukan mo! Sasagutin na talaga kita!" panghahamon ko.

Then I hear a 'click' from my phone. Hindi pa 'yon! Nag selfie pa s'ya kasama ako na nakaupo sa putikan — with peace sign pa ang loko loko. 'click' Then he check the photos, and without looking at me, he say, "Sino pa ba ako ang mag inarte?"

Pinakita n'ya sa'kin ang picture. "Tayo na, lampa."

Wait, that means three things.