Aurora Borealis

Chapter 39 - That Night, She Promised

>> • LAUREN • <<

After series of mind-boggling revelations that I've heard from Agnes, nagpaalam na ako sa kaniya at bumalik na sa apartment ni Baldo. As expected, everyone's a mess, throwing chaos here and there.

West kept on smearing the others' faces with the icing of the cake. They're running around in all directions. East kept on taking videos of them on her phone.

As for the birthday boy, he's the first thing that greeted my sight when I opened the door. He's leaning on the wall, with his arms crossed, watching the rest of the guys have fun. Hindi pa rin naaalis ang pagbusangot ng mukha nito.

"Where have you been?" tanong nito.

"Outside. Agnes and I got into some small chit-chat." wika ko, pilit pa ring ikinukubli sa likod ko ang mga picture frame at iba pa niyang photo album.

"How long are you all gonna stay here?" nakasimangot niya pang tanong. From the looks of it, he's the type who prefers silence over company.

"Hate to break it to you, but they're planning to stay here overnight."

"What?! Are you f****** serious?" frustration appeared on his face as he came near them. "Party's over! You can now get out!"

Natigilan naman sila sa paghahabulan at animo'y naestatwa sa kanilang kinatatayuan nang marinig ang boses ni Baldo.

"Eh? We're just starting." reklamo ni Wendy na punong-puno na ng icing ang mukha. I'm guessing that someone rammed her face on the cake.

"Then start it somewhere! Magsi-uwi na kayo!" he opened the door widely and motioned his hands outside.

Nagkatinginan silang lahat. The disappointment in their faces gradually changed into a smug reaction, "No, we're staying here."

"This is not your apartment for that to decide!"

"We've decided to welcome ourselves here, so we'll also decide when will we leave. Too bad for you." Wendy riposted.

"Let them be, don't you feel lonely that you have to spend your birthday here alone?" I asked. "Minsan lang naman 'to, pagbigyan mo na."

Meanwhile, I recalled Agnes' favor earlier.

"Please take care of him. He may be stubborn, an antisocial, an idiot, and all sorts of insults that suits him, but he still needs people where he can lean on without fearing that he'll be betrayed or be left alone again."

I haven't yet given a direct response regarding her request since I can't speak in behalf of everyone. But, maybe they would be more than willing to accompany Baldo.

First, we can start on making this birthday of his more memorable by at least adding joyous memories. Second, we can encourage him to make more masterpieces to stimulate his will into painting more. Someday, maybe we can help him take back the possession of 'Ad Victoriam' under his name.

"Birthdays are childish. One year is added annually, indicating that you're closer to death." tugon ni Baldo.

"Hey, what's wrong with being childish? West has childish fixation, but he's still rational, sometimes." Wendy remarked, pointing at West who's busy staring at the Aurora. West immediately raised a brow when he faced us.

"Wait a minute. Bakit sa 'kin napunta ang usapan? And one more thing, I don't have a childish fixation." he protested. "What makes you think I have one?"

"You really want me to enumerate and identify all of them? Your inquisitive thinking, your habit of stopping beside the road to watch construction workers mix a pile of cement with water—"