AS1: RISK [✔]

22

Chapter 22
Zari

"Hey, woman. Are you okay?"

I looked at the man who is in front of me. He's an American. But as I look deeply at his features, I kinda see some Asian features on him. I was taken aback when he suddenly scoffed. He suddenly chuckles.

"You look like you're in love with me," he teased.

My lips parted a bit at what he said. His attitude......reminds me of Gin. I just blew a breath and rolls my eyes at him. "I'm not."

He chuckles. "Just kidding. I was just hanging out with my friends earlier," sabay turo nya sa grupo ng mga amerikanong lalaki malayo sa banda namin. "Then you took my interest. You're alone," pagsabi nya ng totoo.

Wala akong kasama dito sa bench. May earphone lamang ako palagi sa tenga at may librong binabasa kada break time. Ayoko kasing makipag-usap sa iba. Wala sila Suji kaya wala akong makausap.

Bakit ba kasi hindi nalang sya dito rin nag college?

"Do you want to hang out with us?" biglaang pagtanong nya sa akin kaya napataas ang kilay ko. Hindi ko nga sya kilala, eh. "Don't worry, we're not like what you think." kaagad na sabi nya nang mapansin ang pagdududa sa mukha ko.

"No." simpleng sagot ko.

Isusuot ko na sana ulit ang earphone sa tenga ko nang bigla syang naglahad ng kamay kaya napatingin ako rito bago sya nagtatakang tinignan. He smiles at me.

"I'm Shawn." pagpapakilala nya sa sarili nya. "I have 6 friends. They all have a girlfriend. We're all CIT students."

I sighed before reaching his hand and shaking it. "Zari."

"Nice name," sabi nya pagkatapos bumitaw sa kamay ko.

I just rolled my eyes at him before leaving the bench. Sinabi ko lang sa kanya na may klase pa ako. He believes it. After the class, I went to my apartment and told Suji about him. She looks happy about it.

[May nakikipagkaibigan na sayo, Zari! Do not ignore him! Ano ka ba? Makipag socialize ka naman dyan. Wala pa naman kami ni Reign dyan.] sabi nya.

We're now meeting through FaceTime. Nagbabasa ako nang libro habang sya naman ay may inaasikaso sa isang laptop nya.

"He's a man." sabi ko.

Saglit nyang tinignan ang screen ng laptop kung saan kami nag FaceTime para lang irapan ako bago binalik ang tingin sa isang laptop nya. [Ano naman ngayon? May problema ba? Hindi naman kailangan na babae rin ang kaibigan mo, noh. You need to gather friends as much as you can. Mahirap mabuhay ng mag-isa.]

"Oh, shut up." I said. "Simula nang pumunta ako rito sa US, mag-isa na ako."

[Kaya nga! Mahirap, diba?]

"Hindi naman. Masaya nga, eh." I answered then she groaned at me.

That's a lie. Mahirap pala na mag-isa ka lang. Wala kang kausap at makasama kapag bored ka. Kapag may problema rin ay wala kang masasabihan. It's so hard. That's why I became friends with Shawn. I don't want to be alone.

As I became friends with him, I learned that he's a half-American and half-Filipino but he doesn't know how to speak Tagalog. So I decided to teach him. He's a fast learner so he learned so many Filipino words but his accent is still funny.

"Gusto kong bumili ng aso." he said in a funny accent.

I laugh at his accent. "Tama pero nakakatawa yung accent mo," natawa ulit ako.

Nagsasalita na ako nang tagalog minsan sa harapan nya. Medyo may alam naman na kasi sya at gusto nya rin kapag nagtatagalog ako.

"Ano ang ibig sabihin ng...." he closed his one eye, inaalala kung ano yung tagalog ng gusto nyang sabihin. "Oh, shit, I forgot the word. Uhm, sinabi?" he asked me if his word is right.