Whispers of the War

Kabanata 23

KABANATA 23.

The Girl.

            I CAME WITH him alright. He brought his Ford Ranger that is by the way my favorite car of him, we hop on it and he drove to somewhere I don’t know. When I noticed that we’re going to the north, I immediately know where we’re going.

We’re going to the same place where we used to hang out before all this showbiz and busy schedules happened. The place where we used to eat our left over burgers and tea. The place where we used to share our thoughts while sitting at the back of his car.

Our place.

I unconsciously looked at him, he was all serious while looking at the road. Hindi ako sanay. Hindi ata ako kailanman masasanay na ganito siya kaseryoso sa harap ko. He is always wearing his wide smile when he’s with me.

He had his drama phase with me but he will always smile afterwards. Hindi ako sanay na ganito siya katahimik. Nagiging ganito lang naman siya kung may problema siya sa pamilya. But other than family problems, nothing can make Apollo lose his smile.

But I guess, this time I’m wrong. Because right now, all I can see is a serious Apollo. Beside me, driving his car. He’s not even looking at me and that thought made me uneasy.

He always looks at me from time to time while we’re on the road. But now, nothing. He used to play some mild music while on the road and we’ll sing our hearts now. But now, all I can hear is silence. He used to tell me stories about how his day went, or stories about work or studies.

It’s all silence now. I don’t even know what went wrong. We used to be okay before all these shit. All of the sudden, there is like a thick wall between us. And both of us can feel it. There’s this tension that I can’t name.

It’s overwhelming.

“We’re here,” napakurap-kurap ako nang magsalita na siya.

When I looked around, we really are here. I can see the stars from where I am sitting. Apollo opened the door for me so I came out. He parked just steps away from the bench.

We automatically made our way to the bench. Pareho na kaming nakaupo sa bench pero wala paring nagsasalita. Pinili ko nalang na tumingala sa mga nagkikislapang bituin. The weather is nice today. The stars are not hiding beneath the clouds. I can clearly see their beauty.

Ironically, some stars are just rocks that reflect light from the sun. They don’t really twinkle or shine up close. But because of the sun and the atmosphere, it looks like it’s shining from we are sitting.