Hunter's Tale

Chapter 01 - Hunter (August 13, 2015)

The last thing I remember was this girl throwing a fit.

She was messing around the condo like she owned it. It's not even anger, I believe. Para lang siyang batang nagmamaktol just because I didn't sleep with her. Damn I would, if I'm not just too tired, and if only I didn't ran out of condoms. Putangina pagod na pagod lang naman kasi eh.

Gustong-gusto ko na lang din matulog pagtapos ng lahat ng nainom ko kanina sa party ni Janine. Nagpumilit pang sumama 'yung babae and she even offered to drive dahil lasing na daw ako. Hindi ko nga kilala 'yung babae, pero sige pumayag na rin ako. Msa mamamatay pa ba ako sa kanya kesa sa drunk-driving? Tama naman siya, so I agreed. Hindi ko naman alam na iba pala gusto niyang gawin bukod sa pagmamaneho.

So when I was already snoring nang bigla akong nagising at narinig ang sarili kong hilik. Pucha naman talaga. Para akong naalimpungatan at gustong manapak. Bigla na lang kasi siyang nagalit dahil tinulugan ko daw siya. Sobrang umiinit kasi talaga 'yung ulo kapag naaalimpungatan o nagigising ng wala sa oras. Sobrang gulong-gulo na kasi ng buhay ko dahil sa dami ng nakikita ko. I even confuse my visions to reality tapos hahaluan pa ng panaginip, parang gusto ko na lang mabaliw!

"Hunter!"

"I just want to sleep. If you want to sleep here, it's fine. If not, you can leave."

I just let my head fall back again at hindi ko na siya pinansin. I am really thankful that she drove me home safely, pero 'di na talaga siya kayang pakiharapan pa. I didn't even have the energy para makipaglandian. I just want to doze this long day off. Kung makikita ko man siya sa Moss sa mga susunod na araw na pupunta ako doon, bahala na. I didn't even catch her name. The last thing I heard was my bedroom door slamming.

Thank god.

A few hours later, I felt someone moving beside me.

"Ugh..." I groaned. I felt a very unfamiliar warmth beside my leg.

Akala ko naman umalis na 'yung babae. Oddly, I felt a little less irritable than earlier kahit parang kaunti pa lang ang tulog ko. Baka kahit papaano nakabawi na ako sa puyat because I didn't have that urge to roll my eyes to this girl beside me, unlike earlier.

Or maybe because she even felt different. Slightly more comfortable to lie with.

I squinted my eyes as I look through my bright room. Hindi niya ba pinatay ang ilaw? O siguro binuksan niya nang bumalik siya kanina. Maybe she changed her mind.

Sasabihan ko sana siya na pakipatay 'yung ilaw when I heard her giggle.

Before I even get conscious of what I'm doing, I felt the sides of my lips curl. Huh? When did I start smiling because of a girl's laugh? Para akong naka-droga ah. So I tried to open my eyes.

'Pag-dilat ko, hindi ko alam kung may hangover ba ako, o sadyang parang nagbago 'yung kwarto ko. I think all my things are still here, but they were arranged in a different way. I looked at myself.

And then I realized, I am fvcking naked. And so is the girl beside me. But she looks quite different from who drove me home last night. I'm not sure why I pretended to be sleeping when the girl looked at me. Na parang ayaw kong mahuli niya akong nakatingin sa kanya. The sight of her sniffing my clothes was the scene I witnessed as I'm dozing back to dreamland.

Tangina bakit ba antok na antok ako?"

***

"Tiger..." I tried to push my cat away from my face. Dinidilaan niya ako sa pisngi, grooming me like I'm another cat. "Tiger, I'm awake, okay?"

Pupungas-pungas akong bumangon, pero nagulat ako nang makita kong may taong nakaupo sa upuan sa tabi ng kama ko.

"Ay pucha!"