daggers

daggers #4

JUSTIN'S P.O.V

10:00 a.m. I sighed as i sat down on one of the benches by the sides of the UST open field. i decided to just buy food from the cafeteria in the main building and spend my 2-hour vacant around the campus. i have nothing to do anyway. i was munching on the burger that i bought and scrolling at my phone when i heard someone call my name.

"jah?"

my face immediately lit up at the sight of him. "uy, coach pau! ikaw po pala."

we high-fived and he sat beside me. i noticed that he's in his work attire so he's probably only paying a visit. i can't help but look at him a bit longer. coach pau looks so formal when he's outside the court. who would've thought that this guy can play basketball really well and is now a head coach?
"i assume you have a vacant period. you're not cutting classes, are you?" coach pau joked, which made me chuckle.

"hindi po, coach. may vacant po ako ng 2 hours kaya dito po muna ako."

he clicked his tongue and patted my shoulder. "ayan ka nanaman with the 'coach' at sa 'po'. pare-parehas talaga kayo nila josh at ken. sabi ko naman sa inyo, kapag wala sa court, you can just call me kuya pau. 5 years lang naman ang gap natin. pinapatanda niyo naman ako masyado." we laughed at that. since josh and i are part of the cheerdance team, we are also close with the coaches of teams for basketball, volleyball, and the others. of course, kuya pau knows ken very well; the team captain.

sige na nga, i'll remember to call him kuya pau. :)

"kuya pau.." i called and he smiled, satisfied at how i addressed him.
"may gagawin or pupuntahan po ba kayo dito?"

kuya pau nodded. "yup! actually may bibisitahin lang talaga ako kaya ako dumalaw. yung friend ko, first day niya daw ngayon e."

ay, may friends pa din pala siyang students dito.

"bakit mo natanong? gusto mo ba sumama?" i immediately shook my head.

" 'wag na, nakakahiya, baka makaistorbo pa ako sa inyo nung friend mo."

he laughed again and disregarded what i said as he pulled my up by my hand, which caught me off guard for a bit. he started walking, making me trail off behind him as he spoke, "sus, i'm sure he won't mind. baka nga matuwa pa 'yun kasi i'm bringing one of his students. maganda din naman yung may nakakainteract siya sa department na hinahandle niya, diba?

wait- "one of his students"? "sa department na hinahandle niya"? "first day niya ngayon"?????? so hindi student yung friend na sinasabi niya?? OMG DON'T TELL ME-

"stell!" kuya pau called and our professor immediately turned around to see the man who just called him. sir stell's face lit up at the sight of his friend. they exchanged hugs and joked about how they missed each other even when they were just together yesterday.
so, that's how sir stell looks like when he smiles. ang pogi.... what- no!

"jah!" i didn't even realize that i stood frozen on my spot when kuya pau approached sir stell. i was brought back into reality when kuya pau called me and i walked towards them, trying my best to avoid the soul-melting gaze of our professor.

"jah, this is stell, bago niyo siyang-"

"kilala ko na siya. may klase ako kanina in their department." sir stell cut him off.

"ohhh ... so you met each other na pala"

"yeah, twice, actually." sir stell said and i looked at him with uttermost confusion. twice???? what the hell does he mean, twice????

"ahh, edi-"

"diba may pasok ka pa sa firm? balik ka na kaya doon, baka hinahanap ka na ng mga empleyado mo." sir stell cut him off once again. kuya pau held his chest, exaggeratingly, as if he was hurt.

"grabe ka, stell, pumunta ako dito para sa'yo tapos-"

"ang drama mo." sir stell pushed his face away and they teased each other a bit more before kuya pau finally bid goodbye. i just stared at his back as he started to walk away.

"you." i was startled when sir stell suddenly called me. i looked at him and his wide smile earlier was gone and intimidating aura is now back.
"follow me." he said, and so i did.

Lord, help me po... ⊙﹏⊙