Silence Five
I woke up to the sound of my cat hissing and growling. My eyes were heavy lidded as I forced it to open.
"Ming," I croaked as I got out of bed.
Lumubog na ang araw, pinaghalong lila't asul ang sumakop sa kalangitam. Nakatulog ako matapos maglinis ng bahay. Ngayon lang ako nagkaroon ng oras dahil weekend.
Turns out, the reason why my cat has been hissing is because of the knock on the door. He tends to be like this. Be on guard when someone's on the door.
Pinihit ko ang door knob at lumitaw sa harapan ko si Noah. He's in his gray hoodie and sweat pants. He casually stood in front of my apartment, not the usual formal stance he has at school.
He removed the hood from his head. His hair got disheveled due to the act.
I lifted my finger to point at his sweat.
"P-pawis po kayo s-sir," saad ko.
Kumunot ang kanyang noo at nagtaas ng kilay.
Tumikhim ako. "I mean... Noah."
Nag iwas ako ng tingin sa kanyang mata dahil pakiramdam ko'y may mga muta pa ako dahil sa sobrang himbing ng tulog ko.
"Just checking, in case you forgot about our apppointment," aniya habang ipinupunas ang sleeve ng kanyang hoodie sa noo.
He made it sound like it's formal, but not really. I'm just coming over to his place to demonstrate how I'm going to teach on Monday. He said it would help if I practiced my public speaking, and he volunteered to be my pretend student. I'm not sure if I'd call that volunteering, he made it an assignment. I don't really have much a choice.
At hindi ko rin alam kung makakatulong nga ba talaga siya sa akin. Teaching in front of the class is one thing. But doing it in front of him is another. He's more intimidating than all sections combined.
"N-naalala ko," I swallowed.
I didn't. Otherwise, I wouldn't have slept.
The side of his lip rose. He quirked a brow amusingly but didn't say anything.
"P-pero... sana naligo ka muna bago ka... pumunta rito," I made it sound so bad that color rushed to both my cheeks.
"I will. Dumaan lang ako rito dahil galing na rin naman ako sa labas," tugon niya sabay dumiretso sa sariling apartment.
Kumaripas ako papuntang banyo upang maghilamos ng mukha. Nagsuklay na rin ako ng buhok dahil nakalimutan ko nang gawin ito matapos maligo dahil nakatulog ako.
I grabbed my laptop for the powerpoint presentation. This has been with me since college days.
Agad na sumunod sa akin si Ming, Ayaw niyang naiiwan mag isa sa loob ng apartment. Siguro naman ay papayag si sir Noah na kasama ko ang pusa.
Bumuntong hininga ako bago pumunta sa katabing apartment unit.
With hands damp and shaking, I slowly lift my fist to knock on his door. Umatras ako at niyakap ang aking laptop habang naghihintay na pagbuksan ako.
Napako ang mata ng pusa sa bandang kanan kaya sinundan ko kung saan ito nakatingin. A calico cat was at the end of this floor's corridor. She approached us in an almost turtle like pace. I say she's a she because she has a belly bump. She's pregnant.
Sinalubong siya ng aking pusa sa gitna. I almost raised a brow at this... affair.
"Ysabelle."
BINABASA MO ANG
A Silence In The Chaos
RomanceYsabelle Jane Castillo, despite having speech anxiety and panic disorder, finished a degree in education. She was bound to a promise with her best friend. That they'll both teach at the same school someday. So she leaves her home, Batangas, to be an...
