"Girl, nakikinig ka ba?"
Nabigla ako ng hampasin ni Zee ang braso ko kaya wala sa oras akong napatingin sakanya.
Iritado ko siyang tinignan. "What?" I asked her but remembered what I was doing seconds ago kaya unti-unti akong napapangiti.
Zee in front made a face. "Sino ba 'yang ka chat mo at hindi kana nakikinig sa mga stories ko! And why are you smiling at your phone like that?!"
Hindi ko alam kung bakit pero mas kinilig ako sa sinabi niya. I smiled more and shook my head to deny it. Just so Zee wouldn't ask more questions to me, I turned off my phone na lang. I put it inside my pink handbag--- of course, I messaged Kaz first that I was going to hang out with Zee before doing all of that.
"Okay, wala na. See?" I showed her my free hands. Still smiling. "Let's eat our lunch na"
"Ang smiling mo ata ngayon? Actually, ilang araw ka ng ganyan. Nakakatakot na" She said in a sarcastic and annoyed way, using her fork to point at my own food. "Malamig na food mo sa kakaselpon mo"
I only flipped my hair, couldn't stop myself from smiling. Sinimulan ko ng galawin ang salad ko.
"Malala ka na. Pati sa pagkakain ng salad, naka smile ka"
I reached for her hair. Nanggigigil ko itong hinablot. "Quiet ka na nga lang! Let me live a proper life!"
She mimicked my words. Napahagikgik tuloy ako kahit naman wala dapat ika-hagikgik.
I know I'm being weird for smiling all the time but no one can't blame me though. Kaz and I have been exchanging messages and if luck's on my side, we even call at night! How could I not smile all the time? He's making my boring life into not-so-boring life.
Nung mag notif ang phone ko, I did my very best to refrain myself from checking it out. Kasi si Zee matalim na ang tingin saakin sa harapan. Gusto ko na lang matawa sa pagmumukha niya.
For the record, she acts like she doesn't know na si Kaz ang ka chat ko palagi. As if I'll be chatting kung sino sino lang ano. She knows I'm picky. Very, very picky.
"So..." Para naman hindi ako mangati sa pag reply kay Kaz, I decided to talk about a certain topic with Zee.
Kinwento ko lang sakanya ang gusto kong damit na nakita ko sa online. She also told me these clothes na nakita niya sa isang online store. Telling me that I should check out the store too because it was sponsoring a charity.
I need to check first if it's even legit and not a scam. Mahirap na. Today's generation has too many scammers so it's harder to trust now than before.
Pagkatapos namin kumain ni Zee, dumiretso kaagad kami sa mga next classes namin.
"For today's activity, group yourselves into 5 members. I'll hand these papers to every group, at dito niyo babasahin ang gagawin niyo sa araw na 'to. Questions?"
I confidently and gracefully raised my hand. Agad na napunta saaking ang mga atensyon ng kaklase ko. Professor Heralyn gestured for me to go on.
"Miss Mercante"
"Can I work alone ba?" I heard the groans of the other girls at the back. Anong paki nila huh. As if tumutulong sila sa group activities 'e pabigat lang naman sila. Better to work alone than carry them.
Professor Heralyn smiled at me. The kind of smile you know she wouldn't be able to give you what you asked for. "This is a group activity, Mercante. You need to be in a group in order to execute the activity properly"
