High Ranks (Completed)

Chapter XIV

Chapter XIV

I walked slowly towards them. Bill looked so happy talking to her while Lois was enjoying his stick of cotton candy, not minding anyone. Nang malapit na ako ay napatingin sa akin si Lois at kaagad na bumaba mula sa pagkarga ng babaeng kasama nila.

"Charlotte!! I'm glad you made it. Come on, try this cotton candy," he bubbly beamed. I smiled at him, taking a chunk of pink sugar in his sticks and tried it. Something sweet bursts into my soft tongue. I haven't tried this before and now I'm glad that I have. It's so good, and so sweet.

Lois lead me to the stand where Bill and the girl was. He smiled when he saw me and I replied with a short nod. I bought a stick of cotton candy from a fat guy with a black mustache. It was an agony while waiting for the caramelized sugar to turned into a fluffy candy.

Bill introduced me to the girl who held her hand out for me, which I gladly accepted. Ayaw ko namang magmukhang maarte sa harap ni Lois, he admired and I don't want to taint myself in his eyes.

The girl's hand was soft. It feels like she's pampered like me too. I'm guessing she's a daughter of someone rich. A town mayor, or maybe a village chief.

"This is Charlotte, she's a good friend of mine," said Bill.

I grinned, so I'm really just a friend.

Bill looked at me in the eye. "And this is Karolina, my childhood—"

"Sweetheart. I'm his childhood sweetheart," that Karolina girl finished his sentence. Wow, okay, alright. Wow.

Bill laughed so did the girl. I tried to laugh with them but only an awkward snort came out of my mouth. Natigilan silang dalawa at ako naman ay biglang natauhan. Karolina was about to say something but she was silenced by the cotton candy maker. Binigay nito sa akin ang isang asul na cotton candy, kaagad akong nagbayad at iniwan sikang dalawa doon kasama si Lois.

I went to where the girls were. Kasama ko si Lois at nang makarating kami sa kanila ay kaagad siyang niyaya ni Reneé na maglaro kasama ng iba pang mga bata.

"Don't ruin your dress, Reneé. Wala na akong pambili ng bago!" pahabol ni Rayne.

"Want some cotton candy?" I offered them mine merrily.

They nodded and the three of us shared a stick of cotton candy while waiting for the play to start. People are arranging the small stage that was built on the middle of the square just for this event. The setting was a city, just like Genova. They made tall buildings out boxes and wrapped some lights to flicker across the city.

"Are they doing a skit about the history of this town, again?" said the woman behind us.

Lumingon ako at nakitang si Karolina ang nagsalita. Kasama na niya ngayon si Bill na nakatingin din sa tanghalan. He must have noticed my gaze because he locked his eyes with mine for a moment and giving me  soft smile. Hindi ko ito sinuklian at tahimik na bumalik ang aking mga mata sa entablado.

I know I'm acting like a child. I'm just jealous. I never liked anyone in my life before so this feeling is foreign to me. At isa pa hindi maganda kung mananatili ang pagkagusto ko kay Bill. If trouble comes along the way, I'll run again and we'll never see each other. We'll only hurt ourselves.

Hindi nagtagal ay dumarami na ang tao sa paligid. The whole square was occupied so Kirsten cut our long wait short. She prepared a short speech about this. She thanked the people and congratulated them for another year of good harvest. Nang bumaba siya sa entablado ay kaagad na dumilim ang paligid. Then a voice from an old man was heard.

'Not so long ago, in a land faraway, there's a country that is full of mischief and tyranny. People suffer from the hands of the savage officials. They were killed for doing something that isn't even illegal. The government punish them as an act of entertainment.'