Sailing Close to the Wind

SCW 51 (Gahala's P.O.V)

"What are you doing?"

Kunot-noo akong tumingin kay Yacey dahil ngiting-ngiti siya. I sat down beside her, saka kinuha ang popcorn sa kaniya, at itinutok ang atensyon ko sa pinapanood namin.

"Reacting to your ex's photo."

Napalingon ako sa kaniya when I heard who she mentioned. She grinned and showed me the screen of her phone. Naka-open ang account ko sa Facebook niya.

Napatingin ako sa post. I forced myself not to react after seeing her picture and reading the caption. 'Looking for partner. Pm kung same?!'

"Why are you staring? Nagagandahan ka?" Nakataas ang kilay na tanong ni Yacey.

Napaiwas ako ng tingin at binalik ang atensyon sa TV, pretending it doesn't bother me at all.

"Why are you doing that? Let her have her peace," sambit ko. "And use your account if you're going to do things like that. She might misunderstand. "

"Why would she? I think she already moved on. She even reacted to our photo together, you know? That means, it doesn't bother her anymore, right?"

Napatigil ako nang marinig ko ang sinabi niya. I unconsciously gripped the popcorn tightly. It crumbled in my hands.

"And if ever she saw your name popped up on her screen, she'll also think the same, that you wanted to be civil. Why would she think that you did it with other intentions? When in the first place, you're the one who pushed her away?"

Right. I almost forgot. I smiled bitterly.

"Where are you going?" she asked in confusion nang bigla lang akong tumayo.

"Bathroom. "

Napahilamos ako bago kinuha ang phone ko para tingnan kung tama ba yung sinabi ni Yacey. My heart tugged nang makitang totoo nga.

Naka-heart react pa. Buti sana kung para lang sa akin 'yong heart na 'yon, pero nakihati pa si Yacey.

Her reacting to it implies that she no longer cares, right? I should be happy about it, but I couldn't even pretend that I am.

I sighed and looked at her picture. I rubbed the part of my screen where her cheeks were. Sobrang tagal ko nang hindi nakita ang mukhang 'to.

"Bro, punta kang birthday party ni Azul?"

"Yeah, she already invited me over," patamad kong sagot kay Okin. I was looking for a nice button-up shirt when he suddenly called me.

"I heard your ex will be there," he informed on the other line.

Napatahimik ako sandali. "Who asked?" sungit ko.

He laughed, "Suplado mo naman. Kunwari hindi miss?"

I shook my head. "I have a girlfriend. If I can't give love, I should at least give some respect."

I heard him whistling at the other side, "Hey, that's my bro right there."

"Ulol," bara ko.

We had a brief conversation before I hung up. "Do you have a large size for this?" I asked the nearby sales lady when I spotted a shirt na gusto ko.

"In this design, Sir?"

"Yes," I was about to tell her to get me one when we heard some crashing.

Napatingin ako sa gilid at nakita ang babaeng nakatalikod sa direksyon ko. Her back somehow looked familiar.

"Do you need any help?" tanong ko habang papalapit sa kaniya. My brows slightly furrowed when I saw how she flinched.

"No." She quickly and firmly declined.