Comeback

Chapter 7

EPHRAIM

"KUNG AYAW mong kunin edi 'wag!"

Kung tutuusin, ang tanga ko ring tao. Why did I even try to stop her in the first place? Geez, she's Naila for Anemje's sake! The boldest girl I ever knew.

"Naila, please..." Sinubukan kong hawakan ang kamay niya pero agad niya rin 'yong iniwaksi. Even with the tiniest chance, I was hoping for her to change her mind.

"You're like that Juan Tamad story! Hihintayin mo pa bang mahulog 'yong mangga bago kainin?" she said then looked up. Makalipas ang ilang segundo ay sinimulan niya na ngang yakapin ang katawan ng puno.

Hindi pa nga nakakaalis sa lupa 'yong kaliwa niyang paa, alam ko na agad na nahihirapan siya. Geez, again, she's Naila. She's bold and daring but she's not an Amazona. Magkukunwari lang 'yang kaya niya but the truth is, she's as fragile as glass.

Konting mali lang, mababasag siya agad. For the years that had passed, I treated her that way. Sometimes, she scolds me for being an overprotective boy—scratch that—friend, but I'd rather be scolded a million times than let her be in danger even once.

She's just so important to me. I couldn't even imagine a life without her.

Tsk, ang tanga ko nga.

A 13-year-old boy like me is already trying to secure his future for someone? Geez, for the third time, she's Naila! The girl who could make you fall even for her tiniest details like casually putting some strands of her natural brown hair behind her ear while climbing a tree.

"Wait, I'm coming." I stretched my arms first before embracing the trunk of the tree so I could climb too. I saw a grin from her face the moment she knew I got scammed by her. She's probably anticipating already that I can't just look at her hardly climbing.

We both reached the lower branches of the tree. I was able to pick one in an instant.

"Just drop it there sa may damuhan," she ordered.

We were probably busy looking and getting those dmangos that we didn't notice that we were already a bit high and that there were already ants on some of the branches we're holding on.

"Naila, I think we should go down now."

"Pero kulang pa 'yan ah," sabi niya. Kulang pa ba 'yong sampu? We're thirteen! Imposibleng naglilihi na siya.

"Naila, there are ants already! Baka makagat ka!"

I don't know if she didn't hear that or she heard that clearly but pretended she didn't. Ang gulo. At ang tigas ng ulo! Naila Ashanti is too far from my ideal girl.

I hate hard headed people. 'Yon 'yong mga pinaka-ayaw kong tao sa mundo. 'Yong binabalaan mo na sa isang bagay pero hindi pa rin natututo.

But in the end, I ended up liking her.

"Langgam lang 'yan 'no! Their bites won't kill—AHHHH!"

"NAILA!"

In a split-second, everything just went slow-mo. She lost her grip due to an ant bite and now, she's like an angel, sent down to earth. She was falling right in front of my eyes.

Dali-dali akong tumalon sa ere para yakapin siya habang pareho kaming nahuhulog. I managed to adjust my position and turn around para 'yong katawan ko 'yong unang bumagsak sa lupa sa halip na siya 'yong dumiretso roon.

I ended up enduring the pain in my back na parang binagsakan ng sandamakmak na bakal. I was bothered by it, thinking like I probably couldn't walk for a few weeks, but I was more bothered when Naila started to burst in tears on top of me.