Kissing the fire

Kabanata 16

Tw: harassment

Again

Fuck.

Maybe, I should change my number now.

And also my phone.

Puro basura kasi ang bungad sa akin. I clicked the message and erased it again.

"I think the freshies are gwapo," I glanced at the other table full of new faces. Kanina pa sila tinitingnan ni byron at mukhang may bago na namang lalandiin ang katabi ko. "Do you see the one who's holding a red handkerchief? He's my bet,"

"Bet ka ba?" Corynn asked and chuckled mockingly.

"You'll see," byron said.

"Date him sa Akwe kaya?" I suggested.

"Omg!" Nagulat ako nang yugyugin ni byron ang balikat ko dahil sa kilig. "you're so bright talaga, era!"

"I thought you're with the swimmer?" asked corynn

"What about the engineering student?" Last week ay sila daw nung swimmer pero may nanliligaw na engineering student din diyan nung nakaraang araw.

"I broke up with the swimmer and ofcourse hooked up with the engineer!" Tuwang-tuwa na saad ng bakla.

I just can't with byron.

Even though he's gay ay maraming pumapatol sakanya mapa-babae man o lalaki dahil sa maputi at makinis niyang balat, lalo na't pure Australian pa siya.

Kung hindi lang mga mayayaman ang mga pinapatulan niya ay maiisip kong nagpapaka-sugar daddy lang siya sa mga naka-relasyon niya.

I realized silence is really loud.

My siblings are very busy working now and soon they'll have their own family.

It's a strange feeling for me to be left alone in the condo without them.

From: Bastardo
Are you home now?

I rolled my eyes at his message.

He's getting stranger this days.

Dati naman ay hindi siya ganito. Bibihira lang kung mag-text at kung mag-tetext man ay para iyon sa benefits namin.

To: Bastardo
Stop texting me.

I put my phone under my pillow and stared at it while biting my nails.

Bakit ang tagal niya mag-reply? Talang sineryoso niya ang text ko!

I heard a notification sound and immediately took my phone but then I realized my actions so I waited 5 seconds to open my phone just to read his message.

From: Bastardo
Okay.

He really knows how to get into my nerves.

"GO BABYYYYYY!!!!"

I cringed as Byron cheered for his fling.

"He's not that bad," byron asked me to accompany him to watch a drag race because his boyfriend is one of the racers.

We just talked about his new prospect last week and wala pang acquaintance party pero naka-date na niya agad.

"See? I told you I'm good at dating guys. I'm gonna laugh at corynn's ass for not trusting me to date Justin," Byron flipped his invisible hair and crossed his arms while roamed his eyes again on the track.

Byron is wearing a white fitted crop top paired with his brown pants and white shoes while I'm wearing an oversized black striped long sleeve polo and underneath is my sleeveless white cami dress paired with my low-cut Dior shoes.

Pulang-pula rin ang bibig ni byron at hindi mawawala ang dangle earrings niyang mas kapansin-pansin pa sa buo niyang hitsura.

He dresses manly at school but little did they know he's really wild and vulgar, Corynn's innocent, conservative and serious among us since siya ang madalas na hindi pinapayagan tuwing gagala sa aming tatlo and I'm the life of the party. I'm wild and confident both at school and at public but I'm serious in my studies.

All of us are serious when it comes to our academic standings, we just differ on how we handle them properly.

Ramdam na naming lahat na malapit nang matapos ang race dahil final lap na lang at malalaman na namin kung sino ang mananalo.

I noticed Byron's boyfriend is coming second, while the first in the track is...Ry?

Ngayon pa ba ako mag-tataka? Baka nakakalimutan kong hindi lang baril ang negosyo ng mga Alfaro kundi sila rin ang may-ari ng pinaka-malaking car brand dito sa Pinas.

And what he's driving now is their own car.

Maybe his cousin is here too? But I doubt it.

If I'm chilling here and watching a drag race maybe he's busy studying right now.

There's no doubt that there are a pile of books in front of him while he's reading a book.

He's such a nerd.

Niyugyog ako ni Byron nang makita naming nag-overtake si Justin sa kay Ry, the crowd roared and halos hindi ko na marinig ang sarili kong boses.

Ry then overtaked and the crowd went crazy again hanggang sa unti-unti na akong naiinis dahil parang may humahaplos sa bahagi ng puwetan ko.

Tumitingin ako sa likod pero hindi ko mahulaan kung sino dahil may mga babae at lalaki na nakatayo sa mga gilid ko.

Maybe they just accidentally touched it since ang sikip na ng puwesto namin dito.

"Bitch..." I kept tugging byron but he seems busy watching his boyfriend.

The touch went on and I already knew it isn't an accident.

I decided na umalis na lang but then someone groped my breast.

Because of shock, I just aggresively pushed the hand and ran away as fast as I could...

I didn't see the face.

But one face registered into my mind.

It's back again.

It is torturing me again.

I just wanna go home and shower myself but I know, it won't go away that easily.

"Era, is that you?" I walked past a group and I didn't glanced at them. I don't care if they see me crying right now.

I just feel like their judgements are true about me.

I kept on wiping my breast, ignoring the pain that I feel after I aggressively wiped it.

Someone held my hands that stopped me from hurting myself more.

The manly scent found a familiar line into my heart.

Sometimes, I just wanna be numb.

I looked up and it was blurry because of my tears.

I blinked twice and the view drew mixed feelings for me to see.

The light illuminated his face and I can't seem to fathom his expression.

All I knew was that I'm safe.

I immediately hugged him and burst myself into tears.