Sunsets and Broken Promises (SPADE Series #1)

Chapter 24

"Cyrena, are you okay?"

Napalingon ako kay Lynn at Nancy na mag kasamang lumabas ng building namin. It's already March 24 and today is the last day of our exams for the last semester, mga performance tasks nalang ang gagawin namin niyan for the rest of the month.

"I'm fine"

They squinted their eyes at me, carefully scanning my appearance which made me nervous. Mahigpit kong hinawakan ang palda ko at siniguradong hindi nila 'yon matataas.

"Pumayat ka." komento ni Lynn.

"You look sleep deprived. Are you sure you're okay?" Nancy asked again for the third time of the day.

"Okay nga lang ako, napuyat lang kaka-aral" I lied.

"Hindi ka na talaga natuto. You should take it easy, Cyrena" sabi ni Lynn bago ako ayain mag mall. As usual, I rejected their offer and told them that I still have something to do at home.

Nag lakad na ako papuntang parking lot at nag dasal na sana hindi ko makita sila Chanel at Pierce.

Hapdi at sakit ang nararamdaman ko bawat pag lakad papunta sa parking lot, I can still feel the warmth of my Dad's belt in my stomach, the burn marks on my legs that keeps aching whenever I move my body, and the fresh wounds on my lower back.

My dad has been having a crisis on our business since last month, which is why he's releasing his frustration at me like I'm some kind of object that he can hurt anytime. The pain is unbearable and my body is about to break soon. . .

I'm powerless against my father who holds all the authority in our house. He threatened me to shut my mouth around my mom and friends, he also asked me to break up with Kaizer and was planning on setting me up with Sir Asher who fortunately disagreed with the idea of us having a relationship.

I've been tolerating this pain for a week now and I can't do anything about it but to accept my fate. I'm breaking a part little by little while a tight necklace on my neck keeps choking me. The weight of my dad's pressure is too heavy.

Natigilan ako sa pag lalakad dahil nakita kona ang kotse namin. Ayaw kong umuwi. . . I don't want to see my dad— I want to run away, hide, and never come back to our house. I want to see Kaizer.

"Best Buddy!" I gasped in shock and saw Jett running towards me while wearing his jolly smile. I took a step backwards and tried to avoid talking to him but. . . "Uy, okay ka lang?" he asked.

"Oo. Bakit naman hindi?" Ngumiti ako sakaniya kaya tinitigan niya ako ng ilang minuto kaya hindi ko maiwasan kabahan.

"Cyrena" I looked at Jett. The jolly voice that I heard earlier is gone, and I swear to my life, that Jett have never been scarier up until now. "Are you okay?" he asked again, this time serious, he's really worried.

The corner of my eyes are starting to burn, I can feel that my tears are going to fall any minute now. Jett surely knows me, he can read my thoughts just by looking at my face.

Help me, Jett. Somebody, help me.

Jett reached out his hand and was about to touch my shoulder.