That Summer Night of August

Kabanata 14

July 14
1:54 a.m.

My eyes were so focused on the screen of my TV inside my bedroom. I was binge watching Stranger Things because Tim told me it was a good show. I sighed in defeat when Eleven fainted because of the experiments they were doing to her. Oh my God, I never wanted to punch a guy this bad.

Tanging ang liwanag mula sa TV lamang ang umiilaw sa buong kwarto ko. Kasama ko si Timothy ngunit mahimbing na itong natutulog sa aking tabi. Siya mismo ang nagpresenta na walang tulugan daw dahil tatapusin daw namin ito, ngunit siya pa ang naunang humilata sa kama. Umiling nalang ako saka natawa sa kanya.

Inabot ko ang kumot sa kabilang side ng kama saka iyon ibinuklat at kinumutan si Timothy. Madalas ito sa kwarto ko dahilan kaya't grabe ang pag-aalala ko sa kanya. Dahil tuwing umuuwi ito galing sa kanilang paaralan ay halatang pagod na pagod ito. Nabanggit niya sa akin noong nakaraan na masyado siyang abala sa photography club niya, kaya't umuuwi rin itong pagod at dito natutulog sa kwarto ko.

Tim's already on his 12th grade in Senior High School. He's a graduating student already. Nag umpisa ang kanilang klase noong first week ng July. Habang ang sa amin ay mag uumpisa sa unang linggo ng August.

This was my routine every summer. I would just stay at home and watch some shows or read books. But, something unexpected happened. I met someone. We met in an unexpected way.

It has been weeks already since I saw Gabriel. The last time was still during at the party. I didn't reply to his last message. I wanted to be friends with him, but my heart was saying otherwise. I can't be friends with someone I like because I knew I would just fall even harder. This was the best decision to do before everything is too late. Falling in love was never in my plan. Liking someone was scary, and what I have for Gabriel was just infatuation. It was best to stay away before it will turn into something deep.

I took a deep breath as I looked outside through the glass window in my room. I wonder what's he doing right now.

How are you, Gabriel?

July 30
9:43 a.m.

"Kuya, please be my model just for this one. Our club president might kill me if I won't pass my piece for this. Jeez!" Nagmamakaawang sabi ni Tim habang kumakain kami sa kitchen.

"Alam mong hindi ako mahilig sa ganyan, Tim."

Ngumuso si Timothy habang tinutusok-tusok ng tinidor ang sausage na nasa kanyang plato. Natawa naman ako saka kinuha ang phone ko para tignan kung may message na ba si Tita Tiffany. Siya ang sumama ngayon kay Terence sa primary school nito dahil matagal akong nagising.

"Alright. Just this once." I said as I took a bite of my chocolate cake.

"Nice! Later. At park." Sabi nito habang nakangiti sa akin. "And the guy you had a date with will gonna be there too, just so you know. You still didn't tell me what happened, kuya."

Agad naman nanlaki ang aking mga mata saka tinignan ang kapatid. "I'm backing out."

"You can't do that. You already said yes. Brother's Rule number 5. You ca-"

"Fine." I cut him off before taking a deep breath. "He's a good guy. But he said I wasn't his type."

Narinig ko naman ang mahinang tawa ni Tim. "Did you just get dumped?"

I shrugged before finishing my foods. "I think so."

It was July 9 when Tim set the date for me and his fellow club member. Servelius was nice. He treated me foods, talked a lot about art, and he was handsome. We had a lot in commons but, too bad, I wasn't his type. It was great too, I never planned to like him either. I was just making sure if Servelius will give me the feeling that I felt towards Gabriel.