Bygone Memories of Yesterday (Affliction Series #2) ✔

Chapter 6

“Everything happened so fast. One moment I was giving him my gift then, in a blink of an eye, nakaalis na ang kotse niya.” I let out a frustrated breath. “’Di man lang niya ako pinatapos magsalita. Bigla na lang siyang umalis. ‘Di niya ba nagustuhan ang gawa ko?”

“Maybe he’s in a hurry—”

“I shouldn’t have given that to him. Sabi na nga ba, hindi niya magugustuhan.”

“Anj—”

“Gawa kaya ako ng bago? Or should I look for an expensive gift? Pero hindi ko alam—”

“Angelique Desriel Palorma!”

“H-Ha?” Napakurap-kurap ako kay Mica.

We’re in a video call right now. Ako, nakaupo sa study table ko, habang siya ay nakaupo sa kaniyang kama. 

“Kanina ka pa. ‘Di mo ‘ko pinakikinggan.” Umirap siya. “Why do you care so much? It’s a gift, you put effort into it, period. Tsaka, ano naman kung hindi niya magustuhan? Ang importante, may regalo ka at bukal sa loob mo ang pagbati. Hindi mo na kasalanan kung sadyang masungit ang pinagbigyan mo.”

“First of all, Neus is not masungit. And I was just bothered. Alam ko, may rason siya. Pero hangga’t ‘di ko ‘yon nalalaman, hindi ako matatahimik. Pakiramdam ko, hindi niya nagustuhan ang ginawa ko. Speed sketch lang kasi ‘yun eh,” bagsak ang balikat kong sabi. “Maybe I should make another one? With colors this time?”

Mica massaged her temple like she was stressed.

“Bakit ba apektadong-apektado ka? Drawing lang ‘yun, Anj,” aniya na parang pagod na pagod ng magpaliwanag.

“Kasi nga, feeling ko, hindi niya nagustuhan,” ulit ko.

“Why do you want to please him so much? Do you like him?” I froze, taken aback by her question.

“I’ve been observing you for the past few days, Angelique. Unti-unti, nagbabago ka na. I mean yeah, it’s normal for you to please people pero kapag ayaw naman nila sa ‘yo, hindi mo pinagpipilitan ang sarili mo. But your sketch ... it’s just a sketch. Why are you so bothered?” She tsked. “And speaking of sketch, si Neus, nagawan mo ng sketch sa birthday niya pero kami ni Shania, not even once did we receive a sketch from you. And you just said na hindi siya masungit. Anong mayro’n ‘yang mga mata mo at parang may nakikita kang hindi namin nakikita?” puno ng sarkasmo niyang sabi.

She’s pointing out things that are unusual for me to do. Pero sa totoo lang, normal lang naman ang mga iyon sa ‘kin. I just don’t show it to them often.

Hindi ako mapalagay kapag may taong hindi natutuwa sa ‘kin. But I don’t voice it out because I know it’s useless. Puwede ko rin naman silang gawaan ng sketch. And if people have wrong judgments about my friends, I would defend them.

See? Nothing unusual.

“Parang dati, ayaw na ayaw mong lumapit sa kaniya. Pero ngayon, madalas ko na kayong makitang magkausap. It all started with that feature.” Her eyes were sporting judgment. I know what she is thinking.

“That feature was the gateway to our friendship. At bilang kaibigan, gusto ko lang siyang bigyan ng isang regalong tiyak na matutuwa siya. Walang malisya, Mica,” paglilinaw ko.

“Friends.” She scoffed. “Diyan nagsisimula ‘yan.”

I shook my head. “Alam mo, antok lang ‘yan. Tulog ka na.”

“Basta, kapag tama ako at malalaman kong kayo na ...” Dinuro niya ang camera. “Ililibre mo ako ng samgyup.”

“Good night, Micaela.”