Greed

22

Lia

I was planning to sleep during the ride. Hindi pa kasi ako nakakatulog ng maayos. Pagkauwi ko kanina nag impake ako at naglinis ng bahay. Isang oras lang iyong tulog ko.

But I wasn't able to sleep.

Ang ingay ni Oscar.

Siya iyong nagpapatugtog sa sasakyan at parang mahuhulog na ang tenga ko sa sobrang lakas ng volume.

Tas hindi rin tumitigil ang bibig niya. Ang daming kinekwento kay Aaron na akala mo hindi sila nagkikita araw araw.

"But I won't exchange Berkeley over any University. We had the best lives there..." He said, reminiscing.

Ngumiwi ako. Kelan ba ppreno ang bibig niya?

"Yeah," Aaron replied.

Parang sanay na sanay na siya kay Oscar na hindi nawawalan ng sasabihin.

"How about you, Lia, why did you choose to Study in Zamora College? I heard they don't have the best Professors."

"Doon sila Thea eh."

High School palang kasi sa Zamora na namin balak pumasok. Si Zach iyong pumili ng school, kasi nagooffer sila ng scholarship.

Plus, they have the best teaching. I don't know where Oscar heard that they don't have the best Professors, kasi ang gagaling naman talaga ng professors. Magaganda ang buildings, kumpleto ang school equipments. Air-conditioned iyong class halls.

Maganda.

Not as perfect as Adamson, pero maganda. Kasama nga ang Zamora sa top 10 best Universities sa Manila.

"Eh kayo? Bakit kayo nasa Adamson?" I asked instead. Ayoko kasing makarinig pa nang isang tanong sa kaniya. Sunod sunod na lagi ang tanong, parang gustong kalbuhin buong sikreto ko. "Meron namang Med sa Berkeley ah,"

"Yeah, we followed Ichigo. It was supposed to be Oli and I but Aaron wanted a reason to go home, here, so he enrolled with us. And the 4 pussies? At first, they were against Med School, saying how wasteful of our time it is, but they eventually grew tired of partying in Los Angeles without us."

Ang proud pa niya ha. Hindi muna nila naisip gaano kahirap ang Med School. Matalino naman sila, eh pano kung hindi sila matalino? Mayaman pa rin naman sila kahit anong mangyari, kaya bahala sila.

"Speaking of partying, you should tag along with us in Los Angeles."

"Don't. You're making her your new drag doll."

"Shut up, I'm not. Lia and I are friends." Oscar defended.

Tumungo nalang ako. Mabait naman sila sakin.

"See? We're friends,"

"Whatever you say, Lye."

"By the way, have your husband signed the annulment papers?"

My brows furrowed. Tumingin ako sa kaniya. Pano niya nalaman yun?

"Henry told me,"

Ah, shit.

Nung lasing nga pala ako nagkwento ako sa kanila ni Aaron.

Stupid, Lia.

"Oh--"

"You don't have to answer him," Aaron told me.

I saw Oscar make a face before proceeding to watch the view outside. It was almost sunrise.

"Do you think we can stop somewhere to eat?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah, I marked a place where we can eat." Aaron said, zooming on the maps on his phone. "A little bit more, hold your horses."

"I love mornings in the Philippines, too bad I rarely see the sunrise." Oscar commented.

Ako rin, favorite ko rin iyong mornings. Hindi ko lang naabutan lagi kasi hapon na ako nagising ngayon.

Dati nung 3rd year ako, lagi namin pinapanood ni Kyle iyong sunrise tuwing weekends. Iyon na ang pinaka therapy namin laban sa stress ng weekdays.

Huminga ako ng malalim.

"Kyle..."

Napatingin sa akin si Aaron nang sabihin ko yun nang malakas.

Pati ako nagulat sa ginawa ko.

"Hmm?" Oscar turned back to us.

"Nothing," I said. Buti di niya narinig.

We stopped at a restaurant on the mountains. Ang bilis ng biyahe namin.

Sila Oli ang nauna sa resto, unsurprisingly. Halos lumipad na nga sila kanina sa express way.

When we got inside, Oli and Henry were already eating. "You guys were slow," Oli commented.

"Sports car ba naman gamit niyo eh,"

"Nah, they're slow drivers." Oscar told me.

Umupo kami sa upuan at kumain na rin. Ang dami nilang inorder.

After our arrival, dumating na rin iyong grupo nila Thea. Mukhang pagod na pagod si Thea, siya kasi iyong nagddrive.

We stayed in the resto for a while, chatting about random things.

Si Jack at Henry lang iyong may sariling mundo na pinag uusapan pa rin iyong ittake nilang subjects ngayong third year.

Si Jack kasi marami ring nalalaman na chismis saka balita sa campus nila gawa ng study group niya. Naririnig ko lang na pinag uusapan nila minsan. Top students nga daw iyong members ng study group ni Jack eh. No wonder he's a lot more responsible now. Nagkaroon din ng good influence.

"For our remaining days of vacation, let's go to Switzerland. Mama already misses us," Oli said.

They were talking about their hometowns. Nagtatanong kasi sila Zach.

"Yeah, she's close to visiting Philippines." Oscar said, grinning.

"Liam said to wait for him," James said when his phone beeped.

"Let's just meet him to Rizal. It's a waste of time to wait for him here." Henry suggested.

"He's with Ichigo's family. They have a business to attend here so they agreed to drop Liam off." James added.

Oscar grimaced, "That bitch gets all of the special treatment."

"What's with Ichigo's family anyway? You all seem so... mad." Thea said.

"We're all damn mad because they think we're a bad influence to Ichigo."

Halata naman talaga.

"Why do they think that?"

Oscar sipped water, "One night, in High School, we snuck Ichigo back to her room but we didn't know her Mom was waiting there. So we received an earful from her. And ever since then, we were never allowed to step foot inside their home."

"It's not just the bad influence thingy, they just don't want us hanging around their daughter. They said, we're bad news." James quoted.

"What difference does Liam make?"

"He's Ichigo's childhood friend. I don't really know. Those two are secretive. But we only became friends with Liam in college when we went to Berkeley." Oscar said.

Ang obvious naman pati kay Liam na madaming sikreto. Ang dami niyang padlock. Plus, he has a secret talent of making it sound like he told you everything, when in fact it was only the surface he showed.

I don't know. He's confusing. Napapansin ko lang lagi na ang daldal niya pero hindi naman tungkol sa kaniya ang kinekwento niya. Unlike, Oscar, ginawa na niya kaming dalawa ni Aaron na personal diary. Kahit pagtae niya, alam namin.

As talked about, hinintay namin si Liam. Agad niya kaming niyakap ni Thea nang makiya niya kami at nakipag apir sa mga lakaki.

And it may sound weird, but I'm never uncomfortable around him. Even after when he kissed me.

Ang weird lang. Wala akong ibang maramdaman na masamang loob galing sa kaniya. Na parang normal lang sa kaniya.

Whatever.