Half a Heart ☑️

Chapter 20

(Manvel's POV)

Nagsisimula nang dumilim ang paligid at umilaw ang mga poste sa daan habang bumibiyahe ako papunta sa kabilang bayan. Maaaring tinatanong niyo ang sarili niyo kung bakit ko to ginagawa. Promise, I am asking myself too.

Pero hindi ko talaga maisip kung bakit mag-iisang linggo, anim na araw to be exact, na siyang hindi nagrereply sa mga texts at chats ko. He's not even answering my calls and I kinda sensed that there's something going on.

So yeah, I drive my way to his house. At night. With no one with me 'cuz my two friends are probably tearing each other's clothes on that private cabin and filling each other's mouth with the other's saliva like totally, grossly, hormonal teenagers they are. Baka nga may anak na sila dun eh, malay ko.

Anyway, ayun na nga. It didn't take me long to arrive at the address he had given to me a month ago since their town was small that their church was a stone's throw away from their wet market. How disorganized.

Tumigil na ako sa labas ng isang desenteng bahay at tsaka bumaba na sa motor ko. Hindi naman ako nagulat pa sa kalakihan ng bahay nila Troi kase alam ko namang nakakaangat-angat din sila.

And there he is. Nasa kwarto niya sa pangalawang palapag ng bahay nila. His window was opened so I had a clearer view of how my gorgeous man looked like. Tumingin-tingin muna ako sa paligid at nang makita kong wala namang mga tao ay dumiretso ako sa pintuan nila.

Alangan namang umakyat ako sa bubong at sorpresahin siya sa bintana niya, diba? That's informal and I don't like that behavior. I pressed the doorbell. Ilang segundo lang ay bumukas ang pinto at bumungad sa akin ang isang batang lalake. In that instance, I knew that this boy here was Troi's little brother. They crazily look alike only that Troi has darker eyes and this cute boy here has brown ones. Mukhang magkaedad lang din silang dalawa ng kapatid ko na si Disley.

I smiled at him in which, gladly, he reciprocated. His crooked teeth highlights his cuteness.

"Hi, little guy. Andyan ba si Kuya Troi mo?" tanong ko sa kanya. I'm good with kids so I immediately got an answer from him.

"He's upstairs," ang tipid nyang sagot sabay turo sa stairs nila. Ilang sandali pa ay mayroong papalapit sa amin. He seemed to be their father. Again, facial features basis.

"Yes? Anong maitutulong namin sayo?" ang magalang niyang sinabi. My heart immediately melts to the tone of his voice, how he approaches me, and how generally pleasant the vibes of this house is.

"Umm... Magandang gabi po, andyan po ba si Troi?"

"And you are...?"

"Oh! I'm Manvel. Nice to meet you, Sir."

Troi's father opened the door wider and signalled me to go inside.

"Bago ka lang sa bayan? I haven't seen you here and you don't even look familiar."

"Sa kabilang bayan po talaga ako and I rarely visit here po."

He nodded and continued interrogating me. "Talaga? How did you and Troi become friends?"

"We played against each other on a volleyball tournament a month ago. Doon ko po siya nakilala."

Hindi ko alam ngunit parang nagbago ang reaksyon ng kanyang mukha. Yun bang pakiramdam na nakikinig ka sa paborito mong kanta kaya you're all smiles, pero biglang may nagpop-up na ads at naging neutral ang ekspresyon mo? Yun, parang ganun ang reaksyon niya matapos kong sabihin 'yun.

He then sighed. "Look, Marvel, right?"

"Manvel po."

"Manvel, you know how important education is to a person, right?" he asked and I hesitantly nodded. I still don't know where our conversation is heading to. "And you know that playing sports doesn't. . . give that much contribution to having high grades. Kaya if you're a friend of Troi dahil lang sa volleyball na yan, I'm so sorry but I have to respectfully kick you off this house."