Never Have I Ever

Twenty-Seventh Shot

Kari

"Ano bang inarte-arte mo diyan?"

"Arte? Jake, I'm not feeling well—"

"May sakit ka? I thought it was just your period?"

"It is my period. I'm having cramps—"

"Yun lang naman pala eh. Hindi ka naman lampa so you can still clean this place up,"

"I told you, masama pakiramdam ko—"

"God, Kari! It's just a stupid period, get over it. You know, my finals are coming up so I need a conducive environment to study properly,"

"But—"

"You know what, I'm just going to stay in Shang for the week. Once your stupid period's done, make sure this place is spick and span by the time I'm back or you're going to hear it from me."

Oh, what a prick. It still makes me wonder to this day on how I managed to live with a puta like that for years without wanting to walk out even once. He's always been more of a drama queen than I was but amidst all of that, I didn't see that the problem was him. I made myself believe that I was the one lacking but in reality, I've been blind to the truth all along because of a foolish love.

Punyeta. The funniest thing was that I wouldn't have had the guts to break things off with him if he didn't cheat. For what it's worth, maybe the universe was trying to help me out and give me the nudge to leave him by making me open my eyes to the truth that he really was a putangina. Who knows, it might have been God's way of saving me. Despite how painful that experience was, it was the salvation that I needed to get away from someone like him. Grabe talaga ang pagkabulag ko dahil sa pag-ibig na yan. Buti na lang, nakalaya na ko.

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes where I felt the rays of the sunlight around my face which slipped through my studio's skylight glass window at the ceiling which gave me a small peek of the beautiful blue sky. Umaga na agad? If it weren't for that tanginang flashback or the prick in my stomach, I wouldn't have woken up yet.

I barely even slept for three hours straight for the past few days since I got the sudden urge to create something for another passion project after that run I had with Calix at the Washington Square Park. Anong araw na ba?

When I sat up, my entire body was numb and I blame the fact that I slept on the wooden floor. Galing, Karina Louise. I must have dozed off while I was trying to draft another sketch without using a table. I prefer drawing by lying down my stomach on the cold ground rather than on actual table which may seem odd to some people but it works best for me. Consequently, I get the worst body aches for the next few days whenever this happens so hello, salonpas, my old friend.

Ah, punyemas talaga. When I stood, I immediately knew that there was something wrong because I felt the floodgates of the Red Sea opened from beneath me. Here we go again with one of these wretched days. Kaya pala naalala ko ang gagong yun.

I walked slowly and when I reached my room, just beside my home studio, I noticed the bright and vivid red stain in my denim overalls near my butt area when I turned slightly in front of the full-body mirror inside my walk-in closet. This pretty much explains why my mood swings got worse as of late and even Calix wasn't able to get out of it unscathed. I might as well take a long bath to relax myself.

After freshening up, I decided to eat an apple and continue sleeping on my bed by placing a thick towel near my lower body to avoid having to deal with washing up these sheets. I've already made that mistake once so it's not happening again.