Max: The Queen of All

Kabanata 2

Maxine

The next morning, I woke up with a heavy head. Hirap pa akong bumangon sa kama dahil 4AM ko na natapos ang ginawa kong paperworks. I reviewed for almost 30 minutes at halos 5AM na rin ako nakatulog. I panicked when my cellphone vibrates nonstop. Kahit na malayo ang side table ko ay pinilit ko ang sarili kong abutin ang cellphone ko at napapikit sa sakit ng aking ulo.

"Oh, no. This is bad," I whispered when I felt my arm hurt.

My social media accounts are full of notifications and I got four text messages and 5 missed calls from Arianne, my co-teacher. Tumawag ako sa kaniya at sinabi na mukhang nilalagnat ako ngayon. I assured them that I'll go to school after lunch break but she said that she had already talked to our head.

Ang totoo ay nagpumilit pa talaga ako na papasok ako pero sermon lang ang inabot ko kay Arianne. Mas mabuti raw na magpahinga na lang ako ngayon at kumain. Kinausap niya na raw sila Sir Felisco na may lagnat ako. Ilang beses na rin kasi akong pumasok kahit na may lagnat ako at hindi naging mabuti ang resulta kaya grabe ang sermon sa akin ni Arianne nang sabihin kong papasok pa rin ako.

Tinutok ko sa akin ang electricfan at dinampi ang palad ko sa noo. Napakagat labi na lang ako dahil sobrang init ko nga. I tried my best to fix my bed and go out of bed. Brushed my teeth and fixed my hair. Pakiramdam ko ay wala ako sa wisyo magluto, or maybe I'll just fry hotdogs and eggs. Nakatayo lang ako sa harap ng mesa ko nang mapansin ang maliit na box sa gilid ng mesa.

Kinuha ko ang phone ko at tulad nga ng kutob ko ay may text galing kay Caleb. We exchanged numbers last night. He gave me my 'birthday gift' and apologized that he made a mess on my special day. Muli akong napakagat sa labi nang buksan ko ang box at makita ang isang gold necklace na may diamond.

CLF. Caleb Larkin Fernandez. Why does his gift have his initials?

I felt my chest pounding hard. Parang nanghihina rin ang mga tuhod ko. Maybe, it maybe because I'm not feeling well today? My original plan was to wake up at 7 AM sharp and go to school by 8 AM because my first period is 9 AM.

Unforunately, it's already 7:30. Buntong hininga na lang ang nagawa ko ngayon. Out of a sudden, I received a text from Caleb, he was asking how's my day and I said that I have a fever. He later asked if he could bring me food, and I said I was fine. Nakakahiya naman dahil baka makaistorbo ako sa kaniya.

I start my day with a loaf of garlic bread and hotdogs. I usually start my day with a coffee but because I'm not feeling well, I decided to take milk instead. Naghalungkat ako sa kitchen ng medicine at may natira pang tatlong tabs. Hindi naman na bago sa akin ang lagnat, mas lalong-lalo na ang migraine. Kaya may stock talaga ako ng sandamakmak na mga gamot. After taking my breakfast and medicine, nahiga muna ako saglit.

I opened my messenger app at nag-back read sa GC na sinasabi ni Caleb kagabi. That's right, they added me in our 'Section GC' noong highschool. Actually, after graduation nag-left na ako sa GC na ito pero hindi ko alam kung bakit inadd ako ni Leo kagabi, nag-message request din siya sa akin. At nag-sorry sa ginawa ni Ken kagabi pero hindi ko siya ni-replayan. I frowned when I saw Leo's name in my message request again.

'Good morning, Max. :) Ang ganda mo nga pala kagabi.'

"What the heck?" I said in disbelief and rolled my eyes. Oh, so that's why he keeps eyeing me last night. Akala ko guni-guni ko lang na ngumingiti siya sa akin pero hindi pala. I never regret not smiling though.

I mean, Ethan Leo Echarri never did something bad at me in the past. Nanonood lang naman siya tuwing tinago ang P.E shoes ko, o kaya tuwing pinagtritripan ako nila Elyse at pinagtatawanan. The fact that he is always mutual between all of things disgust me. Some people are indeed loves playing play-safe.