Dormisteryo

16

Downside of staying in the campus is the fact that I don't have an umbrella to force myself on going back home without getting wet. Sa lakas ng ulan, halos hindi ko na makita ang nasa paligid ko. It's totally zero visibility at the campus right now.

Minabuti ko munang magpatila sa labas ng detention room. There's no one in sight, ako lang ang mag-isang nakaupo sa labas ng pinto.

I wonder who Z is. Siya kasi yung dahilan kung ba't sila nakakapag-meeting dito secretly.

Is Z a part of the administration here in the campus? He can be anyone else. Baka isa siyang teacher? I don't know. Hindi ko man lang siya nakita o narinig kanina. Only Ray has heard him.

Doon ko lang din na-realized that he wasn't even introduced to me by Cris. Akala ko ay sasama siya sa meeting namin either thru video call or at least conference call man lang.

Cris must have no hold of him kung kaya niyang hindi magpakita rito kanina. It's like he has this kind of power that Cris doesn't have yet.

Unlike Ray and the rest of us, pakiramdam ko ay tama si Nessi na pati sila ay hawak ni Cris sa leeg. Hindi ko pa rin tuloy maiwasang isipin kung ano yung leverage na mayroon si Cris laban sa kanila. Was it that really big for them to follow his orders for too long?

My phone suddenly rings as I was deep in thoughts.

Inilabas ko ang cellphone ko, only to find out that someone is calling me from an unknown number. I pondered for a moment if I will take the call and then finds myself pressing the green button.

"Hello?"

I heard a static on the other end. Napatingin ako sa phone ko at nagulat na lang akong wala na yung tawag. It just disappeared all of a sudden.

"The hell?" bulong ko sa sarili.

Kinabahan ako nang kaunti dahil parang may nakatingin sa akin ngayon mula sa malayo. As if someone was playing tricks on me.

Napatayo ako at napalingon sa kung saan-saan. I tried my best despite seeing nothing but the raging downpour. Wala akong napansin na kung sinuman na nakatingin sa akin. If there's one hiding, they must have been able to hide themselves quickly.

In just that short period of time, I felt the same thing that I had when I was in my previous school. May kung sinuman ang nakamatyag at nagbabantay ng ikikilos ko. They will try to find my flaws and will expose it if they do so. And so they did.

Ayaw ko nang maulit ang nangyari kaya napagdesisyunan ko na lang na sumuong sa malakas na buhos ng ulan para makapunta sa shaded hallway palabas ng Arcana.

It was a very uncomfortable experience being drenched by rain. Giniginaw ako kasabay nang pagyakap ko sa bag kung saan nakalagay ang mga mahahalaga kong gamit. My attention was divided on what's rather important, ako ba na mababasa ng ulan o ang mga gamit ko?

In the end the latter option prevailed. Nakarating ako sa shaded hallway nang basang-basa ang uniporme, pero sa kabutihang-palad ay nagawa ko namang protektahang mabasa ang mga gamit ko.

I looked at my phone, somehow fogged by the mist from the rain, and I saw my wet reflection. Para akong basang sisiw. Hindi ko alam kung anong gagawin ko nito kung bigla na lang samain ang pakiramdam ko mamaya.

Basta ang mahalaga, nakaiwas ako sa anuman ang nakabantay sa akin kanina. Knowing that Cris have eyes on me, there must be something that he can do to us who follows his dictatorship. He must be watching whatever we do in some way that we couldn't see right now.

I put my phone back in my bag as I saw other students who were also sharing the same hallway to be safe from the heavy rain, looks at me with a surprise look on their face. Ngayon lang ba sila nakakita ng estudyanteng sumuong sa ulan?