(WRITTEN SERIES #1)
"I-stalk ang buhay ni girl best friend kasama ang crush niya para makapagsulat ng isang love story? Game!"
As a frustrated aspiring writer who just joined a writing contest in their school, Cora thought of the most brilliant wa...
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CORA
NAKAHIGA ako sa kama ko, tulala at nakakatitig sa kisame ng kwarto. Paulit-ulit na tumatakbo sa isip ko ang mga nangyayari — from me joining the schoolʼs writing contest, Penny and Masonʼs past, and my mission to bring them back together.
I let out a deep breath as I tried to clear my mind, pero wala... Iʼm still lost in so many thoughts to the point na para bang malulunod na ako sa mga ito.
"You better stop whatever you're doing, Coraline, before you regret everything that's going to happen."
Hindi ko maiwasang mainis nang maalala ko kung paano ako pagbantaan ng Mason na 'yon. Who the fudge did he think he is to threaten me?! Takte siya! Isa siyang malaking takte!
Napabuntong-hininga na lang ako ulit at bumangon. Kinuha ko ang laptop ko na nasa study table at binuksan ito. To get my mind off from that jerk even for awhile, naisipan kong bisitahin na lang muna ang account ko sa site kung saan ako nagsusulat.
Bumungad sa 'kin ang 4 notifications nang buksan ko ang site. Even though itʼs just a small number, it still managed to make me a little giddy. Dali-dali ko itong binuksan ngunit imbes na masiyahan, tuluyan lang bumaliktad ang ngiti ko.
"Syete. Mga announcements lang pala..." I couldnʼt help but pout. Kailangan ko na talagang mag-note to self na 'wag masyadong ma-excite sa mga notifications, lalo naʼt mostly, mga announcements at updates lang galing sa ibang stories ang laman ng notifications ko.
I went to my profile and scanned it. Meron akong total of 237 followers sa site na 'to. As of now, Iʼve managed to post 5 stories — 3 of them are full length novels while 2 of them are just short stories. Iʼm planning on writing a new story sana to post, kaso bigla ngang nangyari ang Operation: Writing their Love Story ko kung kayaʼt mukhang on-hold muna ang planong 'yon.
Nag-scroll down ako at inusisa ang statistics ng mga na-post ko nang story. I forced a smile nang makitang hindi man lang gumalaw ang reads ng mga ito — almost all of them are still on their hundred reads, while my most 'bestʼ story runs around 3.37K reads.
Naisipan kong bisitahin ang profile ng iba ko pang mga nakilalang writer sa site na 'to. Unlike me, they have over thousands of followers and reads. Ramdam kong nagsisimula nang bumaliktad ang ngiti ko kaya I tried my best to hold it still habang nakatingin sa achievements ng mga kasabayan ko.
In the end, inilapag ko ang laptop sa study table at pabagsak na humiga ng kama. I stared at the ceiling again but this time, there was this heavy feeling on my chest.
Matagal na akong nagsusulat, pero bakit parang wala namang ibang nakaka-appreciate? I know that Penny and my friends are supportive of what Iʼm doing, and I know that I should be thankful about it... but thereʼs nothing wrong with craving for more naman, 'di ba?
Hindi ako mainggiting tao. In fact, I donʼt like people who envies others and act on it to feed off their own insecurities. I donʼt want to envy anyone, but sometimes, I feel like Iʼm getting left behind. I know this isnʼt a race, but it feels like I'm in last place while the others are far ahead.
