COMPASS #1: Where The Sun Rises

Chapter 13

Rhett brought me to the park near Abuela's home. She invited her friends to the celebration of my winning. I met her business partners way from Sitka and they knew me since I was a kid. At the same time, it's her and grandpa's wedding anniversary which somehow depressed their attention on me.

I swung myself and felt the wind wheezing my face with my ear listening to its tempo. Calming yet dangerous as the light flickered with the sign of abandonment.

Tumabi sa akin si Rhett sa swing. He spread his arms at the back and faced me.

"Don't you dare cry again like that, Raizelle Eas," he snapped. "You scared the hell out of me."

I pouted, trying to tease him in avoidance of his lectures. "Why? Wala ba akong karapatan to cry when I'm sad or angry? Ikaw nga ay umiyak din kahit lalaki ka."

He scoffed and pinched the blade of my shoulder. I winced and hit his hand but he laughed it off. Under the stars, we spent the night we could have saved but if saving means being alone again, then I don't want it. I hated to think more than I can handle.

Tumingala siya sa langit at bumuga nang hangin. "Umalis lang ako, nagkakaganiyan na. I should've not trusted Easton with everything. South is way better than him."

"Hah! South left."

He shifted but I stayed my gaze on the sky. "That's why he called me to come back because he knew what could happen. He was right."

When South was so overprotective, he can easily turn his back on his brother. Imagine Rhett coming back at a very unexpected time yet perfect for my status. Dang!

"I met this girl in the US," he whispered like a secret to be kept but disclosed it.

I snorted laughter which ended in a smile but I quickly hid it. "So, you're cheating, Rhett Morales? Do you want to be beheaded?"

He ran his fingers softly through my hair. "I love you, Rai. You know that but I also know that your heart is already for someone else. I knew that the moment we met each other. Hindi magbabago ang pagmamahal ko saiyo because I know that you'll take care of it until the end kahit hindi katulad ng dapat kong asahan."

I fell into silence and smiled with pride. Tumingin ako sa kaniyang mga mata na sinisigaw ang nararamdamang. I breathed out the air. "I tried."

He rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out on me. "You have to make a move for East."

"He has a girlfriend," agad kong sagot. That's the fact that couldn't be altered in any way we wanted. It can be as painful as a knife slashing the skin. "Don't you dare say na ang asawa nga ay naagaw. Gosh, that wasn't ideal."

His ludicrousness was unleashed in the sense of fatal idealism. When the path of beliefs differ as the road curves, the only that binds us was understanding. "Loosen up, Raizelle. The problem with you is you're too smart where the world has no place to deceive you. Kaya hindi mo nakikita ang halaga ng pinaghihirapan mo kasi parati mo ring iniisip na mas higit pa roon ang naabot ng iba. When you're not good at something, you would try harder even if it is beyond your personality kasi isa kang matalinong tao. You acknowledge winning as being good at everything."

Biting my lip didn't survive the sharpness of my tooth, it bled. "It is not like that and you know it."

"Yeah." He nodded with insolence, burning my flesh to stab his body of ice. "Like how you started getting justification from Easton like a thief in a broad daylight. He cannot define your worth nor what you deserve."

I closed my lids, chest heaved. "It hurts... a little."

He stood in front of me, causing a movement of the swing from his force of leaving. "You're smarter, Raizelle. Do something while I'm still your boyfriend."