Missed Pages ✔︎

Chapter 15

TERRIBLE

“Itʼs about Hazel.” ani Marcus. “A group of bullies were messing with her.”

That instantly made me snap out. Agad akong napatayo sa upuan ko.  “Nasaan siya?” tanong ko. Sa ngayon, kinakalma ko ang sarili ko. I donʼt know what Iʼll do if I get there.

“Nasa harap ng cafeteria.” sagot niya. “Kailangan na nating pumunta roʼn.”

Kalmado siya. Heʼs calm, not because he shouldnʼt be the one whoʼs likely to be affected. Heʼs calm because he wants to also calm me down. I was rather grateful that he didnʼt exaggerated his emotions.

He pulls me by my hand, yet he held me gently so he wouldnʼt hurt me.

Inalis ko ang kamay niyang nakahawak sa akin dahil hindi ako mapalagay. I was panicking inside. I feel that thereʼs something bad that will happen. Something worse than Hazel being bullied.

Mas binilisan ko ang paglalakad para maunahan ko na si Marcus na makarating sa harap ng cafeteria. Nasa likod ko na siya ngayon.

As I was leading the way, nakarinig ako ng ingay mula sa hindi kalayuan mula sa akin. Napatigil ako matapos ang ilang hakbang at tumingin sa malayo, sa kung saang direksyon ko naririnig ang ingay.

“Nandoon siya.” sambit ni Marcus saka itinuro ang mga estudyanteng nagkukumpulan.

I shoved everyone that was on my way. Nagmadali akong makapunta sa kung saan ang itinuro ni Marcus.

Doon ako napatigil. Nakita ko ang kapatid ko na nakasalampak sa sahig habang ang kaniyang uniporme ay basang basa at madungis.

Agad akong lumapit sa kaniya. Hindi ko makita ang mukha niya dahil natatakpan ito ng kaniyang buhok. “Hazel.” tawag ko sa kaniya. Inulit ulit ko ang pagbanggit ng pangalan niya, inaasahang mag-aangat siya ng tingin. Pero hindi. Ang tanging natanggap ko lang sa kaniya ay ang mahinang paghikbi.

That was when everything bright and nice in me fades away.

Tumayo ako at hinarap ang mga babaeng nasa harap ni Hazel. Nasisiguro kong iyon ang mga nanakit sa kapatid ko. I could see the smirks on their faces. It started fading away when they saw me.

“Whoʼs the eldest?” tanong ko sa limang babae na hinaharap ko ngayon.

I darted sharp glares to each one of them. “Why are you asking?” maarteng tanong ng isa sa kanila.

Tinignan ko ang bawat mukha. Doon ko ibabase kung sino ʼyung sa tingin kong pinakamatanda sa kanila. Nakahilera sila sa harapan ko. Tinapatan ko ngayon ang babaeng nasa kanang dulo.

“You must be the eldest.” I uttered.

She frowns at me as if she had been confused with everything I was doing.

I slapped her with the back of my hand. Heavily and hardly, making sure that itʼs burning red until the sun sets today.

“Bakit mo ginawa ʼyon?!” tanong ng isa sa kanila.

“I asked you who was the eldest and you didnʼt answer. So I played a guessing game of which one had the most wrinkles.” I shrugged my shoulder, looking at their pitiful expressions on their faces.

“Apologize. To my sister. Right now.” mariing pagbigkas ko.

“Look. We donʼt care if youʼre that Frankie Denver. What? Just because youʼre popular, you think you can boss around?” the girl with the thickest layer of makeup said.

“Pake ko ba kung wala kayong pake?” I snapped.

“Iʼm gonna take her to a safer place.” dinig kong sabi ni Cyrus. He was a friend of Marcus and also Adrian Scottsdale. He was also Hazelʼs childhood friend. Since he was a friend of both of my friends, I gave in my trust. I know theyʼll make my sister feel better at the moment.