One Step Ahead

02

"Ate Dawn!" tawag ng isang dalaga sa kaniya habang kumakaway. Patakbo itong lumapit.

She was quite shocked to see her, she never expected that she will meet this teenage girl again.

"Trixie, paano mo nalaman kung saan ako nakatira?" She asked.

They had met in a game console shop. Chatted a little, hanggang sa makabuo na si Trixie ng interes sa dalaga. The way she knows every single pieces of something that Trixie also likes, she immediately thought that she must be friends with the lady.

It's been a week since they had known each other. She still wanted to talk with her more, she wanted to know a lot of things about Dawn Eos Ligaya.

"May sources ako!" she said enthusiastically.

"Ate, nandito ako para ibalik ito!" she gave her the keychain that she had lost yesterday.

"Salamat, dapat hindi ka na nag-abala pa, Trixie," she hesitantly laughed as she took it.

She purposely threw it away, but this young girl brought it back into her possession.

"Hinahanap mo 'yan kahapon eh," she reasoned out.

She just did that to mitigate attention to someone. "Salamat. Umuwi ka na, baka may klase ka pa?"

"Ikaw, ate? May klase ka rin yata," sambit nito habang tumitingin sa kaniyang uniporme.

"Oo, kailangan kong umattend pero kailangan ko ring makauwi nang maaga kasi may sakit ang lola ko," she said, smiling.

Dawn was raised by her grandmother for a reason that her mother died during her delivery with Dawn and she never had a chance to live with her own father for some reason.

"Himala at naka-uniform ka ngayon, ate. Four days ang PE ninyo? Tuwing uwian kasi nakikita kitang naka-PE," pagmamasid ni Trixie.

"Hindi, kailangan ko kasing i-repair ito, kaya PE uniform ang gamit ko noong mga nakaraan," she giggled.

"Red ang dalawang butones, ate?" She asked.

"Naubusan ako ng puti," she scratched her ears as she awkwardly laughed.

Trixie felt uneasy after noticing how badly it was stitched. May hindi pa siya natahing parte sa likod. She is certain that she did it in a rush, hindi ito four days na tinahi, maliban nalang kung sobrang pangit lang talaga nito magtahi.

"Trixie, 'wag kang bigla-biglang susulpot mag-isa. Baka mapahamak ka lalo na't bata ka," pangaral ng dalaga.

"Hindi ako mapapahamak ate. Kaya kong protektahan ang sarili ko," she pouted.

She scoffed, "Pero underaged ka,"

"May mga kuya naman ako ate, pre-med at pre-law ang course nila. And I think parehas kayo ng campus!" She boasted.

She chuckled and ruffled her hair, "Dapat nag-aaral ka na ngayon ah, baka malagot pa ako sa mga kuya mo. Bigg time pala kayo eh,"

She knows it will be hard for her to pursue those careers, though she still managed to pursue college, being a doctor is one of her dreams that can't be true.

"Pero ate, hindi naman kasi hindrance sa akin ang edad ko," she said.

Dawn shook her head as disapproval. "Iba ang lakas ng matatanda. Sa batas o sa kahit anong field, lugi ang menor de edad. Kahit tama ka, feeling nila ay wala kang galang kung ipapaglaban mo pa,"

"Do you think I'm disrespecting you if I tell you that I can protect you, ate?" She asked.

"Protektahan mo muna ang sarili mo bago ako," she smiled. "Hindi ko 'yon nagawa sa sarili ko noon eh, huli na, wala na ako sa edad mo ngayon," she shrugged.