who am i to you?

10.2

A night passed after that encounter with David. Mom woke me up from that painful sleep I had the next morning. No part of my body doesn't hurt. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but it all hurts, especially my stomach and my left cheek. 

"You can't skip another day of school," Mom told me.

"Okay."

She's clearly indifferent. And it's killing me.

I got ready for school. As I do so, Shi was downstairs to ask if I'm going to school again. I exit the house just in time for me to be the one to see him.

"Wala ka ng sakit?" Shi asked.

"Wala na." I gave him a smile to assure him.

He still observed me after getting an answer. "Is that a bruise on your cheek?"

Naalala ko naman ang mapula kong pisngi, the one David punched. "Oh, it's just the usual clumsiness."

He eyed but he didn't say anything about it. "Be careful."

"Thanks."

Sabay kaming pumasok like usual. I can feel him observing me but I pretended not to care. Hindi na din naman siya nag-ask after. Walking alone in the hallway after parting ways with Shi, I tried to touch my bruised cheek. It's still red when I saw it earlier but I guess it'll soon turn violet. Luckily it's not that big.

"Vy!"

From behind, I heard Saint's loud voice. It's not just me that turned around to face him. He caught the attention of the whole hallway.

He was skipping like a kid, a big smile plastered on his face. As soon as he was near enough, he slung his arm on my shoulder, locking me in place.

"Magaling ka na?"

"Yeah." I was smiling. Of course I was. But then Mom's voice echoed loudly in my head.

"Buti naman."

We continued to walk, his arm still on my shoulder. I shouldn't be minding it but I found myself moving my shoulders discreetly so his arm would slide off. It did slide off but he placed it back again. So I repeated it for a second time. This time, he didn't place his arm back. I instead found him looking at me.

"What?" I asked as if innocent.

He continued to stare. "Ba—" His brows furrowed and something caught his attention. "Is that a bruise?"

He tried to touch my cheek but I flinched away. I gave him a smile. "Just the usual clumsiness."