Unintentional Attraction

twenty four

Everyone has been busy with their own lives, five days in after the start of the 2nd semester. Paminsan-minsan ay busy sa mga pino-post na schoolworks, pero hindi pa'rin nalilimutan ang mag spend ng time with family and friends.

Akira spent it well with her Dad home. They went on countless roadtrips, galas, and even just window shopping with her family, resulting in her Mom filing unexpected work leaves. Occasionally, she would have her friends; Luna, Rover, and Dwayne, minsan naman si Jayden, over at their house too.

While Dwayne on the other hand was not liking the time he's spending at their house. Kung tutuusin nga, mas madalas pa ang pag tambay niya sa bahay ng iba niyang kaibigan kaysa sa sarili niyang tahanan mismo. Minsan naman, he'd go out to see Akira pero downside of him staying home was, his Mom. She's letting him spend time with Hailey a little more than usual.

Hindi naman sa ayaw ito ni Dwayne pero, it not for the way Hailey flirtatiously acts in front of him, he would be more favored to be locked inside his room video calling Akira or something.

Like this one time, hindi naman na bago na palaging present si Hailey sa mga family dinners nila, may it be special occasions or not, pero it's not helping na his Mom is meddling too much with him. What's worse, she's shipping them together, when in fact she has a hunch na Dwayne already has someone in mind.

"Si Hailey pala ang makakasundo ko pag dating sa pag bake eh," Puri ng Ina ni Dwayne kay Hailey na ngayon ay tinutulungan siyang mag halo ng batter. "Ang mga anak ko kasing babae, walang ka-amor amor sa kusina," Slightly side-eyeing Mari na naka abang sa Island table ng kusina, pinagdidiskitahan ang naka jar na sprinkles. 

"What? Taster ako dito," Kibit-balikat niyang sabi.

"Yeah right, taster my stupid ass" Iling naman ni Dwayne habang tumatawa, habang inirapan naman siya ng kapatid.

Caila was out working with her Dad while her Mom was on leave for a day.

"Oh right, before I forgot, Dwayne will you be a darling and pick up a few things for me sa grocery? A few things we need sa dinner natin by next week?" Popping the piped delicacy sa oven.

Yeah, the family dinner they will be having. It has been in the list of agendas for a while now. Dwayne also thought that this family dinner is maybe the right time to invite Akira over to meet his parents once and for all.

"Yeah, I can do that" Sambit nito habang onti-unting tinatabi ang mga pinaggamitan na kasangkapan nina Hailey at ng kaniyang Ina.

"Thank you, anak. I would ask Mari to do it pero-"

"As much as I'd love to, Mom, I have a whole chapter to study for a Biology test," Sabay takip nito sa kanina niya pa pinapapak na sprinkle jar.

Dwayne fakes a cough, "Excuses,"

"Whatever, I'm out" Mari holds out a peace sign as she walks her way upstairs to her room.

Ng matapos na at na-iligpit na ang mga kagamitan, hinihintay nalang na matapos ang naka salang sa oven, minabuti na ni Dwayne to do the errands now since wala naman na siyang ginagawa. "Bring Hailey with you, para may kasama ka".

And then again, isang malalim na hininga nalang ang pinakawalan ni Dwayne. Dahil mas hahaba lamang ang discussion kapag umapila pa siya.

Hailey was loving the attention.

In the middle of doing groceries, Hailey was trying so hard to keep a conversation with Dwayne. Which Dwayne on the other hand was not listening, occasionally letting out light laughs and nods sa patuloy na pag kwento ni Hailey.

Actually, mas interesado pa siya sa kausap niya sa cellphone niya habang busy si Hailey kaka-dada sa kung ano man ang kinukwento nito.

Wala sa sariling napapangiti si Dwayne habang kausap si Akira, at tila palaging nagmamadali tignan ang notification sa bawat tunog nito sa tuwing isisislid sa bulsa.

Hailey saw the way Dwayne acted as he was smiling widely on his phone. Which instantly ignited something inside her. She was definitely not happy.

Of course she had to play it cool in front of him. Even though he knows too well that everyone on the Alvera family is on her side. All she has to do is to kick that Akira out of the picture and out of Dwayne's life.