Now or Never

02

"Sinulit talaga ang promo"

Roncy took the sando bags hanging from both of my arms. I carefully placed all the food I bought on our table. Tuwing first and second week of classes kasi, may 50% off promo ang Cafeteria kaya hindi ko talaga pinalagpas.

"Five hundred lang nagastos ko", I bragged as I look down at the feast on our table.

"Proud of you, BFF", He even formed a heart with his hands. Philip, on the other hand, is now busy with the fries.

Narito kami ngayon sa Sol Garden para kumain ng lunch. Malapit ito sa zone namin kaya halos mga senior high lang din ang makikita rito.

"Hey, before I forget", My face got welcomed by the hot steam coming from the bento box I've opened. "Tayong tatlo raw representative bukas sa quiz bee", I looked at the truffle pasta in awe. I fought everyone in the cafeteria for this!

The Physical Education club will host the annual week-long celebration for the nutrition month. Some activities were moved to the second week of classes in order to lessen the activities for July.

"Bukas agad? Pa'no tayo magrereview?", Roncy drank from his water bottle. Chicken fillet ang kinakain niya.

I twirled the pasta noodles with a plastic fork. I love how creamy the sauce is. "Don't waste your time on reviewing", I bet pang-elementary lang ang questions, so I trust my background knowledge on this one.

Binaling ko ang tingin sa mga sumasayaw na halaman. The greeneries here at Sol Garden will help relax my mind before I start working on the publication material for SC. Besides, I like zoning out when I eat. It's my own way of savoring the food.

"Mali ka ng sagap. Si ano ang nagsimula ng away"

"Talaga? Ang sabi raw, dahil do'n sa IG story no'ng isa, kaya nagsimula"

Roncy and Philip are having a discussion about the beef between two of our seniors. Hinayaan ko lang silang mag-usap habang inuubos ang laman ng pangatlong bento box.

"Huh? Sinong nagsabi?", Nagsalubong ang dalawang kilay ni Roncy. Nakakatawa silang panoorin dahil mukha silang seryoso sa pinagchichismisan.

"Nakita ko lang sa shared post no'ng kaibigan", Sabi ni Philip. Mas lalong lumalim ang kunot sa noo ng katabi ko.

"Mali", Umiling siya. "Ags, si M word ang nagsimula diba?", He tapped me, trying to confirm if the rumor he had caught on is real.

"Yeah, I have the receipts", I took my phone out and showed the screenshots.

Mabuti nga at nakakuha pa ako sa mga kakilala ko. Hindi ko na kasi naabutan ang shared post at IG story nila. This was one of the few reasons why I rarely disconnect from social media. Pumikit ka lang ng ilang saglit ay malalaman mo na lang na may nangyari. The vacation at San Mateo was not of good help sa pagiging chismosa ko. Nahuhuli na ako sa chismis.

"Sabi sa'yo, eh. Nakisali lang 'yung kaibigan", Roncy shooks his head as he pointed at the shared post's caption. "Sasagap ka na nga lang, mali pa", Dugtong nito at tumawa. Philip playfully rolled his eyes.

Tinawanan ko sila. I looked over my wristwatch and saw that it was already time for me to start with the pubmat.

I took out my laptop from its bag. While waiting for it to turn on, the side of my eye caught a girl walking down the pathway with a fencing bag on her shoulder.

The guy from San Mateo came to mind. The one I mistook as Keno.

Biglang umulan no'n, so I was not able to get his name. I tried asking Keno about the guy, but unfortunately, all fencers he knew were out of town that time. So, most likely, baguhan lang sa San Mateo ang lalaking 'yon.