Our Fallout: A Second Chance

Thirteen

Chapter 13:
Baby

Every minute I keep checking my phone to see if Isla would message me. "Kirsten!" para akong nabalik sa realidad nung may tumawag sa akin.

Nakita ko si Ali na parang hinihingi ang sagot sa katanungan niya. Shit. Hindi ko narinig. "Hmm?" ng mapatingin siya sa akin ng ilang segundo.

"She's asking you if you want a full body massage." Right. We're in a spa right now. Mukhang kakatapos lang manicure namin na hindi ko man lang napansin.

I looked at the staff waiting for my answer. I wouldn't be able to relax because I am worried about Isla. I guess I'll pass this time. "Hindi na. Okay na po to. Thank you." sabi ko at tinignan ulit ang phone ko.

At dahil hindi na ako mapakali lumabas muna ako saglit para tawagan si Isla. Nakatatlong missed call na ako pero hindi parin niya sinasagot kaya tinawagan ko si Sam.

"Hey, Can you call Isla right now? She's not answering my calls." saka ako napahinga ng malalim. "She's fine, Kirsten. Maybe they're in the middle of talking right now. Tatawag din naman yun pag kailangan niya tayo." pampalubag loob niya sa akin.

I took a deep breath again trying to calm myself. I'm not worried about their Mom-Daughter confrontation. It's just that I wanna be with her in times like this, I felt like she's been fighting all alone in her life.

Come to think of it, she doesn't have any really close friends. She's with Jasmine sometimes but it's all about SC things. She's always all alone.

Babalik na sana ako sa loob ng makita ko si Aaliyah. "You're done with your body massage?" gulat kong tanong dahil nakaayos parin itsura niya.

"I uhh— decided not to do it anymore. Kumain na lang tayo." sabi niya at dumiretso na sa kotse.

Okay. That was bad.

"I'm sorry. Something just happened—" "It's fine, Kirst. You don't need to explain everything you need to do to me." I felt like she stabbed me with those words. It's like she's saying I don't care about anything you do at all.

"Where do you want to eat?" I asked about to start the engine of my car. "Maybe at Rico's? Ikaw kung saan mo gusto." simpleng sagot niya.

It was a short ride of silence. She was just on her phone while I was busy driving and at the same time observing her.

I thought I knew everything about her. I thought I could easily read her mind, facial expressions and reaction but I was wrong. There's still a lot of things I don't know about her. She still puzzles me.

Pagpasok namin sa restaurant naka buntot lang ako sakanya ng may makita kaming kakilala niya. Some of her acquaintances from another school. "Hi, babes!" bati nila sa isa't isa na may kasamang beso.

"Date night with your boyfriend?" tanong nung isang babae at tumingin sa likod ni Ali ng magkatinginan kami. "No, I'm with a friend." she took my hand showing me to them.

I just smiled at them. "Wait. You're Isla's girl, right?" tanong nung isa pang babae. I know Isla doesn't really have a close friends but she's popular too. Not just in our school but to other schools as well.

"What?" ng titigan ako ng maigi nung katabi niya. "Oh, right. Wow! Isla's a lesbian now huh?" hindi makapaniwalang sabi niya at nagtawanan sila.

"Aaliyah, babe! Baka mamaya isa ka din ha." mataray na sabi niya saka tinignan ang magkahawak naming kamay. "Yeah? Well, why don't you focus on your STD issues first that you got from having sex with hundreds of people, babe." she squinted her eyes and walked away from her.