Tired
I pulled away from the kiss and stood when his sister—fuck! Chloe saw!
Napaatras si Chloe, natakpan ang bibig, at sa kislap ng mga mata niya, sa nanginginig na balikat, alam kong umiiyak siya sa gulat.
I stood nervously to talk to her. Humikbi siya at mabilis na tumakbo pababa. I glanced at Rade, who was now asleep, and glanced at the door again. Naglakad ako papalapit sa kanya, ngunit nang maisip na maiipit din siya sa galit ni Chloe rito, mas pinili kong tumakbo palabas at sundan si Chloe.
"Chloe," halos hawakan ko ang siko niya nang maabutan siya sa sala, sa kung saan nagkalat halos ang mga bisita.
Ang natatawa kong mga friends, lalo na ang boys na nasa may sofa, ay lumingon pa sa akin. But before they could tease us, Chloe turned to me and slapped me hard, which made my friends' smiles disappear.
Ang mga bisitang nakita rin iyon ay nagsinghapan. Sunod sunod ang pagbagsak ni Chloe luha niya at nanginginig ang balikat niya. My friends wanted to walk to us, but I looked at them warningly to let me handle it.
"You..." si Chloe na galit na galit akong tiningnan.
I tried to pull her away so she would not spill whatever she wanted to shout at me since she's clouded by her anger at the moment, but she pushed me hard.
"Don't fucking touch me! You disgusting jerk!" she shouted aggressively.
Marami nang nakuryoso. Nagsitayuan na rin ang mga girls at gusto nang lumapit lalo na't agaw eksena kami. May ibang galing sa pool na tinawag lamang ng iba para makinood sa kaguluhan.
"How...how dare you... Out...out of all people...how dare you!" She pushed my chest harder.
Napaatras ako at napayuko.
"Sabi na...sila eh," the whisperings made it even worse.
"Nagcheat si Mavric? Kanino?"
"Basta circle talaga ni Brent..."
"Chloe. Not here," I whispered and pulled her away, but she was fuming mad.
"You are both so disgusting! Hindi na kayo nahiya sa akin!" She shouted while her voice was exceeding the loud music.
Alam ko na narinig iyon ng malalapit, pero may iba ring hindi. Gusto ko siyang dalhin sa hindi mataong lugar para lang makalma siya, ngunit umiling lamang Chloe at tumakbo lalo palabas.
I gripped my hair and glanced upstairs. Shit. The fucker is drunk, while Chloe is completely devastated! Tang ina naman! What should I do? Slice myself in half so I could check on the two Tejanos?
"Follow her, dude! Anong tinatayo tayo mo diyan? Huwag kang gago!" sigaw ni Connor.
Humakbang agad ako ngunit bago pa makalabas patungo sa pool area, may nagsipasukan na mga boys na nakasalubong ko na galit na galit. They're familiar. More on part of Verena's circle.
"Anong ginawa mo?" One of them was ready to throw a fit as he pushed me hard, which made me almost lose my balance as I stepped backwards.
My friends—mostly the boys—immediately stood and walked toward me until I felt all of their presence behind me since they already knew this smelled trouble.
I raised my hands so they would know I was not up for violence here. Gusto ko lang sundan si Chloe!
"Siya 'yan 'di ba? 'Yung Evander na babaerong pumoporma kay Chloe?" One of them asked.
I licked my lip as I tried to spot Chloe, who cried in Shila's arms. Napapaligiran na siya ng mga girls sa pool area. And even Verena already went in with her dark expression.
