In Those Eyes

KABANATA Five

"Mr. Intrams, libre mo kami ha!" Waq said as we entered the restaurant. It was a japanese restaurant na malapit lang naman sa school.

"Like I have a choice?" Jem said and rolled his eyes at his friends.

Tangina, nahihiya ako. It was my first time being with them, well except kay Rieve na kaibigan ko na before, pero still.

"Don't be shy, Scared. Order ka na, sagot ni Jem." Rieve teased me kasi he noticed that I wasn't talking much.

"Oo nga Red, don't be shy. My treat." Jem suddenly said.

Kalmahan mo naman, Jem. Kinikilig ako huwag kang ganiyan. Yes, I do— ay iba pala yon.

I scanned the menu then told them my order before finding a seat. The place is quite small kasi kaya nag-hanap na ako ng seat, baka kasi kami maubusan.

Naunang umupo sina Waq at Soqi, sumunod si Rieve na umupo sa harap ko. Rieve winked at me and I stared at him weirdly. The fuck? He just giggled before looking at Jem who's walking towards us looking for a vacant seat.

Holy shit! Now I get it. They all sat on the other side of the table, making my side the only vacant seat, which was a couch by the way. So magkatabi talaga kami kahit sa dulo pa siya umupo.

Jem sat nearer than expected. I felt a kick on my feet at looked at Rieve, the only person I can think of na kayang gawin iyon sa akin ngayon. I glared at him and he only gave me a meaningful look. Oh please, he's acting like a wingman who succeeded with his task. Hindi pa noh! Hindi pa kami... hihi.

"Naknampucha, naka tsamba ka don ah? Nanalo ka pa?" Waq teased Jem and they all laughed at sunod sunod na inasar si Jem.

"Nagtaka pa ba kayo? Sa pogi kong ito? Tropa niyo to oh!" He cooly said and even flexed some of his muscles and posed. They looked at him in disgust and even covered their eyes.

"Red, sa tingin mo bakit siya nanalo? Lumalaki ang ulo eh, parang di namin kasabay mag cutting nung elementary!" Soqi asked me while still covering his eyes.

"Oo nga, be honest!" Waq added.

"Pag sinunggaban ka niyang katabi mo, ako bahala sayo. Chochop chopin natin tapos itatapon sa ilog." Rieve added.

I contemplated if I should answer it honestly, but then again, hindi mapigilan ng isip ko ang bibig ko.

"Okay naman yung performance niya, they all did well, medyo pumalya lang sila ng kaunti sa question and answer portion, well not pumalya more of, I expected more from them. They all did well pero mas angat lang yung performance ni Jem sa ibang events." I said without even trying to sort my thoughts. I heard them laugh.

"In short raw Jem, gwapo ka pero bobo!" Waq blurted as he laughed. I laughed as well before trying to defend myself. I didn't mean that!

"Huy, hindi! I mean lahat naman sila biglaang nakuha for this event. So very limited time to practice lang talaga, plus nothing wrong naman with what they answered, tama naman siya. Nasanay lang siguro ako sa binibining pilipinas level. Pero they all did great!" I said defensively kasi baka mamaya na-offend si Jem and the other candidates.

"Oh, paano ba iyan? Hindi raw ako bobo. Papalag ba kayo?" Jem said with confidence to his friends kaya lalo silang hindi tumingin kay Jem. Lahat sila ngayo'y nakatungo para lang hindi masilayan ang kaibigan nilang nagyayabang.

"Apir nga tayo, Red!" Jem raised his hand for a high-five kaya nakipag apir ako. He grabbed my hand and shook it. "Ganiyan ang gusto kong tropa, pinagtatanggol ako." He laughed and the rest groaned.

The food then arrived, it looked so good, may sashimi platter pa.

"Oh, yung mga umangal at nilait ako bawal kumain ah? Kami lang ni Red kakain." Jem said and his friends suddenly and finally looked at him.