WINSTON AND RINGO (Montana Series 3 | BXB)

05: Edelweiss

˖ ๋࣪⸙˖

Spending the day with Ringo was an absolute cyclone of both excitement and awkwardness. After my embarrassing scene with him, I let him took the shower and lent him a shirt. Medyo malaki ang damit ko sa kanya, ngunit isinuot pa rin niya ito.

We began watching Heroes after taking a shower, and as time went on, the awkwardness slowly faded, until it completely disappeared. Bumalik ang sigla ni Ringo at nakangiti siya habang nanunuod. Nakapagtataka lang dahil kakaiba ang naging reaksyon niya nang makita niya akong nakahubad. Maybe he's not used to see a stranger taking their shirt off in front of him.

"This is the scene that I'm talking about," he said, pointing to the TV screen.

"Where Peter is going to jump?" I asked and grabbed a sardine loaf using a fork.

"Yes!" he said excitedly.

Watching Ringo focusing his eyes at the TV screen made me feel like I was with my younger brother. Malayong-malayo ang ugali namin ng kapatid kong si Austin, at kung minsan ay napapaisip ako kung ano kayang mangyayari kung sakaling lumaki kami ng magkasundo. Siguro ay hindi magiging mahirap ang lahat para sa'ming dalawa.

Ringo and I spent the whole afternoon watching the first season of Heroes, until we reached the ending of the final episode in nightfall. Ringo stretched his body from his seat, smiling as if it was his first time watching the series.

"So how is it?" he asked me.

"It's amazing," I answered. "Parang gusto ko tuloy panoorin ang season 2."

"We can watch it if you want," he said in an upbeat voice, but his energy faded suddenly after a second. "But I have no copy of it."

Smile trudged at the corners of my lips. "We can watch it on Apple TV. I have a subscription."

"Talaga?" nakangiti niyang sabi.

"Oo," sagot ko. "Actually we could watch the first season there, pero ayaw ko namang masayang ang effort mo sa pagdala ng DVD."

Napangiti naman siya sa aking sinabi. "Natututo ka na," sambit nito.

"Natututo saan?" tanong ko.

"Na magsalita ng komportable," sagot niya. "I noticed you always turn away your gaze when you're speaking, but now, you're directing your eyes at me comfortably."

I felt a sudden heat in my cheeks, and I tried controlling the boiling blood in my veins. Without a word, I gave him a smile. I never expected I would reach the point where I could openly express so much of my thoughts without doubts and hesitations. Hindi ako sigurado, ngunit sa tingin ko ay epekto ito ng pakikisama ko kay Ringo.

Since then, I had a hard time making friends. I only made friends at Northside High because of basketball, and maybe because of my family status. My inability to express myself always hindered me to have a good conversation with other people, but with Ringo, I felt like I had nothing to fear and hide.

Napatingin si Ringo sa kanyang cellphone, kasabay nito ang pagluwa ang kanyang mga mata. "Oh no! I have to go!" he exclaimed. "Baka mapagalitan na naman ako ni Papa at Kuya." He scrambled to his feet and headed to the veranda.

"Wait! Ihahatid na kita," sambit ko.

"No need. I can manage," he said and gave me a comforting smile.

"Are you sure? Gabi na, baka mapaano ka," pagpupumilit ko.

Lalo pa siyang napangiti sa aking sinabi. "Huwag kang magalala Mr. Abalos, kaya ko ang sarili ko."

My eyebrows knitted, and later on, I flashed a smile. "Okay. Take care Mr. Rodrigo."

He waved at me and headed out of the veranda. As he ran away from the hotel, he kept waving at me with his gentle smile. Seeing him running with his bright face made my spirit lift up. He was full of life and energy.