"Tapos dito, may dumating na mascot. Nahihiya nga siya kasi ayaw niya ng mascot. Big girl na raw siya. But her parents insisted. Sabi ko naman, gusto ko nga 'yung may mascot kasi mas masaya."
Tuloy-tuloy si Verizza sa pagkukuwento habang pinapakita niya kay Xaviera ang mga litrato na nakuha nila noong kaarawan ni Cassey. Meanwhile, Xaviera's gaze remained fixed on what she was writing, pretending to be too busy to listen to her stories. It was obvious that she didn't want to listen as she kept ignoring her, but Verizza was clueless.
"Tapos ito 'yung nagblow na siya ng candles sa cake niya. We sang her a birthday song. Xav," Verizza noticed Xaviera's lack of attention to the pictures, so she attempted to distract her from what she was doing.
"Wait,"
"Xav, tingnan mo!" Despite her efforts, Xaviera refused to look, prompting Verizza to gently tug her arm.
"Wait nga kasi! May ginagawa ako! Puro ka Cassey! Ayoko nga tingnan 'yung pictures!" When Xaviera finally snapped, Verizza released her arm in surprise, taken aback by her sudden outburst.
"Sorry..." Verizza mumbled sheepishly. "Hindi ka kasi nakapunta nung birthday niya kaya pinapakita ko 'yung mga pictures." She explained, feeling disheartened by Xaviera's reaction. She felt as if Xaviera had missed out on an important event by not attending Cassey's birthday party, so she felt the need to make up for it by showing her the pictures they had taken. She couldn't help but feel hurt by Xaviera's outburst when she was just trying to help.
On the other hand, Xaviera wasn't aware of Verizza's intention to help her. Instead, Verizza's actions just made her feel worse, a fact of which Verizza wasn't aware. Xaviera couldn't understand why Verizza had to show her the pictures when it was already clear that she had missed the event. She misunderstood Verizza's intention and felt even worse, thinking Verizza was intentionally provoking her.
They both fell silent after that. Xaviera picked up her pen again, but she knew she wouldn't be able to focus on writing when so many things were bothering her. Alam din naman niya na hindi tama ang ginawa niyang pagtaas ng boses kay Verizza kanina. Atsaka hindi talaga mawala sa isipan niya ang sitwasyon nilang magkakaibigan nina Verizzza at Cassey ngayon.
"Ayaw niya sa'yo."
Those words struck the silence. Initially, Xaviera was a bit shocked as well, not expecting that sudden idea to come out from her at the moment. But since she had already started, she wanted to continue.
"Ano?" Verizza asked, confused.
"Ayaw ni Cassey sa'yo," she repeated. "Nagpapanggap lang siyang maging kaibigan mo."
Her words naturally surprised Verizza. The first thing that Xaviera felt as she continued was a sense of satisfaction, fixating on the idea of shutting Cassey from their lives. Meanwhile, Verizza struggled with conflicting emotions. She didn't want to doubt Xaviera as she considered her a best friend. However, Cassey was also an important friend of her, so she found it really difficult to believe her.
"Pa'no mo nasabi?" She asked in a disheartened tone of voice.
"Nakita ko siya na sinisiraan ka sa mga kaklase natin." Nakaimbento agad si Xaviera ng sagot.
Verizza's silence was loud, her stunned expression revealing her inner turmoil. She could hardly bring herself to respond because of her dejection. She wanted to ask but was also too afraid to receive an answer. She didn't want to hear more about her friend's alleged betrayal. With a heavy heart, she gently set her phone down on the vanity table. Sensing the shift in her mood, Xaviera looked away and pretended to busy herself with writing again.
