["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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REYNARD
WHAT HAPPENED to me was quite expected. I already suspected that I might be walking into a trap, but I went there anyway. I wouldn't have known what's waiting for me if I didn't take the bait, right? What I didn't expect was the motive behind it. Phone ko pala ang puntirya niya. Sana'y minessage niya ako kung 'yon lang ang kaniyang target. Eh, di sana'y ipina-deliver ko sa address niya at hindi na niya ako kinailangang i-trap.
I might have lost something, but I also gained something else. Confirmed na in contact pa rin sina Michelangelo Jordan at Alaric Esteban. I couldn't call the former my best buddy anymore because his betrayal kinda hurt me. But I got a closer glimpse into what his motivation might be.
"What on earth where you thinking?!" Rie yelled at me. Nakapamaywang siyang humarap sa 'kin. The nurse shushed her and reminded her to lower her voice. "Alam mo nang trap 'yon pero pinatulan mo pa rin?"
After I fell unconscious because of a stunner—who would have thought that Michelangelo was bringing such a weapon on campus?—the guard found me in the locker room and brought me to the clinic. Nagtaka siya kung bakit 'di pa ako lumalabas makalipas ang higit sampung minuto kaya naisipan niyang mag-rounds. Kung 'di sa kaniya, baka inabot na ako kinabukasan do'n. Marumi at malamig pa naman ang sahig.
Rie rushed to the clinic around the time I regained consciousness. Instead na tanungin kung okay ako, mas inuna pa niya akong sermonan. She was posturing and shouting at me as if she were my mom or my wife who found me coming home late at night.
"My goodness!" She slapped her forehead and paced back and forth in the ward. "Pinakaba mo ako ro'n, ah? Ang akala ko'y napaano ka na!"
"I doubt my source would try to murder me," I replied, stretching my arms.
I kinda wished I had taken self-defense lessons in high school. Naprotektahan ko sana ang aking sarili mula sa atake kanina. It might also come in handy in the future, given that journalism could be a dangerous profession. Some journalists even risked their lives just to get to the bottom of the truth.
"Nakalimutan mo na ba ang sinabi ng guest speaker sa seminar natin noon?" tanong niya. "No story is worth dying for!"
I closed my eyes briefly and raised my right hand. "Can you stop moving around for a while? Nahihilo ako sa kalalakad mo. Baka mawalan na naman ako ng malay dala ng pagkahilo."
"Pasalamat ka dahil ginamitan ka lang ng stunner." Huminto na siya sa paglalakad at humakbang palapit sa kama ko. "Paano kung may masamang nangyari sa 'yo? Paano kung sinaksak ka niya o kaya pinuruhan ka sa ulo?"
"Then that would be one less competitor for you," I joked with a smile, but she looked me with a straight face. "Just kidding. But I appreciate your genuine concern for me. You didn't have to come here, pero pumunta ka pa rin. You should be on your way to your dorm by now."
