Pursuing from the Shore

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

My eyes are intently focused on my phone screen, my right thumb was slowly scrolling through it. At dahil sa nakikita ko pa lang sa phone ko, hindi na ako madalawan ng antok kahit late na ng gabi.

dlv___vlb waved! to I.

dlv___vlb waved! to II.

dlv___vlb waved! to III.

And so on.

Umabot 'yon hanggang sa XI, which means number 11. Ibig sabihin ay nandoon na siya agad sa part na 'yon? Ang bilis niya naman yata?

Hindi rin naman ako tanga para hindi ma-realize na siya nga 'to. That 'dlv' simply is the acronym of his full name. Davin was not playing around when he told me earlier that he is currently reading my novel. At ito nga 'yon.

What's with his username, anyway? Bakit parang kamukha niya 'yong nabuong emoticon?

Enough. I need to pull myself together. I just remembered, we have a quiz tomorrow in the first period, so I need to start reviewing if I don't want to fail.

I studied for almost an hour before forcing myself to sleep.

The next morning came, bumungad ang message ni Edorina sa phone screen ko nang magising ako. She said she's not going to attend school today so I dialed her number again. I was glad she finally picked up her phone.

"Edo, what's wrong? Bakit hindi ka na naman papasok?" medyo malamya kong tanong dahil kagigising ko lang.

"Sorry na, baby ko," bungad niya, nagpapa-cute. "Mom didn't allow me to attend school today. Uhm, kasi... alam mo na, she's currently handling a very heavy case so it would be very dangerous for me to go outside. I'm sorry, okay?"

I totally understand that. Edo's family is wealthy, yup. Hindi nga lang masyadong halata. Her Mom's a criminal lawyer kaya delikado talaga 'yon para sa kanya. I sighed out of concern for my best friend.

"You don't have to be sorry, Edo. I understand. Be careful... and be safe," I said, worried.

"I will, bebe ko, Red. I might change my phone number very soon. Pero don't worry, I won't lose contact with you. B-Bye!" she bid hurriedly before turning the phone call off. I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to her.

When I looked at my alarm clock, it was already 6:30 AM kaya nagmadali na akong maligo at magbihis ng uniform.

Saktong papahakbang na ako sa hagdan, nakasabay ko pa si Renz na bagong gising pa lang. This dork is going to be late, but here he is, moving slower than a turtle while yawning. May panis pa siyang laway sa pisngi.

"Good morning, Mama," I greeted when I went down the stairs.

Kaya lang mukhang nasa kusina siya. My eyes shifted to the dining table, and there I saw a bouquet of red roses. I wonder where that came from?

"Ma? Kanino galing 'to?" Renz asked, sinundan niya si Mama sa kusina.

Nakita namin na nagmamadaling lumapit si Mama sa dining table para kunin ang bouquet at saka niya iyon tinapon sa trash bin.

My brows furrowed, confused. Why was she acting in such a hurry?

"W-Wala 'to, Renz, Red. Huwag niyo na lang pansinin. Kumain na kayo," kabadong sabi niya.

Renzler and I were clearly confused by her sudden action. We even exchanged glances, but both of us just acted like everything was normal. It felt kind of sneaky, but we didn't want to push Mama about whatever it was.