Aligning the Stars (GXG)

XIV - Christmas

Astrea

Morning came and I got up from bed when I heard a faint knock on the door. My eyes were still half closed as I opened it but got surprised when the first thing I saw was Ms. Elise standing in front of me.

"Good morning." She whispered with a little smile. "Sorry for waking you up at 4 am."

I yawned as I shook my head, "It's fine, aalis na po ba tayo?"

She nodded at me.

"Sige po, magbibihis lang ako.." I opened the door, "Dito nalang po kayo mag-hintay."

Mukhang gulat pa siya dahil sa sinabi ko pero pumasok din naman siya habang naglakad naman na ako patungo sa cabinet para kumuha ng susuotin. I just grabbed a pair of leggings, a cropped tank top and a jacket dahil naka cycling shorts at hoodie lang naman si Ms. Elise.

I don't know if I'm still sleepy or lutang lang talaga ako dahil bigla niya nalang akong pinigilan when I was about to remove my shirt, "A-aster.. Are you sure you're going to change.. here?"

And my eyes just widened in shock as I realized how stupid I am for forgetting that she was inside the room with me.

I rushed inside the bathroom as I heard her chuckling the moment I closed the door.

Sinapok ko agad ang ulo ko but regretted it dahil napalakas ata. "Damn, ang tanga mo, Astrea." I said to myself while looking at the mirror.

After a couple of minutes of prepping up, I hesitantly went outside only to find out that Ms. Elise fell asleep on the bed, ganoon ba ako katagal at nakatulog ulit siya? I was afraid that I'd wake her up and didn't know what to do for the first few seconds.

Nakatagilid ang posisyon niya sa kama pero nakaharap sa direksyon ko, unti-unti ko siyang nilapitan. She's still sleepy, and she could've just rest more dahil sunod-sunod na rin ang ginagawa namin.

"..But why don't I feel genuinely happy? Why do I feel like I've been forcing myself to feel happy when I'm not? I'm tired, Aster.."

"..I'm tired of pretending that I'm not dying inside just by the thought of them being together."

I unconsciously tried to hold her face but then the words she said echoed through my head that I retracted my hand immediately.

And the moment I did, Ms. Elise's eyes opened at nagkasalubong ang mga tingin namin sa isa't-isa. It was a few seconds before I broke our gaze.. I felt like I was melting because of her stare.

"I didn't notice that I fell asleep." She said as she sat up straight while I stood still and faked a cough to remove the nervousness in my system.

"Mukhang inaantok pa po kayo, pwede naman po natin h'wag na puntahan–"

"No." She shook her head, "I.."

"Ms. Elise?"

"I want to go there with you."

I pretended like that didn't make me melt in my spot. I coughed once again, shaking off the happiness in me because I didn't want to be overjoyed that much. Pinaalala ko ulit ang sarili ko na nandito ako bilang... kaibigan. If that's what she even sees me.

"Magh-hike po ba tayo?" I asked the moment we started to walk outside.

"Hindi naman. Malapit lang ang pupuntahan natin. Though, it's something that I haven't shared to anyone just yet."

We were going inside to what I assume is a woods near the Hacienda, I didn't know what or where we're going but seeing Ms. Elise walked confidently as if she knew exactly where she's going, I just followed suit.