Cheer Up, Captain

Chapter 06

Chapter 06

"Come on..." Cynthia groaned beside me. Napa-tingin ako sa kanya na naka-kunot ang noo. "There must be something going on!"

I rolled my eyes once again. Heto na naman siya! The past few weeks, she keeps on insisting na there's something going on between Finley and me! Wala naman talaga. I mean, sure, was it weird that he's picking me up from work? Sure! Minsan napapa-isip ba ako kung ano ang reason non? Definitely! But does that mean na may something going on between us?

Wala!

How badly I wanted to shout to everyone na iniisip na may something na at most, naaawa lang sa 'kin si Finley dahil forgotten and forsaken na ata ako ng family ko, but mas mahal ko iyong pride ko kaysa sa pagtuwid sa mga chismis. I digress.

'Can you stop looking at me?' message ko kay Finley. Kaya naman kasi ako kinukulit ni Cynthia because she saw Finley looking at my direction. Malapit ko na talaga ipagkalat na cross-eyed si Finley.

'?'

Sinamaan ko ng tingin iyong reply niya. He's so annoying! I told him before na na ayoko ng ? na reply, pero mas lalo niya lang atang ginawa. He's so annoying!

'!' I replied.

For a whole minute, I was just arguing using punctuation marks with Finley. Gosh, he could be exhausting when he wants to! Natapos tuloy iyong break ko na wala akong ginagawa kundi iyon.

After dismissal, I did my usual routine. Pumunta ako sa may work ko. It was quite hectic kasi ang daming absent. It seemed like there's a pandemic of some sort dahil may flu yata half nung staff. It's fine, though. The owner said na since marami akong ginawa than usual, mas madadagdagan iyong salary ko—which was nice since I needed the extra money for my pocket money. Apparently, my parents were good parents dahil they already paid for my field trip before pa. That's one last thing to worry about.

"Kayo ng bahala d'yan," the owner told me. "May pupuntahan pa akong lamay."

I just nodded. Konti na lang naman iyong lilinisin saka papunta naman na si Finley. He's never late kapag susunduin ako—usually, he's early pa. Wala namang pumipilit sa kanya na pumunta nang maaga, but he'll arrive like 30 minutes early tapos he'll frown at sasabihin na pinaghintay ko siya. Tsk. Ang sarap niyang kurutin minsan.

I was quietly minding my own business when suddenly, I felt someone watching me. I told myself to ignore him. Paparating naman na si Finley.

"Mukhang late boyfriend mo, ah," he commented.

I ignored him. Why was he talking to me like we're friends?

"Kinakausap kita," he said.

I ignored him still.

But then my heart started to race when I felt his hand grabbing my arm, yanking me until I was facing him.

"Bastos na 'to. Kinakausap kita, e!" he said, shouting at me like he was mad at me kahit wala naman akong ginagawa sa kanya. Pasalamat nga siya hindi ko siya sinusumbong sa owner, e!

I tried to get my arm away from him, but the more I did that, the harder he pulled. I could already feel the bruise forming! May PE pa naman kami tapos naka-shirt lang ako!

"Gusto ka lang maging kaibigan!" he said as his hold tightened.

"Marami na akong friends!" I shouted back at him kasi sinisigawan niya na ako.

"Napaka-arte mo!" he said. "Narinig ko iniwan ka ng nanay at tatay mo kaya kailangan mong magtrabaho dito. Kawawa ka naman tapos napaka-taas pa rin ng tingin mo sa sarili mo. Para kang mga pusang niligaw sa kalsada!"