All I Ever Wanted

• 12 •

"Saan tayo?" tanong ko kay Kale nang makapasok na kami ng mall.

He looked at me then shrugged, "Ikaw. Saan mo ba gusto?"

I frowned. "Ikaw ang nag-aya dito tapos ako ang tatanungin mo,"

He sighed. "Baka kasi ayaw mo sa iniisip kong puntahan eh," sabi niya.

"Try me."

Bago ko pa malaman, kinuha ni Kale ang kamay ko at hinila ako paakyat ng escalator. With him still holding my hand, we walked and walked and walked. At nang huminto na kami sa paglalakad, saka ko pa lang narealize kung saan niya ako dinala.

"Arcade?" nakangiti kong tanong sa kanya.

"Yeah," he said, pulling his hand away from mine and placing it on his pocket.

"Cool."

And we spent the next hour playing different games. In some, I was able to beat Kale. But most of the games, siya ang nananalo.

Katatapos ko lang maglaro dun sa machine na manghuhuli ka ng stuffed toy when my eyes caught the chairs in the corner. Naglakad ako papunta doon at umupo muna. I glanced around and saw Kale playing the hammer thing.

As you can see, nagkanya-kanya rin kami ng paglalaro. Twenty minutes ago, I asked him to get me a stuffed toy but he refused. Kahit anong pilit ko, ayaw niya talaga. Tapos iniwan niya ako at naghanap ng ibang malalaro.

I really wanted to get the brown teddy bear that I spent twenty minutes and a lot of tokens to get it. But to my dismay, hindi ko nakuha.

Inikot kong muli ang mga mata sa loob ng arcade at sa kabilang sulok ay nakita ko ang mga videoke booth. Nangiti ako. Nabanggit ko na ba, hilig ko din ang pagkanta. Back to our house in Cavite, every Saturday, my family would have this "bonding time" and when I said bonding time, it'd mean singing all day.

Abala pa rin ako sa pagtingin sa kabilang bahagi ng arcade nang may huminto sa gilid ko.

He was standing right there, saying nothing. And I knew it's Kale. I didn't look at him though. Naiinis pa rin ako dahil iniwanan niya lang ako kanina. He cleared his throat. Not once, nor twice. But too many times. Groaning, I looked at him.

Pinanliitan ko siya ng mata para malaman niyang di ako natutuwa sa kanya. But he just smiled at me. I scowled at him. He smiled bigger. Grrr! Anong trip ni Kale?

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

Nagkamot siya ng ulo. Saka ko pa lang napansin na ang isang kamay niya ay nakatago sa likod.

At bago ko pa man maibalik ang tingin sa mukha niya, inalis niya ang kamay na nasa likuran niya at nagulat ako sa nakita. May hawak siyang puting stuffed stoy at iniabot niya ito sa akin. I lifted an eyebrow, still not getting it from him.

"I know it doesn't look like the one you want. Pero yan lang ang nakayanan ng tickets na nakuha ko," sabi niya, still handing the stuffed toy to me.

I was annoyed at him dahil iniwan niya ko sa nilalaro ko kanina. But after knowing he used all his tickets to get me a toy, it made me happy. Honestly, I found it sweet but there's no way I'm telling him that.

"Thank you," sabi ko at kinuha mula sa kanya ang stuffed toy.

It was a puppy, naalala ko tuloy si Suzy.

"Hindi ka na galit sa akin?" tanong ni Kale.

Inalis ko ang tingin mula sa stuffed toy at tumingin sa kanya. "Um... galit pa."

"Ano?" gulat niyang tanong.

"Pero may alam akong pwede mong gawin para maalis yun," sabi ko sa kanya habang nangingiti.