S U A D E L A

22

"Dinner?"

Umiling si Suadela, "Next time. Hinihintay ako ni Mom sa bahay. Sabay daw kaming magdinner."

Luan nodded slowly as he watched Suadela pack up her things.

These past few days, Suadela has been hanging out at Luan's apartment before heading home or whenever she has some vacant time. Sometimes they even have lunch there together, and when she wakes up early, she brings breakfast for both of them to share. They hangout, share meals, work on their schoolworks, and talk. They do all of those stuff in Luan's apartment but in SU, their interaction is limited, especially when Sen is around.

Everything was fine with Suadela because she enjoyed Luan's company when they were alone. It made her happy that they had something that only the two of them knew.

"Bakit?" kunot-noong tanong ni Suadela nang tumayo din ang binata nang tumayo na siya.

"Hatid kita."

"Wag na. Magta-taxi naman ako. Tapusin mo nalang yan." Turo niya sa ginagawa nitong pagche-check.

"No. I'm taking you home."

The corner of Suadela's mouth tugged up, "Ang clingy, sær."

Inirapan lang siya ni Luan na matapos isuot ang white na baseball cap ay nagpatiuna na sa pagpalabas. Suadela did the same. She had his black baseball cap because Luan said she could keep it.

"Anong dinner mo, sær?" pagbubukas ng usapan ni Suadela nang papunta na sila sa sakayan.

Luan glanced at her with amused eyes, "So, hindi na master? Sær na, huh?"

Suadela shrugged. "Ano nga dinner mo?"

"Delivery."

"Ang lungkot naman."

"Ikaw eh." Luan grumbled, putting his hands inside his pockets.

Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Suadela, "Hoooy! nangungunsensya ka ba?"

"Nakokonsensya ka ba?"

"Hindi." Mabilis na sagot ni Suadela at natawa pa.

Luan chuckled, too. When he saw a taxi, he hailed it and the two of them continued talking about random things during the ride.

"Text ka kapag nakauwi ka na." Bilin ni Suadela bago bumaba ng sasakyan.

Luan nodded with a soft smile. "Good night, mæm."

Suadela looked back and waved, grinning. "Night, sær..."

Nakalayo na ang taxi ay nanatili pa rin si Suadela sa labas ng gate at nakatanaw dun.

Then, she got a text.

Pasok na. I'll text you when I get home.

It's Luan. How did he know she was still outside if he was not also looking back? Suadela bit her lower lip at the thought.

Cute.

Suppresing her smile, she opened their gate only to step back quickly when she was greeted by someone's fist.

"Nice, reflex." Smirking, the woman casually crossed her arms on her chest.

Suadela widened her eyes while looking at the woman with bob-cut hair in a black tank top. She saw a tattoo of flowers from the left side of her neck down to her left wrist that was not even there the last time she saw her.

"Was that your boyfriend?"

Suadela frowned. What is Soteria doing here?

"Ria, kapatid mo na ba yung dumating— "