Beyond Loving You

02

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"What are you doing here?" kunot ang noo ko nang makita si Tristan sa labas ng bahay. Nakasandal siya sa gilid ng sasakyan niya na tila nag-aabang. He was on his phone before I announced my presence and he looked bored when he looked up to me.

"Just serving the duties of an obedient son," he said sarcastically as he stood up properly and opened the door for me. I smirked, knowing fully well what he meant with that.

It's the first day of another school year, my last year in high school. Hindi ko alam kung anong mararamdaman dahil kahit ito na ang huling taon ko sa high school, alam ko naman iyong dami ng pagdaraanan ko bago matapos ito. Iniisip ko pa lang iyong college admission tests na kailangan kong pag-aralan at ipasa ay nai-stress na ako.

Hindi ko naman inaasahan na susunduin ako ni Tristan. Kael always picks me up from home para isabay papunta sa school. If there are instances when he couldn't make it, nariyan naman ang driver namin.

"Would they even find out if you didn't pick me up from here?" natatawang tanong ko nang nakasakay na kaming dalawa sa sasakyan niya. It felt weird to be riding with him going to school. The past school years, we've never even talked to each other. But now in our last year of high school, we're suddenly friends.

"Would your mom not tell on me to my mom?" he retorted back and I couldn't help but snort because he was right. "Their the best of friends now, you know. And their hawk-eyes are on us."

I couldn't agree more.

Habang nasa daan ay tinext ko si Kael para sabihing hindi niya ako kailangang sunduin. He didn't reply which is unusual because he's always on his phone. Siguro ay hindi pa gising iyon.

Pagkarating sa campus ay sa bulletin board agad ang tungo namin para tingnan kung saang room kami. Since our school is STEM-oriented, we were divided into what science core we want to major in—Chemistry, Biology, Physics. Mine's Biology while Tristan and Kael chose Physics.

Hindi ko pinansin iyong tinginan sa amin ng ilang schoolmates habang naglalakad. Hindi ko alam kung para saan 'yon pero hula ko ay dahil katabi ko itong heartthrob nila.

I was never the friendly type at school. I always managed to seclude and detach myself from others. Kung hindi ko sila kinakausap, intimidated naman sila. Siguro ay ito iyong naging epekto sa akin ng pagpapalaki nila mommy sa akin. I mean, I'm not talking about the process of their upbringing in general, but only the part where they make me meet certain people.

"See you later," paalam ni Tristan nang mahanap kung saan iyong room nila. Tipid lang akong kumaway sa kanya bago naglakad papunta sa kabilang direksyon.

Since it was just the first day of classes, the meetings were all light. Para sa unang period ng Lunes ay ang homeroom. Half an hour has already passed but our adviser still wasn't around. Abala ang mga classmates ko sa pakikipag-usap sa mga kaibigan nila habang nanatili lang akong nakaupo sa pwesto ko at suot ang earpods.

I was getting irritated. If the teacher isn't gonna meet us today, she should've informed us. Kapag ganitong wala akong ginagawa ay nangangati akong lumayo at magpaka-abala. And I was already on the verge of doing that—going out of the classroom and maybe go to Kael's—when our homeroom teacher finally made appearance. Mabilis na nagsi-upuan iyong mga classmates ko habang ako ay inayos ang buhok para matakpan ang earpods sa tenga.

It's just homeroom anyway. The teacher's only gonna check attendance and then maybe give some house rules and other reminders and announcements. Alam ko namang uulitin lang kung ano na iyong sinasabi dati pa. The only difference now is she's brought along a new face.