Campus Royalties (Kingdom University, #1) | Published under Psicom Publishing

Chapter 10

I was still trying to calm down when my phone suddenly rang. Maging sina Alice ay napatigil sa pagtawa nila. Pagtingin ko, number niya ang naka-display.

Ugh, why did he return my call?! Pwede bang huwag na lang sagutin?

"Hoy, sagutin mo 'yan, ikaw unang tumawag," angil ni Jess.

"Technically, it's you," I grumbled.

Huminga ako nang malalim at hinanda ang sarili ko. Right. Ako ang may kailangan ngayon. Come on, Steff. Lower your pride for a few seconds. Kaya mo 'to.

My hands trembled as I answered the call. "H-hello?"

"Aha, so ikaw nga talaga 'yan, Tiffany."

Kahit hindi ko nakikita ang mukha niya ay na-i-imagine ko na agad ang nakakainis at mayabang niyang ngiti. Nagsimulang mag-init ang ulo ko nang maisip 'yon.

"Ano—"

"Kumusta? Are you recovering well?"

Hindi agad ako nakapagsalita. My brain fizzed for a second. I was expecting him to be all high and mighty after what he did, so I had a hard time processing his words.

"Hello? Binabaan na naman ba ako . . . hindi naman. Hello?"

"Is this Darryl Garcia?" tanong ko.

He was silent for three seconds. "Huh?"

"Baka kasi wrong number lang."

"Ha-ha," he laughed mockingly. "You know I can be civil, too, if needed."

Napasinghap ako nang marinig ko 'yon at muling napatingin sa screen. Was this really the Darryl Garcia I know?

Bakit? Anong sabi? mouthed Jess, but I ignored them and placed the phone on my ear again.

"Please stop," sabi ko. "That's creepy."

He laughed again, but this time, it sounded genuine. "Mukhang okay ka na nga. So, bakit ka napatawag? Miss mo na ako, bebe girl?"

Kinilabutan ang buong katawan ko nang marinig ko 'yon. I grimaced in disgust. "Eww. Kadiri ka."

Isang malakas na pagtawa ang narinig ko sa kabilang linya habang pinanlakihan naman ako ng mga mata ng tatlo. Crap. May kailangan nga pala ako sa kanya. I had to be nice.

I cleared my throat. "Uhh, a-anyway, I have a favor to ask."

"Hm?" he intoned.

"May I know your parents' contact number?" tanong ko. "I want to thank them for saving our lives."

"Okay, I'll tell them to go there tomorrow."

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang marinig ko 'yon. "Huh?! No, wait—! That's not what I—!"

"Anything else?"

I was still panicking over what he just said pero naalala ko rin bigla ang isa ko pang kailangan sa kanya.

"Uhm . . . n-notes . . ." I murmured.

"Huh? Hindi kita marinig."

"Notes," I repeated, this time clearer. "If pwedeng pakopya ng notes sa Psych 1."

"Oohh." Napakunot ang noo ko dahil halatang nagyayabang ang tono niya. "Sige, pero sabihin mo muna please."

Ugh, he was clearly enjoying this. I'd rather borrow someone else's notes than beg for his!

"Ah, okay, sige bye sa iba na lang pala ako manghihiram—"

"Pero sige, dahil mabait ako, papahiramin kita."