The Night Queen

Chapter 8

c h a p t e r        e i g h t

2019, October
Scott University, Philippines, 9 a.m.

RAIN'S POV

When I said king of infinite assholeness, I meant it. F— that jerk.
Everyone was looking and laughing at me.

My face is all over the place. And when I say all over the place, I meant literally!

Posters, cards and tarps were all with pictures of me. Nakatingin lang ako sa buong bulletin na sobrang lawak na puno ng mukha ko.

I closed my eyes trying not to kill that one piece of shit. Nagmulat ako at nagsimulang tanggalin ang mga iyon.

"AH! AH! GOODMORNING S.U!!!!" sigaw ng taong may hawak na megaphone. Unti unting nahawi ang kumpulan ng mga tao at lumabas doon ang lalaking iyon habang nakangiti ng maluwag.

Panay naman ang tilian ng mga nanonood. Sa likod niya ay may nakasunod na anim na lalaki. Parang pamilyar. Ah! Iyong mga kalalakihang may iba't ibang kulay ng buhok. Tss. Kaya naman pala.

Huminto siya sa harap ko at tinignan ang hawak kong mga poster na kakapunit ko lang. "I paid for that, thank you." He snatched it from my grip and looked at it as though it was something to be at awe.

I'm really going to kill him. "Who gave you the permission to use my photo?" I confronted him directly. Hindi ko naman pwedeng paabutin kay Dad ang nangyayari dahil una sa lahat ayaw kong pinapakialaman nila ako at ikalawa, mabubuking ako kung bigla nalang may malaking tulong ang naganap. My goal here is to stay low as possible and this jerk is making the work harder.

"So, do you claim that this ugly face is yours?" litanya niya gamit ang megaphone na rinig ng lahat. Nagtawanan naman sila. Kita ko sa dulo ng mga mata ko na nanonood iyong grupo ng babae kahapon at may ngising tagumpay sa mga mukha nila.

Bumalik ako sa bulletin board para ituloy ang ginagawa ko nang biglang hilain niya ako sa kamay ngunit may pumatid sa paa ko dahilan ng pagkaupo ko sa matigas at malamig na semento.

Nagtawanan sila lalo na iyong taong walang iba kundi iyong babaeng may kulay pink na buhok. Siya lang naman ang pumatid sa akin.

"Why would you do that?" may pagkainis na sabi ng siraulo sa purita niya. Natigil naman sila sa pagtawa.

"I was just trying to hel-"

"I'll do it my way so back off," he told her. What's with that sudden counterattack? Tss. Tapos bigla niyang nilahad ang palad niya. Siraulo ba siya? Kagagawan nila ito tapos nagpapanggap na parang tutulong? Malala na nga talaga siya. Sobrang lala.

Tinaasan ko siya ng kilay saka tumayo at pinagpagan ang sarili ko. Hinigit ko ang megaphone sa kamay niya at inihampas sa sahig.

Pero siyempre, biro lang iyon. I don't let more people know of my existance. It's certainly harder to move low right now that these shits kept on happening.

Tinalikuran ko sila at naglakad paalis doon. Mabuti nalang at hindi na sila nakialam. Saktong nakarating ako sa room namin nang tumunog ang bell.

Hindi na ako naupo sa dati kong inupuan. That's right. I'll just let them do what they want to do and stay out of their radar. The lesser intervention, the lesser attention.

Nasa kabilang dulo na ako ng row na iyon. May dalawang upuan na nasa pagitan ng upuan ko at upuan ng siraulo. Hindi ko pinansin ang mga taong dumating kahit na panay pa rin ang tsismisan nila.

Hindi rin nagtagal pumasok iyong dalawa kasunod ay ang propesora. Pinalabas niya ang mga libro at nagsimula na sa aralin. Tuloy tuloy lang ito hanggang matapos ang oras. Sumunod ay hindi na lecture dahil announcement lang.

Dahil sa malapit na ang katapusan ng Oktubre, kailangan raw naming mamili ng mga club na sasalihan namin. Nalalapit na kasi ang University Fair.

Hindi na ako nagpabagal bagal na lumabas ng silid nang umalis ang nag-anunsiyo dahil ayaw kong maiwan kasama ang siraulong iyon.

Ginamit ko ang hagdanan para bumaba kaysa sa elevator dahil paniguradong may mga iba pang sasakay at ayaw ko noon. Binilisan ko ang lakad ko papunta sa cafeteria at nagpa-take out ng pagkain saka tinahak ang daan papunta sa garden.

Sa sobrang gutom agad kong nilantakan ang pagkain ko. Pagkatapos ay nagpahinga. Pinag-iisipan ko kung anong gagawin ko sa mga poster ng mukha ko. Kailangang matanggal iyon.

Mukhang kailangan kong bumalik mamayang gabi para lang tanggalin ang mga iyon. Napakalala na talaga ng kondisyon ng taong iyon.

Pabalik na sana ako nang may marinig akong mga boses. Fudge! Umatras ako at naghanap ng pwede kong pagtaguan ngunit walang matino. Napalingon ako sa mga punong nasa bandang kanan at inakyat ito.

However, that half empty box of milk dropped from the paperbag I held. That stupid milk.

Footsteps were coming and getting closer and closer. Mas mahirap pa ang ganito kaysa makipaglaban sa mga assassin. Tss.

"Oh. Someone was just here." I heard a male voice. I can see from some open spaces the back of some people. Lahat lalaki. Don't tell me-

May naglakad palapit sa gatas na nahulog. It only means that he will see me. It was the black haired guy. He picked it up and scan the place.

Don't look up. Don't look up. Damn. He looked up. Sinenyasan ko siyang tumahimik matapos siyang tumingin sa taas at nakita ako.

Will he tell them? Tss. I should've left when I got the chance. Bumalik siya sa mga kasama niya.

"Did you find someone?" tanong noong isa. Ilang segundo pa ang lumipas, may sumagot. "No one. I think they forgot their garbage."

Narinig kong naupo sila sa mga upuan doon. "I'm literally close to kissing the girl I met last night when I heard about the news."

Eww. What is he? A playboy? Tss. "Yeah right. I woke up early in the morning just because he called to say he's got a present."

I don't really care what they're talking about. All I want is to leave. "And the next thing I knew, we walked up to these posters and tarps with the same face."

Oh. Now, it's my business. That prick. The hell he make fun of me. I was going to let this go but now? I don't think so.

"She should've been nice. You know how much I dislike girls who acts tough and all that but on the other side, they're being softy and that is just disgusting. If they're weak then just be it," a familiar voice said. I literally raised an eyebrow. And for the record, if I do so that only means that I'm pissed.

How feminist. Tss. Hindi niya pwedeng sabihan ang isang babae na nagpapanggap lang na matapang. There are girls-women out there who are tougher than male. Not just because they lack physical attributes of being stronger but heck, we have strong will and everything.

Tss. I'll make him regret what he said. "Anyways, atleast I've got something to play with. It's funny though, if you ask me, she kept resisting. Why's that?"

"Maybe she is really tough. I can't wait to see who wins." This is not a game but hell I'd want to see him lose. Serves him right.

"I'll bet on the girl, what's her name again?" tanong noong isa. "Rain? Yeah. That's it. Rain Louise."

"She was adopted and lived in NY since her parents passed away and she's currently living alone," I can see the guy from before, the one with the eye glasses and always carry a laptop or tablet woth him. He's the tech guy, the one who decoded that the footage was frozen.

Those information was just placed for these kinds of reasons. Security purposes is what really makes it. "Blake has signed up for the Tyranny."

Napanting ang tenga ko sa narinig. Don't tell me...

***
The Night Queen
by jrhabellie