To Lie and Pretend

Chapter 20: True Happiness

February 1, 2012 

Heather's POV 

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Ang agad na salubong sa akin ni Christian pagkarating na pagkarating niya sa back garden ng St. Martin University nung umagang iyon. 

Napalingon ako sa kanyang direksyon at tumango, at pagkatapos ay muli akong tumingin nang diretso at nagpatuloy lang sa pagtitig sa grasslands na nasa aking harapan. Pagkaraan ay naramdaman ko ang kanyang paglapit sa akin, at mamaya-maya ay umupo na rin siya sa bench na aking pinupwestuhan.

Nandito kami sa school ngayon, and despite the fact that it's Wednesday and it's a school day today, cancelled ang lahat ng classes namin, although we're still required to come dahil may attendance checking. Dito kasi gaganapin ang National Swimming Competition na sinasalihan ni Christian, and the principal wants to make sure that he gets all the support that he needs from the student body, even if it means classes have to get cancelled just so everyone will be present on the day of the event. Yeah, ganun kasikat at kaimportante ang boyfriend ko sa school namin. (~_~)

As of this hour, free time ang lahat ng mga estudyante, kung kaya't malaya kaming mag-roam around kahit saanman sa campus. After lunch period pa naman kasi ang competition, and it was only 9:30 AM at this point.

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions." Sambit ko pagkalipas ng ilang sandali.

Dagli naman siyang napatingin sa aking gawi at tinitigan ako nang maigi.

"What is it?" Tanong niya.

Huminga ako nang malalim at tiningnan na rin siya nang diretso.

"You were completely aware of everything, weren't you? Right from the start, you already found out about Hailey's whole act, am I correct?"

Madaling may namuong maliit na ngiti sa kanyang mga labi, and a slight chuckle escaped from his lips afterwards.

"Of course, I did." Sagot niya. "After all, I've known you for more than ten years, Heather. We've been classmates ever since we were in pre-school. We've been friends ever since we were children. And you've been my girlfriend for more than a year already. Siyempre naman, hindi na kagulat-gulat na ma-re-realize ko agad-agad na hindi talaga ikaw ang kasama ko. It's already so expected."

Nanatili pa rin akong nakatitig sa kanya.

"Then all this time, why did you continue to pretend as if you didn't know anything at all? Even though the fact still remains that right from the beginning, you've completely seen through Hailey's entire façade." Pag-uusisa ko.

Napatingala siya.

"Sapagkat alam kong may dahilan ka rin kung bakit mo yun kinailangang ipagawa sa kakambal mo. And I didn't want to ruin your whole plan and waste all of your efforts by pointing out the mere fact that I already knew the truth."

Dagli ko namang inilayo ang aking tingin sa kanya at yumuko pagkatapos.

"And yet, in the end, despite the fact that you were only pretending of not knowing anything, your whole act faltered because of the reality that you fell unexpectedly and unpredictedly in love with my twin sister." Ang mariin na tugon ko.

Inilayo na rin niya ang kanyang tingin sa akin, at halatang-halata ang panghihinayang at pagkailang sa ekspresyon sa kanyang mukha.

Naging tahimik sa pagitan naming dalawa nang ilang sandali, at pawang ni isa sa amin ay hindi talaga makapagsalita nung mga oras na iyon. Ilang beses ako napatingin sa gawi ni Christian, pero patuloy pa rin siya sa paglayo ng kanyang titig sa akin. Pagkaraan ay tumingin muli ako nang diretso at malalim na nagbuntong-hininga.