When I Chase (When #1)

Chapter Seven

The next morning, a box of red velvet cupcake was delivered in our house. Kahit walang card o kahit anong note ay alam ko na agad kung kanino galing ang mga iyon.

Grant.

He probably sent it as an attempt to apologize through his actions. It made me smile and surprisingly became the highlight of my day.

I must admit, being ditched in the mall wasn't such a novelty. Pero hindi ko naman magagawang magalit sa kanya. It's not like we were really friends. Wala siyang obligasyon na samahan ako. Maybe the whole 'walking out' thing was rude and a goodbye would have been nice, but you would need to do something monumental to earn my wrath.

Sa sumunod na araw ay in-accept naman niya ang friend request ko sa facebook. It was like an invitation to stalk him that I couldn't resist. So I spent the whole night browsing his feed and it was slightly useless because I hardly learned anything about him.

Bukod sa tagged photos at instagram photos niya ay wala nang kahit ano sa profile ni Grant. It was free from any posts from him. Sa activity feed niya naman ay puro like lang ang nakikita ko. Hindi siya pala-post at hindi rin siya pala-comment.

I even browsed his instagram account. Thankfully, it wasn't private. Karaniwan ng post niya ay iba't ibang lugar, mga bagay, at pagkain. He has only few photos of himself. Halatang hindi siya mahilig mag selfie.

Hindi ko siya nakita sa loob ng dalawang araw na iyon. Aside from facebook, I don't know any other way to reach him. And... why am I even thinking of reaching him anyway?

It's my last class for today and the professor was done with his lecture early but refused to dismiss us. Ngayon ay maingay ang lahat sa pagkukwentuhan at walang paki ang professor doon. He's too busy with his laptop to care.

"Sobrang adrenaline rush." narinig kong sabi ng isa sa mga nag-uusap sa likuran ko. Hindi ko mapigilan ang mapatingin at sumawsaw sa usapan para mag tanong.

"What is?" tanong ko na nagpalingon sa kanilang lahat sa akin. Ngumisi ako sa kanila at ang babaeng nagsasalita kanina ay ngumiti din sa akin. I know her. She's Ynez. Kaklase ko siya sa isang major subject last year.

"Drag racing. I watched it with my friends the other night. Kahit na hindi ako kasali sa race, nakakakaba."

Napanguso ako. Drag racing means speed, car, and competition.

Naalala ko tuloy ang pag dala sa akin ni Logan noon sa isang race track ng kaibigan niya. I remember  asking him if I could try it. Logan said it was dangerous but we ended up compromising with one lap. Ipinahiram ng kaibigan niya ang mabilis at magandang ferrari. The speed was highly addicting. It felt damn good. After one lap, I ended up wanting to do it again, but I promised Logan one lap and I always keep my promises.

I wonder how it would feel if I was racing against someone...

"You should come sometimes." imbita niya sa akin.

"Isn't it illegal?" tanong ko.

Natawa siya sa akin at tumango. "Oo, kapag nahuli. But I think it's more fun that way."

"Then you should text me kapag meron ulit."

"Sure. I'll send you a text. You're still using your old number, right?" nakangiting tumango ako sa kanya bilang sagot.

The usual sound blared on the room's speakers whenever it's the end of every period. Tulad ko ay hindi ko na hinintay ang pag dismiss ng professor. I stood up from my chair, saying my goodbyes to them before leaving the room.

May gig ako mamayang gabi. I'm gonna sing new hits later. Tatanggap rin ako ng dalawang song request. My set list depends on my mood sometimes. Minsan ay puro heartbreaking songs ang kinakanta ko, minsan ay depende sa genre na ginagawan ko ng sariling version.