MONTGOMERY 1 : Caught (Published under PSICOM)

Kabanata 8

Protecting

"The people here are creepy." napabuntong hininga ako sa sinabi ni Alice. Nandito kami ngayon sa cafeteria ng building namin.

"Huh? Why?" Tanong ni Clyde habang umuupo sa tabi ni Tulip. I was just observing everybody.

I noticed how people gasped and be giddy nang dumating ang mga pinsan ko. I also noticed how Uno pushed Clyde a little bit para makatabi siya kay Tulip. Damn! Bakit ba pati yon napapansin ko pa?

"Binubully kayo?" Naagaw ni Adrian ang atensyon ko. I didn't hear what they're talking about so hindi ko alam bakit napasok bigla ang bully?

"No kuya. Ibig kong sabihin.. kanina kasi may kumukuha ng chair namin. Maybe one of the oh so called jocks pero nabanggit lang yung pangalan nung Claveria.. umurong na." Oh.. she was talking about that. Kakagat sana ako sa burger ko nang tumingin sila lahat sa akin.

"What?" Tanong ko bago kumagat.

"Claveria? As in Osiris Claveria? Yung nirereto sayo?" Tanong ni Dos. Sinamaan ko siya ng tingin kasabay non ang pagtaas niya ng dalawa niyang kamay.

"Yeah.." matipid kong sagot. I hate it pag ako ang topic. Ano ba yan? Change topic please.

"So.. he's protecting you?" Kumunot ang noo ko sa tanong ni Adrian.

"Kuya! Hindi naman si Osiris ang tinutukoy na Claveria" maagap na sinabi ni Alice.

"Change topic. Hindi naman natin to dapat pinaguusapan." Saad ko pero parang wala silang naririnig.

Damn!

"Then who?" Tanong ni Adrian. I glared at him pero wala pa rin.

I don't want to hear his name. Please.

"Yung Evander daw" napa-facepalm nalang ako at pinag patuloy ang pagkain.

"The captain? Hindi ba ay ayaw sa atin non?" Yeah, Uno's right. Ayaw niya sa atin.. that's why it's very confusing. Very very confusing.

"I don't know. Basta yon ang sabi kanina." Ani Alice at nagkibit-balikat.

"Why is he protecting someone from our plot?" Tanong ni Uno. Because he's a jerk. A total jerk.

"Maybe.. he likes Alice? Or Adrianna?" Ani Carl.

Of course not! Masama lang talaga ang ugali niya kaya ganon. Why are they pushing this thing?

"Baka naman inutusan lang ni Osiris yung kapatid niya? I mean.. Osiris is the good one." Napabuga ako ng hangin sa sinabi ni Alice. Totally not true!

"No. Believe me or not. Osiris is a manipulative jerk person. He made a deal with me to act like we are getting to know each other sa harap ng dad niya but I think he won't go that far like protecting me." Saad ko. I can see that they didn't like what I said.

"As in act like lovey dovey?" Tanong ni Tulip. Pinilig ko ang ulo ko. I can't do that.

"No.. it's like, act like we're trying." Wika ko atsaka kumagat ng burger muli.

"Damn that guy." Tatayo na sana si Adrian pero pinigilan ko siya.

"Stop it, Ad. Hayaan nalang natin. Dad's reputation remember." I saw how eager he was to punch Osiris' face pero hindi pwede. Maybe sa Manila nagagawa nila yon pero dito sa Cebu, hindi pwede.

"Okay.. basta pag may ginawa siya sayo. Tell us, we're gonna beat the shit out of him." Napangiti ako sa sinabi ni Uno. I nodded my head. Atleast kumalma na si Adrian.

He can be somehow.. protective.

"Paano pala yung birthday mo?" Tanong ni Kuya Carl kay Tulip. Huminga ng malalim si Tulip at binaba ang kinakain niya.