keira || ✔️

2

A r k i n.
After that incident, I started hanging out with Keira. Ang saya niyang kasama at sobrang daldal pa. I never get bored when I'm with her.

First time ko ring makipag-usap sa totoong tao at hindi lang puro sketchpad o canvas ang kaharap ko.

Katulad na lang nito. "Alam mo ba, there was a time na super bangag ko, to the point na muntik ko nang i-shampoo yung PH care!"

I laughed at her story, thinking it was a joke pero hindi pala. "Seryoso ba 'yan?"

"Buti nga muntikan lang eh!" Nakisabay na rin siya sakin sa pagtawa. She stopped laughing and stared at me.

Nang ma-conscious ako sa pagtitig niya, tumigil na rin ako sa pagtawa. Nabigla ako nang bigla niya akong kinurot sa pisngi. "Masakit! Aray, masakit nga!"

She smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry, I can't help it. Ang cute mo kasi tumawa!"

I smiled at her comment pero nawala din iyon nang sabihin niyang, "Bleh! Naniwala ka naman!" At saka siya muling tumawa nang malakas.

--

"Hindi mo ba namimiss sila Cloe?," tanong ko sa kanya.

We were laying side by side at the back of my pick-up truck. Pinuno kasi iyon ni Keira ng mga comforter at saka ako inobligang mangako na kahit anong mangyari ay hindi ako papayag na may ibang humiga doon kasama ako.

Siya lang daw kasi ang may karapatan dahil idea naman niya ang lahat ng iyon.

"Not really. Mukhang ayos lang naman sa kanila na wala ako sa grupo eh!"

"Ewan ko... Ikaw naman kasi. Kasama mo yung mga pinakasikat sa campus pagkatapos pinagpalit mo sila sakin."

"Willing naman akong maging kaibigan sila kaso ayaw nilang maging kaibigan kita."

"Talaga? Bakit daw?," pang-uusisa ko pa.

"Let's not talk about them, okay?" She bit her lip, as if thinking. "I'll tell you a secret. Basta hwag mong ipagsasabi sa iba."

"Ok. I promise I won't tell anybody."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

I did cross my heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Here it goes." Huminga siya ng malalim. "I'm a writer."

"What? Really?"

"Uh-huh. Hindi halata, 'no?"

I laughed. "Hindi halata eh."

--

“I feel like I'm inside a cage--
A four-walled cage with no roof.
Every step I take, every turn my head makes,
The walls in this cage compress -- tightening the space around me.
Everytime I look up - hoping to steal a glance of the blue, vast sky - I see faces of people I don't even know.
And what's worse?
They're whispering at each other's ears, look at me in amusement, then laugh.
Their laughters were just so shrill I can hear them over and over again - growing louder every minute.
I want to escape but I can't.
I just can't.
Why?
My hands and feet were tied behind my back by metal cuffs, clasped to a wall.
Ah. I remember now who did all of this to me.
It was them.
No, not the faces clouding and covering the sky but them, who were much closer to me.
I told them about my fascinating dreams and breath-taking adventures right under their noses... but they didn't believe me.
One day, I asked for a drink, it was a while before they came back.
And when I drank, I feel like my head's being blown away from my body.
Crying, a woman came to me, held my face, and said: "Sorry, but we have to do this for your sake."
Her voice was too melancholic and gloomy that I can hear it over and over again.
It was too painful for my ears but I can't stop its playing over and over again - growing louder every second, every minute.”

"Keira, this is really good," sabi ko sa kanya habang paulit-ulit na binabasa ang ipinabasa niya saking tulang siya mismo ang nagsulat.

"You really think so?," she asked quietly.

I nodded. "Kung magiging writer ako, ganito sana kagaling..."

Napangiti siya sa sinabi ko. She pouted and told me, "At kung magiging painter ako, sana kasinggaling mo."

Saglit siyang natigilan. "That gives me an idea!"

"Ano na naman 'yang idea mo? Game ako dyan basta hindi tayo malalagot sa school admin"

"Tuturuan kitang magsulat at tuturuan mo akong magpaint! Di ba, exciting?"

Napaisip ako. Hindi na masama. Ayos lang naman sakin.

"Okay then. Deal."