CrushMate [COMPLETED]

Chapter 54

FIFTY-FOUR

Kapag daw mahal mo ang isang tao dapat ipaglaban mo at wag mo isuko. Paano pag kaibigan mo na ang may gusto sa mahal mo? Dapat pa bang ipaglaban o dapat ng sumuko?

"So as I was saying kailangan galingan natin for this project para makasama tayo sa Science Fair. May maisu-suggest ka bang projects? For me mas maganda yung Balloon Rocket Car kasi nadedemonstrate nun yung Newton's Third Law of Motion." pag-e explain ko kay Sophia habang nasa room kami talking about our Physics project.

"Uhm Pat I think mas maganda kung maggawa muna tayo ng lists ng projects na maganda then if we can afford the resources and kung ano yung mas madaling gawin at mas maganda, yun na lang yung gawin natin."

"I don't think we have enough time."

"We can. Kaya yan. Hindi naman tayo magkacram eh. Kilos na lang tayo habang mas maaga."

"K." I said as I rolled my eyes.

Hindi talaga ko comfortable sa'min ngayon ni Sophia at hindi ko alam kung bakit parang wala lang sa kanya. Nakafocus lang siya dun sa ginagawa namin. Alam kong yun naman talaga ang dapat gawin pero hindi ko maiwasan na hindi maisip yung alitan sa'min.

"Since nagbigay naman si Ma'am ng extension, pwede tayong gumawa sa weekends. Saan kaya tayo pwedeng gumawa?"

"I don't know."

"Kung sa amin na lang kaya? Pero pwede rin namang sa inyo. Ano sa tingin mo?"

"Ikaw na bahala." wala sa mood kong sagot.

She sighed. "Pat... I know this is hard. To be honest I'm not comfortable at alam kong mas lalo ka na. But this is for our project. Sana gawin mo din ang part mo at kalimutan muna natin yung—"

"Kalimutan? Wow. So you think it's that easy? I'm also trying my best Sophia. Pero hindi talaga matanggal sa isip ko."

Yumuko siya. "Hindi mo pa rin ba ko mapapatawad Patricia?"

Hindi ako sumagot.

"I miss you."

"Enough. Magfocus muna tayo dun sa project. May isa suggest ka pa ba?"

"Pat pwede bang pag-usapan muna natin—"

Hindi ko ulit siya pinatapos sa sasabihin niya. "Not this time Sophia. Not this time. Mas mahalaga ang project natin. Mas importante 'to."

"Mas importante kaysa sa friendship natin?"

"Egg in a bottle, gagamitin natin dun yung properties of air pressure. Dun naman sa Floating balloon, madedemonstrate natin yung buoyancy of warm air. Pwede rin naman yung Jar Compass para mademonstrate yung Earth's magnetic force. Ano sa tingin mo? Pili ka na lang." sabi ko habang sinusulat sa Physics notebook ko yung mga ideas namin. I am trying to change the topic.

In the end, hindi pa din kami nakapagdesisyon ni Sophia dahil dumating na yung teacher namin for the next subject. Napagkasunduan namin na sa house namin gagawin yung SIP sa weekends.

***

"I think it's a nice idea na kayo ni Sophia ang naging magpartners for the project." kasama ko si Ken ngayon sa cafeteria.

"Hell no. I thought ikaw ang magiging partner ko. Why did you choose Zayn? Don't tell me you like him?" I smirked. Halos maibuga naman ni Ken yung choco shake iniinom niya.

"Ano bang sinasabi mo Patricia?! I'm not gay!"

"Oops. Wala akong sinasabi." and then I laughed.

"Loko loko ka talaga. Pero alam mo tingin ko dapat pag-usapan niyo na ni Sophia yan eh. Halos dalawang buwan na ata kayong hindi nagpapansinan."

"It's her fault not mine."

"Patricia, you've known Sophia for your whole life. You can't just throw her out of your life just like that."

"When people are assholes to me, I throw them out of my life Ken."

"Eh bakit naman si Zayn? Napatawad mo siya? Because what? Because you love him? Bakit hindi mo ba mahal si Sophia? Hindi naman siguro niya kasalanan na nainlove din siya dun sa mahal mo and I don't think kasalanan din ni Zayn na noon pa mahal niya na yung bestfriend mo pero ngayon niya lang narealize."

"But it's their choice to fool me."

"They didn't. In some part maybe they did. But Patricia, Sophia is mine and nagawa ko silang patawarin. I still love her. I just want to see her happy. Si Zayn? He's not even my friend pero napatawad ko din siya dahil alam kong siya ang mahal ng mahal ko. And just so you know, this may hurt but you need to accept it. Zayn isn't yours to begin with. He never became yours."

Zayn isn't yours to begin with.

Zayn isn't yours to begin with.

Zayn isn't yours to begin with.

If words can kill, patay na ko ngayon.

Ken just hit me. Ang sakit isampal sa'yo yung katotohanan. But maybe I have to accept the truth. Before ako umalis sa cafeteria, Ken said something to me.

"Magpatawad ka kapag handa ka na Patricia. Walang maitutulong yang pride mo sa'yo. Sa huli magsisisi ka lang din."

***

Saturday came. Inaantay ko na si Sophia dahil sabi niya pupunta daw siya dito ng 9 am kaya maaga akong gumising. Mom and Dad are at work and as usual, maids lang ang kasama ko dito. Hindi ako mapakali. And then I heard the doorbell rang. She already arrived.

"Ma'am andito na po yung kaklase niyo."

"Let her in."

Naumpisahan namin yung project. Medyo mahirap kasi nagdecide pa kami. In the end, yung Floating Balloon yung ginawa namin. Kulang na lang yung Narrative tapos okay na. Hindi naman masyadong kasing hirap ng inakala namin. Siguro dahil na rin nagtutulungan kasi kami.

Bago siya umuwi I decided na kakausapin ko na siya. After all, she's still the same old Sophia I knew. Si Sophia na bestfriend ko. Palabas na sana siya ng front gate when I hugged her. Nagulat siya but eventually, she also hugged me back. And the next thing I knew, we're already crying.

"I'm sorry Sophia. I'm really sorry."

"Ako dapat ang magsabi niyan Pat. Sorry. Sorry kung ako pa. Sorry kung si Zayn pa."

After ng iyakan session namin. We laughed at each other. As if nothing happened.

"Namiss kita." I said.

"Mas lalo naman ako."

"So... friends?" she said as she offered her hand to me.

"Are you kidding me? No." hinawakan ko yung kamay niya. "Bestfriends." I smiled and for the last time bago siya umuwi, I hugged her again.

They say it's okay to give second chances. But that doesn't mean that we have to waste the first one. Ibinaba ko ang pride ko because I know na hindi ko ikasasaya yun. Mas mahalaga pa din si Sophia sa pride na 'to. At mas mahalaga pa din ang pagkakaibigan namin kaysa sa kahit sino pang lalaki na nakilala at makikilala ko. Ken was right.

I just can't throw our friendship like that.