Dominika (Pale As Dead I) | COMPLETED

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 - 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

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𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟸, 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝟷 𝚊.𝚖.

Our own rendition of Sparks Fly played from my laptop in the living area. I was in the bathroom, holding up the costume I would be wearing later for the parade.

Today was the start of the annual two-day school festival of Miwako Gakuen. After ng festival, start na ng vacation namin. November na ang balik namin. At first I thought na yung pagpasok namin ay katulad din sa Japan na April ang simula. But katulad pa rin pala ng school year sa Philippines. For me, that was better kasi doon din naman kami sanay.

My phone vibrated against the granite sink so I checked the text from Helen.

𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐚! 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮! 𝐒𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐞!

I smiled and sent her a reply, thanking her for her support. Mas excited pa sila ni Gwen kaysa sa akin para sa parade. They could not stop gushing about it kahapon pa. We met yesterday and hung out sa ATC. Hinatid ako doon ni Shishi bago siya umalis papunta sa gig nila. At seven in the evening, dito naman kami sa condo ni Shishi tumambay. Pumayag din naman si Shishi na dito na lang kami kaysa nasa labas pa kami nang gabi na. Kakauwi lang nila about three hours ago kasi dito rin kami nag-dinner.

I went out of the bathroom and hung the costume from the hook na nasa wall ng hallway. For frames or some other wall decorations yata 'to, but Shishi had none of those kaya ang daming vacant na hooks where I hung my clothes kapag nandito ako.

The clock above the TV ticked one-thirty. Shishi still was not home. I sent him a text kanina, asking kung nasaan na siya but I was yet to receive a reply. Pwedeng pumasok ng kahit anong oras mamaya, but I could not do the same. I had a commitment na dapat nasa school na ako by seven in the morning because of the parade.

Kinakabahan ako kasi ako ang nasa unahan ng parade mamaya, but excited din naman ako. Mula noong nakuha ko yung costume ko, halos araw-araw ko na siyang sinusukat. Naiinis na nga sa akin si Shishi lalo kahapon ng umaga. He woke up and found me wearing my costume and staring at myself in the mirror inside the bathroom that I used. Ang weird ko raw but I did not care. I loved the costume.

It was at one-fifty when I turned off my laptop and laid on the couch that I still used to sleep on every night. Nagsisimula na akong mag-alala. Magte-text naman kasi si Shishi kung talagang uumagahin na siya. Since our last fight, he always made sure to let me know what was going on. He always kept me updated, but ngayon wala siyang sinasabi.

Ako na lang ang nag-text ulit sa kanya. Sana mag-reply na siya kasi nag-aalala na talaga ako. Gusto ko man siyang tawagan, hindi pwede. Magagalit siya. Ayaw niyang tumatawag ako lalo kapag nasa gig siya. He was maarte that way. Saka mas gusto talaga ni Shishi ang text kasi alam niya agad kung ano ang problema at gustong sabihin sa kanya nang hindi siya required na sumagot.

Bumangon ako saglit and went to the bathroom again. Pagkalabas ko, biglang bumukas ang pinto and Shishi came in, holding a small black-and-gold paper bag.

"Hey," nakangiting bati ko sa kanya and walked over to him.

Nasa doorway siya at kakasara niya lang ng pinto. He took off his sneakers and the moment I was in front of him, humarap siya sa akin at bigla na lang bumagsak. Buti na lang, nasalo ko agad siya but dahil sobrang bigat niya for me, I walked us over to the dining table and sat him on one of the chairs.