Dating Alys Perez (PUBLISHED)

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

How come when you want something so badly, it never felt like the universe will help you get it? Wasn't that supposed to be the other way around? For me, it felt like everything, everyone conspired for me to be miserable.

"Tama na 'yan, okay?"

I was at the dining room. Hindi ako pumupunta sa shop ko because lately, everything felt so tiring. Parang wala na akong ganang mabuhay.

My Mom suddenly snapped out and looked at me. "That's it. You're going with us later," she said.

I arched my brow. "Where?" sabi ko sabay abot sa coffee ko. 

"Fund raiser."

"Mom!"

She shook her head. "No, Alys. I've had enough of your sighs and silence. You're going."

I looked at her with pleading eyes. Ayoko talagang pumunta sa fund raisers. Sure, maganda yung goal nila pero... I hate being sold! The last time I went there was when I was 14 and I was sold for half a million tapos I was forced to spend my time dancing with that jerk face Lourd Sandoval!

"Nope. Not working. Pick out a nice dress. I'll have manong drive you later."

"Pushover," I commented.

"Still not working, Alys. I'll go, okay? See you later, honey."

And so I was left with no choice. Pupunta ako sa fund raising ball even though I hate it... no, I loathe it.

Time passed by and I didn't even notice it. All day, I was staring at my phone, even so blindly hoping that maybe, just maybe, Tripp will have the decency to send me a message. I mean, we're not over, right? We're taking a break, all right, but we're not done. We're not done.

I even passed by his facebook account and I saw that he's posting pictures. Photography has always been his thing. Nung nasa New York kami, he'd bug me to be his model pero ngayon, wala na. Sayang lahat kung mawawala na lang bigla.

A picture grabbed my attention while I was browsing through his albums. 

"Kei..." that was all that had left my mouth. 

In the picture, she was walking at the airport while looking at her hand phone. The picture looked so innocent yet there's something... there's something that hurt my heart.

Hindi naman pwede, di ba? She'd never betray me. Not like this. Alam na alam niya kung ano ang pinagdaanan namin ni Tripp. Hell she's been there while we're struggling to be together. Ni hindi ko naisip na kahit minsan, she'll betray me. She's the closest thing I have for a sister next to Aya. 

My hands were shaking while scanning the album. There were snapshots of her, all stolen. And when everything was all too heavy, I closed my laptop and gave it a rest.

No, she'll never hurt me. 

Tumayo ako at naghanda. Mom was right; I've been wallowing in self pity I actually forgot how to live. There's more to life than this mess I'm in. I need a breather. I need to see that my life was actually still worth living, that the people around me were still worth trusting.

I picked out a black dress and a nice shoes to go with it. True to my mother's words, manong fetch me about quarter to seven.

"Nandun na po ba sila mommy?" I asked him.

Manong nodded and concentrated on driving.

While I was busy watching the busy streetlights of Makati streets, my phone beeped. It was a text from Kei that said, "Where you at? Fund raising event. Are you gonna be there?"