Jaimie sat down beside me and gave the transferees a momentary glance before looking at me. “Hey…” she said, her voice back to its sing songy self, “infairness, ma-appeal din sila no? Lalo na yung si Theo?”
The class went on just like any other day ---- except the fact that some of the girls whispered excitedly into their seatmates ears as they stole clandestine glances at the five guys ---- lalo na kay Theo. Others just stared openly. A few of the guys sat slumped back in their chairs, eyebrows raised as if to yell that they couldn’t care less about him, or anyone, or anything, while others chatted amongst themselves.
Jamie nudged me by the elbow, her face beaming with so much happiness “Dali,tignan mo o! Ang gwapo lang nya. Lalo na yung side profile nya.”
Finally giving up, I turned to look at Theo. He was talking to Jake at the moment, hand on his desk— and then turned around and caught me staring at him. I slapped myself mentally. Kung kelan naman ako tumingin, nahuli nya pa ako! Fail, Dane. >.< I looked down for a moment and drew invisible stars on the white surface of my desk with one finger to cover up my embarrassment. Grabe! Para tuloy akong bata na nahuli na may ginagawang kasalanan. Si Jaimie kasi.
-oOo-
“Thank God for a lunch breakkkkk! Gutom na kaya ako!”
“Ako rin. Nagsave na ata sila Nate ng seat sa canteen. Tara?” Tumango sya at binigyan ako ng isang nakakalokong-ngiti.
“Kaw na talaga swerte kay Nate!…” Ugh. How many times should I tell her that Nate and I are just friends? Ang linaw-linaw na nga ng pagkakasabi ko e. “Hey isn’t that Jake? Parang pupunta sa direction natin.”
Jake gave everyone else a vaguely interested glance and a cheeky smile towards me while taking along stride to catch us. “Babe!” he said with a small nod.
“Tara! Punta tayo ng canteen! Nagugutom na ako at ipapakilala na rin kita ng lubusan sa mga kaibigan ko.” My face must have shown some kind of reaction before I could catch it, because he added, “Tara na babe!” while dragging me along with him.
Nung dumating kami sa canteen, nandun na rin yung mga kaibigan nya. Enjoy na enjoy sila habang kumakain at nagtatawanan. Something that made me smile ---- how priceless and perfect their friendship is.
They were kind enough to accept and welcome me as their new friend. Although someone's not really liking the idea I think. Napaka-poker face naman kasi nitong si Theo.
Nginitian ko silang lahat.And they all started clapping and cheering. It looked like they lost their mind--- they were crazy but in a good way. Nakakatuwa sila.
“Yun yun e!” sabi ng isa sa kanila.
Dale opened his mouth and closed it… and opened it again.
“Ang gandaaaaaa mo!” He exclaimed, pulling the chair so I could sit and join them. Tapos bigla syang binatukan ni Jake. “Wes! Akin sya.” Jake chided.
“Mga pare! Pakiramdam ko eto na talaga!Tinadhana ata kami para sa isa’t-isa.” I stared at him clearly amused. Srsly, where is this going? Ang baliw lang nitong si Jake.
“Kaya, promise nyo ha! Walang talo-talo dito!” He warned them, the other guys nodded their head in agreement. And I noted Theo’s reaction. It was different from them --- he rolled his eyes! Anong problema nya?! Taray lang ni kuya ha.
“Di ba, babe?”
“Kasi… wala pa akong balak magkaboyfriend e.”.I glanced at Jake’s direction as if telling him that he can’t claim me just like that---- kasi hindi naman ako laruan para lagyan ng tag na ‘mine’ o ‘personal property’ e. Because really, that didn’t sound good at all.
I excused myself from them and just before I could exit the canteen to look for Jaimie, narinig kong nagsalita si Theo. “Ewan ko sa'yo. Sa dami-dami kasi ng pwedeng maging babae sya pa. Mukha namang walang alam sa buhay yung nagustuhan mo at tipong trophy-girlfriend lang, yung pang-display lang kumbaga. Hayaan mo na yun.”
I felt my heart sink. Seryoso sya? Ni hindi nya pa nga ako kilala ng maigi e. Really! Akala ko pa naman okay sya! *sigh*
Teka, ano ba 'tong iniisip ko? I mean, it's normal for me to hear something like that in this school. Pero nung nanggaling na sa kanya, bakit parang iba yung dating? Nakaka-down ng mood. :L
Phew. Dane. Stop it,really. Hindi na 'to maganda.
