We Just Are (GU #1.5)

15 : help

Hindi ako kaagad nakasagot kay Onyx. Well, isa lang naman ang sasabihin ko - ayoko. Ayokong makipag-usap sa kanya. At ang kapal lang talaga ng mukha niyang magpakita ngayon dito na tila hindi nangyari 'yung kagabi.

Right now, I was not even nervous. Wala siyang magagawa laban sa amin ni Slade dahil nasa loob pa kami ng school grounds.

And this was our advantage. Kaya't nagtataka ako kung bakit hindi pa siya tinataboy ni Slade.

Tumingin ako kay Slade at nagtaka't nagulat nang makitang kalmado siya. Na tila hindi si Onyx itong nasa harapan namin.

Pero mas nagulat ako nang magsalita si Slade. "You go, CN." Sabay turo sa direksyon ni Onyx.

Napaawang ang bibig ko. Did I hear it right? Pumayag siyang makausap ko si Onyx? There's something going on in here. At hindi ko na naitanong pa kung ano iyon dahil nagsalita na naman si Slade. "I'll get inside." Ngumiti siya sa akin na tila sinasabing wala akong dapat na ikabahala saka dinugtong, "Just get in when you're done."

At bago ko pa malaman ay nakapasok na si Slade sa loob ng sasakyan at hindi ko na makita pa ang mukha niya dahil sa tinted na bintanang naghihiwalay sa aming dalawa. I was clueless. Kanina ko pa hindi maintindihan kung bakit tila okay lang kay Slade ang lahat. At nagawa niya pa akong iwanan dito sa labas para makausap ni Onyx.

Nakatingin pa rin ako sa bintana nang mayroon akong narinig na nagsalita.

"I already talked to him, CN," ani Onyx.

And that one sentence expalined it all. So they talked. And why did I have this feeling that it was Onyx, the important thing Slade had to attend earlier at lunch?

Doon ko na siya hinarap. Somehow it made sense. Tapos na silang mag-usap kaya ganoon na lang ang reaksyon ni Slade kay Onyx ngayon. That was why there was no violent reaction I got from my boyfriend. Kaya ang bilis-bilis niyang pumayag na kausapin ako ni Onyx. Now, I wondered what did Onyx tell him.

Napansin siguro ni Onyx ang pagbabago ng reaksyon ko. Because it did. Learning that he and Slade already talked, l let my defenses down a bit. Kaya't dahil dito'y naglakas loob nang magpatuloy si Onyx. "First off, I want to apologize." He breathed out, a heavy one. "I know, what I did cannot be easily forgiven, but I want to say sorry for it. Ask apologies for it. Kahit hindi pa ngayon. Basta siguro, sa takdang panahon, mapatawad mo ako, CN."

Okay. I didn't expect that. Actually, wala ni isa sa sinabi ni Onyx ang inaasahan ko. And I started to question if he was really Onyx - the one who bullied us. Because there was no trace of that bully Onyx to the guy I was looking at right now.

"What changed?" I asked suddenly. "Why are you telling me all of that right now? What happened?" Honestly, as I was asking him this, there was a single person who came into my mind. But I guessed, I just wanted to hear it from Onyx.

Malungkot siyang napangiti. "Kleo happened," amin niya. "I don't know if she told you already but she and I got a history."

I thought there was no point of lying so I nodded. "She did," sagot ko. "Nakwento niya na ang tungkol sa inyong dalawa."

"Hanggang saan?" puno ng kuryosidad na tanong ni Onyx.

I shrugged. "Just enough," tugon ko. "Just enough to know what went wrong and to learn the cause why are you guys are like that right now."

Napabuga ng hangin si Onyx. "Guess you just get a worse impression of me now, huh? Much, much worse than before?"

Blanko ko lang siyang tiningnan. He was right about that but he needed not to know about that anymore. Isa pa, naalala ko 'yung pinag-usapan namin ni Slade kaya't pinipigilan kong maging judgemental at pakinggan ang anumang sasabihin ni Onyx.