Inkheart

Part 7

"Nana! Aalis na po ako, ha?" Sigaw ko habang sinisintas ang tali ng sapatos ko. Nakaupo ako sa dulo ng hagdan when I heard nearing footsteps. Nana Esther popped up in the dining hall.

"Ang aga mo naman ata, hija? Hindi pa ako tapos maghanda ng agahan mo." She said with words dipped with confusion. "Teka, nainom mo na ba ang maintenance mo?" Marahan at malumanay niyang tanong. My head jerked up. I wonder why she's checking if I took my meds everytime. Mas napapadalas pa these past few weeks.

"Yes, Nana." I stood up to give Nana a kiss and waved goodbye. I made my way through the front door and I suddenly stopped in a halt when I remembered something.

"Nana, I'll be inviting Spade, Quesiah, Akira, and Ashanie later. Is that okay?" She looked shocked at my sudden announcement, but immediately gathered herself and gave me a smile— a sad one, then nods.

Hindi ko alam kung ano bang nangyayari kina Nana at Manong Nestor. When I'm blabbering about the guys, they'll always give me that kind of smile. That's a little weird, but I managed to just shrugged it off. Probably, it's all in my head.

I even remembered their stares when I first invited the guys to come over and stay for the rest of the night. Their looks are a mixture of pity and sadness. Why are they even sad that I have friends now? And then, the next morning that time, I woke up alone. I asked Nana where Spade, Quesiah, and Ashanie went, she just told me na maagang umalis dahil may pasok pa kami.

Bago ako pumasok ng school ng araw na 'yon, Nana's crying while talking someone on the phone. I even heard her say, "She's not getting better." Then she immediately dropped the call when she noticed me.

Ilang linggo na din ang nakalipas simula nang malaman ko kung sino ang mga tunay na mukha sa likod ni Caelum Stygian, Leviathan, Khaos, Alphacrypt, at Flash. I don't really know what happened, I just found myself joining them. I loved their company and I couldn't ask for more. Because having them is more than enough.

They taught me how to pour my heart into writing and I gladly learned it in a short time. Their identities are still anonymous in the eyes of other students aside from me. I feel so alive and lively with them, I don't have a talent in socialization but with them? I could laugh until my stomach hurts. It's so lovely to see them write, lalo na kapag nasa rooftop kami. There I saw how writing is not as easy as other see it. It's not just putting what's in your head into a piece of paper then viola!, a masterpiece was born.

I experienced to spend more than 3 cups of coffee thinking of a plot for a story, but ended up with a blank clean sheet of paper. I tried listening to music to somehow bring me will to write, halos naubos na ang kanta ng All Time Low, Mayday Parade, at Sleeping with Sirens sa playlist ko. But then again, I ended up staring at the blank word document. Mas matagal pa yata ang ginawa kong pagtulala sa kawalan o pagkagat sa dulo ng ballpen kaysa sa mismong pagsusulat. Pero ang masayang parte doon? It's when you read your work and all the things you've done is all worth it. Masayang makatapos ng akda, iba 'yung pakiramdam. Para mong kinarga ang sariling anak mo sa unang beses. And all you could say is that, "I made this."

Ang usapan naming lima ay magsasabay kaming maglunch sa cafeteria. Hindi  kasama si Fieven (Caelum Stygian), ewan ko ba do'n. Nalulungkot din siya kapag kinukwento ko sa kanya 'yung mga ginagawa namin ni Ashanie. Naisip ko nga baka nagseselos siya, o ano. Tsaka madalas na din siya umabsent dahil daw sa family business kaya madalang na lang din kami magkita.

Nang dumating sila nagkamustahan kami sandali, nag usap tungkol sa mga sinusulat namin sa kasalukuyan, ang paparating na finals, at kung ano ano pa.

"Ash, kailan ka ba tatangkad? Nahihirapan na kong ipatong braso ko sa balikat mo ha, ang baba masyado." saad ni Spade (Flash) kay Ashanie (Alphacrypt). He manuevered his arms to Ashanie's shoulder with a problematic look like it's something to be really worried of.

"WAAAAAAH! ATE QUESIAH! (Leviathan). SI KUYA SPADE OH, ANG BAD BAD, NAKAKAINIS!" She rants while stomping her feet under the table and trying to brush off Spade's arm on her shoulder.

"Eh, maliit ka naman talaga." deadpanned remark of Quesiah, making her face crumpled even more. With teary-eyed, she gazed at Akira, trying to get sympathy.

"Oops, don't give me that look. I can't do anything with your 4'9 height." saad ni Akira na medyo natatawa, mas lalo namang kinainis ni Ashanie ang pagpipigil ng tawa ni Spade. Tsaka tumingin sa sakin.

"I'll give you bottles of Cherifer." I said, and everyone broke into laughter except from Ashanie whose face was now tear-stained. Our laughters filled the cafeteria, the nearby peeps buried their eyes on us— no, sa'kin lang sila nakatingin. My laughter died, and Akira tapped me.

"Don't mind them."