Aishiteru, My Princess: "Forever and Always"

Chapter 10: "A date with Anthony"

Chapter 10: “A date with Anthony”

Pakatapos ng masamang pangyayari sa cafeteria, dumiretso ako sa fields para makapag-isip kasi free period naman namin. Humiga ako sa may damuhan sa tabi ng malaking puno doon.

“Arrrrggghhh! I HATE MY LIFE! Ano ba ‘tong napasukan ko!?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ay palaka ka!”

Napaupo ako at tumingin ako sa gilid ko …

“Hindi ako palaka, I’m Gryneth…” natatawang sabi ng babae sa tabi ko. She’s wearing reading glasses, her wavy dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and she’s wearing a black low-cut boots instead of flat shoes/school shoes.

“Ummm… Excuse me?”

“Oh, sorry. Nakita kasi kita dito na nag-iisa. May problema ka ba? Maybe I can help.”

“Uhh, well... I don’t think I should—you know—talk to strangers about... my problems.” nag-aalanagan kong sabi…

“That’s the point. I’m a complete stranger. I won’t tell about it because I don’t really know much about you… I’ll just listen. Baka mamaya nga lang makalimutan ko na ‘to eh or I might be even able to help you. Kaya, what’s the harm? Go on. Try me.”

I sat there, confused at the girl in front of me. Then I sighed.

“Well… it’s about boys.”

“Ohh. Ano naman nangyari?”

“Napilitan akong  pumayag sa gusto nilang mangyari. You see they’re—”

“Playboys?”

I nodded. She just smiled.

“Alam mo ba, Nagka-boyfriend ako… Playboy din siya. Nung kami pa, nagkaroon siya ng ibang babae. The worst part is, I have seen it with my own eyes. I saw him going on a date with the girl. Nasaktan ako, oo… pero habang tumatagal, napagtanto ko na ako pala yung nagkamali. Hindi ko kasi siya masyadong nabibigyan ng time. Kaya siguro naging ganun yung outcome. So I ended up blaming myself…” kwento niya.

“Huh? Bakit mo naman sinisi yung sarili mo? Di ba dapat sinisi mo yung boyfriend mo kasi nagsinungaling siya sa’yo?”

“Well, mas mabuti nang sisihin ko yung sarili ko… Kasi kapag yung ex ko yung sinisi sa nangyari, mapupuno lang ako ng galit para sa kanya and I might end up angry with him forever. Sabi nga nila, masama ang magtanim ng galit. At kung nagalit pa ako sa kanya, baka hindi ako makakapag-move on. Nung sinisi ko naman yung sarili ko, nanghinayang lang ako sa mga oras na hindi ko siya nakasama. And I realized there’s nothing I can do about it, so I let it go…”

Huh. She has a point.

“Did that made sense to you?” tanong niya.

“Yeah. Siguro… But what I’m dealing with right now is not anywhere near that situation… Kasi dito, I have no choice but to date these playboys… and I don’t really want to…”

“Wait. By any chance, sila Anthony dela Cruz ba ang tinutukoy mo?”

“Yea—yeah. Sila nga. Do you know them?”

“Ahh… Oo naman. I mean, they’re kinda famous here, you know?”

“Ay. Oo nga pala.” naiinis kong sabi. 

Iniwas niya yung tingin niya sa akin. And she had a dark expression on her face.

“Alam mo, wag kang matakot makasama sila. Kahit naman kasi ganun sila, mabait naman sila. Gentlemen and caring… But don’t get too close, because you might end up falling for one of them… and he'll end up leaving you...” she said painfully.