Pyromania

8th Chapter: Cold

8th Chapter

Mercedes Ian Irving

“Girl on fire! Di mo sinabing may ganung talent ka pala Zed.” Sabi ng isang kaibigan ni Gabby,

“Oo nga Zed. Di ka nagsasabi! Kaswerte talaga ni Aldeguer sayo!”

“At bakit naman sasabihin sayo ni Zed? Di naman kayo close!” bulyaw ni Gab sa kaibigan, napakamot lang sa ulo yung lalaki.

Umupo si Gab sa tabi ni Xanther. I saw a bottle of blue Gatorade, bigla akong inuhaw, “Kanino ‘to?” tanong ko kay Gab.

“Malinis yan, sige inumin mo.” Nakangiting sabi ni Xanther sakin, dahil sa uhaw na talaga ako ininum ko, naubos ko pa.

“Papalitan ko na lang mamaya. Nakalimutan ko kasing bumili.”

“It’s fine, I’m sure Ev won’t mind you drinking his Gatorade.” What the eff. Pambihira din ‘tong taong to! Bakit di agad sinabi na kay Everest ‘to?! Hindi ako nagpahalatang nabwisit at umiwas na lang ng tingin.

“Where’s Bronx and Gray?” tanong ni Gabby, tumawa si Xanther at tumingin sakin.

“Nakita yung crush nila, ayun umalis.” Sabi nito ng nakatingin parin sakin,

“Si Bronx pwede pa, pero si Gray? Ang bata pa nun masyado, di papatulan ni Zed yun.”

“Huh? Bakit nadamay ako?” pagsimangot ko kay Gabby,

“Crush ka nung dalawa, lalo na kanina nung sumayaw ka halos mabukulan nga ni Everest yung dalawa kakatitig sayo.” Paliwanag ni Gab, mas lalo akong nalito.

“At bakit naman muntik ng bukulan ni Henares yung dalawa dahil lang sa nanuod sakin?”

Napairap si Gabby saka ako sinamaan ng tingin. “Wag mo nga akong lokohin Mercedes Ian Irving. Alam kong pinakilala ka ni Everest sa magulang niya, at alam ko rin na may something kayo. Jusko kilala ko Everest, hindi lumalapit sa babae yun at mas lalong kilala kita, yung pagtingin mo palang kay Ev, iba na. Never in my whole life have I seen you stare like that with a guy.” Napaawang ang bibig ko at napatingin ako kay Xanther, he just smiled like he’s telling me na nagaagree siya kay Gab.

“You made it sound like he introduced me as someone special! Well, it’s not like that! Inaya lang niya ko maglunch tas basa siya ng pawis kaya nagalis siya ng shirt and there’s no way I’m gonna let him out of the car shirtless kaya kami napunta-

I stopped talking ng makitang gulat na gulat si Gabby. “WHAT?! Anong basa ng pawis?! Bakit? Ano ginawa niyo?! At sa kotse?! ZED!”

“Ano ba iniisip mo! My god Gab!” kinalma ko ang sarili ko, “Inaya niya lang ako maglunch, but before that galing kami ng school. I left him with Yana, tas nagproceed na ko sa activities ko. The reason why he’s sweaty is because he looked for me hanggang Agri building. Nang nasa kotse na kami he took it off-

“Okay! Okay! Wag ka ng magkwento. The point is, he may not have told you verbally that you are special but with the way he treated you, you are Zed.” Napabuntong hininga lang ako.

“I highly doubt it. He’s with Yana, no offense Xanther. But your brother is too complicated.” Napatawa si Xanther,

“None taken. But I beg to disagree, simple lang si Everest, he just want to achieve his dream. He’s obsessed with it, like all of us are.”

“Then what happened to you? Again, no offense.” Mas lumawak ang ngiti niya,

“Again. None taken. I’m still obsessed with my dream, Zed. I’m just taking another way to achieve it. The thing about my brother is that he wants everything under his control, but that’s just impossible, may mga bagay na hindi mo makokontrol. Tulad ngayon, hindi niya mapigilan ang sarili niya.” Nakatingin siya sa likod ko, I have a feeling that he’s behind me so I resist the urge to turn around.