Choosing You

Chapter 8

Buong umaga akong praning. Ewan ko ba! I know this morning should be normal. Like the stares whenever dadaan ako sa harap nila, the murmurs which I don't give a fuck, laughters of random students, I'm used to it! But I don't know what got into me. The moment I step into the hallway, seeing the usual things made me nervous, irritated, na parang alam nila ang nagawa ko kagabi. Na parang chinichismisan nila ako. Na parang ako ang tinatawanan nila. So what I did, 'nung nakita ko ang isang group of losers na nagtatawanan, sinugod ko ang isa sa kanila and things got messed up! And here I am, nakaupo and I'm about to be suspended which is what I really need right now.

"So what is happening here?" Pabaling – baling si Mr. Reyes sa amin. Kasama ko ang mga kaibigan ko sa kabila habang nasa harap namin 'yung sinabunutan ko kanina. I got few scratches but compared to them, they looked... fucked up. I don't know what happened pero narealize ko nalang na kasama ko na ang mga friends ko na nakikipagsabunutan.

"Siya po! Nasa tabi lang naman kami. Nagtatawanan, talking about school and stuff then she attacked my friend here!" Sabi nung isang babae na may fake eyelashes. Agad namang tumayo si Tricia at sinubukan ko siyang pigilan pero hindi siya nagpaawat.

"Baka kasi chinichismis niyo siya? Inggit lang kayo sa kanya! Sore losers!" Agad namang tumayo ang nasa kabila at ngayon, ang iba ko pang kaibigan ay tumayo na rin at nakisali na sa sabatan nila. I know its my fault. Alam ko out of bounds ako. That I attacked them because I'm just feeling shitty this morning and clearly, wala silang kasalan.

"Guys! Stop!" Patuloy pa rin silang nagsisigawan at si Mr. Reyes ay walang ginagawa, he's so useless that he could not even make us shut up!

"I said stop!" Sigaw ko sabay hampas sa mesa. Nanahimik naman sila at umupo agad. When everyone got silent ay umupo rin ako at tumikhim.

"Mr. Reyes, ako ang nagsimula. Ako ang may kasalanan. My friends have nothing to do with it. I deserve a punishment and really – "

"No Hannah! Nakita namin, sinasabunutan ka nila!" Sigaw ni Tricia.

"Trish, its my fault. Tama sila. Nag – uusap lang sila sa hallway then I attacked them." Hiwakan ko ang kamay ni Tricia to make her shut up at doon lang nagsalita si Mr. Reyes and lahat sila ay nakatingin sa akin. Even the bunch of losers were shocked. I'm not usually like this but damn it. I need a break. I... I don't want to see her.

"Thanks Hannah for telling me the truth. I just want to ask why did you do that?" 'cause I'm so shitty and I got paranoid.

"Menstrual drama." I lied. Wala akong ganoong issue. What else could I say?

"Oh." Kita ko ang pagkabigla ni Mr. Reyes at pati na rin ng iba. My friends eyed me and they won't buy this shit. They're not that dumb unlike this man and these losers right here.

"I don't know that its... nagkakaganyan ka ba everytime, you know?" Tanong ni Mr. Reyes sa akin.

"Yeah. Even my friends know that. Uh, sorry." Baling ko sa nasabunutan ko kanina. Mas lalo pa silang nabigla at pati na rin si Mr. Reyes.

"O-okay lang. I understand. Every girls have their own issues whenever they're on their period." Sabi nung isang nerd na may suot na glasses.

"It's not. I know I did hurt you guys. So I deserve to be suspended, right Mr. Reyes?" Bumaling ako kay Mr. Reyes.

"You know Hannah, I appreciate your honesty. I was surprised with this actually. So... if the other side forgive you then suspension will be no longer an option here." Oh. Shit.

"What?!" Napatayo ako bigla. No!

"Tama si Mr. Reyes. Since I feel you're sincere naman. We forgive you Hannah." Tumayo pa sila at niyakap ako na parang naging BFF na kami ngayon! What the fuck?!

"N-no. Girls, I hurt you. I deserve a punishment!"

"Since the girls already forgive you then punishment is not needed. You know girls, lahat ng problema, napag-uusapan. So... I guess everything is settled! You can go now!" Tumayo si Mr. Reyes na may malapad na ngiti sa kanyang labi na gustong-gusto kong yurakan! Nagsilabasan na rin ang kabilang grupo na parang walang nangyari. Hinila naman ako nila Tricia palabas ng office.

"What was that?!" Bulaslas ni Tricia na hindi makapaniwala. Nasa locker room kami at tinatadtad ako ng mga tanong na ayaw kong sagutin.

"That was crazy! May sinat ka ba? Sakit?" kinapa-kapa ako ni Kim. She checked my body and put her hand in my forehead na agad ko namang tinampal.

"Ubo? Sanib? Oh my gosh!" Faith on the other hand was being OA. Her hands were covering her mouth, acting surprise and I just rolled my eyes at her.

"Baka hindi 'to nakapagbreakfast? Or... did you guys break up?! Babe what happened?!" And that was Kayla. Again, I rolled my eyes but this time at them.

"No! Wala akong sakit. Wala akong ubo o sanib. And no! me and Jake, we're okay!" Sabi ko sabay sira ng locker ko.

"So I'm right! Hindi ka nakapagbreakfast?" Pahabol na tanong ni Kayla sa akin. Damn! Can I strangle this girl? Kahit isang beses lang!

"I did Kayla." I sighed. I turned away from them pero nakasunod pa rin sila sa akin and it's starting to irritate me!

"So what the fuck was that bitch? That was not normal at all!" Sigaw ni Tricia at nagiging OA na rin siya ngayon!

"Yeah! It's a first 'hun. You don't know how to say the 's' word! Kahit 'nung binasag mo ang mukha ni Gina dati? You did not give a fuck!" Dagdag ni Kayla.

"And really Hannah? menstruation issues? Common! You don't have any issue on your period! We're not that dumb! Now, tell us what was going on?" Nakapamewang si Kim na hinaharangan ako sa hallway so I stop and closed my eyes. Then I breath in, out and stared at them.

"I know you're not dumb guys. I just said that so I could be suspended but things went wrong and now I missed that chance!" I throw my hands in the air and I can't really believe that I got off from the hook that easy! I thought that I could get away from that bitch!

"At bakit mo gustong masuspend? May iniiwasan ka ba?" The girls eyed me as Kim asked me this. Shit.

"W-wala! A-ano lang. Tinatamad ako. I just want to lay my lazy ass all day." I bit my lips as I lied to them.

"You stummered! You're lying!" Pag-aakusa ni Tricia sa akin.

"That's it! If you don't believe me then fine!" I walked away from them and I don't know if sumusunod sila sa akin. I don't want to talk about it. I know they're my friends but If they found out that I kissed a girl, that I kissed that bitch, I'm sure they will be disgusted. I don't want them to put a conclusion on me that I'm gay or something because that's not what I am! I'm not gay! I'm fucking straight!

Habang naglalakad ako papuntang classroom ay nakarinig ako ng ungol. Patuloy pa rin ako sa paglakad pero ng nakadaan ako sa isang bakateng classroom ay nabigla ako sa nakita ko. It was two girls! Sweaty, catching their damn breath! Making out!

"Get the fuck out of here or I'm going to report you!" Sigaw ko sa kanila. Agad nilang pinulot ang mga iilang gamit nila at kumaripas ng takbo na walang anomang sinabi.

"Having a bad morning Montreal?" Isang pamilyar na boses ang narinig ko at nilingon ko ito. I almost dropped my jaw but I managed to speak up.

"Gina?!" Kunot noo ko siyang tinignan, checking that it was really her. She just crossed her arms, smiling at me wickedly.

"I'm back bitch." Great! May mas nakakabwiset pa ba sa araw na 'to?!