That Summer When She Cried

Kim Kaizen Lo

And then I saw her again. This time, I wouldn't let go. Mag-away man kami every four hours, mas mahalaga na nakikita ko sya kesa naman tahimik lang ang mundo ko.

-Kim

--

It's hard to believe that the clown who used to entertain us is no longer with us. Don't get me wrong. It sounded as if he left us for good pero iba pa din ang araw na may makikita at kasama kang kaibigan na nakalimutan sumabay sa evolution. Kahit na pinaglalaruan namin si Kev, sya pa din ang nagpapabago ng mood namin.

I thought mapapalitan ni Lui si Kev. Ang kaso, after I laughed at her with her nonstop rant, iniwan nya ako magisa dun. She didn't accept my handshake and ran out of the art expo.

Ngayon, I have to just really let the image of her go. Hindi ko alam kung paano ko sya makikita ulit o kung paano magtatagpo ang landas namin. The new school year has started and I have to start getting used to waking up early again.

I woke up with a bad headache and I didn't have any choice but to attend my classes. I did my best to keep my eyes open pero pag sinwerte ka nga naman, ang daming pinapagawa kahit na first day pa lang ng klase. I told myself to go to the library kahit na may practice kami mamaya.

I took my lunch first bago dumaan ng library. Aljon went to see Ella kaya solo flight tuloy ako. I headed straight to the library right after eating. Nasaktuhan pa na yung librarian namin na sobrang sungit ang nakita kong nagbabantay.

Spell luck.

--

Unang araw pa lang wala na akong choice kundi pumasok. Third year, Fine Arts student, Major in Painting. I spent the whole night creating another wall painting na ibibigay ko as a gift to my cousin for her birthday.

I needed to go to the library like what I usually do para magbasa about a painter I never heard of kaya nahirapan akong maghanap ng reference. Kahit na may classification naman ang library gaya ng grocery store, inikot ko na lahat para mahanap yung libro na kailangan ko. At kung pinaglalaruan ka nga naman ng tadhana, nakita ko yung libro na kailangan ko sa libro na pang-Commerce. I took the book out from the shelf and scanned it.

I was so absorbed with what I was reading. Medyo dulo na yung shelf kung saan ko nakita yung libro kaya ang creepy na. May ilang tao naman sa likod ko na nagbabasa din.

"My precious..." I heard someone whisper on my ear the same way that scary Star Wars character said it.

"AY PUTANGINA!" I screamed loudly and someone covered my mouth tight. I was thinking if I might have done anything wrong recently kaya may gustong magpadukot sakin sa library. I know I needed to get out of the place as soon as I can kaya kinagat ko yung kamay nung nagtakip ng bibig ko.

"Shit! Bakit mo ba ako kinagat?!" he whispered after he automatically removed his hand covering my mouth. I saw the guy na umapi sa painting ko last summer. Nakakainis nakita ko pa! Taga-UST din naman pala yung lumpiang shanghai na 'to!

"Who was that?!" we both heard the librarian scream.

"Fuck! Si Miss Minchin yung bantay!" I hissed and ran away from the corner where we were. Agad na tumakbo at sumunod sakin yung kasama ko. Nakakainis dahil ang laki pa naman ng library namin, akala mo Room of Requirement sa Harry Potter! Dumirecho ako sa pinakadulong hallway saka sabay na sumalampak ng upo.

Nakakapagod din yun a! Hindi pa naman ako mahilig sa takbuhan.

He looked at the hallway to see if Miss Minchin followed us before he took a seat beside me saka tumawa.

"Ang bilis mo pala tumakbo," he laughed.

"E gago ka kasi! Bakit mo ba ako binulungan ng ganun?! Akala ko kinukuha na talaga ako ng mga alien!"