Your Place Or Mine? BOOK VERSION (PUBLISHED BY VIVA PSICOM)

Chapter 47: Seth

HALEY'S POV

It's been a long night. My eyes are fixed on a box I kept for years. A box filled with letters, pins, pictures, all stuff that I held so dear. Inilabas ko ang isang plastic na may lamang mga tuyong rose petals. Kahit na durog na ang ilan, alam ko kung ilang piraso ang mga ito. A dozen.

This was the very first bouquet I received, so I kept the remains. Bigay ito sa akin ng unang lalaking binigyan ko ng pansin at pagpapahalaga. I wanted to know more about him. Too bad he never gave me the chance. Isang taong napakailap at hindi ako nagkaroon ng pagkakataong makausap man lang. That's him.

Isang tao na kahit minsan hindi man lang ako tinapunan ng tingin nung mga panahong nagpupunta ako sa orphange. He made me feel like I didn't exist. And I treated him the same. So I thought he didn't like me.

Pero hindi ko maiwasang hindi siya mapansin noon. Siguro dahil hindi maganda ang first meeting namin. Everytime I visit the place, he's everywhere I go. Sa hallway, pag-nagma-mop siya ng sahig. O kaya sa garden, pag nagdidilig siya ng mga halaman. Minsan sa dining hall, kapag tumutulong siya sa kusina.

Akala ko, isa siyang part ng utility service kaya hindi ko siya masyadong iniintindi. O kaya isa siyang working student. Isa pala siyang nilalang na umaasa na baka balikan siya ng kanyang mga magulang nung mga panahong iyon. If I should've known his situation, baka nagkaroon kami ng chance na magkausap at magkakilala man lang.

Kaya nagtaka ako nung iabot sa akin ng isang batang babae ang isang bouquet ng roses at isang note. That was almost four years ago, pero parang kahapon lang ito nangyari. At sa kanya pala galing 'yon. His voice kept ringing in my head.

"It's not coincidence. I looked for you."

Awkward. At walang nakapagsalita sa amin.

"That day we arrived from the states, I came here, hoping to see you. Pero hindi kita nakita. I waited the following day. Pero wala ka pa rin. I asked Sister. Sabi niya magkasunod daw tayong nawala. After that summer, you were gone, too."

That summer, I was in Spain. Gusto ko ring maglibang para makalimutan ang tungkol sa lalaking nagbigay sa akin ng roses at note at hindi na nagpakita pa muli. Siguro crush ko na rin siya noon. He's always on my mind. Maybe because he was the first guy na nagsabing gusto niya ako. And it was overwhelming. Kahit sa sulat lang.

"That day, I asked one of the children sa orphanage to give something to you, I wasn't sure if I did the right thing. I just... saw your genuine concern sa mga bata. I knew it then that you have a good heart. I just felt...I wanted to see you everyday. So, I tried to be wherever you were. Each day, kahit hindi kita nakakausap o nalalapitan man lang, pakiramdam ko napapalapit ang loob ko sa 'yo."

That's what I thought. Stalker lang ang peg?! I tried not to smile. Baka ma-offend siya.

"I wanted to talk to you pero nahihiya ako sarili ko. Mula nung nalaman kong adopted lang ako, naging ilang ako sa mga tao. That's why I chose to keep my disctance. But you are the first girl na naglakas-loob ako na i-approach. Not personally, I mean, thru letter."

So that's his own way of approaching me huh? Now I understand kung bakit parang ayaw niya sa akin.

"The note I gave you...do you still remember what I wrote?" nahihiyang tanong nito.

How could I forget? The fact is, I still have the note. Tinago ko ito kasama ng mga roses. Pero hindi ko ito sinabi sa kanya. Isang marahang tango ang sagot ko. He wrote that he liked me and wanted to know more about me. It was as simple note, but it meant a lot to a young girl like me.