Loving Bestfriend

Chapter 41

Nanatili kami ni Gabe sa may dulong bahagi ng balkonahe matapos kumain. Magkaibang direksyon ang aming tanaw. Ako ay nakaharap sa malawak na tanawin na unti-unting kinakain ng dilim habang siya ay nakasandal sa pasimano at nakaharap sa aming mga kasama. Mga taong ngayon ay may kanya-kanyang pinagkakaabalahan.

Lumingon si Gabe at binigyan ako ng isang malawak na ngiti.

"By the way, tan suits you..." Aniya.

Tumawa ako ng mahina.

"Really? It does? 'Cause I think I've been under the sun an hour longer than intended. Hindi ba ako mukhang bread na nasunog?"

Tinaas ko ang mga braso at tinignan ang bagong kulay ng balat.

"Yes!" Nanlaki ang mata niya. "No! I mean, yes lalo kang gumanda...not that you weren't pretty before...ano, hindi ka naman mukhang sunog. Tama lang. Bagay pala sayo ang pagiging morena..." Kita ko ang pagtabingi ng kanyang ngiti at pasimpleng pagkamot sa batok na tila nahihiya habang natataranta sa pag-eexplain.

Pinigil kong matawa kaya naman ay ngumisi nalang ako.

"No need for you to say it, Gabe. Bata palang ako alam ko na that I'm pretty but thank you..."

Nagkatinginan kami matapos kong sabihin iyon at sabay natawa sa ekspresyong nakita sa isa't isa.

"Wow!" Tanging nasabi niya sa gitna ng tawa.

Minutes after, our laughters died down and we became silent again. He turned around so we are now facing the same direction. We were both looking on to the darkness ahead.

"I'm curious. Are you afraid of the dark?" He asked breaking the silence. I glanced at him and saw him glancing back.

Binalik ko ang tingin sa unahan matapos siyang bigyan ng iling bilang sagot.

"Not anymore..." Tinignan niya ako ng matagal na parang naghihintay ng karugtong sa aking sagot. Ngumiti ako at pinagbigyan ang kanyang kuryosidad.

"I actually used to be afraid not of the dark but the night. I hated it when the sun sets and the whole sky turns dark because in movies that's when bad and scary things start to happen. But then someone told me to look up to a sky full of stars..." Tumingala ako sa langit at pinagmasdan ang napakaraming bituin. Kumpol-kumpol sila na halos mapuno ang buong langit. That night was just like this. Hindi ko naiwasang ngumiti ng mas malawak.

"...and taught me that the sky needed to darken in order to give chance to the other stars to shine. And that, these stars may just look as if specks of light and may not be as big and bright as the sun nor the moon but they still make the world more wonderful."

"That's a beautiful way to ease your fear."

Tumango ako.

"Yeah, after that I began to look forward to the night and the stars. I remember thinking that if I can be something else, I'd love to be the sky-"

"Sky? I thought you'd say star just like almost everyone else, but why sky?" Puno ng pagtataka niyang pahayag.

Napangiti ako sa kabila ng naramdamang paninikip ng dibdib. Bakit nga ba mas pinili ko noon ang maging sky kaysa star?

I was willing to be the sky instead of a star because that's how I loved. That's how I used to define love. And because that's the only way I know how to show my love for Yohan before, without compromising our friendship.

"Ven..." Gabe called when I took a little long to answer.

Iba na ngayon. Hindi naman kailangan malaman pa ng iba ang parte ng katotohanang iyon ng nakaraan.