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Twenty-nine

-TWENTY-NINE-

Everyone, here's Tria.

Amilyte's POV

"I'm Bekah and I'm no saint. Right, Amilyte?" She shot me a look and I nodded nervously.

"It's your turn honey," she started saying. My stomach's full of butterflies. She called me honey. Bekah uses it to denote her enemy. It's her pet name for those people who aren't significant to her. As bitchy as she may be, I never felt her power towering over me. Hindi ko nararamdaman na matakot sa kanya. I was too strong before. But right now, I think I'm going to have to taste Bekah's vengeance and it's gonna be so much worse than the rest of them. I can feel it. My nerves agreed. I don't need instinct to know whether she'll explode or not-because she is. I'm just not prepared for the blow.

"What do we don't know about you? I'm guessing a lot," Bekah said while pretending to think then her scorching gaze landed on me. Little spiders crawled their way on my neck.

"I'm... I'm single," I said dumbly, looking at them with uncertain expression. Darn. Where did I get that thought? The girls chuckled. Well, Bekah and Line did. It was a mocking laugh and I guess I was the only one who felt it.

My breath was caught in midair when Line spoke. It was full of sarcasm. I lowered my gaze as she pressed on, "Crap. What's new? You hate commitments, Arilla."

She chortled and looked at everybody except me. They took that as a joke, but for us it meant a lot. Commitment was a hot topic for us before. Bekah hates relationships as much as she hates being in the safe zone (mutual understanding) as she put it. I never heard her say this to my face. She knew me better. Everything sucks. She completely forgotten the truth about me. She never named my relationship before when we were friends as that.

I wanna go out. Every minute feels like a hundred volts of thunder are breaking my torn soul.

"Tria?" Bekah called. Tria and her friend. Nawala sila sa isip ko. They were talking in hushed voices when Bekah called her name. Napaayos siya ng upo at inayos ang buhok niya. She looked shock and confuse. Again with confusion. Jacky was holding something. A book, perhaps. Bigla niyang tinago yun at tiningnan ako.

"Ano yun?" Tria asked. I caught Line; she rolled her eyes. Kinabahan ako for Tria. Looking at Bekah, something's off with the way she gazes at her.

Bekah didn't answer her. Nginitian lang siya. It was Jacky who reiterated that question.

"Ahh... Siguro hindi niyo pa alam na..." Nagpalipat lipat lang yung tingin niya samin. Para siyang sasagot sa exam. I smiled soothingly at her. Tria was brave for entering this crazy world.

"Pwedeng magtanong?" Talia stopped talking to Line. We turned our gazes to Jacky. Her voice was loud and urgent.

"Yes?" Lakas loob kong tinanong.

"Wag na kasi," I heard Tria said to her. Para silang nagaaway.

"Hindi ka ba nagtataka?" Tanong naman niya kay Tria. She looked at Jacky with a pleading eyes.

"Sasabihin niya sakin."

I heard someone's tapping her fingers. Naiinip.

"What's going on?" Talia murmured beside me. I shrugged.

"Stop bickering," Bekah said. Tiningnan ko siya. She was smirking at me. She raised an eyebrow at me and without looking away at my eyes, she told something that froze my already frozen system.

"Put the photo album down, Jacky. Amilyte's here to tell." Para akong binuhusan ng tubig. I thought the album was already safe and away? It was the exact cover of the album I took from Jacky earlier. Bakit napunta dito? Does she know already? I looked at Line for an information I never knew she'll give.

"Two albums. Same cover, different content. Does that ring a bell?" She supplied. And like green light, thought came flooding my mind. I was awestruck and dumbfounded. How can I forget about those two albums? It was special and significant yet I managed to let it slip away. Why am I so scared that Tria and Sage would split? I want them together. This is just a photo. Tria is smart, maybe she'll have witty hypotheses. These thoughts don't help at all. Lalo lang akong kinabahan. Mas lalo pa nung inabot ni Jacky yung album. The air was filled with dead silence. It was suffocating seeing Tria's glistening eyes. I swallowed the lump on my throat. One way or another, Tria would know for sure.

Nanginginig kong binuksan yung picture. I need to be strong. One confession wouldn't hurt.

First page.

I was already wrong. One would hurt because equivalent to one is one thousand needles sticking in my heart.

Memories hurt more than reality. Seeing us happy before makes it the worst.

"Pictures are the best. The people inside never changes. They are the captives of yesterday. Smiling through the pain in their reality," Talia suddenly murmured in my side. I looked at her with great sadness. She saw the picture. It was me, Sage, Alder, Carl, Richard, Line, and Bekah. We were in Hongkong, posing in front of Disneyland.

My heart was breaking into pieces just by seeing these happy moment we had once shared. I swallowed the lump in my throat and by their own accord, my hands moved to the last page of the album. I sighed and smiled at Tria. Hindi ko na tiningnan yung picture. I knew it like I knew my name. The image in my brain was crystal clear.

Kahit hindi ko tingnan, it was me and Sage together in Bali. It was paradise I remember. Sage treated us in Bali for his birthday. Sage was on his knee, holding my left hand, while I pretended to be a very crabby lady. Then the other side of the picture was us again. Sage played and offered me a piggyback ride.

Parang bumalik ako sa time na yun. I can feel the heat of the sun striking our faces. The salty taste of the air. The sound of the waves mixed with our laughters. I can visualize and hear it perfectly. Damn this is pain.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I realized I was staring at nothing for too long. The moment, the taste, the everything-like sand castle, it collapses too suddenly.

"Reminiscing?" Line asked, smiling. Her eyes showed real sadness.

"The photo was taken in Bali. It was a long time ago. What about it?" I asked nervously.

"W-wala. Sabi sayo Jacky matagal na yan. Magkakaibigan kayo diba?" Her voice sounded hopeful. Yes, we were friends.

"We were friends, Tria. Didn't Sage told you that Amilyte was one of us?" Bekah used the word was and I felt another bunch of needles stabbing my already painful heart. Ang sakit pa ring marining na nasa past ka na, na wala ka na sa present niya at hindi ka na niya sinasama sa future niya. I unconsciously wiped something beneath my eyes. I can't cry right now. I keep telling myself.

"Hi-hindi nabanggit ni Sage." I smiled bitterly to myself. Another stab on the heart. Sage cleared me out of his life. Why was I hoping to be their topic while eating lunch? I wasn't important anymore. I was just a storm that wrecked their lives. The pain is killing me more than it should be. Gusto ko ng tumayo. Talia held my arm and smiled faintly at me.

I wish I was her for a second.

"Amilyte, naging kayo ba ni Sage?" Napaangat yung tingin ko kay Tria. I wasn't expecting this topic to float now. Hindi ko akalain na ako mismo ang magsasabi. I never been on this situation. Sasabihin ko ba? Am I in the position to tell? Wala namang masama kung sabihin ko, diba? Damn. Pero bakit may pumipigil sakin? I am not very vocal about my relationships. Naguguluhan ako sa lahat. Why can't I tell?

I looked on their faces. Is this part really important? Because I really wanna skip this. It wasn't significant to her or to their relationship.

Thoughts formed in my mind.

Is Tria afraid? Concerned? I just knew her for a few hours.

I block all those thoughts away. It's just a simple yes or no.

I waited till Tria looked directly at me then I fired my answer.