Dead Sea's Abalone (Brad's POV)

6

[Note: Play the song Leaves by Ben & Ben ON REPEAT for better reading experience.]

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Two weeks after, tinawagan ko sya.

'Di sya sumipot sa meeting place ng org, kahit nagpalugit na kami ng almost an hour allowance from the call time. Naisip ko baka nagpuyat yun. Pero sanay naman kasi sya na maaga kami kapag LiniSEAn.

Sinend ko lahat ng details sa kanya pag may hinihintuan kami na convenient store on the way or nagi-stop over para umihi. Baka sakaling makahabol sya. Even at the airport, we had waited.

Kaso wala.

"Nasa'n ka? Hindi ka ba sasabay?"

Finally, she picked up my call.

"Tapos na.."

"Ha?"

Hindi ko sya ganung marinig nun. Maingay sa paligid ko.

"Nauna na 'ko."

"What d'you mean-"

"I've survived the waves, Brad. And you're right.. sobrang peaceful dito. Things really do get better after the waves, huh?"

"Nandyan ka na? Paano-may kasama ka ba? Alam mo na ba kung saan lodging area natin? Antayin mo kami ah. Stay ka lang muna dya-wait ba't parang sobrang tahimik naman dyan?" Supposedly, sa isang seaside welcome party na inihanda nung barangay na pupuntahan namin ang first location and social activity dun ng CSWS. "Nasa'n ka na ba talaga?"

There's a lot of noise on my end.
But her silence was more deafening.

All I could hear at that time was her breathing.

Like she's trying to calm herself down.

"Shell? Okay ka lang ba?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

She forced a laugh. A bitter one.

Then she cut the call.

Next thing I know..

You.. you guys probably heard it on the news..

That's it.

I-uhm, I just can't..

I just hope. That. Uhm, I -I wish some of you guys, the new ones, were able to meet her. To know her like I did.

Thank you for inviting me here. Kami ng mga ka-batch ko.

We miss her.

Our batch, our friends.. my family, definitely miss her till now.

Shell's been a great org mate and friend.

Shell.

That word.

Dapat nahulaan ko na noon pa kung ba't yun yung pinili nya, eh. She may have not told me this herself but, I think she chose it as part of her cover.

It's -it's actually hard to make her open up, you know?

Like she's inside this big shell.

Just like how locked up I was inside the walls that I've built, before I met her.