Deal with the Bad Boy

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Someone sent you this yesterday."

Napatingin ako sa inabot na envelope ni Kelly at kinuha yun. Kumunot ang noo ko. "Who sent this?"

"Walang nakalagay kung kanino galing. Try to open it. Maybe it's written inside."

I did what she said. Binuksan ko ang brown envelope na binigay niya at ikinalat sa mesa ang mga laman non. Mas lalong lumalim ang gatla sa nuo ko nang makita ang ilang litrato ko.

"Wait." Kinuha ni Kelly ang isang piraso ng litrato ko sa mesa at pinakatitigan. "It's that day."

Napatingin ako sa kanya. "What day?"

"The day I last saw you before you took a break from school." Pinakita niya sa akin ang hawak niyang litrato. "This was taken at Cole's party two years ago."

I stared at the picture. It's just a picture of me partying. Some of the pictures are also me with some of my friends.

I remember that party. That was the day I went to my cousin's bar to attend some party. It's Cole's party, our classmate that time. And now that I think about it, it was the last thing I remember before I woke up in my parent's house.

"Is this Clove?" May inabot na litrato sa akin si Kelly na mabilis kong kinuha.

Nanliit ang mata ko nang makita si Clove sa litrato. Although sa akin nakafocus ang camera, nahagip parin siya nun kaya nakita siya sa picture.

"He was there at the party?" I asked Kelly.

She shrugged. "Of course he is. It's Cole. He's Clove's cousin so of course he is there. And Cole practically invited everyone to attend his party."

Napataas ako ng kilay. "Cole is Clove's cousin?"

"Yeah. You didn't know?" She asked. Matagal niya akong tinitigan bago siya unti-unting napatango na parang may narealize. "I forgot. You didn't care about your surroundings and people around you back then. Why am I even shocked?"

"You said we took a break from school at the same time. Was this also the last time you saw him?"

Tumango siya. "Oo. After that party, you two suddenly vanished. Then the next day, we found out that you two took a break from school." Napaisip siya. "It was a little weird at first, actually. It's just unusual that the top two students of Royal Academy suddenly took a break from school. It's just weird."

"How about Cole?" Tanong ko sa kanya. "Have you talked to him eversince?"

"Oh, that." Kelly looked at me. "That is also weird. When Clove took a break from school, Cole also disappeared. We lost contact with him and we haven't talked to him since then. According to my sources, he is now living in the States with his family. I think they moved there two years ago."

"Why did they suddenly move there?"

"No one knows. It's not like they'll tell us anything regarding their family matters." She said. "Anyway, who sent you this?"

Hindi ako sumagot, sa halip ay tumingin ako sa envelope at kinuha ang maliit na memo pad na nasa loob nun.

This is all I can give you right now. I think your case may be bigger than what we expected. I need to dig deeper. - J.D.L

Napabuntong-hininga ako. So Kuya Jarvin sent this?

"Who's J.D.L?" Tanong ni Kelly.

"Nothing. Just a stage name." I said. Niligpit ko ang mga litrato at binalik sa envelope. I put it inside my drawer and went to my walk in closet to change clothes.