SLOANE'S POVIlang minuto na ang lumipas pero hindi ko pa rin mapigilang matawa. Sapo ko pa rin ang tiyan ko tuwing naiisip ko ang pagsali ni Cilan sa Mr. Celesticville.
"Akalain mo 'yun, Xavier. Sasali sa pageant ang pangit na 'yun! Ha, ha, ha!"
Napailing si Xavier. "'Di naman siguro niya gustong sumali. Baka may mabigat siyang dahilan. I mean, Kristoff's down with flu and Timothy has severe stage fright issues, kaya siya napasubo."
"Ipapahiya niya lalo ang sarili niya 'pag nagkataon. Ha! Ha! Ha!" At muli akong napahalakhak.
Ipinatawag na kaming mga candidates para sa ramp walk at projection rehearsals.
Unconsciously, kanina pa ako pasulyap-sulyap sa may pintuan. Hindi pa rin bumabalik sa Pyxis room si Cilan. Napahiya siguro nang husto kaya umuwi na lang. Somehow, I felt a bit guilty. Nasobrahan 'ata ako sa pang-aalaska sa lalaki. Ang nangyari, hindi na ito tumuloy sa pagsali sa Mr. Celesticville.
"Oh My God... Sino ang napaka-poging lalaki na 'yan?!?"
Naputol ang pagmumuni-muni ko sa malakas na hiyawan at sigawan ng mga nagkakagulong babae sa loob ng room. Pati mga lalaki ay tila sa iisang direksyon din nakatingin. I directed my gaze to the guy who is stealing the show.
The guy is definitely a looker. Tantiya ko ay mas mababa siya sa'kin nang konti, around 5'10" or so against my 6' frame. But he more than makes up for his height with those sparkling chinky eyes, perfectly chiseled nose, and soft-looking lips. His body is just moderately toned, as visibly noticeable with his muscle shirt. Napailing ako. I've never seen him before. Sasali kaya siya sa Mr. Celesticville?
"Mr. Gorgeous, pwede malaman ang name mo?"
"Where have you been? Parang ngayon lang kita nakita sa school, a?"
"Kung sasali sa Mr. Celesticville si cute guy, tiyak na sila ni Sloane ang mahigpit na maglalaban."
Nagpanting ang tainga ko sa narinig na bulungan. Hindi ako magpapatalo kahit kanino sa kahit anong laban, at hindi rin ako nasisindak sa misteryosong lalaking kinababaliwan ng lahat.
Nagbalik ang atensyon ko kay Mr. Talk-of-the-Town guy, nang mapansin kong palapit na sa akin ang lalaki. Strangely, his eyes seem to meet mine. I raised my left eyebrow. Why is he staring at me? Hindi naman kami magkakilala. Hmmm... Siguro, bakla ito and he finds me attractive? Pathetic...
Tumigil sa paglalakad ang lalaki sa harap ko. The fierce pair of chocolate iris didn't flinch as he continued to look straight into the windows of my soul. Those eyes seemed to express something, I just couldn't decipher what they wanted to say. Tell me, have we met before?
"Why are you staring at me?" maangas kong tanong sa bagong dating. "Huwag mong sabihing may gusto ka sa'kin? Sorry bro, but I don't go for the likes of you."
The guy smiled cockily. "Likewise. I wasn't staring at you because I'm liking what I'm seeing. I'm simply checking out how you will fare against me for the Mr. Celesticville title, Sloane."
"Talaga lang ha? E paano mo nalaman ang pangalan ko?" pambabara ko rito. "Siguro, stalker kita, and you're trying to get all this attention to get me to take notice of you, aye?"
"Paano ko makakalimutan ang pangalan mo, e ikaw ang taong nagdala ng buwisit sa buhay ko since my first day of school!" galit na galit nitong bulyaw, sabay duro sa'kin.
"Baliw! Why are you mad at me, e ni hindi nga kita kilala!" ganting sigaw ko sa lalaki.
Tumawa ito. "I just took off my glasses and you don't recognize me already. Guess this will help you a bit." He slid his hand inside his jeans' pocket and got a vaguely familiar pair of tinted glasses. Sinuot agad nito ang salamin. "Can you recognize me now better, Sloane?"
BINABASA MO ANG
Dark Intramurals: Chronicles of the Magic Wielders (On-Going)
FantasyIt appeared to everyone that 19-yr old Cilan's decision to enroll at Baguio City's most prestigious international school, Celesticville University, was a quirk of a whim. Unknown even to his bestfriend Monique, he did so to recover from a bitter epi...