Daylight

07

That question seemed to shock him, which made me want to scream inside because of what I just did.

I can't believe I just said that.

“Okay, you know what, never mind, I'm just afraid I might actually be the first in history to ever fail a PE class but actually I can practice—yeah, practice on my own or whatever, I get that you're a busy guy and you've got all these things—” He held up a hand to stop my blabbering. Surprisingly, he has an amused smile on his face. He pointed to the kuya in charge of the lecture hall.

Who was staring at us, unamused. Oh.

“Let's just talk about it outside,” Juan said with a shrug and pursed his lips together. I nodded and followed him outside as the kuya shook his head at us and muttered under his breath “mga kabataan talaga ngayon, sa lecture hall pa talaga”.

I followed him to the parking lot wherein he stopped in front of a car (which I think I'm safe to assume is his). We stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. He sighed. “Honestly, I'm down for it.”

My jaw just dropped of shooked-ness.

“Training ends a bit late though, and everyday 'yun after class. You up for that?” I nodded with determination. If I want to do this, I have to be willing to sacrifice.

“Okay. Pero, Sinag...” I felt nervous all of a sudden. “I have to ask something from you din in return.” He scratched the back of his head lightly and looked away.

“Sure, ano 'yun?” I replied, brows crossed with curiosity.

He looked me straight in the eye and made me feel all sorts of things at that moment that I know I shouldn't have felt. Then he spoke.

“Please teach me statistics, too.”

That caught me off-guard. Then I remembered he was staring at his notes emptily earlier. But still, Juan? Asking me to teach him something?

“Whoa—I mean, sure! I'd be happy to,” I said with a determined look to hide my surprise. This made him smile his usual tipid smile.

“So, when do we start?” he asked.

“Uhm, I assume you're busier than me, so I need to know your schedule,” I said. Then I realized something, so I added, “don't worry—I won't be spilling those to your fangirls.”

That made him laugh a little.

“We have practice everyday sa Molave Gym except for Sundays, unless may game. Natatapos usually after work hours, around 6, 7. Though there are times na cancelled ang trainings or we finish earlier or later than usual,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Wow, so you don't really have an actual schedule na sinusunod? It depends talaga?” I had to ask, because this was going to be hard to schedule.

He put out his phone in response and opened a photo of his class schedule. “Here. Uhm, I would appreciate it if you kept what you said kanina,” he said shyly.

I narrowed my eyes at him and smiled. “No worries, kid. I gotchu.” I also opened my phone by this time to check my own schedule and compare it with his. Boi, does he got a lot on his plate. I muttered under my breath, “Remind me how you survive this schedule again.”

But apparently, he heard. “It's really not that hard if you set your mind to it.”

“Okay. Oh, I think I found a day,” I said. “Fridays, after your training.”

“That might be way past 7. You up?” he asked, forehead creased. I rolled my eyes. “Of course, I'm g. I'm the one who brought the date up.”

He shrugged in response, then held out his hand. “It's a deal then.” I stared at it for two seconds before shaking it. “Friday, 6 PM. Punta nalang me sa gym and I'll wait for you there nalang.” He nodded and said “okay. See you around.”

The deal is sealed.

-----

That night, I texted my parents that I wanted to eat dinner outside. I didn't wait for their reply anymore and just went straight to Area 2.

I started dialing a friend. Please pick up please be free we need to talk, I thought.

“Yo,” the other end greeted.

“Preee!” I screamed. “You free right now? Area 2 let's eat, please. I've got lots of chikka.”