Carpool

Chapter 4

~ Familiarity ~

JHOANA

Mabilis lumipas ang isang linggo. Ngayon ang simula ng klase ko kaya't naman nag madali ako at nag bihis.

Ateneo is far from where I live. It usually takes me an hour or more to arrive in school, kaya madali lang ako mag bihis at mag ayos. Baka nga okay na rin na kahit papano may mag hahatid na sakin pauwi. 

"Anak, anong nangyari dito sa mga damit mo. Ang daming putik."  

Napa irap nalang ako dahil naalala ko nanaman ang nangyari. Bwiset talaga yung driver at kotseng yun.

"Na daanan po kasi ako ng sasakyan, Ma. Sorry po ako nalang maglalaba niyan." I tried grabbing my clothes from my mom but she just smiled and put them in a basket.

"Ako na, anak. Okay lang, maglalaba naman talaga ako ngayong araw." Lumabas na si mama kasama ng iba pang labahin habang nag sasapatos ako.

"Ate, yung may ari ng sasakyan na naka basa sayo, gwapo ba?"

I scoffed at Jaja.

"How should I know? Hindi manlang tumigil at nag sorry." I replied which made Jaja gasped.

"Sayang naman, para kasing teleserye eh." Natatawa niyang sabi at binato ko siya ng medyas.

"Teleserye ka diyan, since when did you start and became interested in soap operas?"

"Since now, wala naman akong choice. Wala naman tayong cable." Jaja shrugged. "And to be honest they're not that bad. Nakakakilig pa nga minsan." 

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Typical Jaja, hopeless romantic as always. 

"Whatever, saka oo nga pala, hindi ka pa ba nakaka enroll?" Halatang nagtataka rin si Jaja sa tanong ko.

"Yun nga ate eh, buti nalang my friends told me na mid August pa yung pasukan. Sana nga maka abot pa si Mama sa enrollment."

Naawa naman ako sa kapatid ko. Alam kong sobrang nahihirapan na rin siya sa sitwasyon namin ngayon lalo na hindi rin siya sanay sa ganito.

"Hayaan mo, gagawa yan ng way si Mama. She'll pay your tuition in time, don't worry."

I kissed Jaja and my mom's cheeks as I exited our small apartment. Since I left early, I arrived in Ateneo very early as well.

Travel time in commuting was 40 minutes which was extremely short compared to my usual.

I checked my schedule and saw that my first class will start two hours from now. I still had time to relax and enjoy my alone time inside the library.

From: Jia

Bes! Where are you? I'm with Bea na, aka your carpool driver! If you don't have class yet, maybe you guys can meet na?

Handa na ba ako sa apology speech ko? Ano bang magandang reason kung bakit nasusuka ang mga tao? Wala naman kasi.

I don't even know what to say. I contemplated if I'll face her now or delay this dreaded meeting later.

Sobrang dali mag reply at magsinungaling na may klase pa ako pero what's the point? One way or another we will have the chance to meet and kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa ako makaka pag sorry sakanya. 

I sighed and typed in my reply.

To: Jia

I'm at the Rizal Lib. My class starts in two hours pa naman so, yeah sure.