The betrothed (COMPLETED)

18

“Here's your card uhm, Ms. Di Marco.” isang clerk ang naglahad ng aking library card. Uunang araw ko sa St. Louis College, isang paaralan na narito lang rin sa bayan, kung saan ako inenroll ni Trevelyan.

Of course, he made me choose from some more colleges pero ito ang nagustuhan ko dahil maganda raw ang masteral rito. When he learned about what happened, nalaman na rin iyon ni Mama Stella. She wanted to give me a job in their hacienda, pero tinanggihan ko iyon. I still consider how Henry would feel about that. Nabanggit ko kay Trevelyan ang kagustuhan kong mag trabaho para makapag aral, he then insisted that I should just go to school, na pupwede pa naman daw na mag aral nalang muna ako bago mag trabaho. He'd pay for everything, which I wasn't so comfortable of pero sa pera na mayroon ako sa aking bank account, na naipon ko lang nang magsimula akong magtrabaho sa aming hacienda, I could only make it for two years, kasama na ang ibang expenses.

“Here is your class schedule..” kinuha ko ang slip sa kanya.

“Thankyou po.” I checked my schedule, tuwing TTh lang naman ang classes ko from 8 in the morning until 3. I was so excited for my first day, halos nahirapan akong matulog dahil sa excitement. When Trevelyan woke up in the middle of the night, nagulat pa itong gising pa rin ako.

He looked up with his sleepy eyes. “Can't sleep?”

Umiling ako. “Medyo excited lang para bukas.”

”Hmm.” bumangon siya at lumabas ng kwarto. He came back with a glass of water and handed it to me. “Well, you gotta sleep. Paano ka makaka concentrate bukas kung hindi ka nakatulog ng maayos ngayong gabi?”

He stood infront of me in his white shirt and checkered boxer shorts, arms folded across his chest and hair disheveled.

“Gustong gusto ko kasi talagang mag aral ulit. I just can't belive it's happening again.” I smiled. “Thank you for making that happen, Treb.”

“What is it about girls and school, huh? I remember during my first year college, I skipped the whole month and only came back for prelims.”

I chuckled. Looking back, alam kong ganoon talaga ang gagawin niya. He wasn't really interested in learning in school. He'd rather help in their farm, nag aral lang talaga siya dahil iyon ang gustong gawin ng parents niya. “Hindi ka ba pinagalitan ng mama at papa mo?”

Trevelyan shrugged. ”They never found out.”

“Sutil ka talaga. Eh anong ginawa mo ng isang buwan?”

“Just partied. Iyong mga naging kaibigan ko sa university, they were party boys. Kahit lunes, ginagawang Friday night.”

He graduated in La Salle with a degree of Agricultural Engineering. Then shortly after that, siya na ang nag manage ng kanilang hacienda. Kahit naman hindi ko na siya nakita ay may mga nalaman pa rin ako tungkol sa kanya, the source was Tori. She'd bring it up to me without asking. Kahit pa gusto kong wala na akong balita pa patungkol kay Trevelyan.

“He was so happy that I finally came back and graduated, Papa...” I recalled our conversation from last night. “He loved the hacienda, but he loved mama more. If he could only spend the whole day with mama and not go to work, that man would that.” umiling iling siya.

Kaonti lang kami sa klase. Some of my classmates were just as old as I. Mayroon ding mas bata at mas matanda pa sa akin. Most of them were my blockmates. My whole attention was in class the whole time, I was really eager to learn and catch up. Mukhang mga seryoso at matatalino kasi iyong mga kaklase ko.
Napadako ang tingin ko sa lalaki doon sa malayong kanan. He was looking at me, he smirked. Yumuko ako. Ilang taon rin mula noong maka graduate ako. Kahit hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin ako sanay na tinititigan.