Definitely Out of his League | published under Ukiyoto Publishing

11th League: Getting along

11th League: Getting along

NANG MAGBALIK sa realidad si Travis ay agad siyang lumayo kay Iris. He couldn't believe what he just did. He kissed her.

Iris blinked her eyes thrice. It was just a few seconds interval before she realized what had happened, too. She covered her mouth with her eyes wide opened.

"Did you just kiss me?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Iris.

"H-Ha? Uhh... Ano... B-Bakit ako? Gumanti ka rin naman, ha!" Travis rebutted.

"Waaah! Manyak! Manyak ka!" utas ni Iris sabay pinaghahampas sa braso si Travis.

"Ouch! Aray, ano ba? Masakit!" wika ni Travis habang sinasangga ng kamay niya ang mga hampas ng dalaga.

Iris covered her face and started sobbing. Travis didn't know what to do. Hindi rin niya inasahan ang nangyari. But he was certain he wasn't the only one responsible for it.

"Hoy, a-ano ba? 'Wag ka ngang umiyak diyan! Sorry na, sige na, ako na may kasalanan," panunuyo niya. Iris removed her hands from her face and glared at Travis.

"Idedemanda kita ng sexual harassment!" singhal ni Iris habang dinuduro pa si Travis. "I'm gonna call our lawyer. Magsasampa ako ng kaso," she said, picking up her phone from her pocket.

"Alam mo, may pagkaeksaherada ka rin, 'no? Ipapaalala ko lang sa 'yo, gumanti ka rin ng halik, Iris!" tugon ni Travis.

"Argh! Nakakainis ka talaga!" sigaw ni Iris at tinalikuran ang binata.

She held her lips and tried remembering the kiss. She smiled like a crazy person. Pero agad ding nawala ang ngiti niya nang maisip kung bakit ba tila natutuwa siya.

Travis didn't seem to mind what happened but deep inside, his heart was close to exploding. He just didn't like Iris to notice his discomfort.

"May gagawin ka pa ba ngayon? Okay lang naman kung gusto mo nang umalis," Travis told her.

"Wala naman akong gagawin. Ayoko pang umuwi," Iris replied.

"Sige, tara muna sa bahay. Pero maya-maya pa ang uwi ni Trixie, ha," wika ng binata. They both tried their best to shrug their minds off what just happened.

Muli na namang nadaanan ni Iris ang madilim at nakakatakot na eskinita. Kaya naman ganoon na lamang ang higpit ng hawak ni Iris sa braso ni Travis.

Travis grinned, feeling Iris's tight grip. May mga nanloloko sa daan kay Iris pero sabi naman sa kaniya ni Travis ay huwag na lamang niya itong pansinin.

Napansin naman ni Iris na hindi naman siya masyadong kilala ng mga tao rito liban na lang kung teenager ang makakakita sa kaniya. Mas may chance na makilala siya.

Pagkapasok nila ay ang resume agad ni Travis na nakapatong sa isang lamesita ang napansin ni Iris. He might have been looking for a job these past few days.

There was an awkward silence inside the house despite the loud noise of the neighborhood outside. And the thought of their little lip action a while ago wasn't really helping. Damang-dama ni Iris ang pag-init ng mukha niya.

Iris looked at the roof of the house, there was no ceiling and there were a number of holes that could be seen above. She couldn't imagine the situation inside the house during monsoons.

Tinapatan ng electric fan ni Travis si Iris.

"Pasensya ka na, wala kaming air-conditioner. Hindi namin afford," ani Travis.

"Nag-request ba 'ko?" tanong ni Iris.

"Sinabi ko lang. Galit ka na naman," tugon ng binata at inirapan lang siya ng kausap.