A Close Second

Nineteen

I smiled while Mikki took a seat at the armchair infront of me. Ibinaba niya ang bag nia bago ako hinarap, giving me a once-over. I raised an eyebrow at her. ng siya ng kilay.

"Tingin ko may iba."

I gave her a shake of my head, a small smile in my lips. Tinignan ko ang relo ko, seeing it tick to 6:45. Ang aga ng tao ngayon, considering it's Monday.

Mikki still stares at me. Inikutan ko lang siya ng mga mata, dismissing her and her absurd claims. She gives me a look though.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I tell her.
"Op. That's denial." Mikki says at me. "Congrats pala!"

I smiled at her, a silent thank you. Truth was, I didn't really know what happened with AIM. With all that had happen yesterday, hindi ko na naisip nang tanungin pa sila sa nangyari.

Though knowing that the whole competition was behind us was a big sigh of relief in my part. The only things I needed to worry about now was Prom, which was in a few weeks, and then the remaining exams for graduation.

Isang buwan at kalahati nalng and we're graduating.

"Thanks." I smile at her.

Hindi ko na nagawang sundan pa ng tanong ang sinabi ko dahil biglang nagsipasukan ang mga kaklase namin. The moment that Kyla's eyes landed on me, she shouts, making me flinch.

"MADAM!"

Agad na nagsitakbuhan ang mga ito sa direksyon ko but what surprised me more was when they had me stand up only to carry me. Pinagtulungan akong buhatin nila JP at Dennis sa ere.

"WOOO! CHAMPIONS!"

What?!

Nagpapalakpakan sila and someone started to chant 'CHAMPIONS. CHAMPIONS. CHAMPIONS' across the room. Someone also started to play 'We are the champions' over a Bluetooth speaker. Sila Mikki was just smiling at me, habang nagtatawanan naman sila Maria. All this chaos was ensuing while I was gripping Dennis and JP for dear life.

Ayoko pong mahulog at mapilay ng wala sa oras. Bakit ba nila ako ipinasakay sa balikat nila?

I scold myself because I should be asking why I let them.

"Madam, anong gusto mong gawin natin sa 25 thousand?" Tanong ni Kyla sa akin.

I see Greg, Nico and Keith come inside our room, the first one holding a giant cheque that had the words CHAMPION and 25,000 Pesos on it, supporting Kyla's claim. I flinched and held harder when confetti cannons were displaced by Kyla and Tina along the room, showering us with confetti.

Nagkalat pa talaga sila! Pinahirapan pa nila si Manong Jun na linisan ang kwarto.

When Keith saw me though, his eyes went wide. "Hoy mga gago! Ibaba niyo yan, baka mahulog niyo!"

I gave him a warning look, but he didn't seem to understand. PJ and Dennis didn't seem to mind though, and they carefully let me off their shoulders. They were still celebrating, not even realizing that it's the first time that Keith had just talked to them like that.

Greg smiled at me, giving me the enormous cheque he was holding.

"A-anuhin ko to?"
"Desisyon mo ngayon kung anong gagawin natin dyan." Sabi ni Greg.

They stopped the ruckus, looking at me expectantly. The music was still there though, but all their eyes were Napatingin ako sa kanila na natigil sa pagcecelebrate, since papadami na ng papadami ang mga tao sa loob ng room. Naalala kong may flag ceremony pala. Pero lahat sila nakatingin sa akin.