Find Me • Kobe Paras

Find Me • 4

"nagmamadali ka ba?" ricci asked, lumingon ako sakanya,

"huh? Hindi ah." I said, ricci grinned, buti nalang talaga hindi kami napapansin nung prof namin.

"nagmamadali ka eh" he teased, I rolled my eyes.

"hindi nga, kulet mo." sabi ko, he chuckled.

"excited makita si tyler." sabi ni ricci, umiling ako,

"hindi kaya, I'm excited kasi bibili ako ng dress!" I defended myself, tumango tango nalang si ricci. Magsasalita pa sana siya but the professor said something

"class dismissed" dali dali akong tumayo which made ricci laugh.

"di daw excited." he teased, I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out. Ipinasok ko lahat ng gamit ko sa backpack ko and kinuha ko yung paper bag na pinaglagyan ko ng hoodie ni tyler.

"ingat ka ha?" ricci said, smiling genuinely, tumango ako, nagpara ako ng jeep palabas ng katipunan and I texted tyler.

Dahil medyo traffic, it took me 15 minutes to arrive sa uptc. Hindi ko pa tinext si tyler because bumili muna ako ng dress for kobe's party.

"Miss Cristi" my name was called na sa silantro kaya I texted tyler na nandito na ako.

"hi ty! Over here!" I said waving my hands to catch tyler's attention, he smiled when he saw me and waved his hand.

"hey, sorry if I made you wait." he said sitting down across me, ngumiti ako.

"it's fine, order na tayo?" I asked, he nodded and I ordered na.

His put his hands under his chin and smiled at me, kumunot ang noo ko,

"you're prettier when you smile, I'm glad okay ka na." Tyler said,

"hala siya hahaha" I said awkwardly, hindi ko kasi alam kung ano isasagot ko.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." sabi ni tyler.

"thank you" sabi ko, and our food arrived.

I was in the middle of chewing my nachos when tyler asked me a question,

"you like kobe paras?" he asked, na-ubo ako and inabot niya sa akin ang tubig.

"grabe naman your questions, tyler." sabi ko laughing, he smiled.

"but yeah, I like kobe, one year na." sabi ko kay tyler, not looking into his eyes.

I am proud of my feelings for kobe, whenever people asked, my answer will always be "yes, I'm in love with Kobe Paras." but kasunod nun ang tanong kung kami ba, and it always breaks my heart to answer no.

"okay lang 'yan" tyler said, nung tinignan ko siya, I was surprised to see na hindi awa ang nasa mata niya.

"if we really love someone, hindi naman kailangan na mahalin tayo pabalik diba? Because true love doesn't ask for that." sabi ni tyler, casually but he smiled at me, his chinky eyes becomeing chinkier (??)

"you know, we'll be great friends!" sabi ko kay tyler, he laughed.

"You didn't have to pay." sabi ni tyler, sinamaan ko siya ng tingin,

"I told you, it was my treat." sabi ko, he nodded but hinila niya ako papasok sa isang shoe shop.

"I'm gonna libre you milktea, but I have to look at something lang." sabi ni tyler, tumango lang ako.

Hindi naman siya bumili may chineck lang siya, he smiled at me and thanked me for waiting for him.

"salamat sa jacket and milktea" I said to tyler, he just smiled at me.

"welcome" simpleng sagot niya, but we were walking around uptc, and of course may nagpapa-picture sakanya.

"hey, may class ka pa ba?" he asked, I checked my sched sa phone.

"wala naman, but I have to pass this paper before 6 pm" sagot ko, he nodded and looked at his watch.

"hey its 4:30 na, do you want to go?" he asked, tumango ako since nakabili naman na ako ng dress and nai-abot ko na sakanya yung hiniram ko na hoodie.

"sige, babye ty!! Ingat!!" I said walking towards the opposite direction to exit the mall and ride a jeep.

"hey agatha!" he called out, lumingon ako.

"what I meant was, ihahatid kita sa school mo." he said smiling at me,

"wag na, baka may practice ka pa or busy ka pa." sagot ko, but umiling siya.

"tara na, ihahatid na kita sa UP" sabi sa akin ni tyler, pulling my hand gently.

"don't worry, ihahatid lang kita, hindi ako magpapakita kay kobe."