Chess Pieces #2: Hunter Sanford

Chapter 9

I absentmindedly stares at my twin brother who's watching the TV but I know that he's lost in his own thoughts too. I know that Daphne has already forgiven him so I don't know what's making him think this hard. But I'm sure that it's about my bestfriend. Si Daphne lang naman ang may ganitong epekto sa kakambal ko.

I exhaled loudly. I stared at the TV too but my mind starts to wonder seconds later. Naisip ko na naman si Joshua. Kung dati ay natatawagan ko sya kapag nabo-bored ako sa buhay pero ngayon ay hindi na. I haven't heard anything about him since the last time that he went here. I also blocked him in all of my social media accounts pero parang gusto ko na yata syang i-unblock para lang makibalita sa buhay nya.

Gosh, I should stop. I know that I shouldn't do that. It would only make me look pathetic. Ako ang nagkipaghiwalay pero mukhang ako pa yata ang naghahabol. I love him so much but the pain of what he had done is killing me. Maybe, it will scarred me for life. Maybe, I will have trust issues for my future relationship dahil sa ginawa sa akin ni Joshua. Masyadong masakit. At natatakot akong isipin na baka maramdaman ko na naman ang sakit sa susunod kong magiging relasyon.

I fought for him. Ipinaglaban ko sya sa kakambal ko. Kahit na alam kong maaaring magalit sa akin si Apollo ay si Joshua pa rin ang pinili ko. I didn't believed my twin brother when he said that he would just hurt me. 'Cause I love Joshua and I have so much trust in him. Kaya sya ang pinili ko kahit na marami kaming nasaktang tao.

I thought that all those sacrifices that I've made would pay off one day. I thought that we would have our sweet ending instead of a painful one. Pero nasayang lang ang lahat ng mga sakripisyo ko. Nasayang lang ang lahat ng mga efforts ko. 'Cause maybe for him, I wasn't enough. It wasn't enough. Kahit pa yata ibigay ko ang lahat ay makukulangan pa rin sya. 'Cause why would he kiss other girl if he's contended with me? Why would he cheat if he really loves me?

"How do you know that Joshua would just hurt me?" I asked my twin brother, finally. Pero pareho pa rin kaming nakatingin sa TV. At kahit nang sumagot sya ay sa TV pa rin kami nakatingin.

"Kasi gago sya." deretsong sagot ng kakambal ko.

I puffed a breath. Kung dati ay ipinagtatanggol ko pa si Joshua kapag pinagsasalitaan sya ni Apollo ng masama, ngayon ay hindi na. Matagal ko na ding alam ang dahilan kung bakit malaki ang galit nya sa ex-boyfriend ko.

"Kung hindi sya gago, hindi ka nya lolokohin." Apollo said. "If he really loves you, Artemis, he will never give in to the temptations of kissing someone despite being drunk. Hindi nya gagawing rason iyon para lokohin ka. Kahit ilan pang nakahubad na mga babae ang iharap sa kanya, he will remember you if he really loves you. And that's enough reason para hindi sya magloko."

My eyebrows creased as I keep my eyes on the TV. I can feel the tears in the corner of my eyes but I stopped myself from crying. Baka pagtawanan pa ako ng kakambal ko.

Instead, I joked. "Coming from you, huh?"

He tore his gaze from the TV and finally looked at me with a smirk on his lips. "Yeah. Coming from me. Ito ang totoong retired playboy." pinalo nya pa ng dalawang beses ang dibdib nya na parang nagmamayabang.

I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. I guess Daphne did really changed him. I just hope that she will give him a chance to love her again. Though, I sound hypocrite dahil hindi ko man lang binigyan ng isa pang chance si Joshua.

"Daphne forgave you, right?" tanong ko at tumango lang sya. "Do you think that I should forgive Joshua too and give him a second chance?"

Nakita ko ang inis sa mga mata ng kakambal ko dahil sa mga sinabi ko. Obviously, he's opposed to the idea.

"Sa akin ka pa talaga nagtanong, huh?" he tsked. "Seriously, Artemis. You've given him enough chance. Ikaw pa nga ang nagmukhang lalaki sa relasyon nyo dahil ikaw yung mas nag-effort. I witnessed how you fought for him. I witnessed all your efforts pero sya, anong ginawa nya? Wala. Tapos in the end, magloloko lang sya? He doesn't deserve anymore chance, li'l sis. He was once a playboy. He did it while you two were together so he might do it again."