Taped-Up Heart

XV. Know You

Chapter Fifteen

Know You

"Asia, are you avoiding me?"

I stopped when Duane suddenly stopped me in the hallway. I blinked first before looking away. My god, Asia, sino ba naman kasing may sabing iwasan mo siya? Ang awkward tuloy ngayon dahil hindi ko alam ang idadahilan ko sa kanya kasi... bakit nga ba ako umiiwas? Ano ang mayroon? Ano ang mali?

"H-ha?" I smiled at him. "Bakit naman kita iiwasan? I mean I have no reasons to avoid you at all. Guni-guni mo lang 'yan, Ducci."

He didn't smile back. His face remained serious and expressionless. "Asia, have I done something wrong? It's so obvious that you are avoiding me."

"What? Hindi kita iniiwasan, Duane. Wala namang rason, hindi ba? Busy lang talaga ako these past few days kaya—"

He cut me off. "Too busy that you can't even type a reply to my texts? Too busy that you can't even answer one of my calls? Too busy that you even turn your back when you see me approaching you? Or are you too busy that you even have the time planning how to avoid me?" he asked.

Natigilan ako. I didn't know what else to say! Hindi ko rin alam na nakikita niya palang tumatalikod at nag-iiba ako ng daan kapag nakikita ko siya.

How do I even start explaining myself to him?

That the mere reason why I was avoiding him is because I was scared... I was scared of knowing things and finally figuring out what this feeling was.

"I—"

He suddenly smiled. "I guess all my questions have been answered," then he looked at my back.

Napatingin rin ako doon. And there, the great Achaia Tiu was standing and looking at Duane like he was ready to kill. Napatingin ako kay Duane, maging siya ay nilalabanan ang mga tingin ni Tiu.

If looks could kill, they'd both be dead by now.

I sighed before waving my hand. At saka lang sila umiwas ng tingin sa isa't-isa. Ano ba ang mayroon? Magkakilala ba sila? Magkaaway ba sila?

I suddenly noticed that people were starting to look at us, at padami na rin ng padami ang mga tao dito sa hallway. Parang kanina lang walang tao dito ah?

But of course, who would miss this moment?

It's a very rare moment to see a Tiu and a Pardo de Tavera together in the same place.

"Duane," I called and he looked at me. "Let's talk—" but before I could even finish my sentence, Tiu suddenly carried me in the bridal style way.

I freaking shrieked! Nagulat ako sa ginawa niya. Hindi ako nakaangal dahil sa gulat. Nang maproseso ko ang nangyari, at saka ko siya pinaghahampas sa dibdib. "What the fuck was that?!" I asked him.

I only saw him smirk, then after a few seconds he put me down and I noticed that we were already in the football field of the school.

What the hell?

Kaagad ko siyang pinaghahampas. "What the hell? Bakit mo 'yun ginawa? Para kang ewan! Ayokong ma-issue sa 'yo!" I told him. It was true though. I wouldn't even dream of being with him. Naiisip ko pa lang ang gulong dadalahin nang mga fangirls niya sa buhay ko, na-sstress na kaagad ako!

Hindi pa naman basta-basta mga fans nito. Karamihan sa kanila mayayaman, maraming kayang gawain 'wag lang mapunta sa ibang babae 'tong Tiunggo na 'to.

He only chuckled. Oh, gosh, he was really enjoying this. He was enjoying my misery in life... and I nearly forgot about Duane! Ano na lang ang iisipin niya? For sure, iniisip niya nang kaya ko siya iniiwasan ay dahil kay Tiu... ayokong mag-iba ang tingin niya sa akin. I need to explain myself as soon as possible. Ayokong isipin niya na isa lang din pala ako sa mga babaeng mahuhumaling sa mga Tiu.

Because I'm not.

I will never fall in love with a Tiu.

Not now, not ever.

I was about to go and find Duane when he suddenly held me by the arm. Napatigil ako at hinarap siya. "What the hell is your problem?" I asked irritatedly. I was already annoyed with whatever stunt he was trying to pull.

He frowned.  "I thought we're already friends?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't wanna be friends with you."

"Oh," he suddenly said. "So, now we're back to square one? To being enemies?"

I squinted my eyes. "Excuse me? We were never friends in the first place."

"Ouch, you're hurting me, Asia."

"Ugh, you are so annoying!" I rolled my eyes before I started walking away. Pero ang unggoy na ito, pinigilan nanaman ako. "Ano ba? Kung may sasabihin ka, say it already. You're wasting my time and energy," I said. I was super annoyed.

He sighed. "Fine."

Tiningnan ko lang siya.

"I want to be friends with you."

Nanatili lang akong nakatingin sa kanya.

"I wanna know you more, Asia."

I gulped hard. "Why would you want to know me?" I asked him. I was curious, okay? He was the great Achaia Zaavan Tiu in this campus. He was one of the Tiu brothers. They are treated differently because people say that they've got the looks and the power... so why would one of them would want to know me more?

Ano ba ang mayroon sa akin?

I'm just Asia.

Just a continent.

I'm just me.

Somehow... I knew the answer. I knew in my heart that I knew the answer or maybe, I was just wishing that it was the answer.

"There are a lot of reasons," he said. If I get to score him right now for his acting skills, I'd give him plus bonus points because he looked really sincere.

But I knew he wasn't.

Who knows, right? Sino ba ang may alam kung ano ang tumatakbo sa utak niya? I know, I've got the looks. That's proven and tested. I kinda stand out. Pero sa ilang taon na ilang lalaki ang hindi ko pinansin, nagsawa na rin sila na subukan pang ligawan o lapitan ako.

And I was just thinking that what if... he wants to get to know me because he wanted to score?

Ganoon naman ang mga lalaki, hindi ba? Ginagawang kompetensiya ang pagkuha sa isang babae. Most especially if they are hard to get in their terms, but what if we're just not interested?

Stupid boys.

They see women as a trophy and not as women themselves. Fuck boys. Fuck them and their mindset. Kaya ever since, I hated them. Dahil alam kong 99% naman ng kalalakihan, ganoon ang intensyon. Well, in my case that's true. Nilalapitan lang nila ako dahil gusto nila akong makuha, makamit... not because they actually liked me.

I smiled timidly at him. "I really appreciated that, Achaia," I said. We were on the first name basis but that doesn't mean that we were already friends. "But it's just not worth your time to get to know me more," I said before finally walking away.