Free From The Cage

Chapter 6

Cris and I ended up going to the condo of Jeff's friend. Mabuti na lang di pa masyadong lasing to si Jeff. I'm the one who drive his car while Cris is in the passenger's seat. Jeff was in the back and closed his eyes. Cris connect her phone to the speaker in the car and play some paramore songs. We ended up singing with our hearts that makes Jeff pissed at the back.

"Shut up! Sinisira niyo yong kanta." Cris and I both laughed in his shout and still continue what we are doing to piss him more.

Dumaan muna kami sa isang 7/11 malapit sa pupuntahan namin and buy coffee for Jeff and some snacks for us later.

After the 30 minutes drive from that condo, finally we arrived at our destination. By that time, Jeff is now sober, thanks to that coffee. Tumakbo kami papuntang grass field at humiga sa gitna. Kitang kita namin ang napakaraming stars sa pwesto namin. Tinuturo pa namin yun at kinoconnect to form a constellation.

"Nakakamiss naman to. Tagal na nating di pumupunta dito. " Komento ni Cris.

"Yeah, busy kasi kayo palagi." I answered her na may pagtatampo.

"Kami ba ang busy?" Sabi naman ni Jeff.

"What do you mean?"

"Wala, nevermind." But I saw him smirk.

"Jeff naman eh." Sabi ko while pouting.

"Uy, may defensive." Tukso naman ni Cris.

"Tantanan niyo nga ako." I said while rolling my eyes. And they both laughed.

We stayed their for two hours reminiscing our childhood days. We talk about how we used to play in this place , kung paanong palagi kaming nadadapa ni Cris kapag naghahabulan kaming tatlo at si Jeff na tatatawanan muna kaming dalawa bago kami tulungan. Nagkaasaran tuloy kaming tatlo ngayon kaya hinahabol namin si Jeff ngayon. Dahil medyo may epekto pa ang alak, nadapa tuloy sya at nahiga ng tuluyan sa damuhan. Grabe ang tawa naming dalawa hanggang tinabihan namin siyang dalawa. We looked again at the stars with the smile in our faces. We still stayed there for more minutes before we decided to go home.

"Ice Saan ka pupunta?"

"Nay Cely. Gagala sana kasama yung kaibigan ko sa University. Please tell mommy pag uwi niya. Baka makauwi din ako ng maaga nay, mga 5 or 6 nandito na ko."

"Sige hija. Mag ingat ka ha. "

"Opo. Thanks nay. " I decided to walk papuntang mini park sa subdivision. Malapit lang din naman and I used the time to calm myself by looking at the old trees that has been there even when I was young.

The moment I arrived at the park , Rav was there leaning on his motor cycle wearing his white shirt under his black leather jacket and black fitted pants also.

"Gaya-gaya ka talaga Ice." He said it while smirking.

"Malay ko bang ganan din ang suot kung alam ko lang I shouldn't wear like this." Sabay irap sa kanya. He laughed at my reaction. As usual, ayan na naman ang tawa niyang gusto kong palaging nakikita. Whenever I'm with Rav, I always feels like I don't have a problem because he makes me happy in every single efforts.

"Tss. Let's go. Drive thru muna tayo para my makain tayo. Saan ba tayo sa dating tambayan?"

"Yah. Sa dating tambayan." I close my eyes the moment he start the engine. I don't mind the heat of the sun, mas gusto ko yung ganito. I was able to feel the warm feeling that it gives, sobra akong narerelax, hindi ko alam kung bakit. Mabuti na lang balot na balot ako ngayon kung hindi iitim ako nito and mom will surely freak out.

Nag drive thru kami sa McDo at hinayaan ko na lang si Rav umorder para sakin. Alam kong alam naman niya kung anong gusto ko.

"Let's go." And I nodded as my response.

He let me closed my eyes again and feel the warm air from the heat of the sun. After 30 minutes of driving, we reach our so called tambayan. This is the cliff on one of their properties. He put the mat on the floor and we sat down there. We eat the food that we bought a while ago and stare at the sunset. Sa ganito, nakukuntento na kami.

We let the silence speaks for us, because this silence speaks a thousand words that we can't tell. I know there's something that bothers him, and i'm waiting for him to tell it to me. Ganito din naman kami for the past months na nagkakilala kami. Maybe that's what I like on our situation. We are both here for each other when we needed each other arms.

"Have you ever been inlove Ice?"

"No."

"I thought I can forgot her but I think I was wrong." So he has someone in his heart already? Why do I feel hurt knowing that? Or maybe I feel hurt because of the pain he feels right.

"Have you ever tried telling her what you really feel?"

"Yes, but she told me na para na daw niya akong kapatid. We grow up together, i started to like her when we were in our freshmen years during highschool. I thought i feel that because we're always together but i found myself keep on falling for her more. I confessed to her after our graduation hoping that she might feels the same way, but she didn't. Until now, she's still here in my heart."

"I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. " Rav laughed at my answer.

"It's okay Ice. I understand. How about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know that there's something wrong. You may fool others by your smile but you can never fool me with your eyes. I feel that your eyes want to tell me lots of things. Care to share one of those?"

"Fine. It's my father's 5th death anniversary tomorrow."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's been five years but it's still fresh in our minds. It's hard to accept the thought that he's not here anymore. I wanted to hug him and tell him that I always follow my mom in everything. I want to tell him all the things that makes me feel sad. I want to tell him how much i love him." I feel Rav sat in front of me and wiping my tears.

"I know you're dad is so proud of you." Then he hugs me until the sun is nowhere to be found.