My Little Sun

7: On the way back home

I waited for her until the sun decided to set.

She's cleaning the field on her own. Fixing the equipment her teammates used.

"Aelia~! Gabi na. Umuwi na tayo." She ignored me. "Hey—"

"I don't remember telling you to wait, Tristan."

Tristan. She never called me like that.

"It's my choice." I'm getting irritated but I know I need to be patient. "Fine. Kahit hanggang hating gabi ka diyan mag-aayos, hihintayin kita."

"Bakit ba? Friends don't do these kinds of stuff, right?"

And here it is. Sabi ko na nga ba at nasaktan ko siya sa nagawa ko.

Although I wanted to say a lot of things to her, I got a feeling that now's not the right time. I chose to stay. I will wait until she's ready.

It's 8 o'clock when she decided to go home. I just quietly followed her.

"Are you always going home this late?" I asked. Still, she's ignoring me. "Hindi ka ba kinakabahang dumaan dito? Masyadong madilim ah."

Tch. How long do I have to be patient?

"Aelia—"

"Tristan—"

"Can you stop calling me Tristan? You never call in that name for 4 years. Hindi ako sanay."

She looked at me. "Bakit mo ba to ginagawa?" She sounds angry with tears in her eyes. "Didn't you tell me to give you space? "

"Yes, I said that. And I'm sorry okay? Akala ko kasi mag-aayos din tayo after a day. I didn't expect that you'll never talk to me." 

"Hah. Siguro nga napagod na akong kakasunod sa'yo at kakasorry.— Alam mo, parang napagod din yata akong maging mabait eh. Napapagod na akong ngumiti. Nakakapagod ng ngumiti kahit hindi naman ako okay."

"Who's that idiot na nagsabi sayo na ngumiti ka kahit hindi mo gusto? Who told you to pretend? You can just cry, Aelia. You can always cry if it's painful. Magalit ka kung gusto mo. Huwag mo akong iwasan nalang ng ganito."

"Pero wala na akong best friend na maiiyakan. Wala na akong kaibigang nakakaintindi sakin. Wala na."

She cried. I immediately ran to her and gave her a hug. "Sorry. Sorry for pushing you away without even thinking of what you're going through. It's just that...I don't want you to spend almost all your time with me. Hindi lang naman ako ang kaibigan mo di ba? Nandiyan sina Lucas at Marco. Pati na yung nasa Baseball Club."

I looked at her. "See? Marami kang kaibigan kaya huwag ka ng magdrama diyan."

She's still frowning.

"Can you smile? Na-miss ko yun."

She smiled at me, with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Namiss mo ko?"

"Yung smile. Hindi ikaw. Huwag ka ngang feeler diyan."

"Hehehe..."

And she kept smiling until we reached her house.

This is okay.
We're back at being friends again.