Tied With You

Simula

Simula

The Oracle Publication accidentally posted a tweet on their official account. Revealing a hot trending topic on the newest couple of the academic year amidst the end of the second semester. The community couldn't stop talking about this revelation.

Reading that statement wasn't new to me. I stare at the screenshot sent in our group chat longer than I thought. I was zooming in and out the picture when someone suddenly released a heavy sigh.

Napaangat ang tingin ko sa kanya.

"Balita ko, kayo na raw ni... Rio." panimula niya.

Ang mata nito ay nasa pagkaing nakalapag sa harap nito. Maingay ang aming paligid at madaming mga naka-unipormeng estudyante ang dumaraan sa tabi ng table namin.

Tumango lang ako.

"Do you even lo-" Pinutol niya ang dapat sasabihin. "Best luck. Happy to hear you made it official by trending it." sabay angat ng tingin nito sa akin. Iritado.

Should I take note of his sarcasm or bitterness?

Ang aming mata ay nagsalubong. Mabilis na kumabog ang dibdib ko sa simpleng tingin na iyon, gustuhin ko mang umiwas ay kailangan kong panindigan ang naging desisyon ko.

To not show affection, to not stumble, to make peace with what had started but ended so soon.

"Thank you," tumikhim ako. "Sana kayo din ni... Lia."

Halos ibulong ko na ang huling sinabi ko.

Nanlaki ang mata niya sa sinabi ko at ang labi nito ay umawang na tila ba hindi ito makapaniwala. Akala siguro nito ay nagbibiro lamang ako. Baka namali lang siya ng rinig?

Kung nabalitaan niya kaagad na kami na ni Rio, ganoon din ako sa kanila ni Lia. Their Ship name were trending for hours.

Bakit? Hindi ba totoo? Bakit? Hindi ba sila? Yes they are in a relationship! Well, it didn't came from a him directly or with Lia but I know na hindi maaring mali ang narinig ko. Nanggaling pa ito mismo sa bibig ng kapatid niya.

And here he is pretending to be so in denial about it. Hindi man lang soft launch ang naganap, talagang hard launch agad.

The worst part is that he didn't even tell me they are in a relationship even though he has every chance to tell me. Sa iba ko pa talaga nalaman?

Imagine the hurt and pagtatampo I'm feeling when I heard about it.

I scoop the biryani rice onto my plate then add a little of the beef, then shove it in my mouth so that I could pretend that everything is alright.

That this scene I used to picture of us, is just another picture to burn. That, what happened between us, is just a film without a camera. And those moments in my memory are just a taste of my what if's.

Well, nothing has been going on between us at all. That's what I knew but not what I was told, and not what I even felt.

Meron bang naging kami? Wala. It was a no-label. We were just friends... nothing more than that. A complete platonic relationship. Or maybe it was one-sided all along.

Guys often don't know what platonic relationships are. Gusto kong umirap.

I assumed and all after the times I spend with him, after the bond we form? But, hearing about him and Lia being together now? Tuluyan na akong bumitaw sa pangako at pag-asang meron ngang magiging progreso ang mga akala ko.

I ended it, without him even knowing. Ayaw kong ipagsiksikan ang sarili ko sa isang bagay na wala namang katuturan o magiging puwang sa kinabukasan ko. I won't be with a person who has no intentions of putting me first. I won't be with a person who breaks their promises that we will be each other's last while making me feel that I am just a fragment that pieces his future with someone else.