Chasing the Sun

043

I prayed fervently that everything was just a coincidence, and any minute Tawan would enter the hall and tell me he had just gone to the restroom. Suddenly, the whole room went dark and the activity area immediately got filled with the screams of the girls who got scared with the sudden blackout. Then, the projector came to life and flashed something on the big screen that hung in front of the whole crowd.

WELCOME SENIORS

The words flashed on the screen read. Two words were only shown on the screen but somehow, I felt extremely nervouse of what would be shown next. My heart pounded severely that I thought it would explode, and suddenly I remembered about Aj's phone call. The pictures...

I dialed Tawan's number restlessly, hoping that he'd pick up the call. Still, he never answered. Tears were starting to form on the corners of my eyes as my thoughts got more sinister every second that went by. Around me, the students were anticipating what came after the greeting. But I felt the opposite, and wanted to shut the projector down.

Then, what I feared the most turned into reality.

Just recently, the school tested gays in line with the HIV awareness drive of the Department of Health.

Those words flashed next after the greeting. Both the students and teachers were perplexed at what was happening, as neither of the two did not know what was happening. But I did, and my fear grew bigger and bigger as the text shown on the screen changed.

Homosexuals were asked to step out to get tested for HIV. But what would you feel if I tell you, someone in our school is gay but did not test himself?

The whole room got filled with the murmurs of the students, talking about the boy the text was talking about. My classmates were gossiping about it, and names were dropped.

"Is it new?", I heard among the whispers. All the color disappeared from my body as I heard my name being mentioned. Then, the screen flashed another set of words again.

Don't you feel betrayed? A gay man sits with us today, but refuses to out himself. But that's okay, we have proof to show you who we're talking about.

Then, the screen changed to a timer. Ten seconds, Nine, Eight.

The tears that I had been holding for a long time started to fall, and my ears went deaf amid the murmurs that surrounded me.

Three, two.

Just when the timer hit one, the screen was distorted and flashed a technical difficulty. Then, the door of the control room for the projector was taken down as a body flew inside it. It was Aj, beaten down and almost close to losing consciousness. Soonafter, Tawan stepped out of the room, his clothes drenched in sweat and blood. His head was bleeding a lot, his pace painted red from the injury that he had.

The people were all motionless as Aj remained lying on the floor, and Tawan stood there as he breathed heavily. Then, Aj rose and raised a picture on his hand. My eyes were close to not seeing anything, but the picture seemed too familiar that I didn't need a good eyesight to see it. It was a picture of me and Tawan, kissing on the rooftop.

"Scared of everyone finding out your secret?", Aj shouted.

Then, Tawan let out a blow on his face and made Aj pass out. Everyone was in shock and couldn't process the sight before them, and all I was able to do was keep on crying.

"Tawan!", I called out to him in the middle of the crowd. He looked at me and smiled, the same warm smile he gave whenever we meet.

Then, someone else came outside of the control room. It was another student, carrying a long block of wood in his hand. He too was injured, but he was still able to walk. Tawan seemed like he didn't know there was someone standing behind him as he was still smiling at me. Then, the boy behind wielded his wood and aimed for Tawan's temple.

I screamed, all my might as I ran towards him, but it was too late. He already hit Tawan, and he fell to the floor. My knees were getting shaky, and I felt like collapsing soon, but I ran with full strength until I reached him. He was so frail and weak, and he breathed very faintly. I could feel him passing out any time.

"Don't worry, I won't let him hurt you.", He said as he brushed the tears off my cheek. Then, he passed out as his hand fell on the cold floor.