Splendiferous (Legazpi #1)

Seventeen

17.

My lips parted but no words came out of my mouth. My mind is still processing what he had just said but I couldn't clear it up because I'm distracted by my fast heartbeats.

We're just staring at each other, waiting on who's going to talk first. I suddenly gulped when I gazed at his eyes that are staring intently at me as if it's trying to read my thoughts.

"Hey! In fifteen minutes, dadating na 'yong inorder kong breakfast natin!" Aleezah peeked from the door before walking away.

Thank God for her! She took away the silence that's filling the whole gym room.

"Want to swim?" Xerxes suddenly asked me.

Wala sa sarili akong pumayag sa kanya at nang bigyan niya ako ng matamis na ngiti ay pakiramdam ko pupwede na akong matunaw.

"X," I called when we both got out.

"Yeah?" he faced me.

I handed him his phone. "Your phone."

Because of what I heard from him a while ago, I forgot to delete the photo which I was supposed to do. I can no longer see the point of deleting the photo, marerestore niya rin naman kung gugustuhin niya.

We both went to the dining room where the glass sliding door heading to the garden is. The garden is where the pool is located. Aleezah was also there, lying on the hammock near the poolside while scrolling through her phone.

She might have felt our presence because she placed down her phone and glanced at our direction.

"Swim?" pag-aaya ko sa kanya.

She smiled. "No thank you. Magagalit si kuya kapag naki-thirdwheel ako."

I heard Xerxes scoff beside me. I glanced at him and he just looked at me innocently. Bahagya na lamang akong umiling at umupo sa tabi ng pool. Inilublob ko doon ang aking paa bago unti-unting ibinaba ang sarili hanggang sa tuluyan na akong mayakap ng malamig na tubig.

From the side of my eyes, I saw Xerxes taking off his sweatpants, revealing only his black boxers. Nanlaki ang aking mga mata ng mapansin ang kung anong bumabakat doon. Ipinilig ko ang aking ulo upang maiwasan ang pagkakasulyap ko doon kahit na sa gilid lamang ng aking nga mata.

I felt his presence going near me until he's now already in front of me.

"Are you a fast swimmer?" he asked.

"Tama lang," sagot ko dito.

"Race?" he challenged.

Saglit kong pinag-isipan ang paanyaya niya hanggang sa tumango rin ako bilang pagpayag.

"Andiyan na pagkain natin," tawag pansin ni Aleezah sa amin. "Ako na kukuha!" She walked out of the garden to get the breakfast she ordered outside.

"Let's swim first," Xerxes said to me and he started swimming.

Matagal-tagal na rin mula noong huli akong lumangoy sa pool o sa dagat. Sa tinagal-tagal ko nang nananatili rito ay ngayon pa lamang ako nakalusong dito sa pool nila Xerxes. He usually swim here every week, inaaya niya ako noon pero tumatanggi ako dahil noong mga panahong iyon ay nagpapanggap pa akong lalaki.

We both swam to one end of the pool and he initiated the counting before we start.

"Ready?" he looked at me and I nodded. "Alright. Three, two, one."

Huminga ako nang malalim bago inilublob ang sarili sa ilalim ng tubig at nagsimulang lumangoy. Kada kaunting segundo ay tumataas rin ako para kumuha ng hangin.