The Antiquity of Us (La Fortuna Series #2)

Kabanata 14

Kabanata 14

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"How's school?"

"Fine." Tinaasan ko siya ng kilay. "Ikaw, how's being such a show-off?"

He let out a loud bark of laughter. Sinulyapan niya ako ng isang beses at nakakaasar na nginisihan bago ibinalik ang tingin sa kalsada.

"Fine, too."

I leered at him. "Ang annoying mo."

"What?" patay-malisya niya. "It's not like I did a crime. Besides, I told you already, I'm just an honest man."

"You can be honest without showing off."

He shook his head in amusement. "Are we going to fight over this? It was just a simple declaration of my feelings for you."

"Simple pero kitang-kita ng buong LFU?" Sarkastiko akong umismid. "I'm starting to think that you have a different meaning for some words, Atlas."

He sighed. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry, aight? 'Di ko naman alam na ayaw mo ng atensyon..."

"Some attention is okay, some... I'm not interested."

"Point taken," he said and nodded. "Mabuti na lang pala at okay na okay sa 'yo ang atensyon ko, 'no?"

Sa inis ko sa mga banat niya ay kinurot ko siya sa tagiliran. Napa-igtad siya at humalakhak ulit. Habang tinitignan ko siyang aliw na aliw sa mga pinanggagagawa niya'y nagtaka na ako kung paanong ang tulad niyang pormal at 'di natitinag ay may gan'tong katangian pala. 

It was weird but when I thought about how I became talkative when we're together too, I realized that maybe... we brought out parts of ourselves that no one could ever uncover.

Ang tingin sa 'kin ng karamihan ay tahimik at seryoso. Gano'n din sa kaniya. I bet no one would expect us to click like this, especially with the famous notion opposite attracts. But don't we all need someone who'd understand us in a spiritual level? Atlas and I were so similar it was like there's a piece of me that only he could understand. 

"The Foundation Day's next month, right? How are you preparing? May sasalihan ka ba? Sports o creative contest?"

I giggled at his succeeding questions. Hindi niya ako nilingon pero nagsalubong ng kilay niya sa biglaang paghagikhik ko.

"Are you my father? 'Cause you sound like one," I teased.

"No," aniya at ngumuso. The corners of his lips rose. "But I will be the father of your children."

Nainis ulit ako sa mga walang-kwenta niyang banat. I slapped his biceps but because they were firm and hard, mukhang ako ata ang nasaktan! Napairap ako. Geez! He should tone it down with all the exercise!

"Whatever!" utas kong mas ikinasaya niya pa.

How did we even get to this topic? Kanina ay Foundation Day ang pinag-uusapan namin, ah? Humalukipkip ako at sumandal sa backrest ng front seat, nag-iisip ng kung anong isasagot sa nauna niyang tanong. The thought about him asking me random questions made me fluttery inside. It's refreshing that I now had someone I could share mundane stuff with.

"I'm not physically inclined so I'm not joining any sports. Busy din ako sa Midterms para mag-prepare pa para sa mga creative contests. Someone recruited me earlier though. Mr. and Miss LFU candidate daw."

"Are you joining?"

I shook my head. "Nah. Not interested."

"Why?"

"Well, aside from it's a waste of time for me, Maeve Sandoval's joining, too. Wala pa ngang pictorial na nagaganap ay may mga banners niya nang nagkalat sa LFU. She's the crowd's favorite, you know? Kaya kahit sumali man ako, I'm not confident that I'll win. Lalo na't mas may experience siya kaysa sa 'kin."