Best Part of Me

32

When I realized that they already flew away, I stopped running and fell on the ground.

I cried my heart out in the middle of the road. The group of police men approached me.

"Miss okay ka lang?" Tanong ng isang lalaki. I moved away from him, afraid that he would touch me too. Mukhang nagulat sila sa inakto ko.

"Miss, di ka namin sasaktan." The other one assured me but no, I was done trusting. Patuloy ako sa paglayo at paghagulgol, lumuhod ang isang pulis sa harap ko at hinawakan ang kamay ko, I was about to panic when I saw she was a lady.

"What happened?" She asked me. I couldn't talk, and just continued to cry. Inakay niya ako patayo at isinama patungo sa police car nila.

I need to get myself together. Hindi ako pwedeng maging mahina para kay Ash. I promised that I would give justice to his father and this won't stop me from doing so.

"C-can you take me to the police station?" I asked. Tumango naman siya, at inalalayan ako papasok sa kotse.

"Anong nangyari? Were you raped? Don't be scared we're here to help." Tumingin ako sa sarili kong katawan, gulo gulo ang buhok ko at damit ko. I sniffed and carefully fixed my clothes and hair.

"I'm okay." I assured her.

I'm okay. I need to be okay.

Ilang minuto pa ay dumating kami sa police station, I immediately went out of the car and looked for him. Hindi ko na pinansin ang pagtawag sa akin ng pulis at mabilis na hinanap si Ash.

It was already 6pm, the sun has set and it was already dark, dagdag pa na tila uulan ngayong gabi. I saw him waiting at the parking lot, until now. I stopped walking and stared at him, I don't care if I look a total mess right now, I just wanted to hug him and tell him how I feel right now.  How scared I was, and how painful I was feeling right now.

I wanted to run to him, and beg him to hug me because that's what I needed right now. I wiped my tears and slowly walked towards him.

"Ash." I called him, he suddenly looked up and met my eyes. He looked at me coldly, like I was just a stranger calling for him.

"You're late." Kumento niya. "Let's go."  Wala na siyang ibang sinabi at nagsimula ng maglakad.

Napayuko ako at pinaglaruan ang daliri ko, I don't know what to say. How could I even say I lost everything and I almost lost something.

"Why are you just standing there?" He asked, I could sense how pissed he was right now.

"I... I.. lost it." Mahinang saad ko, his brow furrowed and tilted his head a bit like he couldn't understand what I just said.

"The evidence." I added. I saw how his confusion turned into ferocity, his eyes were raging mad and he was clenching his jaw like he heard the shittiest thing in life.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked.

"I-i'm not.. S-sorry it's just that --"

"Bullshit Avery!" He shouted, I flinched from the intensity of his voice.

"I fucking waited for hours for nothing?! Are you fucking covering up for your parents?! Ganyan ka ba kababa?!" He accused me, mabilis akong umiling sa kanya. I want to tell him that I would never cover up for my parent's mistake but he was so angry that I couldn't even say a word.

"M-makinig ka naman Ash." I pleaded but he just laughed sarcastically.

"Listen to what? To your lies? You know what, stop thinking that you're different from you parents. Pare-parehas kayo, at hindi ko alam bakit minahal pa kita."

Everything just hurts from within. I just wanted to be heard, but got rejected. Every word he said were very sharp, it pierced my heart that it hurts so much.

"Let's not see each other again." He said before walking away, he went inside of his car and drove away leaving me here, alone.

Alone. Again.

I literally lost everything I have for the justice that I wanted to happen. I lost my parents, my life, the luxury, my butler, the evidence, I almost lost my dignity, and I lost him, I was literally left with nothing.

I sat on the gutter of the road and just stared at the emptiness while the tears continued to stream across my face.

I don't exactly know what should I feel right now, I always wanted to be strong for him but can't I be weak just for now? It was draining me, I was lost and I was in so much pain that I was begging for someone to save me.

I knew I don't have any reason to be angry at him, but I can't stop myself from feeling a little pang of anger. He never did listen to me, he never even let me talk to explain everything, he doesn't even notice how haggard and how shitty I looked today, or even the bandages I have, he doesn't really care about anything. He was literally blinded by anger.

And I know I couldn't blame him. It was his father we were talking about, it was his life ruined.

Now, I literally had nothing with me, not even a phone. I lost everything and all I need to do was to find that driver hoping that he would hide that evidences for me. Ni wala manlang akong macontact na kahit sino dahil wala akong alam na number. How pathetic.

I stood up and started walking away without destination. I don't know where would I go but I just continued walking. I was still not over with the fact that I almost got raped, and it still haunt me, I feel disgusted to myself and until now, I could feel their hands on my body.

I've been through a lot, and I promise that make everyone pay for this.

"Oh my goodness, Zoe?!" Napatingin ako sa tumawag sa akin, she looked very surprised, she suddenly ran towards me and hugged me tight.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly, scanning my whole body. I pressed my lips to stop myself from sobbing, I sniffed and hugged her tight.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm already here." Zeph assured me while brushing my hair. She pulled me inside her car and drove somewhere, I just kept on crying inside her car, she was just listening and not saying anything. We stopped infront of a tall condo unit, she opened the door for me and pulled me inside.

Sumakay kami sa elevator at pumasok sa isang kwarto. She let me sit at the couch and offered me a glass of water.

"Girl, what happened?" Naupo siya sa tabi ko habang hinahaplos ang buhok ko.

I sniffed and told her everything that happened, from the smallest detail to the biggest and scariest one. We ended up both crying, she was hugging me tight and crying with me.

"Everything will be alright in time." She whispered.