Ghosting Madness

Chapter 07

07: His Devil Little Ways
"For a second,
I blamed myself for
not believing his words.
Now, she's about to suffer."

For how many times I stared aimlessly at my phone screen, one thing remains a fact:

HE GOT MY NUMBER.

And getting my number means a far distance before, now a NEARER CONNECTION I can escape no more.

09*********: WELCOME! 😉

I almost puke when I read his message with an winking emoji. Kahit hindi pa man siya nakaregister sa cellphone ko, alam kong siya na 'to. Sa capslocked pa lang na text, alam kong sa kaniya 'to galing.

I almost bleed my lips in annoyance.

Ano pa ang silbi ng cellphone at sim na binili ko three years ago kung makukuha niya lang ulit ang contact number ko?

But I can't blame Daela though. She's just... maybe too overwhelmed upon hearing her old crush's request so she gave away my deemed secret 11 digits like some raffle promo.

I sighed.

"Are you listening, Ms. Buela?"

I cursed again in my head when I heard my professor in Developmental Reading 1 called me. And because of that, everyone's attention went straight to my seat.

Murmuring. Staring.

This is the reason why I hate attention and why I love being unseen the most. It's a hassle. It's just too far from my normal.

"S-Sorry, Ma'am. It's...It's an emergency," I lied with my head low.

"Oh...What kind of emergency?"

I gulped and replied, "Family."

I could hear some gasp, some shook their heads.

"But they're fine now, Ma'am. Pardon me," I repeated and turned off my phone (in silent mode, too) to end the conversation. She scoffed and continued teaching.

Great way to start my day!

I decided to let myself drown into listening. This is a better thing to do rather than drowning my mind with negative thoughts. Nag-aaral naman ako, oo, pero hindi ko na kakayanin pang makatanggap ng isa pang dos sa major ngayong sem. I simply can't lose my scholarship.

While jotting down important infos, I felt Nella's fingers tapping my shoulder. Magkatabi na naman kami dahil lagi niya akong pinagre-reserve ng upuan. Nahihiya na akong tumanggi.

"Nella!" mahinang asik ni Pamela sa kaibigan tapos tinarayan ako.

And yes, magkakatabi kaming tatlo.

Nella just ignored her friend, surprisingly. Giggling, she raised her notebook written with 'Have u paid him na?'.

Umiling ako.

It's been three days since it happened. Pero hindi ako sumuko. Magkasama pa rin kami ni Nella na pumupunta sa Engineering department para hanapin siya and as expected, lagi siyang missing in action. It's either he's with his friends or with a girl, his classmates told us.

And now, after leaving me waiting for three days, he suddenly texted me? Finally done flirting?

She formed an 'O'. Then she flipped another page with another question written on it.

'Are u ok lng ba? \~○~/'

She tried smiling.

And I did, too.