Almost Maybes

Chapter 6

"How long have you been there?" said my brother when he finally noticed my existence.

I was seated on the couch across from him. It was Saturday, and he just got back from their Zambales trip. There were pasalubongs for me, yet I'd not tried to open the bag where it was packed.

I glanced at him quizzically, "Wow. My presence isn't felt. I've been here since you started yawning," I said before paying attention on my phone again.

I'd been here for almost half an hour, just scrolling through old photos on my phone till it ran out of battery.

He startled me when he spoke to my left ear, "Hey, pig."

He was now peeking over my phone. He had moved over my spot that quick; a throw pillow was placed under his armpit. He started to poke my head, "What's up? You look upset," he remarked.

"Mind your business, monkey."

I tried to mock my brother, but he did not mind my reproach.

"Fine, if that's what you want. Just stare at your phone the whole day,"

That was full of sarcasm I thought. I watched him toss the pillow back on the couch, and then walked his way to the kitchen, cursing under his breath. Undoubtedly, I inherited my bad temper from him.

I stayed on the couch and thought of hugging my knees up to my chest. But instead of doing that, I lay on my stomach and kept on checking the conversation thread between Rex and me. I hoped that he had accidentally clicked the block button and just noticed it now; maybe he was trying to unblock my account. A moment ago, I planned to chat with Rex. To ask him how he was doing these past days because I'd not heard from him. The most shocking part of the story was, he blocked all my social media accounts. Meaning, I could no longer get in touch with him unless he unblocks my accounts.

Some of our barkada hang outs were done fortnightly, based on everyone's availability. I knew and understood that each of us had busy schedules. The last time we had a group gathering was a month ago, a post-celebration of my birthday, which Rex didn't attend.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat?" asked my brother.

Dryly, I said. "Rex has blocked all my accounts on social media, want to celebrate?"

Finally, I was able to say it without hesitation. At first, I didn't want to inform Kuya Ely about this matter. For the reason of avoiding him to have prejudices towards my man.

After all these years, he chose to do that to me?! Of all the people in his life, why me? Why not Prix, or my brother, or his most hated officemate? Why did it have to be me, Rex?

I texted him just a minute ago, that was the fifth message I'd sent him today, and I hadn't received a reply yet. I tried to call him, but I couldn't get through his line.

My thoughts were wandering off somewhere, and I could not fathom till when this wandering would last. Where did I go wrong?

What were his reasons for doing that? First, he stood me up at our dinner last week. Second, he blocked me on all his social media accounts. We hadn't had an argument the past weeks. So, I came to this conclusion that he was trying to ignore me due to some personal reason.

I didn't see my brother's reaction, then I heard his guffaw all over the room.

He was laughing at my confession. I didn't say anything because his reaction was enough to piss me off. Suddenly, my brother was standing across from me, holding a fork in one hand.

"I was waiting for you to say it was a prank," he said.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it was not. I'm not good at pulling any pranks."