Running After The Wind(Manila Encounter Series 1)

17

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"Tingnan mo nga,"

I neatly tucked the corners of my bedsheet into the headrest. Kagigising ko lang at nandito na agad si Nicia. Nangaabala.

She's in front of my full-length mirror, inuusyoso ang mukha. Dumiretso ako sa tabi niya to find my hair brush.

"Huy! Am I getting ugly? Ha? Pangit na ba 'ko?"

"Dati ka pa namang pangit, ah."

She rolled her eyes at nag-fuck you pa. "Salamat, ah," it was sarcastic.

She dramatically cupped her face and touch every traces of her skin worriedly. Hindi ko alam kung ano ba talagang pinoproblema niya.

"Ang hirap naman kasing magbuntis. Pumapangit ng walang dahilan!" dabog niya at sinalikmat ang roller, handa nang lumabas.

"Umaarte ka ng walang dahilan!"

"Whatever! Bilisan mo, ah! Kahit first day ngayon, mas okay na maaga tayo do'n!"

Tama naman siya. Kaya pagkalabas niya I quickly went inside the bathroom. Nagtagal ako roon, I couldn't stop bathing myself until I felt satisfied. Call me maarte, pero mabagal talaga akong maligo. Well, I was used to that. Mahirap madaliin kung gusto mong maging malinis talaga.

After I finished preparing myself, lumabas ako ng kuwarto to check if she's ready too.

"Bagay ba new eyeliner ko?"

Lumapit siya sa'kin para ipahili ang bagong kulay. It suits her, anyway. Wala naman akong problemang nakikita sa mukha niya. Hindi ko nga maintindihan kung anong inaarte ng babaeng 'to, e!

"Ano bang inaarte mo?" I off all the switches to get ready for leaving. It's almost 7. We buy our time still, since 9 pa naman ang first sub namin.

She combed her hair and let it fell without any curls, than what she used to.

"Ewan. Basta. Hindi ko alam!" she yelled, frustrated now.

Natatawa tuloy ako sa kaniya. Is this really part of pregnancy? Nababother na 'ko kay Nicia, ah. Sometimes she's eating too much, and now she's over reacting. Oh, God!

"Feel ko talaga ang pangit ko na, e! Bibili ako ng bagong set of skincare mamaya. Baka naman hindi na 'ko hiyang," she console herself.

"Wala 'yan. Mukha mo talaga may problema,"

She glared while putting her things inside her red hand bag. Wala naman kaming dalang iba dahil first day pa lang naman. I pinned the sides of my hair to make it not out of places. We secured the appliances at lumabas na rin.

"Woah! Enderun, please be good to us!" she exclaimed while standing on the school ground.

We watched people come and go. We're still hesitant if we should go in to our room this early o maglibot na lang muna. Naisip na rin naming boring kung papasok agad kami, we stroll to the school's cafeteria.

"Ang bango!" Nicia gave me a meaningful look.

Inikot ko ang mata sa mga estudyante na may kani-kaniyang ginagawa. May iba rin na kumakain. And it all happens that there's a student eating near our spot.

"You don't tell me gutom ka na naman? Magsisimula na tayo in just 10 minutes,"

I glanced at my wrist watch, making sure we won't miss the time.