The Lost Helianthus (COMPLETED)

Chapter Fourteen

Hindi ako maagang pumasok ngayon at naabutan ko si Alek na kinakausap ng lalaking kaklase namin.

Sinadya ko talagang hindi pumasok nang maaga para makaiwas sa kanya. I need some time to think and prepare for our meeting later. Hindi naman ako nahirapang umiwas sa kanya dahil kalahati na ng upuan ang puno. It will be hard for him to find a free seat beside me if ever he'll try to talk to me about that troubles him.

He didn't notice my presence when I entered the room because of the man beside him. Ipinagpasalamat ko naman iyon dahil hindi ko kailangang maging cautious sa galaw ko.

I don't know how I'll act if his gaze followed me as I walked toward my seat. Kaya bago ko pa mapukaw ang atensiyon ko ay binilisan ko na paglakad ko. There's a possibility that I'll lose my footing and stumble once his penetrating gaze fell on me. Ayaw ko namang maging katawa-tawa sa lahat nang makakasaksi and of course, alam kong mapapansin din iyon ni Alek. And it's what I wanted to avoid.

Nang mailapag at maupo sa silya ko ay pinagmasdan ko ang likod ni Alek. His head was lowered down as if he's looking for something significant on his desk even if there's none. Nang mapansin ng kausap niya na walang kainteres-interes ang kausap niya sa sinasabi nito ay umalis na ito bigla.

I pouted. I wanted to say that Alek's rude but I would become a hypocrite. Gawain ko rin naman kasi iyon.

Alek won't be interested if all you try to speak were just nonsensical topics. At base sa reaksiyon ni Alek kanina, what was coming out of the man's mouth were probably tattletales, something that will surely bore Alek.

Hindi naman kasi siya ganoon kung  hindi tungkol sa activities na related sa schoolworks  ang pinag-uusapan.

When I sensed that he's about to turn his head on my direction, agad kong ibinaba ang ulo ko. I'm quite relieved that my phone was placed on top of the desk. Ibig sabihin lang ay may maipakikita akong rason kung bakit nandoon ang tingin ko. He won't suspect that I am observing him.

I acted like I'm busy with my phone. Hindi ko na rin inutusan pa ang sarili kong tignan muli siya. What if I raised my head and I found out he's looking at me also? Malamang na mahuhuli ako. So no, kahit na sumakit ang batok ko, I won't bribe my face for a comfortable position.

Since nandito naman ako at hawak ang cellphone ko ay nagcompose na ako ng message para sa kanya.

'Meet me in the library after you ate your lunch.'

Ilang beses kong pinatitigan iyon. I needed to make sure that there are no misspelled words.

After that, mas lalo ko pang itinungo ang ulo. Now I am absolutely sure that he was looking at me after he read the message.

I sighed to keep my calm. I thought my nervousness will lessen now that I made the first step. Hindi ko alam kung bakit mas nadagdagan pa ang kaba ko kahit nabawasan na ang gagawin ko para mamaya.

🌻🌻🌻

"What the hell?" Iyon ang salubong ko sa kanya nang maupo siya sa harap ko.

When he was this near, I have finally gotten to observe his face clearly. He has dark lines under his eyes and I bet it's because of lack of sleep.

Hindi ko siguro iyon nakita dahil abala ako sa pag-iwas sa tingin niya.

All I receive from him was a glare.

"Did I do wrong?" I asked cluelessly. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ang sama ng tingin niya sa akin samantalang ngayon na nga lang kami mag-uusap dahil iniiwasan ko siya.