"Sagittarius Elliot del Ruiz! Ibaba mo 'ko sa sasakyang 'to kung ayaw mong tumalon ako!" tinawanan lang ng huli ang pagbabanta ni Alexandria Monique.
"Don't be silly, Alexandria." sabi pa nito habang nakatutok pa rin sa daan. "You're not gonna jump. I'm very sure of that."
"And why is that?" naiinsultong tanong niya at binato ito ng masamang tingin.
He threw her a pointed look. "Because you're not my mother." he said as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world.
Napahalukipkip nalang siya at napabuntong-hininga. "You're right."
"Of course you're not gonna-"
"I'm not your mother." napa-iling nalang ito. "Tingnan mo 'to. Marunong nang magpatawang-kalbo.
"Whatever."she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Where are we going anyway?"
"You'll see."
"You know I hate surprises." she then rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I know."
"Then why are you not telling me where we're going?"
"Because you hate it." ngising wika nito.
Binato niya ito ng masamang tingin kahit na hindi nito nakikita ang ginagawa niya. "I hate you."
"Right back at you, Alexandria." he retorted.
She snorted. "Good to know."
"Hey, are you aware that I can sue you for kidnapping me?" tanong niya makalipas ang ilang minuto.
"And you're telling me that right now because?"
"Because I can."
Bumunghalit nanaman ito ng tawa na ikinapula ng pisngi niya. "Yeah, nice try"
"You'll see. Kukuha ako ng magaling na abogado."
"Kahit na anong gawin mo, matatalo ka pa rin ng abogado ko." pagmamalaki nito. "Isa ring hinirang na Gwapogi ang manok ko. And you know why? Dahil gwapo rin siya tulad ko. Kaya nga lang mas gwapo ako do'n ng ilang libong paligo."
Inikot niya ang mga mata sa kayabangan nito. "At nagpapaniwala ka naman sa mga sinasabi ng magazine na 'yon? Binobola lang kayo no'n."
Umiling ito. "Hindi ah. Pawang katotohanang lamang ang pinagsususulat nila tungkol sa akin. Totoo namang gwapo ako, mayaman, mabait, gentleman, magaling magluto, sikat at isang tunay na Gwapogi." pag iisa-isa nito. "Well, lahat ng mga isinulat nila ay totoo maliban nalang sa isa."
"Saan? Doon sa part na gwapo ka?"
"The part where they've promised to the world that they would interview each one of us again." na-e-engganyong wika nito na para bang nagbabalik-tanaw sa nakaraan.
"Why? Don't you guys want an exposure sa mga fields of expertise niyo? Kapag nagkataon, dadami ang mag-i-invest sa businesses ninyo." curious na tanong niya.
Nagkibit-balikat ito. "If it's only me, why not? But unfortunately, each one of us has already promised to never again would we be made fools by those two." napailing ito. "Those two were a force to be reckon with. Kung matinding kamalasan ang idinulot nila sa amin noon, ano pa kaya ngayon? Kahit na nga ba sabihin pang nakinabang din kami sa titulong inihirang nila sa amin, but still, mas matimbang pa rin ang pagiging bitter ng ibang kaibigan ko sa mga babaeng 'yon."
Napakunot-noo siya. "Kaibigan? So ibig sabihin ba no'n eh magkakilala na kayong sampu no'n pa?" usisa niya.
"You don't know?" binato siya nito ng nagtatakang tingin. "Right. You're not from SJU afterall. Nag-aral ka nga pala sa ibang bansa kaya wala kang kaalam-alam sa kaguluhang nangyari sa Pinas."
"What are you talking about?" curious na tanong niya rito. Lahat ng aligutgot at pagtatangkang pagtakas ay nakalimutan na niya nang dahil sa nacu-curious siya sa storya ng binata.
"Well, Metro Clique's current issue, The Gapogis, originally started in SJU wayback in my college years." kwento nito. "We were actually the first ten featured Gwapogis in the school's magazine. It's purpose was to discover and feature the hottest human beings inside the school. Since napakalaki ng school eh mahirap talagang hagilapin ang mga gwapong kagaya ko."
"You're kidding me."
"I'm sorry to dissappoint, love, but I'm actually one of the ten." ngising tugon nito. "The magazine only aimed to take photos of us and to know some basic facts about us and that's it. But well, as it turned out, the magazine got a surprising hit so they had to reproduce ten times the original quantity in school because of public demand."
"Why ten?"
"Well, ten because the issue aimed to feature one Gwapogi each month. There's only a ten month class duration in the whole year so.. I guess that's the reason."
"How did they find you now? I mean, it happened a long time ago, right?"
"It turns out that the two persons collaborating on this project were the same persons who made this issue way back in college. Crazy, right?"
"So ibig sabihin, sila ang naging daan upang magkakilanlan kayong sampu at manatiling magkaibigan hanggang ngayon?"
"Sort of.. I guess?"
"And then now, you all just hate them and held grudges against them instead of thanking them both? Anong klaseng mga lalaki kayo? Pumapatol kayo ng mga inosenteng babae." Hindi niya alam kung saan nanggaling ang galit na iyon ngunit bigla nalang kasing sumibol ang willingness niya na ipagtanggol ang mga kabaro niya.
"Woah. Woah. Easy there." He sighed exasperatedly. "That's the problem, you see. They're not actually innocent creatures. They play and act like one but in truth they were actually quite some calculating demon offsprings. That's why way back, we always tend to fall into our knees, presenting ourselves into their glory." anito at nagkibit-balikat nanaman. "Okay lang naman 'yun para sa akin. I like those girls. That's why I willingly took part on whatever they've made me do.
And you can defend those two all you want pero kahit pa mag-rally ang Women and Children's Organization sa tapat ng mga bahay namin, hindi iyon pwedeng maging excuse para sirain ko ang pangakong binitawan ko sa mga ugok na iyon."
Walang maisagot si Alexandria sa mga ipinagtapat sa kanya ng binata. Hindi niya ma-blame kung loyal na loyal ito sa mga kaibigan nito. Medyo naantig pa nga ang puso niya sa mga sinabi nito. Kung hindi nga lang niya alam ang mga kalokohan nito sa buhay ay baka makagaanan pa niya ito ng loob. But she knew better than letting him get through her system.
"Yeah right." tanging naging sagot niya. "Whatever." ipinikit nalang ng dalaga ang mga mata nang magsimula na siyang makaramdam ng antok. Bahala na si Batman kung saan man siya dadalhin nito. Gagawa nalang siya ng paraan upang makatakas at makalayo sa binata kapag nagkaroon siya ng pagkakataon. But for now, she needed sleep. Big time.
'Makatulog na nga lang nang umasenso naman 'tong height ko.'
BINABASA MO ANG
The Michelin Hottie
De TodoSagittarius Elliot del Ruiz has never begged anyone or even exert effort on having what he wanted in life. Anything he had has always been served in a silver platter- except for the only thing he was very familiar with since he was a child, his pass...
