12: Fighting Adversaries
"The rules we play contradict.
He's an oppossing force
I should accomodate."
What I saw yesterday was not a drill. Aside from the sudden explosion my mind received after knowing his name, I couldn't keep on asking myself for reasons why I saw him smirked.
"Nasaan ang nameplate mo?" tanong ko. "'Di ba bawal ang hindi isuot 'yon sa trabaho?" pagdidiin ko para hindi na siya makatakas pa.
I need to know his name. Only through it, I can complete the puzzle in my mind.
Why he seems familiar?
Why I feel comfortable talking to him unlike other people?
Why does it feels like he knew me the same instance we picked spoons and forks at the kitchen floor?
He didn't speak.
Instead, he just grinned.
But that little mischievous smile quickly disappeared when a kitchen staff opened the door and called out his name.
This is killing me!
Naisuot ko na 'yong damit na ginamit ko bago pumunta sa trabaho at ngayong mag-sasampung minuto na makalipas ang alas-siyete, hindi ko pa rin siya makita.
Maybe he left as soon as he finished his shift. He even let his favorite smoking spot to be used by my co-workers. Lagi ko siyang nakikitang magsigarilyo do'n pagkatapos ng trabaho, pero sa araw na 'to… hindi.
And why I am concerned?
Because I have just saw his mouth aside from his nose and eye features when I knew and heard of his name. He's a stranger that I should have seen, until now, with nothing but his hair and ears.
Nakakabaliw na nakakainis.
It feels like I have just met Slenderman, that one one tall creature lurking in the woods. Or maybe, the eye-craving villains in Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children… setting aside the "hearsays" that he's not ugly-looking. Not a dull one, to be exact.
"Ba't ang tahimik mo? Are you okay?" Madness asked, peeking glances at me while driving.
The next morning I woke up, it's Monday again. The one week space I asked of him expired so, here he is... driving me to school.
"I told you before na huwag mo na akong susunduin. At saka puwede, napapansin ko na wala kang pakialam sa rules ko. I said no but you're too eager like a beaver," I replied directly to him.
He scoffed, trying to contain his laughter.
Pinanliitan ko siya ng tingin.
"Tinotoyo ka na naman ba? Geez, I don't want to restrain myself for another week. Ni hindi mo man lang nga ni-rereply-an mga texts ko sa'yo."
Baliw ba siya?
I asked for space in an ample amount of time, so he must know in the first place I don't want to hear anything from him during that period.
BINABASA MO ANG
Ghosting Madness
Romance"She left her madness for good, yet the Madness she hated wants her presence once more." -- After settling in the city to start a new life, Joshel Buela began to face the consequences of her past actions. Meeting blank faces from strangers gradually...
