When Everything Falls (De Chaves #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Days had passed after the revelation of the deceptive ploy created by Bellamy and Lilith; days had passed yet the wound in my heart seemed to bleeding and pledged to not take time to heal. I provocatively implored myself not to show any pain emotion by wearing a veil of cold expression. It was absolutely hard to elude myself from the apprehensive notion of deception and excruciating reality of betrayal. The solemnity that suffused the room I situated in, together with the whisper of decisive melancholy, was enough to conjure as to how they came up with such heartless ploy to shred me.

With the merry breeze of Christmas, my heart dwelled painfully to the flux of images— memories of me and Bellamy shared before the revelation. Why was it so painful? I'd read books which ended tragically, read Shakespeare's tragic narrations, but this betrayal from my sister with her boyfriend was incomparable. My chest was painfully beating, every beat made was excruciating that made me wish it would stop functioning. Why would I feel this kind of pain? I only shared an ounce amount of time with Bellamy, should have not I invested such deep and incomprehensible partiality to a ruthless brute.

Clenching my jaw, I looked outside of the house. The cloth of darkness permeated the entire vicinity turning it to total blindness. The tapestry of glinting heavenly bodies were partially overlooked through the horizon up to the end of the window. The softness of the wind and the calmness of the night stirred the emotions that bottled up in my chest. How badly I wanted Bellamy to repent for what he did but I knew that thinking of inflicting vengeance on Bellamy will certainly not good idea.

When morning comes, my phone startled me when it rang suddenly. Fumbling for the phone, I groaned to its disturbing chime. Once I got a touch on the phone, I looked at the screen and saw the name of my friend. I answered her call and placed the phone over my ear.

"Hello?" I uttered dryly.

"L-lia," The voice of Tamara broke.

My eyes widened, "What happened?"

"Nag-away kami ni Adam. Tangina niya! Sabi ba naman sa akin malandi daw ako!" She then birthed her unending tirade, "Labas nga tayo, Lia! Maraming open ngayon na kainan lalo na sa San Juan!"

Hindi ko alam kung anong namamagitan sa kanila ni Adamn. Ang alam ko lang ay palagi silang magkasama since Adam and Tamara's brother were friends. And to think that Adam can spout those tasteless verdict toward my friend was impossible. For some times I encountered him, he was nothing but a cold looking guy with a few words in mind. But hearing Tamara's slicing anger, I guessed they shared something deep making Adam that angry toward Tamara's escapades.

"Sige," I agreed, "Mabuti at may ipinapabili si Mama para sa pasko."

"Okay!" Now, she looked enthusiastic, "Hihintayin nalang kita sa Plaza,"

Huminga ako ng malalim pagkatapos ng tawag. Hindi man sabihin ni Tamara, alam kong napapansin niya ang kinikilos ko. She always tried to lighten up my mood by talking silly things and how she gets turned off by the uncanny disposition of her crushes. Sinusubukan ko namang tumawa pero ang hirap lang. Pakiramdam ko ay may nakadagan sa aking puso at ang hirap nitong tanggalin.

Wearing a dirty white knotted jumper and a faded blue skinny jeans and sneakers, I let my hair cascade over my shoulder, brushing its tips on my back and on the swell of my chest. Huminga ako ng malalim at tinitigan ang sarili sa salamin. Mabuti nalang at hindi na ako umiiyak tuwing gabi, it was exhausting, absolutely draining and I ought to never experience that kind of pain again. But then, I realized that one of the inevitable things in this world was pain. No matter how adamant you were to elude yourself from such unbearable pain, it will eventually find its way to get inflicted on your heart. Inevitable indeed.