Love Maze (Fangirl Series #1)

Chapter Eight

JK. Did he just call Kenzo, JK?

Habang pauwi iyon ang laman ng isip ko. Hindi ko alam bakit ako binabagabag nito. And with how Kenzo reacted after his friend call him JK— he looked like he was caught stealing.

Weird.

Nawala iyon sa isipan ko dahil pagdating ko sa bahay ay naabutan ko si Rina sa sala namin. She was watching Bon Voyage on our TV while eating sliced apples. Tumabi ako sa kanya at sinubuan ako ng apple.

Lumabas si mama mula sa kusina na may dalang grapes. "Kain ka pa." Anyaya niya sa kaibigan ko.

"Thank you po, tita."

Lumingon si mama sa'kin. "Saan ka pala galing? Ngayon lang kita nakita na may lakad ng linggo."

Palihim akong siniko si Rina.

"Akala ko magkasama kayong dalawa? Obviously not because she's here."

Si Rina naman ang siniko ko. Mom crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.

Napatikim ako. "Sumali ako sa dance club sa school at may practice kami kanina." Sagot ko. Hindi iyon ang katotohanan pero tinatamad kasi ako mag-explain sa kanya kaya 'yon na lang ang sinabi ko. Knowing her she might overthink and not liked the idea of me joining Solaris.

Her faced suddenly gleamed in excitement. She'd been wanting me to go back to dancing. "Really? You're dancing again?"

Tumango ako.

"That's good!" She clapped her hands once. "May kailangan ka ba? Should I buy you practice clothes? Or—"

"Ma, chill." Pigil ko sa kanya. Rina snorted.

Mom sighed. "Just tell me if you need anything, okay?"

Nag-thumbs up ako. Hindi ako makasagot dahil may nginunguya ako. Bumalik na siya sa kusina. Ako naman ay iniwan saglit si Rina para mag-half bath. Pagbalik ko ay naabutan ko siyang nanood pa rin.

"Dito ka matutulog?" Tanong ko sa kanya.

Umiling siya. Ang atensyon niya ay nasa TV pa rin. Tinignan ko ng maiigi ang reaksyon niya. I roamed my eyes on her arms, or neck. Looking for any sign of bruise and there was nothing. I somehow felt at ease.

Lumingon siya sa'kin at ngumiti. "Maaga ang klase namin bukas kaya sa bahay ako matutulog. At saka mami-miss ako ni Shooky."

She's talking about her puspin ginger cat.

I didn't want to be nosy but I couldn't help it. "Is everything okay? Did she hurt you again?" I asked, almost whispering.

Her eyes softened. Ngumiti siya at umiling. "Konting pagtatalo lang. Nothing big deal."

"Dito ka na lang kaya matulog." Pagkukumbinsi ko.

She let out a low laugh. "'Wag kang OA. Kaya ko ang sarili ko."

Magsasalita pa sana ako pero muli na siyang lumingon sa TV, indicating our conversation was over.

Ngumuso ako at tinuon na lang din ang atensyon ko sa TV. We were watching Bon Voyage Season 3. We both laughed at the scene where JK dyed his hair; blonde on one side, and red on the other side. And also the scene where Jin was so tipsy that he forgot their house password.

I checked the time after we finished watching the episode. It's already nine p.m. Okay lang naman kahit umabot pa si Rina ng sobrang gabi kasi pwede naman siya matulog dito at saka malapit lang ang bahay nila sa'min.

But after almost thirty minutes, we still couldn't find something to watch so we just decided to talk about random things while video calling Hana. Pero saglit lang iyon dahil lumalim na ang gabi.