As You Lie Awake

23

"Ma, baka po late ako ngayon. Nonood po kami ni Gabriel laro ng manliligaw ni Jaycee. Nando'n din po si Jaycee..." paalam ko kay Mama.

Tumango siya, "Kahapon pa nagpaalam sa 'kin si Gabriel." Wow! Napatingin ako kay Gabriel tuloy. He shrugged and then smirked at me. Umirap ako sa kayabangan.

"Ah. Okay." Sabi ko na lang. Tumingin ako sa relo ko at nagpasya nang umalis. Actually, I've been very busy. Like this week. Paano todo prepare ako sa finals. Buti na lang medyo makakapagrelax ako ngayon. "Sige po, Ma, alis na po kami. Ingat," sabi ko sabay halik sa pisngi ni Mama.

"Sige na at inaantok pa rin ako," sabi niya. Over time siya kagabi, e. Tumango rin ako kay Mama at lumabas na.

Gabriel bid his good bye too, "Bye po, Tita." Sumakay na kami sa sasakyan. 'Di ko na inintay na pag-buksan niya ako. Sumakay na lang din siya sa drivers seat.

"Gusto raw sumama ni Rafa." Deklara niya.

I suddenly became excited, "Talaga?! Wait lang, why do you call him Rafa?"

"I made that nickname for him." Sabi niya. Nagulat naman ako ro'n.

"Ah... E, bakit he hates it?" Tanong ko, "Ah, puta. Tantanan mo nga 'ko, Gabriel! Ang conyo-conyo ko na lalo dahil sa 'yo!"

"What? But I'm not conyo." sabi niya pa. Umirap lang ako. Tanginang mga taga-Harvard 'to. "And well, he's growing up. He probably just wanted to grow up without the baby nickname. I guess it's really just because he's passionate about... time."

Natigilan ako. Parang gusto ko tuloy siyang halikan sa pisngi at yakapin. I could only imagine Gabriel's plate. He witnessed his brother growing up. And that's not even the hardest thing. The nickname he made for him isn't what Rafael wants to be called anymore and the list goes on. Ang hirap pala talagang may kapatid regardless if mas matanda or not.

"Pero ayun nga, love. He really doesn't like these things. Nabanggit ko lang na kasama kita tapos he wants to go too so I didn't let him. Seriously, I said that you're my girlfriend, what's wrong with him?" He ranted.

I chuckled with the way he's ranting. "He's your brother! Saka ang bata pa niya," I reminded him.

"That's the point, right? Kuya niya 'ko. Dapat he sides with me. That's what I do for him..." nanliit ang boses niya. Hahalikan ko talaga 'to, e. Sinulyapan niya ako sa kalagitnaan nang pag-da-drive, "Okay I'm just saying that these days he's always like that. He looks like he always wants to fight with me."

Natawa ako, "Ba't naman?"

"Probably because he likes you? Mom said that we really are brothers, it's funny." His car's full of laughter when we went to my school. Nang makarating kami, he kissed my right cheek and waved goodbye. I smiled at him as I waved too. Nga pala, these days, hot topic kami palagi ni Gabriel. Well, he's like a socialite kaya damay talaga ako sa kasikatan niya. I don't know if it's a good thing or not.

"Tangina, kilig na kilig ako!" Hirit ni Karina no'ng classmates ulit kami sa isang subject. Wala pa ang prof kaya hindi pa nila ako tinitigilan sa pag-i-interview, "Nakita n'yo ba 'yung story ni Shaira last week? Tangina, may flowers! Tapos kahapon may matching phone cases? Ano ba 'yon, weekly may icinecelebrate?!"

"Date din sila nang date kahit may exams! Nakaka-gago sila ng buhay. Ayos naman ako sa buhay ko before, 'pag nakikita ko sila, sinasampal sa 'kin pagiging lonely ko!" Sabi pa ni Tiana.