Dancing with Fire

CHAPTER 23 - Conspiracy Theory

CHAPTER 23

Naging busy si Trenton sa kanyang trabaho kaya lagi itong ginagabi kung umuwi. Minsan nalang silang sumabay ni Sandra sa pagkain at kung magkakakwentuhan naman ay ilang minuto lang rin dahil marami ring ginagawa ang bawat isa. Sanay naman ang dalaga sa ganitong scenario pero hindi lang siya kumportable kapag nagta-travel ito nang matagal. Ayaw man niyang aminin sa sarili, but she still has this trauma of being alone. Hindi niya ito sinasabi kay Trenton dahil ayaw niyang magmukhang kawawa at pabigat pa.

Iniiwasan rin niyang magsabi dito dahil siguradong papasamahan siya nito kay Skylar.

I'd rather be alone than face her sullen demeanors.

Simula nang pinakilala sila ni Trenton sa isa't-isa ay ramdam na ni Sandra ang tension sa pagitan nilang dalawa. The latter rarely initiates to chat with her, lalung-lalo na ang pansinin siya. She could have passed by her face, but still manages to ignore her unnoticed.

Kapag tinatanong niya si Trenton ay nagkikibit-balikat lang ito sabay sabi, "Huwag mong pansinin yon, may pagka-Bipolar lang talaga ang babaeng iyon." Sabay tawa.

"What's trisomy 21?" Tanong ng binata habang nagbabasa ng pocketbook.

"Piece of cake. Down syndrome!" Sandra proudly answered.

"Good." And looked at her skeptically. "Life expectancy?"

"Hmm, about 55 years."

Time truly flies so fast . Ilang buwan na rin ang nagdaan at sa mga panahong ito ay naalis na rin ang awkwardness nila sa isa't-isa ni Alcide at kumportable nang nakakapag-usap tungkol sa kahit ano. From the strangers phase, "good friends" na sila ngayon, paglalarawan ni Sandra.

Impossible... Pero naitawid naman. It just happened.

"Okay, another." Habang nag-iisip pa ito ng maitatanong. "Chromosome 21 is also the gene responsible for what disease?"

"Shit! Nakalimutan ko!" And paused to think habang pinaglalaruan ang isang hibla ng kanyang buhok. "Is it... Alzheimer's?"

"Good guess."

"Yes! Ako na naman ang magtatanong sayo!" Sabay kuha sa kanyang notes. "Hmmm... What is the other name for Trisomy 13?"

"Patau Syndrome. It produces intellectual and physical handicaps, skull and facial abnormalities, triangular nose, defects in all organ-"

"Okay, okay, relax mister know-it-all, hi di ko naman pinapa-elaborate sayo!" Asar nito sa kasama. Hindi naman niya ito nadistorbo sa pagbabasa ng libro.

"Dan brown? Are you an atheist?" pagtatakang tanong niya dito nang makita niya ang pinagkaka-abalahan nitong basahin.

"No." He plainly replied.

"Then why are you reading that?" She asked.

"May mali ba sa binabasa ko?" Arching his brows at her.

"It's just a question." She mused.

Alcide took a deep breath and continued reading and asked, "Do you love conspiracy Nessie?"

Nessie ang palayaw ni Alcide sa kanya. It was somehow a mistake in the spelling that he adopted since then when he made the cover page of their book report with their names on it.

Nagtataka naman si Sandra sa tanong nito. "Conspiracy? Well, everyone loves conspiracy, who wouldn't? But when you're in that somebody's shoes, you wouldn't like the idea of being the honey for the bees." She answered.

"Eh, paano kung mangyari sayo?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"What if you find out that you were betrayed?"

"By whom?"

"Look at it this way," Closing his book, "If someone you knew is not what you really think he is and he knows something that could break you... Do you consider him as a traitor?"

Sandra looks puzzled by his question. "Well, I don't know. Depende siguro kung gaano kalaki yung sikreto na yun and how severe it would mess everything up. I think he or she has reasons to keep it a secret." She answered. "Ang seryoso naman ng mga tanong mo."

"I'm making you see what interests me reading this."

Bumuntong-hininga naman si Sandra. "Grabe na talaga ang epekto ni Dan Brown sayo."

Alcide didn't say anything more and got back to his book. When he flipped a page, Sandra noticed something that caught her eye.

"What happened to your knuckles?" Sabay hawak sa nakapormang buto nito sa kamay. She also noticed a small bruise on his upper left cheek. "And that?" At pinindot ang maliit nitong pasa banda sa kanyang mata.

"Ano ba!" He winced in pain.

"Saan mo ba nakuha yan?" Pag-aalala niya dito. "Napaaway ka ba?!"

"Nadulas ako sa bahay. Hindi maganda yung pagkaka-landing ko." He said dryly.

Hindi naman kumbinsido si Sandra sa dahilan nito. "Sigurado ka?"

What a lousy liar.

Maya-maya ay tumunog ang cellphone ng lalake. "Yeah. Who? What?... 7 pm. Where?" At binaba na niya ito at nagpaalam kay Sandra. "Nessie-"

Alam ni Sandra kung ano ang susunod nitong sasambitin kaya inunahan na niya ito. "Sige na, you should go."

"Thanks." and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

For the past few months ay namemorya na ni Sandra ang pattern ng mystery caller nito. It calls every Wednesdays and Fridays of the week. At first, she thought it was a girlfriend, pero habang tumatagal ay may kakaiba na rin siyang napapansin.

He could at least tell me that he's going out or something. Is he dating a spy or a vampire or a goddess of some sort? Why hide too much?

Conspiracy huh? Well, I'll bring out the Dan Brown in you.

(Author's note: never received any comments for this story. I was wondering if someone follows my story every now and then. Is this story worth continuing or should I stop? Hmmmmm.)