At What Price (Completed)

VII

#AtWhatPrice 7

"The only thing worse than starting something and failing ... is not starting something."
– Seth Godin

•••

Binaba ko ang reading glass ko at nagkamot ng mata. Bwisit, ang sakit din ng likod ko.

"Lagi na tayong nagkikita dito ah," someone sat in front of me.

Di na 'ko nagulat nang makita si Hadwin. I gave him a tired smile. Wala na talaga akong energy.

"Not to offend you, but if I had the choice I wouldn't be here."

He laughed at how monotone I was. "You're studying hard, Claudia. Take a break."

Napa-buntong hininga ako at marahas na umiling. "I can't afford to, may major quiz bukas." Napasapo ako ng noo sa sakit ng ulo ko. "Ang laki ng hatak sa grade namin non. Di muna pwede ang petiks."

He nods. Naglabas na naman siya ng mga gamit. Buti pa 'to, ingat na ingat sa libro. Parang di nagamit. Samantalang 'yung akin, tadtad ng annotations.

Naglikot ang mata niya. "Asan pala yung kaibigan mong madaldal? Si Margot?"

I highlighted the last important phrase before flipping to the next page of my book. "Her brother took her for a while. Kakauwi lang from Michigan."

He whistled. "Big-time."

Everyone knows Margot's brother, Markus. He was an all-rounder basketball player from LaSalle, at may big-time friends sa Hollywood. In my opinion, Markus is the humble and tamed version of Margot.

If Margot likes all things expensive, he's totally down to earth. Kaya naman todo suporta ito nang magdesisyon ang kapatid niya na pumasok sa state university. To shield her sister from their parents' wrath though, he can't say no to certain responsibilities. Kaya kahit nag-aaral ito ay nagtatravel din sa ibang bansa for business purposes. You know, rich problems.

"Ang fresh mo naman. Hindi ba kayo stress sa nursing?" komento ko.

Parang bawat nakikita ko siya, mas lalo siyang gumagwapo? Samantalang ako pataas ng pataas ang haggard level. Dagdag pa na lagi kaming nakikipagpatayan kapag sumasakay ng tren.

O baka ang neat niya lang tignan kaya attractive. Not that I'm attracted, I'm just saying...

"Tulog lang, Claudia. Grabe naman 'to. Atsaka stressed din kami no. Yung last sub ko, ang lala mampressure ni Doc. Overall, nakaka-survive naman." He opened his pen at naglabas ng review papers na may maraming highlight.

"Gawa mo 'yan? Sipag ah." tukoy ko sa reviewer niya.

"Nah. Copy lang from our department. 'Yung iba sa frat."

"Member ka ng frat?"

"'Yung tropa ko. Pag may resources siya, naaambunan kami."

"Parang sa org din namin. They provide some, too." I shared. "May mga samplex din ako, kaso di nagagamit. Mas dikdik 'yung profs sa libro eh," I even tapped my book.

He smirked. "Well, okay lang 'yan. Pang-review lang naman ang samplex. Mas detailed sa libro. Sa'min kasi, ang kakapal ng medicine books kaya mas kailangan yung condensed na."

"Sabagay. Mas nagamit ko naman sa law subjects. Law books are terribly hard to digest."

"Did you eat lunch already?"

"Yeah. After my morning sched." I said as if a terrible event had just happened.

He keeps creating annotations on his reviewer but is still attentive to what I'm saying. He grinned, "Anyare?"