Serendipitous Encounter

Panimula

Panimula...

I sat on tub as the tears from my eyes keep rolling down my cheeks.

How can he be this cruel?

We're already college students, and what does he think of me? Naïve? That I'm capable of just ignoring what he did? He's a fucking trash. The fact that he's still the coach of our university's volleyball team is beyond any justifiable reason because he's unethical and doesn't even know what he's doing.

The memory of his dirty touches all over my body still lingers in my head like a nightmare. It's as if it's already tattooed on my body, leaving a mark...

"Euphie bumalik ka na! Coach already said sorry. Ano ka ba naman?!" Kunot ang noo akong humarap kay Lindsey.

"Hindi nga ako babalik! At sabihin mo sa kay coach, fuck himself!"

Remembering how they tried to woo me earlier is just straight-up annoying.

Do they actually think that after Coach Lebre sexually harassed me, I'm just gonna shrug it off? Who's in their sane mind would do that? 

Akala ko nang mahawakan n'ya ang pwet ko isang beses ay aksidente lang, pero hindi pala dahil sunod namang hinawakan nito ay ang dibdib ko! Dakot na dakot talaga ng walang hiya! Pinilit kong baliwalain iyon dahil baka nagkataon lang at hindi sinasadya, pero naulit na naman. He seriously groped me while we were doing our stretching!

Tapos ngayon, "Sorry"?!

Who the fuck will accept his sorry?!

"Euphie? Why are you taking so long? Dinner's ready," sigaw ni Mommy kaya mabilis kong inayos ang pigura bago tuluyang lumabas ng banyo.

"Bihis pa 'ko sandali, Mom. Sunod na lang ako," ngiti ko sa kan'ya.

"Bakit namumula ang ilong at mata mo? Did you cry?"

I immediately shook my head.

"No, Mom! Of course not!" I chuckle. "I think I just caught a flu, sinisipon lang po. Gawa siguro sa practice kanina sa Volleyball. Kaya nga po hindi na lang ako tutuloy. 'Wag na lang."

"Really? I thought you really want to join that team kahit sandali lang?"

"Hindi na po. Mahirap pala," bahagya kong tawa.

"Okay, whatever my lady wishes. Sumunod ka agad ha," nakangiti akong hinalikan ni Mommy sa noo.

Sinamahan ko ito hanggang sa makalabas sa kuwarto ko habang suot-suot pa rin ang pilit na ngiti. Nang tuluyan na itong lumisan ay nagtuloy-tuloy na naman ang luha ko.

I'm still so lucky to have my Mom and Dad They're not my biological parents but I never did feel like I wasn't their child.

I was adopted.

They knew me when I was still four years old at an orphanage.

Unfortunately, Mommy was infertile so they couldn't have a child. Despite that, Daddy's still so faithful to her. Even if Mommy couldn't give her a child, he didn't try to find another woman to love. Instead, he loved Mommy more.

Little by little, they lost their faith until my Aunt Roselia introduced the orphanage I was in to Mommy and Daddy. I'm very thankful for her because of what she did. Now, I finally have a family.

"Mag modeling ka na, Euphie. May kakilala akong agency, pwede kita ipasok. Pwedeng-pwede ka roon! Baka nga mas magaling ka pa sa mga model nila ngayon," muli na namang pangungulit sa'kin ni Tita Roselia.

Lumikha ako ng tunog habang kumakain ng almusal.

"Tita naman, wala akong plano sa mga gan'yang pagandahan. Busy ako," sagot ko.