“Imagine it, Austin was like that in his childhood. He couldn’t even talk to you because he’s shy, pero sa school madalas siyang napapaaway.” Nakatakip sa tenga ang mga kamay ni Austin habang ibinibida ni Ninang Zephany ang anak niya.

Austin was so ashamed that he covered his ears while blushing, he kept on stopping his mother and he said that she’s embarrassing him infront of me. How funny it is because he doesn’t behave like this in school, in here he’s like a child.

We’re currently having dinner, naluto na namin ni Austin ang chicken curry nang matapos si Ninang Zephany sa paghahanda ng kuwartong tutulugan naming dalawa ngayong gabi. 

“Mom, would you please stop? You’re embarrassing me infront of Gael, and that was a very long time ago so why would you bring that up now?!” reklamo niya kaya nama’y napatawa kaming tatlo.

“Oh come on, Austin! Ikaw na nga mismo ang nagsabing gusto mong makipag-usap kay Gael no’n pero nahihiya ka.” Dagdag pa ni Ninong Claro, mas lalo pa itong ikinairita ni Austin.

“Bakit ka ba kasi nahihiya kay Gael?” Ninang Zephany proceeded with a question teasing not just him but me.

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang marinig ’yon at isinubo ko nang biglaan ang pagkaing kinakain ko. Napaiwas ako ng tingin sa kanilang tatlo.

“Assignment lang ba talaga kaya inimbita mo siya rito?” dagdag pa ni Ninong Claro.

Bahagyang nag-init ang muka ko kaya kaagad rin akong uminom ng tubig.

“Of course, what else?!” iritang tugon ni Austin.

Nagkatinginan naman sila Ninang Zephany at Ninong Claro sabay ngisi sa ’ming dalawa. Gaya nila Mama at Papa sa mundong ’to, hindi ko rin matanto ang iniisip ng mga magulang ni Austin.

“You know, Gael, my son li—” hindi na nito naituloy ang sasabihin nang biglang tumayo si Austin sa upuan niya at tinakpan ang bibig ni Ninong Claro.

“I should be the one telling him that, Dad.” Tumingin siya sa Dad niya na para bang kinukuha niya ito sa simpleng tingin lamang.

Ano kayang sasabihin niya in the first place?

“O-Okay, maybe I went too far!” his Dad insisted. He removed Austin’s hand from his mouth.

“Now, now, that’s very immature of you two. Can’t you see na may bisita tayo rito? And that was the person of your topics, kalaki niyong tao pero kagaslaw niyo. Lalo ka na Claro, para kang bata.” Narinig kong nagsermon si Ninang Zephany.

Dito na nga tuluyang umalis si Austin sa hapag kainan, pero bago siya umalis ay uminom muna siya ng tubig at nagpasalamat sa pagkain.

“That was delicious, Mom, thanks for the food. I’ll be on my room.” He smiled and proceeded to go up the stairs.

Nakakahiya na rin naman dahil kaharap ko na lang ngayon sa hapag kainan sila Ninong Claro at Ninang Zephany kaya kahit ’di pa ’ko tapos ay umayaw na rin ako.

“Ah... salamat din po sa dinner, we’ll proceed on making the assignment na po. If you’ll excuse me.” Ngumiti ako, kaagad na rin akong nagtungo sa itaas at nakita kong nakabukas ang isang kuwarto.

There were two rooms up the stairs, the other one is open and the other one is closed. I tried to enter the room that was opened and I found a typical room with a book shelf filled with lots of books, there was also this study table with a loptop on top of it.

This room is also like an observatory because there’s a telescope and the there’s only one window in the room. This window is designed with plain glass panes embroidered with metals as it’s outlines.

Nakita ko rin na may ladder na patungo sa isang sort of attic, pero maliwanag ang taas no’n. The moon shines so bright that the light from it passes through this room alone. Hindi na kailangan ng ilaw para sa kuwartong ito dahil ang buwan na mismo ang nagsisilbing ilaw.

“Austin, are you here?” I spoke, and so I heard someone replied from above.

“I’m up here, come!” yaya niya sa ’kin upang pumunta sa itaas.

“Wait, also wear your vest and coat. It’s freezing up here.” Saad niya pa. He’s up on the roof so I wonder that the ladder doesn’t lead to an attic or something.

Isinuot ko nga ang vest at coat ko like he told me to, I climbed up the ladder and found myself on the top of Austin’s room. Na sa bubong kami ngayon, Austin is sitting with his knees folded and hands hugging his knees while breathing in the cold air.

Even though I have protection for the cold, I still feel it piercing through my fingers and my skin. Wala talagang makakatakas sa lamig dito sa Baguio, lalo na’t March pa lang ngayon, hindi pa rin tapos ang amihan season.

“It’s cold, isn’t it? Come here.” Niyaya niya ’kong lumapit sa kan’ya. May dala pala siyang blanket na sa tingin ko’y isasaklob niya sa ’min to warm us.

I gradually took the opportunity to be under his blanket, idinikit ko ang braso ko sa braso niya habang nakataklob ang blanket sa ’ming dalawa, the cold breeze just blows at us as we gazed through the city filled with different colors of lights.

“Anong oras natin gagawin ’yong assignment?” tanong ko. Napangiti naman siya at tumugon.

“May idea ka na ba tungkol sa gagawin nating flash fiction story? Well, I’m not really into literature kaya mahina ako sa mga gan’yan.” Napahinga rin ako nang malalim nang sabihin niya ’to.

“And so was I in General Mathematics, I already have an idea in the story but it might take time to make.” Tugon ko naman.

“General Mathematics, you say, tapos mo na ba ’yong assignment sa Genmath kanina?” muli siyang nagtanong.

“Unfortunately, hindi pa. I’m struggling to solve some arithmetic sequences, lalo na ’yong pagkuha sa arithmetic mean. Hindi ko alam kung pa’no ’yon? Parang kulang ’yong given?” I ranted, napatawa naman siya dahil sa sinabi ko.

“Pang first semester pa lang na subject, hirap na hirap na tayo. Pa’no kaya kapag actual na natin ’tong natututunan sa school next year?” he asked as he laughed.

Kung aabot pa sana ako rito nang gano’n katagal, I just have three remaining days in this world. Pagkatapos no’n, babalik na ulit ako sa pinagmulan ko. So I must enjoy this while this lasts, it has been a rare opportunity to be here and live a new life.

Alam ko naman kung sino talaga ako, isa lang akong mahirap na tao. Hindi ko rin muna mapagpapatuloy ang pag-aaral ko dahil before I left ay may krisis na kami, baka hindi na ’ko pag-aralin dahil sa’n naman kukuha sila Mama at Papa ng pangpa-gamot sa ’kin sa ospital?

Mapapaaral pa kaya nila ako kapag nagising na ’ko?

Sa hirap namin do’n ay talagang mababaon kami sa utang.

“I have a wonderful idea for the flash fiction story.” Ngiti ko, tumingin ako sa kan’ya at dito na rin ako nagsalita.

“It’s a boys love-fantasy story about a boy that was transported to the parallel universe. His dreams coming true, and he can now do the things he have never done.” Austin agreed on my idea.

“Do we make it a happy ending?” he asked.

“No, unfortunately not. Because the boy only had fifteen days to do whatever he wants in that world, tapos kailangan niya na ulit bumalik sa real world para ipagpatuloy ang buhay niya.” I responded.

“So, what was even the point of the story if babalik din sa dati ang lahat?” tanong naman ni Austin.

Dito na ’ko napaiwas ng tingin sa kan’ya. Muli ay sumulyap ako sa mailaw na siyudad at nagsalita habang nakatingin dito.

“What was even the point of that story?” I repeated his question.

“I guess, destiny has given that boy a break from everything. You see, in the beginning of that story... The boy is in love with his handsome and polite classmate, plus he’s ditched by everyone even though he did not do everything to oppress the people around him.” I reflected to my life.

“Let’s just say it’s a misunderstanding, so I’ll put on envy to make the plot more easy to flow.” I giggled, converting what happened to me in a flash fiction story is something I haven’t done yet.

“That was a painful start, so what happened next?” Austin asked me again.

“Well... his crush confessed to a girl so nasaktan siya. Tapos tumakbo siya palayo nang palayo hanggang sa hindi niya namalayang nasa gitna na pala siya ng highway.” I continued.

“He didn’t noticed that a truck was coming so he got hit by it—technically yes in the real world, but not in the parallel world.” That made him a little confused so I explained it further.

Also... hindi rin bus ’yong sinabi kong nakabangga sa kan’ya kasi baka maisip ni Austin na hinahango ko sa experiences ko ’yong story.

“Na-coma siya, pero na-rescue siya ng isang taong may kakayahang mag-travel between two dimensional worlds, the parallel and the real.” I added.

“The person took him to the parallel world and offered him to stay in that world for fifteen days, walang kapalit na kung ano. Gusto rin kasi nung taong ’yon na gumanti sa bida dahil may masama rin itong nagawa sa kan’ya as his teacher.” I guess I messed up of picturing what I wanted to tell.

“Huh? It’s too complicated, I can’t understand a single detail.” Reklamo naman ni Austin. Sabi ko na nga, napahinga na lang ako nang malalim at tumayo. Inunat ko ang katawan ko habang nakatingin pa rin sa kan’ya.

“No, it’s not. Maybe I’m just bad at telling stories by mouth. I’ll just write it down in your room, if you want to help then come with me.” Tango lamang ang itinugon niya.

Sabay na kaming bumaba sa kuwarto niya. He turned on the lights so that the room could brighten up more. Umupo kaming dalawa sa kama niya at doon ay kinuha namin ang kani-kan’ya naming papel at ballpen.

“I’ll also help you with your Genmath assignment after this, then let’s go change our clothes and get some sleep.” Saad pa sa ’kin ni Austin at napatango na lang ako.

Ano pa nga ba ang gagawin namin dito bukod sa assignments? Technically, nothing na.

We just got this assignment over with, tomorrow is another day for summer classes so we must do this assignment before we sleep. At natulog nga kaming magkatabi sa higaan, in which I felt like I’m in the verge of solace and instant nervousness.

Nang matapos namin ni Austin ang mga assignment namin ay nahiga na nga kami sa kama niya, pinatay na rin ni Austin ang ilaw hanggang sa lamunin na ng katahimikan at malamlam na nilawanag ang buong kuwarto.

I closed my eyes to sleep while facing Austin, but I instantly felt his left arm crossing under my head making it my pillow. Tuluyan na nga akong napadilat nang yakapin pa niya ako gamit ang isa pa niyang kamay, his right arm landed on my shoulders and his palm on to my hair.

He gently caressed my hair like I’m some sort of a furry animal, but I can’t deny the fact that it feels... good. Hindi na lang ako nagsalita at ipinikit ko na lang ang aking mga mata, unti-unti na nga rin akong nawala sa wisyo.

Kaunting saglit pa ay namalayan ko pa ang paligid ko, I then noticed that my head landed on Austin’s chest but I didn’t react because of the warmth and fondness I feel at the moment. I let myself sleep without hesitation, even if si Austin pa ang kasama kong matulog.

“Goodnight, Gael.” I heard Austin’s voice before I could even have a dream.

Sleeping with a boy on the same bed—and si Austin pa, that’s an experience that I’ll keep on with myself hanggang sa pagbalik ko sa totoong mundo.