[BITCH, WHERE the hell are you?] bungad ni Ayara sa kabilang linya ng sagutin ni Lexi ang tawag niya. Bumangon ang dalaga at bahagya pang kinusot kusot ang mata.

"I just woke up, what's up?" inaantok at walang ganang anito.

[Anong what's up what's up? Damn you, I've been calling you many times already and you haven't even clean your teeth yet!] pagrereklamo ni Ayara sa kabilang linya, na sinundan naman ng isang buntong hininga. [Nakausap ni Anais si Dexter kanina.]

"Yeah?" hindi interesadong sagot nito sa kausap at naglakad patungong cr. Inilapag niya ang cellphone sa lababo at inilagay sa speaker mode. Nagsimula na din siyang maghilamos.

Anais Kendall Fraula, 17 years old. A freshman taking computer science as her course. Kurso niya palang ay alam mo ng magaling siya sa teknolohiya. She can hack into any computer, server, websites and etc. Malaki ang tulong niyon para sakanya, not only because she can hack into her teacher's computers only to change her grades, malaki ding tulong yon sa Morte.

[Dexter had been following Thaddeus Lee, for almost an hour now.] ani Ayara dahilan para matigil si Lexi sa paghihilamos at gulat na tumingin sa cellphone niya.

"What? Asan sila?" agad agad nitong tanong sa kaibigan.

[No idea.]

"Tell Anais to locate them, hurry."

[Give me 5 minutes.] and she hang up. True to her words, Ayara called again after five minutes or six.

[Alright, this better be worth it, bitch. I paid Anais 6,000 just to fuckin' locate Dexter. I deserve a shopping spree with you this Sunday.] After seconds of Ayara complaining and bragging about how many things she did just to make Anais locate Drake, she read the address out slowly so that Lexi could memorize it.

"Thanks."

[Go get your man, bitch!] Referring to Lee's son, Ayara said. She could already see Ayara's smirk through the phone.

"Damn you" inis na sagot ni Lexi.

Ayara giggled on that. [Good luck.]

"AALIS NA po ako" paalam ni Thaddeus sa kaniyang lolo at lola.

"Ingat ka, apo." bilin ng lola niya at ngumiti naman siya bilang tugon.

Bata pa lamang siya ay ang lolo at lola na niya ang nagaalaga sakanya. Hindi tulad ng grandparents niya sa father's side, mas pinili ng kaniyang itang at inang na mamuhay sa paraan ng pamumuhay na kinagisnan nito. And he was proud of that.

Nakangiti siya ngayong naglalakad papuntang eskwelahan. Kapag kasi sa bahay ng grandparents niya ay hindi na siya nagdadala ng kotse dahil malapit lang naman ang unibersidad nila doon.

Hindi niya alam kung bakit pero parang ang ganda ganda ng gising niya at ang saya saya niya. Oh, well.

Maya maya lang ay nagvibrate ang cellphone niya. Kinuha niya iyon at binuksan, he got a text from his bestfriend, Jonathan.

'Asan kana, dre? Andito na yung chiks mo, sexy 'tol. Kapag hindi ka talaga nagmadali, aanakan ko na to.'

Natatawang napailing si Thaddeus at magrereply na sana siya ng may sumagi sa balikat niya dahilan para mabitawan niya yung cellphone niya at mahulog ito. Ang nakakainis pa ay hindi man lang nagsorry o lumingon man lang yung babae, talagang nagpatuloy lang iyon sa pagtakbo.

Pupulutin na sana niya yung cellphone niya ng may humawak sa kamay niya at mabilis itong hinila. What the hell?

He doesn't even get the chance to react! Her hands were soft and smooth, and yes, it's a girl! He can't see her face but with it's havana brown hair and light pale skin, he already knew this woman is beautiful as hell. Damn Thaddeus, you're just being pulled off by a stranger and all you did was fantasize about havana brown hair.

Binitawan lang siya ng babae ng makarating sila sa isang eskinita. "Who are you and wh-" parang nawala lahat ng sasabihin ni Thaddeus ng humarap sakanya ang babae. At oo, maganda nga siya. No, she's a goddess!

Her havana brown hair, her light pale skin, her brown, almost hazel, eyes, well shaped nose and kissable lips. Damn, she's beyond gorgeous.

"Keep staring at me like that..." sabi ng babae dahilan para bumalik siya sa huwisyo. Nabuhay ang kaba sa dibdib niya ng bahagyang lumapit ang babae sakanya at ilang dangkal nalang ang layo ng mga mukha nila. "...and expect what's unexpected."

Cause there something in the way, you look at me.

It's as if my heart knows, you're the missing piece.

Ano bang nararamdaman ni Thaddeus? Damn. This is the first time. The first time he felt like this.

You make me believe that there's nothing in this world i can't be.

I never knew what you see.

But there's something in the way, you look at me

--

Song:

The Way You Look At Me by Ysabelle Cuevas

https://youtu.be/Y3incv35SjU