Chapter 16

Suddenly, I didn't know how to act! I mean, how did I act before ba? I should just go to school... right? Paano ba ako before? I was so confused!

I almost had a heart attack when I heard a knock on the door. I knew naman na pupunta si Finley dito. He said na sabay kaming papasok sa school. I reminded him na 'private' lang kami. Yes, private because I hated him calling himself my 'secret boyfriend.' He made it sound like we're doing something wrong!

I checked my reflection on the mirror. I woke up earlier than usual para mag-ayos. Nag-aayos naman ako before. I make sure na maganda ako palagi, but I didn't know... I just wanted to be extra-cute today. Kasi... fine. Sabay kaming papasok sa school ng boyfriend ko. What a dream!

The negative part of my brain was starting to form negative thoughts, but I quickly quashed them. Hindi naman ginusto ng parents ko na malagay sa financial scuffle. Surely, hindi din nila gusto na maging ganito ang first romantic relationship ko. No one wanted this! But at the same time, were it not for this, I seriously did wonder...

"Umagang-umaga," Finley said when I opened the door.

I was frowning at him as he handed me a cup of iced coffee. Ugh. Bakit alam niya na agad iyong order ko? So thoughtful.

"Ano na naman ginawa ko sa imagination mo?" he asked. My lips parted. How?! He could even read my mind now?!

Finley scoffed. "What? I was right? You're frowning, first thing in the morning, dahil may ginawa ako sa imagination mo?"

I locked the door behind me and rolled my eyes at him. "You make me sound insane."

"Hindi ba?"

I frowned even harder. "If I'm insane, then why are you with me?"

"Because you're cute," he said as he pinched my cheek.

I hated that he could make me blush just by calling me cute! Kainis! Ano kaya ang pwede kong sabihin para pwede din siya magblush? Unfair naman if it's always me!

But I couldn't come up with anything, so I just settled with wrinkling my nose. Finley looked like he was about to tousle my hair, but stopped midway like he just realized that I put a lot of effort sa hair ko. He settled with two little pats on the top of my head.

"So, do I ignore you in school?" he asked.

"It's not like I'm asking you to pretend that I don't exist."

"Paano kapag nakita kita sa hallway?"

"We're literally in different buildings," I told him. Magkaiba kaya kami ng strand. Thankfully! I couldn't imagine like what if classmates kami? Sobrang shameful pa naman ni Finley. He'd definitely stare at me. Tapos I'll feel conscious.

"We do cross paths sometimes."

"Hmm... you're right."

"So, you want me to ignore you?" he asked.

My imagination ran wild again. Bigla kong na-imagine na nagka-salubong kami ni Finley tapos he ignored me. I didn't like that one bit. I had the urge to frown again. Bakit ba pinapa-sama ko ang loob ko?

"Yan na naman—"

I quickly pushed him away nung biglang bumukas iyong elevator. Finley was looking at me like he was so shocked. I was shocked, too! Hindi ko alam na ganoon pala kabilis ang reflex ko. I was amazed!

'Oh, gosh,' I said inside my head nung makita ko na si Mandie iyong pumasok sa may elevator. Imagine the gossip that would circulate in school if she saw Finley pinching my cheek or something!

"Morning," I said.

"Good morning," she replied tapos iyong tingin niya ay pabalik-balik sa aming dalawa ni Finley. She was probably trying to decipher if something was fishy...

"It's so annoying, noh?" I said because my mind told me that I had to intervene! Like had to! Bago pa kung ano ang story na magformulate sa loob ng brain niya. "Dapat no classes for a few days muna. Nakaka-pagod kaya 'yung New York trip. I'm still so jetlagged pa."

I saw Finley looking at me through the mirror. There was a small grin on his face, and something was telling me that that was because he was quite proud of me for being to think on my feet. May talent yata talaga ako magdivert ng topic! Future politician ba ako?

"Right..." Mandie said, and thankfully, the crisis was averted. Mandie kept on talking about the stuff she bought in New York. I couldn't leave her, so instead of the original plan na sabay kaming papasok sa school ni Finley, I was forced to ride with Mandie.

I almost laughed out loud when I received a message from Finley tapos ang naka-lagay lang doon ay emoji ng thumbs down. He's so adorable sometimes! Ganito na ba siya dati pa? Natabunan lang ng sungit?

"What?" I asked nung makita ko na naka-tingin sa akin si Mandie with that suspicious look on her face.

"Who you texting?" she asked.

"No one," I replied, immediately tossing my phone inside my bag. "Just saw some memes."

She just nodded, but I knew that she was suspisious na. Tsk. Tapos nakita niya pa kami ni Finley kanina sa elevator. But then again, so what? Communal space naman 'yung elevator. Pwede naman talaga na nagkataon lang na sabay kaming nandon ni Finley.

Tama, tama.

I shouldn't overthink kaya dumiretso na ako sa class ko. I didn't even know if it was a class talaga because everyone was in no mood to study. Bakit ba kasi may class today? We should be resting! Wala pa ata ako sa tamang timezone! This was child abuse!

After class, I immediately went out para pumunta sa cafeteria. I was starving! Hindi kasi ako nakapagbreakfast kanina. I thought sabay kami ni Finley. Binigyan niya naman ako ng coffee, but still, I was hungry.

I was literally about to pay for the food when I got a text from F.

'Where are you?'

'Caf.'

'Old Science building. Room 109.'

Naka-tingin lang ako sa phone ko, confused.

Did he just... summon me?

* * *

I was torn between following his 'order' kasi gusto ko rin naman siyang makita and ignoring his text. I chose the former. We already kinda argued earlier. Ayoko naman na lagi lang kaming nagtatalo. It could be draining.

I didn't get to eat the food I got—my chicken sandwich and iced coffee. Hawak-hawak ko lang siya habang naglalakad. I kept on looking around na para bang crime iyong ginagawa ko. But wouldn't people wonder kung may makakita sa akin dito? Like ano ang ginagawa ko sa old Science building? Na may dalang chicken sandwich?

'Finally,' I thought to myself nung makita ko na iyong sinasabi ni Finley na room 109. My survival instincts—wow, meron pala ako non?—told me to go take a look muna doon sa window bago ako basta pumasok sa loob. I did. And I saw Finley sitting on one of the chairs, with his phone on hand. I'd bet good money that he's playing games again sa phone niya!

And then there were food on the chair beside him.

He got me food?!

Did he realize din na hindi pa ako nakapagbreakfast dahil sa impromptu na kidnapping na nangyari kanina?

Ugh. I felt bad tuloy dahil nainis pa ako nung pinatawag niya ako dito. Gusto lang naman akong bigyan ng food ng boyfriend ko!

Before knocking, I checked my face again. After making sure na cute pa rin ako, I knocked on the door tapos ay binuksan ko iyong pinto. The phone was now nowhere to be seen. Well, at least he knew to give me his attention dahil nandito na ako.

"What?" I asked, kunwari hindi ko alam na binilhan niya ako ng food.

Instead of using his words, he pointed at the food beside him.

"For me?"

"May ibang tao pa ba dito?" nakaka-inis na sagot niya.

Ugh! He's so annoying sometimes!

Finley looked pleased with himself kasi na-bwisit niya na naman ako ngayon. I marched towards him. I saw na iyong chair na nasa tabi niya ay malinis—I mean as compared doon sa ibang chairs dito na may dust na. Did he clean this for me?

But Finley didn't mention anything about cleaning the chair. Instead, he just got some of the food tapos ay nilagay niya sa desk sa harapan ko.

"Where did you get this?" I asked kasi wala naman 'to sa food option sa caf ngayon. Instead of answering, tinuro niya iyong pangalan nung resto na naka-lagay sa may paper bag. Ugh! I swear, isang araw, sasakalin ko na talaga siya sa sobrang pilosopo niya!

"Captain Obvious," I replied, frowning at him.

His eyes slanted for a second. He seemed proud of himself. "Got them before I went to school," he replied.

I just gave him a small nod. I was about to begin eating when I remembered to take a photo of the food. I managed to get one shot tapos I tried to get another one, but Finley, the ever so annoying Finley, placed his index and middle finger on the side kaya kita siya sa picture.

I turned to glare at him. He just laughed at me. Mission niya ata talaga na inisin ako.

After taking photos, I began eating. The food was so good! Napa-tingin ako kay Finley. He wasn't eating.

"Hindi ka bumili ng food mo?" I asked.

"Already ate," he replied.

"Wow. Thanks."

"PE iyong unang class ko kanina. Gusto mong himatayin ako sa gym?"

"Hindi lang nagbreakfast, hihimatayin ka na?"

"Have you noticed how tall I am? This body requires a lot of calories."

I rolled my eyes at him. Inabot ko sa kanya iyong dala ko na chicken sandwich. "Here," I said. "Baka magfaint ka dahil kulang ka sa calories," I continued.

I seriously thought that Finley would say something annoying like hindi siya kumakain ng ganyan or that he didn't know kung saan ko nabili iyong food—or literally just anything to piss me off... Instead, he accepted the food.

"What are you doing?" I asked when he was obviously taking a photo of the sandwich.

"Captain Obvious," he replied, mimicking my answer from earlier.

I frowned. "But why are you taking a photo of that?"

"Same reason why you took photos of your food."

"And that is?" I asked because I honestly just did it for the memories... Wala naman akong balak ipost 'yon or something. Tapos background pa is iyong old classroom. Our schoolmates would definitely know kung saan kinuha iyong picture.

"Documentation of things my girlfriend got me."

Oh, my god.

This was probably record-breaking—iyong bilis ng pagpula ng mukha ko. I felt my cheeks heating up because of what Finley told me! Why was he so good at this?! Why was he so good at being a boyfriend—my boyfriend?!

But then I saw that little smirk on his little annoying face.

"Kilig ka na naman?"

I playfully pushed his face away kahit hindi naman malapit sa akin 'yon. "Shut up," I told him, but I just felt him laughing as he grabbed my hand away from his face, held it, and once again, intertwined our fingers together.

It was so hard to eat using just one hand, but it's fine... I kinda liked holding his hand. His hands were much bigger than mine. Finley's barely a year older than me, but, for some reason, he made me feel safe—like he'd really protect me.

I mean, he did! He saved me quite a few times na rin.

"We have to go," I told him nung makita ko na almost over na 'yung break namin. I tried to yank my hand away, but Finley held on to it. Kainis. Kilig ako. He didn't want to let go of my hand.

Still, I pretend to groan. "May class pa," I said.

"Dinner after my practice," he replied, instead.

"That's 8PM pa."

"So?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Fine..."

"Think about where you want to eat," he said. "Or I can decide."

I wanted to say my favorite resto, but pakalat-kalat pa naman 'yung mga schoolmates namin... Mamaya kung sino pa ang makita namin. Kahit nga sa condo lang, kung sino na ang nakikita namin.

"We can just order. It's school night. I don't wanna go out," I told him instead. I felt like I'd be somehow cruel if I keep on reminding him na ayoko may maka-kita sa amin sa labas.

He gave me a small nod. Akala ko iyon na 'yon, instead, he got his wallet and handed me his card.

"For the food," he said.

"No—"

Instead of answering, he just grabbed my hand and placed the card on my palm. "You said you want to marry rich, right? Now, practice by using your boyfriend's credit card."

**

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