#DaggerSeries #LiaxGun #DS2Unstrung

CHAPTER 8: ORDINARY PEOPLE

LIA'S POV

A few years ago...

I tried not to roll my eyes as the fit of giggles around me intensifies. Gusto ko na lang pasakan ng kung ano ang magkabila kong tainga para hindi ko na marinig ang mga naghahagikhikan na mga babae na hindi mapakali sa kinauupuan nila.

It's not like I have a choice when it comes to choosing my so called friends. Lahat ng bagay sa buhay ko ay ang mga magulang ko ang nagdodomina. They decide what I wear, what I eat, where I go, where I study, what university I chose, what course I took, and yes... even who I should hang out with.

I'm in my first year in college taking up a business course and I hate every minute of it. I had a plan. Susundin ko ang gusto ng mga magulang ko at tatapusin ko ang kurso na gusto nila. After that I'm going to pursue the life that I want. Kailangan ko lang magtiis pa nang kaunti.

Pero sabi nga nila, lahat naman daw magagawang lagpasan basta may mga tao sa paligid mo na magiging dahilan para gumaan ang lahat. Even if you hate the environment and the path you're taking at least there are people around you that can make the journey bearable.

I don't have that kind of people in my life.

"I think he's looking at me!"

"Dream on, Janice! He's obviously looking at me!"

"As if. Sa iyo pa talaga? You're so conceited ha?"

I tried not to roll my eyes at that. Para namang hindi sila parehas na dalawa. Daig pa nila ang ipinanganak mula sa iisang nanay.

Nananatili akong nakikipagtitigan sa baso ng alak na hawak ko. If this is what you call this pretentious little drink that taste like sugar as if there's not a drop of alcohol in it. This is my first time drinking pero pakiramdam ko kahit uminom ako ng isang pitsel nito ay hindi ako malalasing.

"Jean, what do you think?! Kanino siya nakatingin kay Angel o sa akin?!" Wala akong narinig na sagot mula sa babaeng tinatanong niya. "Gosh! Will you stop making out with a man you just met for one second and answer me?!"

Life why? I met a lot of nice people in the university but am I allowed to go out with them? Nope. Because my parents said I should hang out with Angel Mendoza, Janice Lopez, and Jean Osorio.

Some parents choose their children's friends because they don't want their children to have friends who have questionable attitudes or friends that will pressure them when it comes to vices. Katulad ng mga kasama ko ngayon. We're all seventeen but we managed to get inside this bar because Angel's parents owns this. My family's driver drove us here and my parents probably know where we are but do they care?

Nah. Hindi ganoon ang mga magulang ko. My parents choose who I should be friends with according to their families' net worth. As long as they have the connection they don't care what I do with the "friends" they chose for me.

Again. Life, why?

"What a slut!" naiiritang bulalas ni Angel. I don't need to look at them to see that Jean is ignoring them. Her attention is quite taken what with the man she managed to hooked after endlessly flirting with him. Hindi ko nga alam kung may idea ba ang lalaki na menor de edad pa ang babae.

"Oh, I know! Let's ask, Lia!"

If I could self-combust, I'll do it this exact moment. Pakiramdam ko may namamatay ako na brain cells kada maririnig ko ang boses nila na parang laging may exclamation point sa dulo.

"Lia, Lia! What do you think?! Kanino siya nakatingin?!"

"He's looking at me right, Lia?!" tanong naman ni Angel. "I mean, we're all pretty but I'm an eye catcher."

Para sa taong pinangalanan na Angel ay ang taong ito lang ata ang kinulang sa qualities na dapat ay meron ang isang anghel. She can be a dream catcher instead of being an eye catcher. Tapos imbis na pinapaalis niya ang mga bangungot, inaabsorb niya lahat ng iyon.

"Lia, come on! Don't be a drag!"

Nag-angat ako ng mga mata nang tila umuukilkil na sa akin ang matinis na boses ni Angel. "What?"

"The gorgeous man with the long hair! What do you think?! He's looking at me right?!"

I just want the noise to stop. I don't care about the loud music. Music is music whatever kind it is. But the screeching noise coming from their mouths is becoming more intolerable. I just want peace. Mahirap bang hilingin iyon?

What I want right now is to get drunk until I forget about everything. I want to stop thinking about all the things that are suffocating me. Kung paanong hindi ko na alam kung anong gagawin ko ngayong wala na ang nag-iisang kakampi ko. Ang taong nag-iisang naniniwala sa akin.

I can still see my grandmother playing the piano when I was four. The first time that I played that instrument and shock the living daylights out of her when I played with my little hands those keys she just touched. I can see her watching happily from the audience when I first had my recital when I was five. I can see her holding my hand when we went to the mall and she bought me my first guitar when I was six. And when I turned seven it was the violin. From then she was the only one who attended every recitals that I had until I turned eleven and someone took a video of me when I played La Campanella at the airport's grand piano. My grandmother was also with me when I was invited for an interview when I was fourteen and the video just got discovered. Turns out I was the youngest that played La Campanella what with it being the most difficult piano piece ever written.

She was with me when I cried my heart out after we came home that day and my parents destroyed the grand piano at home together with my other musical instruments. She was the one who bought me another guitar for my fifteenth birthday that we both hid from my parents. When I was sixteen she was the one that kept on asking my parents to let me pursue music. When I turned seventeen she was disappointed for me because she knew I wasn't happy.

I'm turning eighteen in a few days and this time I don't want to disappoint her. I don't want her to see me living the life that I didn't want. Kahit wala na siya para makita kung paano ko ipaglaban ang buhay na gusto ko para sa akin.

I want her to be proud of me. I want to be proud of myself.

Tatlong araw pa lang mula nang makita siya ng private nurse niya na wala ng buhay. She died in her sleep peacefully. Tatlong araw pa lang pero pakiramdam ko ay minadali na ng pamilya ko ang lahat. My parents immediately got her cremated yesterday. There's no wake, no gathering of the family... nothing. Kaninang umaga lang nagkita si Daddy at ang mga kapatid niya but it was only so they can talk about the last will and testament of my grandmother that they want to rush.

I hate being born in the family I have. Ang lola ko lang ang nag-iisang tao na hindi ko ipagpapalit kahit saang perpektong pamilya. I'll gladly accept being with the family I got if it means I get to see her again. Just one more time. Kahit five minutes lang. Para lang masabi ko sa kaniya na hindi na ako papayag na makulong sa buhay na gusto ng mga magulang ko. That one day I will be in television or in a huge concert with people shouting my name. That I will finally have what she wanted me to have.

Recognition.

"Lia!"

Bumuntong-hininga ako nang marinig ko na naman ang matinis na boses ni Angel. I gave her an irritated look before I turned my head so I can look at the man they've been ogling at.

I was ready to see a typical boy trying to look like a man but failing. The kind that you know that will only look good at photos but a failure when it comes to actually maintaining the relationship. O iyong klase ng lalaki na alam mong sa isang lugar ka lang dadalhin. Not in a church but rather in a hotel room kung saan kinabukasan ay baka hindi mo na siya madatnan sa tabi mo. I was expecting that.

Not this.

I wasn't expecting my eyes to see perfection. As abstract that is if it can actually take form and create a human and he's there a few tables across from us, his eyes staring directly at me.

At me. He's looking at me.

He's wearing a simple black shirt and jeans. His hair was tied at his nape, some of the tendrils falling on his face giving him that rough and edgy look. His lips looked so soft even in the poor light and the distance between us. His eyes carry wisdom and depth that makes me want to delve into so I can hear the thoughts behind them.

I knew it from fairy tales, I read it in stories, and I heard it in music. But never in my life would I have imagined that this moment could be possible. That falling in love at first sight exists and not just a figment of stories that creative minds weaved.

It was like the chaos inside me was calming into silence because of the familiarity that I can feel while looking at him. He's a stranger, but it's like my entirety knows him. I can see a glimpse of a part of me that one moment was mine, but now is his and a part of him that now is mine. An instant connection, a devouring suddenness, a recognition of souls. Two ordinary people now bound by a force that can only be described as fate.

"He's looking at me right?" Angel asked again.

"I told you, it's me he's looking at."

"Dream on, Janice."

I can't look away from the man holding my eyes captive. It was so overwhelming... so consuming.

I was lost for a long time but now it feels like I know what I needed to do. From my life trapped into an endless loop of the slowest possible pace, now it's like I'm surging forward... so fast that it's in a blur.

"Lia! Omg can you just answer?!"

I blinked, breaking the spell between me and the man. Hinarap ko ang babae na may iritasyon na sa mukha. I can't help the smug smile that curved my lips. "He's not looking at you."

Laglag ang panga ni Angel habang si Janice naman ay tila nagwagi na tumawa. "Sabi na sa'yo sa akin siya nakatingin-"

"He's not looking at you either," I murmured.

"What-"

"He's looking at me."

They were both gaping at me but it was instantly replaced with disbelief. Bumuka ang bibig ni Angel para siguro kontrahin ang sinabi ko pero bago pa niya magawa iyon ay tumayo na ako. Without even giving them another second glance, I turned my back at them and walked straight to the man that I now can see is also rising from his seat.

With huge strides, he managed to reached me first. Naramdaman kong pumalibot ang kamay niya sa kamay ko at bahagyang nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang basta na lang niya akong hilahin palabas ng bar.

I should be scared. After all a man I don't know is dragging me with him. But I can't feel even a drop of fear and instead I feel safe. I don't think I ever felt secured in my life... until tonight.

"I'm seventeen."

Napatigil ang lalaki sa paglalakad at napalingon sa akin. Kita ang pagkagulat sa mga mata niya. "What?"

"I'm turning eighteen in a few days," nagkibit-balikat ako. "Gusto ko lang malaman mo incase you know... you want something to happen."

"You think I'm taking you with me because of sex?"

Bahagyang nagsalubong ang kilay ko. "I guess so?"

"You didn't saw."

Pinagmasdan ko siya nang makita kong inihilamos niya ang libre niyang kamay sa sariling mukha. He looks distraught... disappointed even. From what I'm seeing, hindi ang edad ko at ang katotohanan na hindi tama dahil minor pa ako, ang pinoproblema niya. It's like he's more concern that I didn't see, what I did in fact, inside that bar.

"This was a mistake."

Nang akmang bibitawan niya ang kamay kong hawak niya pa rin ay hinigpitan ko ang pagkakahawak ko ro'n. "I'm not going with you for sex if that's what you wanted to know."

"Look-"

"I saw it. Inside that bar, I saw it." May paghahamon sa mga mata na sinalubong ko ang sa kaniya. "Are you going to deny it? You're mine and I am yours. One moment I own myself but seeing you in there... I've been found and owned. Are you just going to ignore that?"

"You said you believe that I'm just after for a quick fuck."

I was taken aback my his straight forward attitude for a moment but I decided that I like it. I hate people that just love playing games. I want the real thing. Transparent and real. "I didn't say that. You said if I thought that you wanted to have sex and I said yes. Because that's part of it isn't it? I'm just young but I'm not stupid. I'm attracted to you and I'm pretty sure you feel the same. But we also both know that it's more than that. I'm just telling you my age because I'm still a jailbait technically and I don't want to get you into trouble."

I didn't take my eyes from him when he let my hand go and run his hands on top of his tied hair, stopping when he reached his nape and letting his hands stay there as he looked up in the sky. We were both quiet for a moment. A moment that I can just took all of him in... absorbing the sight of the perfection that life sculpted and brought to life.

When his eyes finally found mine, there was defeat in his eyes as if whatever he's going to say will cost him. "This was a mistake."

"It isn't."

"You're young."

"I'm nearly eighteen."

"And I'm twenty-five." Sandaling hindi siya nagsalita habang pinagmamasdan lang ang mukha ko. It's as if he's waiting for me to be disgusted by the seven years age difference. When I didn't react and just kept looking at him he continued. "You can't possibly know what you want yet. You have a life ahead of you. You have a lot of decisions and chances on your hands and that should be a priority."

"Funny."

"What?"

"Funny that I knew what I wanted since I was four. The only thing that I didn't have was the right to make a decision and the chance to live the life that I want. Not until tonight."

"Miss-"

"What's you favorite place?"

Halata ang pagkalito sa mukha niya pero sinagot niya ang tanong ko. "Mt. Pulag."

Nakangiting umatras ako na lalo niyang ipinagtaka but I continued stepping away. But I didn't feel sad by the absence of his touch and his nearness. I know I will see him again. I will never be lost again... not when he just found me.

"I'm going home."

I saw the hesitation in his eyes but he swallowed whatever he wanted to say. Para bang gusto niya akong pigilan pero pinili niyang 'wag gawin iyon dahil iyon ang tingin niyang tama.

"I'm going home and I'm going to pack a bag. I'm going to find a place of my own and then I will quit that damn business course and follow the path I was born to have. I will make my grandmother proud by living the life that I should live. I'm not going to be unhappy anymore. I will not let anyone take my right to have a decision for myself. I will not let anyone take my chance to have the life that I imagined again. This time... I'm going to live for me."

"Miss-"

"My name is Adelia Asterio and in three days I will see you at your favorite place. In three days you will be mine."

________________________End of Chapter 8.