Kabanata 26

I was nervous because today Sath and I will talk to Czanne. I really didn't want to see her because of what she told me but I wanted to prove that I was matured enough to handle her.

Ganito naman dapat ang mga problema. Pinaguusapan at hindi tinatakbuhan. Pero pakiramdam ko ay mas gusto ko na lamang ito takasan. I didn't like confrontations.

Sath assured me that no physical fight will happen. Hindi naman daw ganoon si Czanne.

I saw Czanne walking towards us. Some students from our school notices her and greets her. She's really known to others, huh?

Czanne greeted me with one of her smiles. Naningkit kaagad ang mga mata ko. She had the audacity to smile at me?

"So, what's the problem? Did I hit a nerve the last time we've talked?" Czanne asked while sitting infront of us.

She sounded so...nonchalant.

Parang wala siyang sinabi mali sa akin.

We're at a nearby café. Malapit lang ito sa school dahil alam namin na mamaya ay may gagawin pa kami. This will be just a small talk.

"Czanne, can you stop using that tone? It isn't helping at all." Sath said, looking at Czanne with his serious eyes.

Napakagat ng labi si Czanne. She looks at Sath like he did her wrong.

"Your girlfriend's immature. I used to do things like that even way before Senior highschool. Do you really expect me to just stop because of her, Sath?"

Umiling si Sath kay Czanne. I was just watching them converse with each other.

"From the start, I never wanted any of that. Ilang beses ko bang sasabihin na may girlfriend ako at kung pwede ba tigilan mo na 'yung mga ginagawa mo para saakin? Things are not the same anymore, Czanne." Bumuntong hininga si Sath.

Czanne lowered her head, her neck appearing to shrink. Hindi siya makatingin sa'min ni Sath.

"What changed, Sath? Siya ba nagsabi sa'yo ng ganyan? She's being immature. Some girls are mature enough to know that boys can have girls as friends too!" Czanne said, her soft spoken voice reaches it's highest peak.

"Do you like me, then?" Sath asked, not removing his gaze at Czanne.

Czanne couldn't answer. Napaawang ang bibig ko. She knows she like Sath but she keeps claiming that they're only friends!

Tingnan mo ang isang ito! She kept on saying that there's no hidden motive but she can't even say that she doesn't like Sath. Lalo lang akong nagkaroon ng inis sa kanya.

Sath shrugged, half-heartedly.

"That changes everything, Czanne. Stop using the excuse we're friends to justify the actions you're doing for me. The mere fact that you like me already creates malice." Sath holds my hand.

"That's not it..." she drawled, avoiding eye contact with us.

"Czanne, please just stop. We can be friends but there's nothing more than that. I love Zafirah enough to know that I'm willing to lose relation with other people to be with her."

This time, she looked at Sath with misty eyes. Nangingilid ang mga luha niya.

For some reason, my heart ached upon seeing her expression. Galit ako sa mga sinabi niya pero hindi ko naman siyang gustong masaktan nang ganito.

"You're choosing her over me?" Czanne's voice croaked as she glance at me. I also looked at her with the same intensity.

Sath abruptly shook his head. He closed his eyes to shut everything out.

"I'm not choosing because in the first place, Zafirah was the only option. It's Zafirah or no one."

She stood and her face contorts in anger. Marahas niyang pinunasan ang mga luha sa kanyang mata. The way she decided to stood made her chair create unnecessary noises, making people look at her.

"I can't believe I liked a jerk like you for a long time!"

Sath looked at her boredly. "Edi huwag mo akong gustuhin."

She laughed mockingly. This time a hint of hurt was laced on her face. Nanginginig siya habang pilit na pinapakalma ang sarili. Her facade slowly tearing down because of her actions.

"You know what? It's fine. I'm tired of pretending not to care about Zafirah. In the end of the day, Sath...You're mine. I'm the only one who understands you. Fine, have your fun with Zafirah. Boys do tend to like girls they can take care of." Tumingin saakin si Czanne, she looks at me as if I stole her favorite toy.

My heart was rapidly racing because I definitely don't want any cat fights. Mukhang hindi rin naman niya ito gusto pero sa paraan kung paano niya ako tingnan ay para bang kaya niya akong saktan.

"You think you won? Everytime you have a fucking problem, you either cry or run away from it. You think someone as immature as you can handle a relationship? No, so you can laugh now but you'll see and say I was right all along." Czanne said, smiling.

Sath coldly glared at her. "Czanne, just stop. Know your worth. Spouting hurtful things to her won't make me love her less -"

"She doesn't deserve you!" she seethed. "Sath, all she does is cry and wait for you to fucking fetch her every damn time! Hindi ka nga niya inaalala!"

"Czanne, once I know that you harrassed Zafirah- I swear I could put everything behind just to make sure you get what you deserved." Sath decided to squeezed my hands to assure me that he had my back.

"Also, stop acting like you own me. I was never yours to begin with." Sath glared at Czanne, I could see the look of hurt in Czanne's face.

She walked away, leaving Sath and I behind. Sath hugged me while assuring me that everything will finally be okay.

I was finally at peace.

『••✎••』

I was walking peacefully towards the ABM building. Para akong naglalakad sa ulap sa sobrang saya ko. Nabunutan ako ng tinik sa puso dahil alam kong hindi na kami guguluhin ni Czanne.

We also passed the eliminations for the cheerdance. Isa kami sa mga lalaban para sa semi-finals tapos sa championship na ang sunod.

"Oh, the menu is for Thursday. Wednesday pa lang naman ngayon?" I thought as I passed by the small stall where food can be bought.

Then it hit me. Tiningnan ko ang phone ko at nakitang hindi pala Wednesday ngayon, it was already Thursday! It was freaking Thursday! It was our quiz for FABM today!

Akala ko Wednesday pa lang kaya iniwan ko ang SciCal ko! I also left my notes behind. Walang problema sana sa notes pero 'yung SciCal! Bawal maghiraman!

Hindi ko alam kung papasok pa ba ako o lalabas ng school para bumalik sa bahay at kunin ang SciCal ko! Shit lang talaga!

I was panicking when someone tapped me from behind. Nilingon ko ito at nakitang si Sarathiel pala.

"Good morning?" he smiled.

"Walang good sa morning! Naiwan ko calculator ko!" I hissed at him. He arched an eyebrow at me.

"ABM 'yan? Akala ko jowa niyo na mga calculator niyo?" he chuckles.

"Very funny," I sarcastically told him. "Babalik pa ako sa bahay."

I looked at my watch and remembered that FABM was the first subject today. Ano bang kinain ko ngayon? Kamalasan?

"Hey, use mine instead." He opened his knapsack and rummage it.

He handed me his SciCal and I was impressed. It was the latest model from Casio, mahal kaya ang ganito! But it's worth it since there's a lot of functions you can use.

"Are you sure?" I bit my lower lip. He ruffled my hair.

He nodded at me. "Yeah, just go. You have a few minutes to review if you haven't yet."

I hugged him before going to my classroom. Sobrang desidido akong maging mataas sa FABM para lang hindi masayang ang pagpapahiram sa akin ni Sath ng SciCal. I know SciCals are also an essential for STEM students.

After class, we had a little time to be with each other. We stayed at the school's plaza. Nasa gitna ito ng school dahil nandito rin ang fountain with the school's logo.

"Bakit ka pa naging balance sheet kung di ka rin naman pala balance?" I groaned as I keep scribbling my answers.

"Dahil hindi ka naman balance, sheet ka na lang." Napahawak ako sa ulo ko at dahan-dahan itong minasahe.

Humilig ako sa braso ni Sath habang pinapakita ang papel ko.

"Tama ba 'to?" tanong ko sa kanya. He looks at me and stifled a laugh.

"Bakit?" kumunot ang noo ko.

"Zafi, I'm a STEM student. I don't know anything about accounting." This time, he really chuckled.

"Dapat pala ABM na lang jinowa ko." I pouted in which made Sarathiel frowned at me.

"Bawiin mo 'yon kung hindi hahalikan kita para parehas tayong ma-POD." Ngumuso siya.

"Sige mamaya ko na lang sasabihin kapag nasa labas na tayo ng school." I giggled.

I miss this. I wish time would stop when everything was just this good and steady. Where everything didn't have crumble down.

Was that too much to ask?

❛ ━━━━━━･❪✎❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜