Chapter 4

"Bro, late ka na," paulit-ulit na sabi ni Tomas at pagyugyog sa akin. "Ang dami mo naman kasing nainom kagabi?!"

Hindi ko masyadong maintindiha kung anong pinagsasabi niya. Para bang lumulutang ako. Dahan-dahan kong iminulat ang mata ko para tingnan si Tomas, pero silaw mula sa liwanag na nanggagaling sa bintana ang bumungad sa paningin ko kaya kinuha ko ang unan at ipinatong sa mukha ko.

Agad din namang hinila ni Tomas ang unan mula sa akin. Mas ikinagulat ko pa nang kunin nito ang magkabilang braso ko at hinila ako para ibangon mula sa pagkakahiga sa kama.

"Pre, gising na. Male-late ka na sa klase mo. . . O hindi ka papasok?"

"Wala namang pasok ngayon," halos pabulong kong tugon at hindi ko alam kung naintindihan niya rin ang sinabi ko.

Mayamaya lamang ay literal na nagising ang diwa ko nang sinabuyan ako ni Tomas ng malamig na tubig sa mukha ko. Napatitig na lang ako sa kanya habang tawang-tawa naman siya dahil sa naging reaksyon ko.

"What the fuck, Tom?!"

Hindi pa rin naman ito tumigil sa pagtawa. "Tingnan mo? Nabuhayan ka rin. Kailangan na kitang gisingin, e. Malala hangover mo ngayon, boy. Papasok ka pa ba o hindi? Alas y otso na."

Nanlaki ang mata ko sa sinabi niya at tatayo na sana ako, pero gumewang pa ako. Nasalo rin naman ako ni Tomas kaya ibinalik niya ako sa pagkauupo. Sa huli ay sinabihan ako nito na huwag munang pumasok sa morning class ko. Nanalangin naman ako na sana walang quiz kung hindi ay malalagot ako nito sa grade ko.

"Bakit ka naman kasi lumaklak ng alak kagabi?" tanong pa ni Tomas matapos akong abutan ng Gatorade kahit alam kong hindi naman 'to nakaka-recover sa hangover. "Ang saya-saya mo pa no'ng mga-close tayo ng shop, e."

Pilit ko namang inalala kung anong nangyari kagabi. Puno nang pagtataka ang namuo sa mukha ko. Wala talaga akong maalala kagabi at hindi ko na rin pinilit ang sarili ko na alalahanin pa dahil mas lalo lang sumasakit ang ulo ko.

"'Wag ka na lang muna kaya pumasok?" suhestiyon ni Tomas sa akin.

Mabilis akong umiling sa kanya. "Hindi pwede, 'no. Um-absent na nga ako sa isa kong klase, e. Kailangan kong pumasok."

"E, kung hindi ka sana uminom ng napakarami kagabi, wala ka sanang malalang hangover ngayon."

"Marami nga ba talaga akong ininom kagabi?" pagtataka ko pang tanong.

Tinawanan naman ako nito at saka napailing-iling. "Naka-tatlong baso ka lang naman ata ng San Mig, e. Tinalo mo pa 'yong iba. Oh well, may rason ka rin nama para uminom ng gano'ng karami. Pinigilan naman kita, pero ayaw mo magpaawat, e."

Humugot ako nang malalim na hininga. "The only thing I remember was after our work at the shop, tumuloy tayo sa campfire party. . . A lot of people were actually there. Some were jumping on the small lit fire. . . And there I saw Synestine kissing her boyfriend."

Napangisi ako nang maalala ko iyong parte na 'yon, pero wala na akong maalala sa mga susunond na pangyayari. Hindi ikinuwento ni Tomas sa akin kung ano pang ginawa kagabi sa campfire party, but he hinted that getting drunk there possibly caught a lot of attention to anyone who doesn't even know I exist.

Nakakabahala rin iyon, pero anong magagawa ko? Nangyari na ang nangyari.

Nagpalipas ako ng ilang sandali hangga't sa napagpasyahan ko nang bumalik sa dorm ko. Magkaiba ang tinutuluyang dorm namin ni Tomas. Mas malayo siya sa campus habang ilang metro lang ang layo ng dorm building ko. Umalis akong mag-isa at tinungo ang daan pabalik sa dorm ko. Nakatungo lamang ako at silaw na silaw sa sikat ng araw.

Nang marating ko ang dorm room ko ay mabilis akong pumasok sa banyo para magbanlaw at mahimasmasan. Ibang klaseng ginhawa naman ang naramdaman ko nang dumaloy ang malamig na tubig sa katawan ko. I took a deep breathe and let it rinse any bad stuff in my body.

As soon as I finished, I walked out of the bathroom finding out my roommate was surprised to see me.

"Cholo," bungad nito. "Saan ka galing kagabi? Akala ko pag-uwi mo rito ka dumiretsyo, e."

Napalunok ako ng laway. "Ah, doon ako kay Tomas nakitulog."

"Ah, okay. . ." Patango-tango pa nitong tugon. "I hope you're feeling better now."

"Okay na naman ako," sagot ko. "I didn't know I drank too much last night. . . Hindi ko rin talaga matandaan."

"Really? So, you don't remember that you kissed Synestine last night?"

"Huh?" gulat ko sa tanong. "Anong sinasabi mo? Did I kiss Synestine? Imposible. May boyfriend 'yong tao, e."

"I know, but someone caught you kissing Synestine last night. . . And I'm not sure if Cameron heard it already."

Umiling ako. "Wala namang nangyari gano'n."

Kibit balikat naman ang sinagot nito sa akin. "That's what I've heard, bro. I was just telling you what I've heard. I'm not joking. . . I'll be going now. Wala ka bang klase?"

"Meron. I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay, bro. See you around."

Umalis ang roommate ko ng kwarto namin at iniwanan ako ng isang malalim na katanungan. If it happened, Tomas would've already told me about it, pero wala naman siyang binanggit sa akin. 

I tried washing it out of my mind dahil baka nagkakamali lang din sila ng nakita. I wouldn't ever do that to someone who has a boyfriend. Hindi ko naman gawain ang mang-agaw.

Inihanda ko lang ang sarili at matapos ay lumabas na ako ng dorm building papunta sa campus. Hindi na nawala sa isipan ko ang ibinalita sa akin ng roommate ko. I hope he was just joking. He probably was just messing with me. Alam niyang sobra ang pagkakalasing ko kagabi kaya kung ano-ano na lang din ang sinabi nito.

I'm not the type of person who would end up so drunk. Maybe, last night was something.

As soon as I got into the campus, I immediately caught some eyes looking straight at me as if I did something bad. Iniiwas ko na lang ang tingin ko at nagpatuloy sa paglalakad papunta sa klase ko. But all those people I've passed by, I was hearing my name and Synestine, and whatever my roommate said could probably be true, and he wasn't joking.

Lagot na.

I got to my class safe and sound, but some people still would look at me as if they wanted to ask if what happened was right. I get into my class like nothing happened. I didn't mind whatever they were talking about. Nang matapos din ang klase ay naghanap na ako ng pwede kong puntahan. I just know that going to the cafeteria at this hour wouldn't be wise.

At that moment, I thought I would be fine. . . But a group of students blocked my way. Nang iangat ko ang tingin ko ay doon ko lang na-realize na ang mga kaibigan ni Cameron ang nasa harapan ko. I was a little scared because it looked like they were taunting me, but they were laughing at my face.

They started saying things in front of my face and what happened last night. What they were doing started getting commotion around and I was not too fond of the attention. 

They kept saying things to me that I was such a dirty man for kissing someone else's girlfriend. Deny kung deny naman ang dahilan ko dahil hindi ko naman ginawa 'yon. Ang ikinagulat ko na lang din ay may pinakita silang picture sa akin kung saan nakatalikod ang lalaki ang nakaharap ang babae at kitang-kita sa picture na si Synestine 'yon. Looking at the man kissing her, it could be someone else. Hindi rin naman ito makilala dahil nakatalikod ito.

"That wasn't me," aniko. "I'm not that guy. . ."

"Hindi ba?" sagot pa ng kaibigan ni Cameron. "But you got the same shirt as this guy. . ." May pinakita pa itong isang picture sa akin kung saan kitang-kita na ang mukha ko. I had the same outfit to the man who was in the picture kissing Synestine. "Huli ka na, bro. You could've kissed some other girls, but you still chose Synestine. . ."

Napailing-iling sila hangga't sa biglang bumulaga si Cameron na hindi ko inaasahan kung saan nanggaling. He grabbed my collar and was about to punch me. His balled hand was just a few inches away from my face, but Synestine came, she was trying to stop him, but she was too late when I felt Cameron's fist land on my face.

A faculty-staff came into the scene, and he dropped my collar where I ended up falling on my ass on the ground. As I felt something coming out of my nose, I patted just above my mouth and felt a lot of blood.

Most of the students dispersed when the staff got closer to me. Medyo mahilo-hilo pa ako kaya hindi ako makapag-isip nang maayos.

Someone came to me and asked how I was feeling. Sinubukan kong titigan ang mukha nito at si Tomas iyon. I couldn't understand whatever he was telling me. Inalalayan na lamang niya ako tumayo. Wala rin akong ideya kung saan kami pupunta.

Later on, we entered a room where a staff was waiting for me and assisted me. That's when I knew that I was in the school's clinic. The nurse asked me what I was feeling and all. They checked on me, and later on, they gave me a cold compress that they put on the side of my face where I got hit.

When I found Tomas standing next to me, I shook my head.

"I think you forgot to say something to me, Tom. . ."

Napangiwi naman ito at napakamot sa kanyang ulo. "I knew you would ask, but I didn't know this would happen sooner. . ."

Napabitaw ako nang malalim na hininga. "Okay, tell me everything. . ."

And Tomas told me everything that happened last night. When I drank too much last night, I wasn't on my usual behavior that's why he kept on looking after me, but one minute he was just getting some drinks, I was already out of his sight. Later on, he heard that I was having a secret kiss with Synestine, and that was the moment when he took me to his dorm rather than taking me back to my dorm.

I tried making sense out of it. What happened earlier, he could be telling the truth.

I was told to rest for a few hours inside the clinic and they would give me an excuse letter in case I missed some quizzes or exams. Tomas wouldn't be able to stay with me in the clinic, but before he could leave, Synestine showed up and I froze.

"Are you okay now?" she asked. I couldn't say a word and only responded with a small nod. "Is it okay with you if we talk?"

I gulped.

"I will have to leave for now. I've got a class. . . I'll see you later, pre," pagpapaalam ni Tomas bago ito lumabas ng clinic.

"Is it okay if I come in?" Synestine asked. I nodded. "Thank you. . . I'm so sorry for what happened to you."

I smiled. "It's okay. . ."

"It's never okay. . ." she said. I raised my eyes to meet hers. "I finally broke up with Cameron."

And hearing that clearly left me dumbfounded.