One Lost Summer (Brave Series #2)

Chapter 6: Majarlika

Majarlika De Luna

"Bakit mo naman kasi naisip na magpapakamatay ako?" Majarlika asked him as she combs her dripping hair.

The moon above was glowing brightly, it's reflection on the dancing water was exquisite. It reminded Majarlika about the oldest portrait on the gallery hall of their resort. The one that her mother painted herself.

There were only a few people around the seaside. Tanaw pa niya ang mga maliliwanag na ilaw mula sa mga nagkalat na sandbars sa kalapit na ibang resorts.

She received a glare from Grale and she just laughed it off. "Who the fuck wouldn't think that way? You walked going to the water with your full clothes on like a fucking zombie on a full moon. Sinong hindi iisipin na nagpapakamatay ka, Majarlika?"

She breathed out and chuckled again. "Hindi naman nga kasi ako magpapakamatay."

"Then what the fuck were you trying to do?"

"I was swimming," maikli niyang sagot.

Grale stared at the dripping lady beside him in disbelief. He then shut his eyes and sighed. "You're a one fucking crazy girl."

"Ganyan talaga ka limited ang vocabulary mo? Kailangan every sentence may entry ng bad words?" She raised an eyebrow with a smiling lips.

"I can't help it. I thought you were suicidal or something," he looked away.

"Why would you think of that?" she smiled at him amusingly.

Inirapan ito ng binata. "Just next time don't do it like that. Kahit sinong makakakita sayo iisipin na nagpapakamatay ka."

"Yes, sir," she saluted him, chuckling.

They were covered in light silence after that. Majarlika noticed how the guy kept on taking deep breaths, chest slowly settling down.

She gave him a further side glance and his eyes were stacked in the hitting waves, as if it pulled him from one long chained thoughts.

Majarlika was very familiar with the kind of stare that Grale's giving the waves. The kind of stare that pulls you back to a certain time or moment — the one that once drove you to multiple feelings you can't hardly forget.

The kind of stare that tells you you're here, but at the same time you're not.

"Ang ganda ng buwan no," she softly uttered, head raised on the ebony sky. 

He needs diversion, Maja thought in her head.

He glanced at Majarlika and then he just followed her gaze, their eyes both captivated by the moon's comeliness on the ebony sky. Glimmering proudly like a King of his kingdom.

"What are you thinking?" Maja suddenly asked, tearing her eyes away from the sky to land on him.

The guy just glanced at her and answered in a low voice, "Nothing..."

Nothing. But Majarlika knows better that in every silence, a thought lies deeper. A thought that can't be justified by a simple adjective. A thought so complicated that 'nothing' is the easiest word there of to describe it. 

She thought that maybe he isn't yet ready to unravel his silence to her. And she understands why. She's still a stranger to him. So, even though she's eager to hear more answers, she chose to nod and just gaze back at the ebony sky.

But then she noticed how his eyes remained on her.

Majarlik spoke as she lowered her gaze on the hitting waves, "You know I realized that sometimes, even those seemingly contradictory feelings can coexist. Sometimes, you feel them one by one, slowly and calmly, but there are really days when they just crush you all at once."

"Why are you telling me these?" With crumpled forehead, he asked.

Maja turned to him and smiled. "Because I feel like you need to hear it. You're a celebrity and often get praised by many, but at the end of the day, when cameras are gone, when everyone's done watching your every move, you're still a human — capable of feeling real things and those emotions, no matter how complicated they could get, they are valid."

Majarlika traced how his eyes constricted as if her words strike a pang down his chest.

She offered him a small smile to ease him. "I felt that, Grale. The way you held me in the water, shaking and gripping hard. You were scared, terrified even. Akala mo yata talaga magpapakamatay ako."

He looked away, but Maja didn't tear her gaze away from him. "Fear is a natural instinct, Majarlika. I thought you were trying to kill yourself."

She only nodded as she rested her head on the back of her palm atop her folded knees. "Sana nga dahil lang 'yon don..."

Natahimik silang muli. Tanging ang kanilang mahinang pag hinga lamang ang namamagitan sa kanilang katahimikan. Tanging ang buwan at ang mga di kalayuang poste ng ilaw ang nagbibigay liwanag. Kung saan ang bawat hampas ng alon ay nagsisilbing malamyos na hele. 

Majarlika thought something in her mind minutes after they shared a quiet night.

"Gusto mo ulit akong samahan bukas?" She raised her head and turned to him, smiling.

He looked at her as if he was caught off guard for a brief second. "Where?"

"Basta," She chuckled mischievously. So, ano sama ka?"

He shot his eyebrow, but a ghost of a smile was on his lips. "If you buy me another box of pastries again, maybe, I'd say yes."

Her eyes widened, delighted by his cooperation. "I told you! Masarap ang pastries ni Clementine."

He just chuckled and Majarlika just smiled at him, wondering what made those beautiful eyes distant and cold.

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#Unedited