Summer Vacation

23

Juri lazily lie on my bed. Zasper sat on the sofa. Si kuya naman ay nasa labas pa. Kausap niya ang staff kanina noong pinauna niya kami.

"Saan gamit niyo?" tanong ko sa kanilang dalawa.

"We didn't bring things that much," Zasper answered. He's busily typing on his phone. Perhaps, texting his girlfriend.

"Why so?" I asked.

He shrugged. "We plan to stay here just until tomorrow. I need to go to Pepper tomorrow. And Juri... don't really know about him, he just tag along," Zasper stated.

Napatingin naman ako kay Juri. He's lying on his stomach. His face is buried in the pillow. He's asleep, maybe?

"Ate Pepper," I said. "she's in Tagaytay, isn't she?"

He shooked his head no, "nope."

"Ows?"

"They're in here." He chuckled. "The reason why we're — I mean, I'm here."

My lips formed an oh. "Where are they, then? In this hotel ba?" I asked, excited.

I'm excited to see his girlfriend, ate Pepper. Kyro's older sib. Kyro, after our meet up, didn't text me. Ang kapal ng mukha. Akala naman niya ang pogi at famehouse niya. Gusto ko pa naman sanang makita at makipag-usap kay ate Pepper. I'm so so so close with her. Ka-vibes kaming dalawa eh.

"Nope. They're not staying in this hotel," he answered. "And I'm afraid that you won't be able to have some bond with Pep."

I pouted. "Why so?"

He shrugged. "We'll leave tomorrow."

Mas lalo akong ngumuso. "Eh? Pwede namang pumunta sila dito, diba?"

"Uh, mayb—"

"Then, please!" I plead.

He sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll tell her," he said.

Napangiti naman ako dahil sa sinabi niya.

"Thanks, Zas!"

Napailing siya at sinabing lalabas lang daw saglit dahil tatawagan niya si ate Pepper. Kaming dalawa lang ni Juri ang naiwan sa loob ng kwarto. I looked at his side. Gano'n parin ang posisyon niya. I near him.

"Juri," tawag ko sa pangalan niya. "Hoy. Juridice."

He didn't move nor answer. He stayed still. Kumunot naman ang noo ko. If he is sleeping, he would immediately wake up upon hearing my or someone's voice calling him or waking him up. Ano'ng inaarte nito?

I neared his ear and whispered: "Juridice Axle!"

But just like earlier, he didn't budge. Kumunot ang noo ko kapagkuwan ay hinayaan nalang siya. Baka yata pagod lang siya. Nagkibit-balikat nalang ako at pumunta sa sala kung saan kanina si Zasper.

I opened my phone and immediately went to twitter. There's a lot of notification. There's also a tweet notif from user idontknowme, which is Juri, if you must know. I clicked his profile and his tweet immediately welcomed me.

‘What did I ever do?’

Napalingon ako sa kaniya. Iyon lang naman ang tweet niya. And It was two hours ago. Ang kasunod na mga tweet niya ay puro na mga kalokohan niya.

Again, I ignored it. Baka lyric lang sa kantang napakinggan niya. I exit his profile and also the twitter. Nilagay ko ang cellphone ko sa mesa at tumayo. Pumunta ako sa kama ni kuya at doon nahiga. I stared at the ceiling and battled with my if I should just take a sleep or nah. At the end, I decided to sleep. I feel sleepy, anyways.