Mountains To Cross

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Crush ka 'non eh." Turo ni Shine sa lalaking nasa kabilang lamesa. Nasa cafeteria kami ngayon dahil mahaba ang break time bago ang susunod na subject. I hate fridays, dapat ay magkakasunod na lang ang subject para hindi sayang sa oras eh. Bakit kasi may three hours vacant pa?

Nilingon ko sila. Nope. Nope!

Basketball team. Blue ang kulay ng eskwelahan namin pero bakit puro red flag ang nakikita ko kapag sila?  I almost laughed because of my own thoughts. If there's one thing useful that my father taught me is to never think that these college boys will take you seriously. Siguro, may bahid na rin ng paninira pero naniniwala ako sa kanya. Lahat ng mga kaibigan ko ay umiyak na dahil sa pag-ibig mula nang pumasok kami ng college. Coincidence? I think not.

"Hi Risela!" Bati sa akin ng ibang mga grupo naman.

I awkwardly smiled.

"Risela!" Now, that was a different voice. Nilingon ko ang tumawag sa akin. Ate Dream is smiling is so widely as she walked towards me. I smiled at her. Bitbit niya ang dalawang set ng pagkain at umupo sa tabi ko.

"Hi Shine." Bati ni Ate Dream sa kaibigan ko.

"How's the first week of your second semester?" She asked, giving us the food. Binuksan ko ang styro. I sighed in relief when I saw carbonara.

"Hassle agad." Sagot ko, "Daming pinapagawa."

"You'll do great." She said.

I pouted. Siguro sa major courses ko pero sa general education courses like mathematics? Wala na talaga akong pag-asa. Papasagutan ko na lang sa mga magulang ko yung assignment. Kapag hindi pumayag si Mommy, kukulitin ko si Dad at ibablackmail ko siya dahil alam ko talaga ang mga sikreto niyang inuman kasama mga kaibigan niya.

Obviously, I despise Math. Wala talaga akong talent sa pagcocompute. I took Bachelor of Arts in Advertising because I feel like I will excel more in a field that involves art. Okay naman ako, I am surviving. Ayoko lang talaga ng mga math subjects.

Nagpaalam si Ate Dream dahil may gagawin pa raw siya. I smiled at her. I'm just a bit sad that I won't get to spend more time with her ever since she broke up with Kuya Yosef. She's avoiding anyone that will make her and Kuya cross paths again at kahit i-deny niya ay halata naman.

Their situation scared me. Not gonna lie.

Isang araw, mahal na mahal pa nila ang isa't isa. But Ate Dream said that one day, she just woke up numb. She just woke up and realized that she doesn't feel the same way anymore. She said it to me, verbatim: Hindi ko na siya mahal.

I saw how much they looked at each other with so much love before so I don't get it. My mom and dad did everything despite their trails just to be together so I don't get it. Paano kapag isang araw... nagising ka na lang talaga na hindi mo na mahal ang taong tinuring mong mundo? Is it really possible? Or it wasn't just love at all.

"Pop up kaya muna tayo?" Isang magandang influence ang kaibigan ko, ano?

"Amazing. Brilliant. Life changing." I sarcastically said, "It's 2:00 in the afternoon, iinom ka?"

"Hindi naman. Shot shot lang eh." She yawned, "Ang tagal pa ng vacant, Risela! Ayoko magstay dito. Kung naghahanap na ko ng jowa sa loob ng three hours vacant na 'to, malamang nagpakasal na rin kami bago matapos."