Everything in Me

Chapter 4

"Pauwi ka na? Tanong sa'kin ni Kai habang busy ako sa pagtuhog ng fishball sa labas ng school.

"Oo, bakit?"

"Pasabay," sabi nito at kumuha rin ng stick at plastic cup.

"Bakit? Sa'n punta mo?" 

"I saw a comic book store near your place and I wanna visit it again," he simply said.

The next day, he went to the comic shop again, and the day after that and the following week until it became a habit of his. I became suspicious of his actions but I didn't want to assume anything even though my gut told me otherwise. I just can't, I can't let myself hope for something without any affirmation from him.

"So, is he courting you?" Pakikichismis ni Jace na sinundan naman ng mapang-asar na ngiti ni Claire.

"No, he isn't. Why would you think that?"

"Uhh I don't know, maybe because he's always taking you home? Sumasabay siya palagi sa atin and if you're absent, he doesn't walk with us," sabi naman ni Claire.

"Guys, no. He frequently visits the comic book store that's why he comes with me every afternoon, okay?"

Claire sighed and threw me a knowing look. "Right, pero kapag wala ka 'di rin siya pumupunta 'don. Right."

I dismissed the idea and made my friends stop talking about it. I kept the thought away from my mind even though it was hard to do so. Now that he's also friends with my friends, we're together most of the time. Mas close na nga ata siya kina Jace. It was hard but I tried to keep a distance from him but still close enough to be his friend. 

"Naya, meeting tayo bukas sa bahay nina Kino, ah?" Paalala sa'kin ni Jayda.

"Sige, pa send nalang ng address niya."

The next day, Jayda fetched me from our meeting point before going to Kino's house. Around the area lang ang bahay nila kaya iyon ang napiling meeting place para sa ginagawang paper. Patapos na kami pero kailangan pa ng konting revisions para hindi na ipa-ulit sa kanila kapag na check na. Pagkarating namin ay si Gio nalang ang hinihintay at makakapagsimula na ng brainstorming. May kaniya-kaniya kaming part na kailangang i share sa ibang kagrupo para ma-check ang gawa ng isat-isa at ma list ang kailangan pang ayusin.

Pagkarating ni Gio ay inilagay naming lahat sa mesa ang mga printed parts. Kai took my part which to my dismay 'cause I'm was afraid he would find any error in it. But I know to myself that I proofread it well and researched and doubled checked my data before putting it on my paper. I took Kino's paper and highlighted some unnecessary and unrelated lines that might throw off our point. Everyone was busy, we nearly forgot that it was almost 5 already. Satisfied with our work, we decided to pack everything up. I bid goodbye to everybody and walked in a different direction, but Kai managed to catch up to me.

"Wanna grab some coffee?" Tanong nito.