Challengers

13 : The Heart Never Lies

My heart rate shot up to 81 bpm as soon as the attention was on us. The previous challenges were mainly group effort and everyone was simultaneously participating, but this one was different. I was the center of attention, along with Brian, and it was making me highly conscious.

Huminga ako nang malalim para muling kalmahin ang sarili ko. This is a game, I reminded myself. I didn't want to be the cause of our team's loss.

When Ms. Hanna signaled us to start, I forced myself to ignore the crowd. Agad kong in-imagine na kami lang ni Brian ang narito para makapag-focus ako sa game.

"Uhm, hi," I started awkwardly.

He cleared his throat. "Hello, Elix."

"First, I want to say that you're handsome."

I recalled our strategy a while ago. Roi said guys like it when you praise their looks, so that should be my first attack. Although, it was also the truth.

May hitsura naman talaga si Brian at isa siya sa pinakasikat na writers sa site. Like Roi, readers would always share his posts kaya kahit hindi ko naman siya friend o fina-follow sa social media ay nakikita ko ang mga iyon. I thought it would be futile to praise his looks since he was already getting that a lot, so I was surprised when his heart rate suddenly increased.

Oh. I guess he still gets flustered when someone compliments his appearance.

Bigla naman siyang nag-iwas ng tingin. "You're cute, too," mahina niyang sabi.

Unlike him, hindi nagbago ang heart rate ko nang marinig ko 'yon. Siguro dahil hindi ako naniniwala? I mean, I wasn't the type of person whom someone would even call pretty or cute, and I knew that since a long time ago. Normal lang ako at madalas pa nga ay iniisip kong walang kahit anong maganda sa akin physically.

Maybe that was also the reason why I only posted filtered pictures before. I did receive compliments from readers, but it felt like I was deceiving them and myself, so I stopped posting my pictures several years ago.

"You're nice, too," dagdag ko. "And I'm quite comfortable when I'm talking with you."

Noong una ay awkward pa ako sa kanya lalo na at lagi siyang tinitingnan ng iba kaya kung sino ang kasama niya ay paniguradong mapapansin din ng karamihan. I was also worried because people who would be watching this show might get the wrong idea, but after walking with him the other day, mukhang genuine naman siyang tao at gusto niyang may matutunan mula sa akin sa pagsusulat kaya kahit papaano ay hindi na ganoon ako ganoon ka-awkward kapag nakakasalubong ko siya.

Nagulat ako nang lalo pang tumaas ang heart rate niya at pumalo ito sa 110 bpm kaya medyo napakunot ang noo ko. Wow, mukhang kahinaan niya talaga ang compliments, ano?

"Elix, dahan-dahan, baka mamatay 'yan!" yelled Lan from the left side.

Nawala ako sa concentration at na-realize ko na may ibang tinawanan ang comment niya habang ang ilan ay nakatingin nang nakakaloko sa amin. Tinamaan ako bigla ng hiya kaya bumilis din ang tibok ng puso ko.

"Ako naman, lalong kinakabahan," biglang sabi niya kaya bumalik ang atensyon ko sa kanya.

"Hmm?"

"Dahil reader at fan mo ako," he continued as he flashed a bashful smile. "I do want to meet you because I'm curious. Your stories are very compelling to me, and they inspired me a lot when it comes to writing. Uhm, at idagdag pa na medyo mysterious ka," he chuckled.

Hearing that made my heart skip a beat. I did get a lot of good comments and flattery from my readers, but as a pessimist, madalas ay hindi ako ganoong naniniwala dahil pakiramdam ko ay hindi ko naman deserve. That perhaps they just liked my stories because I had quite a number of followers, and they just forced themselves to read and like them because of my name.