Collide / [Park Jay]

38

Exam week is just around the corner and I can already anticipate another busy days ahead. Bukod pa doon, abala rin ang broadcasting club dahil sa mga paparating na event na kami ang mago-organize. One of those is the week-long school festival that will happen few weeks from now. Isa 'yon sa pinakamalaking events ng school kada taon kaya naman lahat ay naghahanda at excited para doon.

"Why do you look so relieved? Ikaw lang yata ang masaya kapag exam week." Buwelta sa akin ni Sunhee habang naglu-lunch kami.

"Yerim likes it when she's loaded with stuff to do. You know, kapag marami siyang nasusulat sa planner niya. She's so... organized! What a pity." Sabi pa ni Hana habang umiiling. Sabay-sabay na lang kaming natawa doon.

"True! Halos hindi na nga natin 'yan nakakasama." Sunhee acted like she's so offended. Mas lalo lang akong natuwa.

"Sorry na nga, eh. You're coming over at my place this weekend, right? Doon na lang ako babawi.." I said as I took a sip on my fruit juice.

Dahil nga sa pagiging abala ko nitong mga nakaraang linggo, hindi na ako masyadong nakakasama sa kanila. I thought I'm doing pretty well in balancing my time but now that they've mentioned it, I realized that I really got loads of work to do for a typical day. Hindi ko lang talaga iyon nararamdaman dahil masaya rin naman akong gawin ang mga iyon.

These past weeks, I tend to wake up so early to go to school and do something for our club. Iyon lang kasi ang libre kong oras para makatulong. Kapag malapit nang magsimula ang klase ay doon pa lang ako pumupunta sa classroom namin. Kapag breaktime naman, doon ko sinisingit 'yong paggawa ko ng ibang school works para mabawasan 'yong mga gagawin ko sa hapon dahil may shift pa ako sa store sa gabi.

Trying to list it all makes me a bit dizzy, however, I don't feel any regrets. It's quite true that I like it when I'm loaded with stuff to do. But sadly, at the expense of losing time for my friends. Although alam ko naman na nagbibiro lang rin sila at naiintindihan naman nila ako.

"Sasabay ka ba sa amin paglabas or may gagawin ka pa sa club niyo?" Tanong ni Sunhee nang nag-dismissal na kami. I had to ask her again because I couldn't hear her clearly because I was doing something in front of my locker.

"Yeah, sasabay ako." Tugon ko nang hindi siya nililingon. As far as I can remember, wala namang sinabi sa akin na bumalik ako doon or what. Usually kasi, sa umaga lang ako tumutulong.

"Really? Eh, bakit sinusundo ka?" She asked, sounding so confused. Kunot-noo ko siyang nilingon dahil maging ako'y nagtataka rin.

Dahil kalalabas lang ng teacher namin para sa huling subject ngayong araw, halos lahat ng mga kaklase ko ay narito pa rin. And everyone seemed to hear what Sunhee was saying because when I turned around to face her, they were all looking at us. Nakaramdam agad ako ng hiya doon.

"W-What?" I mouthed. Hindi naman siya sumagot at isinenyas lang sa akin ang direksyon ng pintuan.

Nang lingunin ko iyon ay hindi naman ako nagulat nang madatnan ko doon si Jiro. I mean, I always expect to see him around in case he needs to ask me something about our club and such. Mas nagulat pa nga ako sa reaksyon ng mga kaklase ko nang magsimula na akong maglakad papunta sa pintuan. They're like teasing me in a lowkey way, though, I don't really mind.

"Need something?" Bungad ko kay Jiro na abala sa kanyang cellphone nang lapitan ko.

"Oh, hi.. Yerim.." Medyo natataranta niyang sagot.

"Kanina ka pa ba?" Tanong ko.

"Hindi naman. Kadarating ko lang." He said as he flashed a shy smile. "Uh.. bale i-inform lang pala kita na naka-pending muna 'yong mga ginagawa natin for our club starting tomorrow. Exam week na kasi, and you know, lahat tayo busy.." Paliwanag niya.