Pahimakas: A love story

Chapter 2

Nakapila na kami sa canteen to buy some foods when I saw Luke and Agust walking. Kumunot ang noo ko dahil hindi ko nakitang kasama nila si Clyde. Maglalakad na sana ako papunta sa kanila pero bigla akong tinawag ni Kale.

"Myles, ano daw order mo sabi ni ate. Kanina pa nakatingin sayo oh" Sabi niya. 

"Dalawa pong burger, isang apple juice at isang tubig po" Sabi ko. Pagkabigay sakin ni ate ng order ko, agad akong lumapit sa table nila Luke at Agust. 

"Uhm, hello. Itatanong ko lang sana kung nasaan si Clyde?" Tanong ko. I caught their attention when I asked about Clyde. 

"We don't know eh, sabay-sabay kaming umalis ng room pero kaming dalawa lang nakapunta dito sa canteen" Sabi ni Agust. 

"Ah okay, I'll look for him na lang. Thank you" I said and left. I was walking through the corridor near the staircase when I heard some voices coming from upstairs. I followed the voice and it's from a young guy, I think he's hurt. I found him sitting at one corner of the rooftop. 

"Hey, are you okay? narinig kasi kita, parang nasugatan ka or something" Sabi ko. Lumingon siya sa akin and I was shocked when it's Clyde. 

"What are you doing here Alexander?" Tanong niya. I was busy looking into his eyes when I saw his hands with blood. 

"I- ah, I heard you kanina sa baba, you seem to be hurting so I went up" I answered back. He saw me looking at his hands. 

"Seat by my side, Alexander." He said. I sat beside him and our view was the flower garden of our school.

"I was in pain. I was punching that wall over there." He looked at the wall and so did I. I saw a little blood on the wall, I looked back at him. 

"Masakit ba? patingin nga" I took his bloody hand and wiped the blood with my towel. 

"Yung kamay o yung nararamdaman ko?" Tanong niya. 

"Huh?" Tanong ko pabalik habang nakakunot ang noo ko. 

"You ask me what hurts, so is it my hand or my feelings?" Sabi niya.

"Both" Sabi ko. 

"My hand doesn't hurt, siguro naging manhid na after so many punches. And my feelings, well, I don't know how to describe it. One second, I was happy then I just blinked my eyes, I was sad." He explained it to me while looking at the beautiful garden.

"Why are you sad?" Tanong ko. He looked at me directly in the eyes then looked at the garden again.

"My mom died," He said and I made the 'oh' face. "She passed away recently, because of my dad" Sabi niya. 

"I'm sorry to hear that, condolence." Sabi ko and caressed his hand.

"You see, my dad is abusive even though he's rich. Dad didn't know na buntis si mom, so-" Hindi niya natuloy ang sasabihin niya dahil he didn't notice that he's eyes are releasing some teardrops. 

"Shh, you don't need to explain it. Iyak ka lang, andito lang ako Clyde"  I said and tapped his back. A few minutes passed, the school bell rang so it means break time is already over.  Clyde stood up and fixed his clothes. Tumayo na din ako at binigay ko sa kanya yung towel na ginamit ko kanina para punasan yung dugo sa kamay niya. 

"What's this for?" Tanong niya. 

"Keep it. Yan ang gamitin mong pamunas sa dugo mo or luha mo." Sabi ko and smiled. I hugged him for the first time. I pulled out the hug and said,

"Clyde, I know you're strong enough to handle this situation of yours. But if you need someone to listen to you, I'm here lang ok? You can cry at my shoulders anytime." Sabi ko and smiled. I was about to walk away when he pulled me to him for a hug. Bumilis tibok ng puso ko. 

"Thank you for being there for me, Alex." Sabi niya and pulled out the hug, and we both went downstairs. Binigay ko yung isang burger at apple juice na binili ko kanina, I gave it to him and he kept it hanggang sa makababa kami.

Nung nasa baba na kaming dalawa, nakita namin ang mga kaibigan namin na  papalakad papuntang room. Clyde went inside the classroom and take a seat. Luke and Agust went in to be followed by us. 

"Myles, bat bigla kang nawala? kumain ka na ba?" Tanong ni Sergio. 

"Yes, sa rooftop na ako kumain para naman makalanghap ako ng fresh air" Sabi ko. 

All of us are inside the same room, it's funny because Clyde will simply make a move just to look at me. Mr. Cruz assigned him and Shio to distribute all the notebooks pero nung binigay na sa kanila yung notebooks, he only looked for my notebook and gave it to me. Napuno ng mga paro-paro yung tyan ko at ngumiti ako nang patago. Kale and Sergio was still processing what just happened kaya di nila ako maasar. 

I opened my notebook and I saw a sticky note inside. 'may I ask for your socials?' yan ang nakasulat sa note so I looked at Clyde and I caught him looking at me then smiled. Sinulat ko ang socials ko sa isang sticky note and saktong tinawag ako ni Mr. Cruz para pumunta sa board at magrecite. Habang papalakad ako papalapit sa board, I handed over the sticky note kay Clyde secretly. I looked at him again and smiled, then I answered the question sa board.  

I went back to my seat and sakto namang dismissal time na ng third subject. Hours passed and uwian na namin. Nauna na silang tatlo sa labas since inaabangan nila si manong fishball while i'm cleaning the room. I was sweeping the floor when I heard someone fixing the chairs. 

"Clyde? ano ginagawa mo dito? hindi ka ba hinahanap nila Luke at Agust?" Tanong ko. 

"You have a lot of questions, Alexander. Anyway, I'm helping you clean the room since ikaw lang mag-isa dito. Also, they're not looking for me because they're already eating tusok-tusok outside." Sabi niya while fixing the chairs. 

"Ah okay, malapit na ako matapos dito, sabay na tayo bumaba?" Tanong ko. He smiled and nodded. Wow, I never imagined I would fall for someone like you, Clyde. There's something in your smile that makes me smile too.