Isang linggo na ang lumipas mula noong nagcollapse ako. Rinig kong si Theo ang nagbuhat sa akin pababa ng rooftop hanggang sa isakay ako sa ambulansiya. Now, I know that everyone knew about my situation, dahil may ilang mga mag-aaral sa Ilarde College ang bumisita. May ilan rin mga propesor at staff na pumunta. Kahapon, bumisita naman si Mr. Arellano.
Nakatanaw lang ako sa labas ng bintana ng hospital room. I'm resting my back at the hospital bed's headboard habang nag-iisip ng mga hugis na pinuporma ng mga puting ulap sa asul na kalangitan. Natigil lamg ang pagmumuni-muni ko nang bumukas ang pinto at pumasok si Theo dala-dala ang ilang mga bag.
"Oh? Mabuti't medyo okay ka na Mr. Successor." aniya bago ilapag sa couch ang mga dala.
"What are you doing, Stray Dog?" I wondered, and also because of the things he's carrying.
"Oh? Darlene asked a favor to help her bring new sets of your clothing and other stuff. She's supposed to be here, but someone in school called for some important matter, that's why I'm here, bringing this alone. Additionally, stop calling me a stray dog..." iritadong pagkakasabi niya.
"It suits you, lagi ka kasing nakabuntot kay Darlene..." I said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You're just jealous."
"I am not."
"Lying is the best pretenders policy."
Hindi ko na lamang pa sinabayan ang ginagawa niyang pakikipagtalo at tinanong siya kung nadala ba ni Darlene ang cellphone ko. Hindi naman siya nagreklamo at hinanap iyun sa mga dala niyang bag.
"Oh... teka, sa'n dito sa dalawa?" tanong niya bago ipakita ang dalawang cellphone na hawak niya.
"The black one." at kinuha sa kaniya iyun. I squinted my eyes to clearly see the red phone that he's holding.
"Parang kay Paolo 'to, hindi ba?" tanong niya. I nod my head to give him confirmation. The phone must've forgotten to include in his belongings na ipinadala na sa mga kamag-anak niya.
"Can I have that too?" I asked but he said that it's battery was already drained. Hinanap niya ang charger ng cellphone ko at chinarge ang phone ni Paolo. It's a luck that it's compatible.
"Say, why aren't you with your friends? Pansin kong si Darlene ang lagi mong kasama..." I asked out of the blue na ikinatigil niya sa pagkagat sa mansanas na kinuha niya sa basket na nasa side table.
"Friends? Oh, you mean them? I'm no longer with them, matagal na. As of now, three of them ay hindi na pumapasok sa kadahilanang hindi ko alam. Why are you asking? Is this because of bf-gf matter?" and he smirked before biting on the apple. I glared at him before looking outside the window.
"What we had wasn't the comradeship that I'm seeking, that's why I broke my ties with them..." he said na ikinalingon ko sa kaniya na busy lang ngayon sa pagkain.
"I admire the comradeship that the three of you have. Nakalulungkot isipin na nangyare iyun kay Paolo. It's a shame that there's someone missing. He's a good person as his classmate, I can tell. Nakapanghihinayang na hindi ako nagkaroon ng pagkakataong maging malapit na kaibigan niya." At tumayo siya at inihagis-hagis ang kinagatan niyang mansanas.
"Pa'no ba 'yan? Sa pagkakaalam ko, inis 'yun sa'yo..." I smirked that made him frown.
"Basher ka ba? Tsk, alis na 'ko. Baka mahuli pa ako sa meeting, masama pa naman magalit si Council President..." then he turn his back away before waving.
"Bakit ka kailangan sa meeting? I curiously asked.
"Huh? It's because I'm the vice council president?"
Nagsalubong ang kilay ko na mas ikinalukot ng mukha niya.
"You don't know? Seriously, are you really from Ilarde College? Baka pati council president hindi mo kilala?" napapantastikuhan niyang tanong.
"To tell the truth, I don't know too..."
"HUH??? Pati si Raigel hindi mo kilala???" he shouted at me. It's because that I care less on the things and people that I don't have interest with kaya't kadalasan wala akong alam at nahuhuli na sa balita.
Theo left without saying any word at ang weirdong ekspresyon sa mukha lang nito ang tanging nakita ko bago niya isara ang pinto.
Hours had past. After the doctor and nurses check on me ay wala nang naging kasunod na gawain. I took my medicine and there's nothing to do but rest. Hindi ako dinadalaw ng antok kaya't minabuti kong kunin ang cellphone ni Paolo na katatapos lang mapuno.
The phone doesn't have a pin, that's why I easily opened it. Hinalungkat ko ang laman niyon, lalo sa gallery. I chuckled as I saw some funny photos of him. May mga litrato rin doon ng papa niya na si Manong Patrick.
There are also some funny photos of Darlene, but what annoyed me was stolen captures of my face, mostly at a frowning look. Hindi ko rin inaasahan ang mga kuha niya sa aming dalawa ni Darlene, and all of it was when were arguing, except from one taken photo of us.
Dahil bigla akong nahiya nang makita iyun, I almost press the deletion button, but after staring at it for a while, there's a part of me saying that I must keep it.
"Loko ka talaga Pao..." I shook my head and chuckle. Kuha ang litrato na iyun ng mga oras na inihiga ko si Darlene sa kama ko when she's too drunk that night. He took the picture exactly when my face and hers were an inch apart.
The next photos were group pictures. Hindi ko man lang napansin na kumukuha siya ng mga litrato namin habang namamasyal noon sa kung saan. Others were taken together with Professor Jed.
Nang matapos makita ang mga litrato, napagdesisyunan kong i-off na ang cellphone, pero bago ko pa man magawa ay dumako ang atensiyon ko sa message app niya. I am fully aware that I will saw the messages he sent me before that tragedy happened, pero may kung ano roon na tila gustong sabihin na buksan ko iyun.
I start scrolling it and as expected, ang mga huling mensahe niya ay sa akin ipinadala, but there's a certain message that hasn't send to me and it's in the messages's outbox.
Nang mabuksan at mabasa ko ito, biglang kumabog nang mabilis ang puso ko. I stop my right hand that started to tremble using my left hand. Patuloy ito sa pangangatog habang hawak ang cellphone ni Paolo. The message can't be true...but it's Paolo who typed it but failed to be send.
End of Chapter 35
The unsend message
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Teen Fiction[Soon to be Published] BLURB Eve I. Meneses, a principled fourth year Architecture student and an artist who started hating people after what happened two years ago which changed his outlooks in life. The loathing in his heart created an overwhelm...
