Head in the Sand (Erudite Series #3)

Kapitulo 29

I finally finished all my final exams. All that was left to do was submit a few papers some subjects required, then I finished freshman year.

"Dayang," Graham called.

"Why?" I moved my head first, then looked at him.

"My hand is tired," reklamo niya habang ipinapakita ang kamay niyang kanina pang nagkukulay.

We were in España, specifically the cafe where he first realized he liked me. I was finishing a paper for SocSci and he was finishing a plate for his Graphics subject naman.

I stared at Graham and paid attention to his hand. Minasahe ko 'yon habang siya'y nakatitig lang sa 'kin.

"Makatitig ka naman, akala mo bata akong binabantayan," I said as my thumbs pressed on his palm. "Cute mo kasi, ngumunguso ka unconsciously tuwing focused ka sa laptop mo. Nakatutuwa panoorin."

Huminto ako. "I pout? Really?" he nods and I continue massaging him. "Gutom ka na ba? Gusto mo na mag-dinner?"

I glanced at my laptop to check the time. It was 7:48 PM already. Hindi pa kumakalam ang tiyan ko, probably because I had eaten a ton of pasta for meriyenda.

"Ikaw?" tanong ko. "Hindi pa naman, pero puwede na rin kung gusto mo."

"Mamaya ng kaunti, mga 8:15?" tumango siya. "Sige, tapusin mo na 'yan."

I proofread my work and saved it as a PDF. I'll print this when I get home. I have one paper left that's due on the last day of May, and I just needed to proofread it.

Binalingan ko si Graham at nakitang gamit niya na ang marker na niregalo ko bilang pang-outline ng drawing niya. I took out my phone and snapped a photo of him, paglingon niya, pinindot ko ulit ang shutter at nakuhaan ang mukha niya ng buo.

"Picture?" I nodded and made the camera of my phone face us.

I pulled Graham closer and angled the camera where it could view both of us. I smiled widely, and he mimicked me. Then, I pressed the shutter a few times. Graham did some weird faces for the other photos while I was smiling.

I used one of our photos to post on my Instagram story. I tagged Graham.

I captioned it, 'in between his plates and my essays.'

"Send mo sa 'kin," Graham requested.

After a while, I told him we should eat because it was getting late.

"What food do you want?" I asked while holding my bag on my back. "Gusto ko ng shawarma rice, kumakain ka ba no'n?" tumango ako.

He took my bag from me and held it behind him while holding my hand. "May alam ako na place, my friends and I ate there before."

"Feeling ko same place 'yong alam natin, 'yan 'yong cafe, 'no?" I nodded and stopped before the road.

Hinintay naming mag-red ang traffic light saka kami tumawid. Habang naglalakad ay nagkukuwento sa akin si Graham tungkol sa nalalapit niyang finals sa PE. Ang na-miss niyang klase niya noon dahil sa pagsundo niya sa Mama niya ay nabawi niya naman. Kaso, mas mahirap at nakapapagod nga lang ang ginawa niya kumapara sa mga kaklase niya.

"Obstacle course gagawin namin, dayang."

"Whoa, really?"

"Oo, tapos by five daw 'yong groupings. I think 30 kami sa klase, so six teams kami."

I nodded and thought of what my own finals for PE were going to be.

"Kami sayaw lang, old song 'yong tugtog namin na may remix." Hinila ko si Graham habang nagsasalita dahil sa taong muntik ng bumangga sa kaniya.