Drives Under Nightlights

Chapter 24

"Yuhoo! Finally, done na!" tili ni Hiruki while papalabas kami ng department building. "Puntahan natin sila Mon, madam! Gosh! I'm so happy!"

Chuckling, I firmed up my hand as I was holding my laptop—Shiro's actually. It was the one he gave me. Kakatapos lang namin ni Hiruki sa defense at ito, tuwang-tuwa talaga siya as if nakalabas na mula sa presinto.

"We should really celebrate this! Isama natin 'yong dalawa. Hmm, chat ko nga 'yon sila. Aware naman silang ngayon na ang presentation but ugh! Kaloka mga 'to!" She dipped for her phone.

"Nando'n sila sa coffee shop, madam! Tara, let's go!" Hinatak niya ako papunta sa direksyon ng second gate. I was dragged until we found ourselves in the place.

Nagpwesto kaming dalawa sa harap nina Monnic at Niña. The former had her lips impressed with wide beam while Hiruki was so into splattering her saliva through her busy words.

"Kasi nga confused ako sa mga tanong dahil ang bilis magsalita ni Sir Makinano! Ta's buti na lang etong si madam, ang galing mag-catch up kasi nahihirapan ako! Aminado akong bobo ako at pinatunayan talaga nila no'ng nakita kong face-to-face words battle iyong dalawa! I swear, if nakita mo! Gosh! Naiintindihan ko lang ang question base sa answer ni madam," Hiruki rerolled.

It was true. Sunod-sunod 'yong tanong ni Sir sa'min na parang hinahanapan niya ng gusot ang thesis namin. In a brutal way I've always known. But thankfully, I was able to defend and elaborate the gaps eloquently. Kahit na sa loob-loob ko niyon ay nag-aapoy na sa init ang kumukulong dugo ko.

"Ang swerte ko sa part na partner ko itong si madam. 'Yong iba nga pahirapan talaga! Pati siguro ako 'di ko kakayanin 'yon! Napaka-terror!"

I took a sip on my coffee.

"Saya-saya mo! Si Jinggay straight face lang. Baka nagpabuhat ka! Lagot ka d'yan!" akusa ni Monnic.

"Hindi naman," I smiled. We had made fair fraction of contributions in the work.

"Oh, you hear that? May tulong ako, oy! Anong 'kala mo sa'kin? Groupmate na pancit canton ang panlaban?" Hiruki snorted. "Straight face lang 'yan si madam pero kinikilig na rin 'yan, alam ko."

Sabay kaming napailing ni Niña.

"Ubusin mo na 'yan kape mo, Ruki, manlilibre ka pa 'di ba," sabad niya.

We extended the celebration by hanging out the next day after. We had picnic near Niña's place. It wasn't bit amplified by distance. Mas maayos ang lugar nila dahil malayo sa dumi ng lungsod, presko ang lugar, napapalibutan ng mga puno, at tahimik.

I would fain to live in her place because it's my number one in list of preference.

Nang mahanap ko ang file sa laptop, doon lang luminaw sa isipan ko ang pangyayari.

I really got my thesis successfully done. And I couldn't let my sacrifices get no recognition. Marami akong sinakripisyo sa mga nakaraang buwan dahil dito. From putting a lot in the effort to work in this, charging me the time to eat and sleep, and costing me a pretty penny.

Binuksan ko ang palad. Listed tasks na may check mark na lahat. I'd fortunately made it through another rough patch again. A huge thanks to Shiro's help.

Pinalubog ko ang katawan sa kama para magmuni-muni pero nauwi lang sa dalaw ng antok.

"Hi, Aji!" someone's voice transcended from the crowd's noise in this hallway.

Nanlaki nang bahagya ang mata ko. "Allen!" Matagal nang hindi ko siya nakikita rito! Saan bang lulapop ng impyerno siya nagpabida-bida?!

Allen skipped past his friends and gently jostled through the swarm of people until he finally got in front of me.