Serenade in the Daylight (Old Money #1)

FIVE

05 - A Lie for an Eye

As part of the annual tradition of the university, graduating students are encouraged to participate in the retreat to give them the experience and of course, the solace they deserve after years of pursuing their respective degrees.

Every year, iba-iba ang retreat house na pinupuntahan. Oftentimes, the university would just rent a lodging either near beaches or mountains and invite its facilitators. For our batch, it'll be different. We'll be holding it on an island.

Since rental fees may be a 'bit much' since the university will have to accommodate more than fifteen college programs, it was decided na pagsasamahin ang students under two courses para mas sulit ang babayaran sa pag-renta ng isla at pati na rin mas mapabilis matapos ang pagsasagawa nila ng retreat since the first semester is about to end.

With that decision made, the courses to be joined together were most likely to belong under the same department, and who would've thought that Behavioral Sciences will be combined with International Studies?

When that was announced, Silas and I were happy because we didn't have to be away from each other for three days and two nights. Not that we're dramatic or something, it's just quite exciting to be together on an island for half a week where we think of no home and family responsibility.

"Nag-assume pa naman akong AB Psychology o AB Philosophy ang makakasabay natin," Aries, one of my close blockmates, ranted. Kasalukuyan kaming kumakain ng shawarma sa labas ng university habang hinihintay ang susunod naming klase. "I mean, dapat lang naman 'di ba? Doon sa dalawang 'yon pinaka-close ang course natin out of the other courses under the College of Liberal Arts."

"Sus! Wala namang kinalaman ang fields natin sa spirituality, e. Stop justifying your argument, we both know that your only reason is because your crushes belong to those courses," pang-aasar ko sa kanya. She immediately became defensive by shaking her head, it made me want to tease her more.

Sa kalagitnaan ng tawanan namin, bigla akong napatigil at natulala. Aries suddenly became worried and held my shoulders for support. I felt uncomfortable, pero hindi naman ako nanghihina o ano. Hindi rin naman ako nahihilo. Pero may parang umiikot sa paningin ko, and it's not actually the vision itself. Basta may umiikot, hindi ko maipaliwanag.

"Natahimik ka, Sea. May problema ba?" nag-aalalang tanong ni Aries.

I've been experiencing this for almost a year already. Monthly lang naman noong una at ina-assume kong baka sign lang ng pagdating ng period ko since after mawala ang aking nakikita ay sumasakit ang aking ulo. And my mother told me that feeling headaches is just a normal thing before or during menstruation.

"Aries… pasabi sa prof, hindi muna ako papasok. I don't feel well," I told him.

"Oo, sige, ako na bahala. Update na lang din kita sa mga gagawin. Ayos ka lang? Do you need anything?"

I shook my head. "I'm good. P'wede ka nang mauna, baka ma-late ka pa. I can handle myself."

We both bid our goodbyes and I went to an area where I could hide so that Aries wouldn't think that I'm really not well or something. Kahit pa man nakasasagabal ang nakikita ng mga mata ko, pinilit kong makapag-type at search sa browser para malaman kung ano nga ba itong nangyayari sa akin. Ang hirap maipaliwanag kaya hindi ako nag-aabala alamin noon pero it's getting a bit alarming for me now because it's happening more frequently so I tried my best to get my experience into detail.

Kaleidoscope vision. A possible sign that one has a migraine, brain injury or tumor, or stroke. 

My feet turned cold and I was frozen to the ground. I sensed panic inside of me and what I did was to grip on the strap of my bag tight and breathe heavily. Hindi ako makapag-isip nang matuwid. Mamamatay na ba ako?