07:
zowennabiste: i’m fine? bakit ka nagtanong?
I bit my lowerlips, gabi na no’ng nakita ko ang message niya. It took her three hours to reply, wala na rin siya kanina sa announcement sa mga panelist. Our teacher didn’t bother to ask where she is probably she already know.
“Ano ang susuotin mo sa debut ni Ezra?” mama asked.
Nilihis ko agad ang atensyon ko sa cellphone at nilingon si mama ngayon na papunta kung saan ako. She smiled at me and offered me her tea.
“’Yong white dress nalang ma.” inabot ko ang tea na nilapag niya sa mesa. Mama immediately nod and looked at her phone now.
I heaved a sigh. Next month na pala ang birthday ni Ezra. I didn’t prepare that much since there’s a lot of my plates right now, tapos dumagdag pa itong problema ko kay Zowen. She never told me that someone bullied her! I mean, dapat ako lang ’yon!
I typed my message while my brows furrowed.
itsreiII: mag usap tayo!
zowennabiste: it’s already late. sa monday na.
itsreiII: saturday naman bukas ah? bukas nalang!
She read my message but didn’t reply. Halos nilaro ko ang mga kamay ko habang tinitignan ang cellphone ko ngayon na hinihintay ang reply niya, I sighed when it took her more minutes and she didn’t reply at all! Nilagay ko nalang sa gilid ’yong cellphone ko at inoff ’yon. This bastard knows how to piss me off.
Kinabukasan ay mabilis na akong tumayo sa kwarto ko at nagbihis. Kahit sa pag gising ko ay wala akong natanggap na message galing sakanya, it bothers me to the point that I kept thinking about her from time to time. Baka nagpakamatay na ’yon? I scoffed and shrugged my head.
“Good morning! Wow, bihis na bihis, may date?” mama asked.
Kinuha ko ’yong loaf bread na nasa gilid at napaangat ang kilay ko. I wore a white fitted sando and high waisted jeans, it’s just a normal suit for a normal day. . . what’s special about this?
Tumikhim ako at binaba ’yong bread. I gave her a small smile, “Saan ba ang bahay nila Zowen? May ihahatid akong book na hiniram ko last week. . .” I lied.
Mom immediately snapped her head and raised her brow. “Book? Kompleto naman ang books na binili ko sa ’yo ah?”
I pressed my lips. Napatawa agad ako ng marahan. “Ah, hindi naman school related book, story ’yon na hiniram ko kasi nagustuhan ko.”
Parang nakumbinsi agad siya at tumango. She immediately told our driver that i’m going to Zowen’s house, I celebrated silently. I haven’t been to her place, ang alam ko lang ay malapit lang ’yon sa amin.
Kaya nung nakadating ako roon ay tinignan ko ng marahan ang bahay nila. Not that big and not that small. It looks like a spanish old style kind of house, the house was probably made with high quality wood, may mga carvings na design sa mga gilid, the windows looks like a sliding door that also made of wood. I parted my lips when I saw that they have veranda on the side too. It just weird knowing this kind of house still exist.
“Tao po. . .” tawag ko. The driver already left me, sinabihan niya lang ako na tawagan ko siya pag gusto ko magpa-kuha. Feeling ko ay iniwan ako ni manong sa haunted house dahil wala man lang katao-tao dito!
“Oh? Sino sila?” may isang matanda na dala-dala ang isang timba. I immediately smiled.
“Ah, kaibigan ko po si Zowen. . . may isauli po akong libro. Nandito po ba siya?” I asked gently. The old woman immediately gasped. Mabilis niyang binaba ang dala niyang timba at pumasok sa bahay nila.
