Kumalma ka, Aly! Mukha kang timang!
"You calm down, Aly. It's just me; Elias. In lieu of saying that I can now leave you, you can say 'stay'. I'll stay longer if you say so," natatawang sabi niya at umiwas na ng tingin sa 'kin.
Ako naman ngayon ang napatingin sa Elias na busy kumain.
Magkaharap lang kami ng upuan, dito sa tabi ng bintana kaya madali ko siyang napagmamasdan dagdag pa na hindi niya na soot ang hoody niya. Naka-white T-shirt lang pala siya na V-neck. Mas lumalaki ang muscle niya kapag nafi-flex unintentionally. Ang masculine niya.
"Is it okay if I say that?" mahinang tanong ko na medyo nahihiya pa sa kanya.
"Hmm," aniya habang tumatango pero 'di siya nakatingin sa 'kin.
Napangiti ako at tumango rin nang mabagal. "Please stay," I said dahilan para matigilan siya. Mabagal siyang napatingin sa'kin.
Hindi ko alam kung sinasadya niyang mag-slow motion o baka ako lang ang nakakakita nun. Na nagi-slow motion siya sa paningin ko.
"Sure. I'll stay," nakangiting sabi niya dahilan para mapangiti rin ako.
Is it normal? That in just a short period of time, I'll be falling in love to a stranger? Or I'm just being delusional because he saved me. Maybe I'm just grateful that he came into my life tonight.
But all of these will be temporary for us. He'll be leaving soon and he is just a blank slate and I will never see him again. I know that because he said that.
He wants us to remain strangers. Nothing more than that...
After a moment of silence because I feel kilig when I said stay, I asked him, "I have a friend," I said kaya napatingin siya sa 'kin. Natawa ako sa sinabi ko kasi friend ba talaga? "I mean, group of people na kasama ko palagi sa school and other people said that we're friends. But I can't feel it," natatawang sabi ko. "She was with someone. Not her boyfriend. But that was her friend. Was. Ngayon, hindi na."
"Really? Then?" he said.
Napalunok ako at umiwas ng tingin sa kanya para magampanan ko 'tong kasinungalingan ko. Hindi naman kasi totoong k'wento ito ng kaibigan ko. Pero totoong may group of friends naman ako sa school.
Hindi ko nga lang ramdam na kaibigan ko sila.
"He was with her through ups and downs coz they were friends. During her downfall, he helped her to stand again. They were so close not until that guy found someone. Suddenly, the guy entered in a relationship but not with my friend. Nasaktan ang kaibigan ko dahil dun. She confessed her feelings with him and after that, iniwasan na nila ang isa't-isa. Walang usap-usap, nangyari na lang. Iniwan nila ang isa't-isa nang walang paalam. It was like a ghosting between the two as friends. Ang sakit lang... kasi 'yung bumuo sa 'yo, siya rin pala ang wawasak sa 'yo in the end," natatawang sabi ko.
I said that in my perspective. Ramdam ko kasi na masasaktan din ako dito kay Elias once na hinayaan ko 'tong pagkakacrush ko sa kanya. I feel so attached kahit higit isang oras ko pa lang siyang nakakasama.
"Well, that can be happened in some point of our lives. Finding a band-aid to heal the wound but will get hurt when we removed it," sabi niya na parang wala namang pake sa sinabi ko.
Hoy, ikaw 'yung band-aid ko!
Napatango ako at tinuon ang atensyon sa sandwich. "So what can you say about them?" I asked.
Ramdam kong bahagya siyang napatingin sa 'kin kaya ngumiti ako at tumingin sa kanya. "Nothing. That's not my life so who am I to make a say?"
"I just want to know your opinion," pagpupumilit ko.
BINABASA MO ANG
Hello, Stranger (COMPLETED)
Short Story(Short story) Aly considered finishing everything one dark night on a bridge with few vehicles passing by. But she had no idea that on that dark night, her perspective in life would change because of a night with a stranger--whom she wanted to call...
