Maginoong Medyo Bastos

Chapter Six

Kapansin-pansin ang abot-tengang ngiti ni Jax kahit noong nginunguya niya ang hotdog na kinakain. Makabuluhan at malisyosong tingin naman ang ipinukol ni Axel sa kanya. Nanliliit ang mga mata nito, magkasalubong ang mga kilay, bahagyang nakanguso. "May lagnat ka, erp?" tanong nito nang may labis na pagtataka sa tono ng boses.

Kaagad napaayos ng upo si Jax bago pinagtaasan ng kilay ang kaibigan. "Pinagsasabi mo, gagu," aniya.

"Parang wala ka kasi sa sarili. Para kang may sinat. Namumula tenga mo," tugon nito. "Gusto mo Lola Remedios?"

Jax and Axel immediately shifted their glance when Joaquin laughed, pointing at Jax. Malakas ang halakhak nito, agaw-pansin, parang nakauubos ng hininga, parang nakagigising ng mga ilang araw nang tulog. His laughter was contagious so a few seconds later, the three of them were already laughing hard. Jax and Axel didn't exactly know what they were laughing about, but they continued laughing, nonetheless.

Nakaturo pa rin si Joaquin sa kanya habang pinipigilang muling matawa. "'Lang'ya...ha...alam ko mukhang...iyan." He forced himself to stop laughing before drawing deep breaths. Tinitigan nito si Jax nang ilang segundo bago lumapit tsaka sinundot-sundot ang tagiliran ng kaibigan. "I've been watching you all this time, tanga. Kilig na kilig ka. May pangiti-ngiti pa si tanga. Ayieee."

Pabiro siyang tumayo mula sa inuupuang sofa bago pabirong sumuntok-suntok papunta sa direksyon ni Joaquin na natatawa lang. "Gagu, wala akong alam diyan, gagu," depensa niya pero kaagad ding napangiti nang muling inalala ang iniisip.

Joaquin and Axel shared meaningful looks with each other before pulling Jax down to sit with them again. They were in one of Axel's shop in the city, eating hotdogs, and talking about trivial things like they normally did. Jax had started about how his meeting with Vannessa went. It had been a day since that happened, but he still couldn't move on. Pumapasok pa rin sa isipan niya ang pakiramdam na kasama ito at nakauusap, kahit na tungkol sa mga seryosong bagay.

"Malisyoso kami, erp, kaya wala kang kawala sa 'min," ani Axel bago inubos ang pangatlo nitong hotdog in a bun. "Kwento. Anong nangyari? Kayo na ba?"

Joaquin giggled upon hearing that. "I don't think it would be that easy, Mon Chéri. There are girls that do not get charmed by looks that easily," he said. "Even with his...irrefutable charm."

Marahan niyang sinapak ang dalawa bago napasandal sa backrest. "Wala naman masiyado," aniya. "Nag-usap lang kami about the schedule, gan'on. In fact it even looked like as if she didn't want me around, or at least she wasn't comfortable having me around. Kahit na hindi naman talaga niya sinabi, ramdam mo sa mga tingin niya, eh."

Natahimik ang dalawa sa sinabi niya.

Jax took the time to drink his Coke, remembering the time when he was in her office. He couldn't convey into words what he was feeling that time, couldn't find the best words to describe his emotional state that time.

There was even a part of him that didn't think it was right for him to be as physically close to her as he was that time, because he had never talked to her that long and that close. Even when it felt foreign, the whole situation felt foreign, there was still the teenage part of him left that was glad of the whole situation.

Nanliit ang mga mata ni Joaquin bago nagkibit-balikat. "Vannessa's not like that before. She wasn't someone who would be so obvious on showing her dislike towards other people, pero hindi ko naman sinasabing ayaw ka niya, Jax, ha. Baka masaktan ka."

Jax wrinkled his nose. "Oo, hindi siya ganyan noon." Napabuntonghininga siya bago napatinga at nakipagtitigan sa kisame. "Well, that was high school, let's give it that. People could change drastically in that period of time."