Best for Us (GU #3)

thirty-nine

Thirty-Nine: Vanessa Gerleen

Panay ang tingin ko sa cellphone ko. It's been almost four hours ago since I texted Tyler. At mula kanina ay wala pa rin akong natanggap na reply mula sa kanya.

Ano kayang ginagawa niya? Patay na ba ang cellphone niya? He's not so like this. Mabilis naman kasi nagrereply 'yun si Tyler. Baka busy pa rin siyang magbabysit.

Napahinga na lang ako nang malalim saka nagpatuloy sa pagkain.

Nagpahinga lang ako nang sandal pagkatapos ng dinner saka naglinis na ng katawan at naghanda para matulog. I checked on my phone once more but there was no still message from Tyler.

At dahil hindi rin pa ako inaantok dahil pasado alas otso pa lang, kinuha ko na lang iyong script sa bag at naghanap ng pwedeng kabisaduhin.

Napabuntong hininga na naman ako. But this time out of annoyance. Hindi ko kasi alam kung bakit kailangan pang mag-audition para dito sa play. Ang alam ko pupunta ka ng audition dahil gusto mong gawin iyon. In other word, freewill.

But apparently, iba ang kahulugan ng audition sa dictionary ng professor namin. At kung hindi sa medyo malaking percentage ng grade namin sa subject niya ang nakataya dito, talagang hindi ako magpaparticipate dito.

But now, I was left with no choice at all.

Wala pa ako sa kalagitnaan ng pag-iscan sa script na hawak nang marinig kong tumunog ang doorbell.

I was alert all of a sudden as my gaze turned towards the door. Half of me was expectant of who could it be on the other side of the door. Pero yung kalahati ay iniisip na baka staff lang yan dito sa condo.

Tumayo na rin ako mula sa kama at saka ipinatong muna doon yung hawak kong papel at naglakad na papuntang pintuan.

I unlocked the door and opened it, readying myself to greet whoever would appear in my line of vision.

Then he was there, the one whom I've been missing the whole day, flashing his bright smile. "Hi."

I smiled back. "Hey there."

Binuksan ko pa iyong pinto. Then I saw Tyler's eyes moved down on me. He looked somehow taken aback, that made me look at myself too. At doon ko pa lang naalala na nakapantulog na nga pala aka my favorite pair of pink cami pajama set.

I looked up at Tyler to see he's already looking away.

But it didn't took long before he move his eyes back at me, meeting mine. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you. Gusto ko lang sanang mag good night." He let out a shy smile. "I know I can do that on phone but I just want to see you at least. Like we were not able to hang out today at all and—"

"Hindi mo naman ako naistorbo," putol ko na sa kanya. He thought I was already sleeping with these clothes on. "I'm actually still reading something. And you can come in if you want. Maaga pa naman, we can still hang out.

Umangat ang parehong kilay ni Tyler at nakita kong napalunok siya. But that look easily went away and he replaced it with a smile. "It's okay. Ayoko ring makaistorbo sa pag-aaral mo."

I frowned then. What's with him? Ayaw niya bang makipagbonding?

"But I'm not really studying. Just reading a script," sagot ko, seryoso na ang boses. "And I can still read it on other days. But if you really don't want to, you can just say so."

He laughed a bit, biting his bottom lip in the process. I glared at that gesture. If he's trying to look sexy or cute to redeem himself, I don't care. At hindi talaga yan uubra sa akin ngayon.

When I still gave him my serious face, he already sighed.

"Okay," simula ni Tyler. "I'm sorry if I sounded like I didn't want to spend some time with you. But you should know that an hour without seeing you is driving me nuts already. Paano na lang kung isang buong araw?" Huminga siya nang malalim. "It's just that..." Tinitigan niya ako, parang sinusubukang iparating sa mga mata ang nais sabihin.