Afterglow

20

"After-hell party raw kina Russel," bungad agad ni Asher pagkatapos ng huling exam namin.

Ipinagpatuloy ko ang pag-aayos ng gamit. "Diyan ka nga kay Gene," sabi ko bago ko siya irapan.

Asher shrugged and faced Gene who was just behind me. "G, bro?" he asked.

"Yep," Gene quickly answered. Of course, what did I expect?

Bago pa ako kulitin ulit ni Asher, inunahan ko na siya, "Doon ka kay Jake."

To my surprise, sinigawan lang ni Asher si Jake na palabas na ng classroom, "Jake, Russel later?"

Jake's forehead creased, so Asher motioned as if he was downing a shot. Jake laughed and nodded. Asher faced me, "So?"

I rolled my eyes at him and faced Gene who's looking at me with an arched brow and a taunting smile. I was about to decline when Gene cut me off, "Punta siya. Ako bahala."

Asher beamed, "Nice." Sa wakas, tinantanan na niya ako at si Callix naman ang ginulo. Tignan mo 'to, parang siya iyong magpapainom.

Lumabas na ako ng classroom at ganoon din si Gene. I looked at him with narrowed eyes, "So ikaw bahala?"

He shrugged, "Yeah. Sabay na tayo pumunta."

"Ayoko nga sumama," I sighed.

Gene stopped walking kaya napahinto rin ako. "Don't let him stop you from doing the things you actually want, Lavander," he said while looking intently at my eyes.

I pursed my lips. For some reasons, nararamdaman ko iyong pagbilis ng tibok ng puso ko.

"The purpose of these 21 days is to ignore his existence. Your decisions are not supposed to get affected by him," he said, still not breaking the eye contact.

I bit my lips and averted my gaze, "I don't want to break the streak. Five days na."

Matipid na ngumiti si Gene. "You won't," sabi nito. "You have me," he whispered almost inaudibly before walking ahead.

Pagdating sa bahay, hinanap ko agad sina Mama at Dad para magpaalam. Nang hindi ko sila makita, nagtext na lang ako at nagbilin kay Laz.

"Lalandi ka nanaman?" Laz shouted as I left my room. I just raised my middle finger at him.

I immediately packed my things. Diretso kasi kami kina Asher kinabukasan. I settled with a black crop top, black tights, and black shoes. I tied my hair in a messy bun and purposely left a few strands that I curled to follow my face shape. I only put cheek tint and lip gloss dahil sa bahay lang naman kami nina Russel. I also drew a small star under my left eye to add a little dramatic effect. I smiled at myself in the mirror but immediately frowned nang maalala ko si Pierre.

Ano bang mali sa akin?

I sighed and sat on the bed while waiting for Gene to pick me up. I forced a smile and went downstairs when I heard someone pull through the driveway.

"Alis na ako Laz!" I shouted.

"Drink responsibly," he shouted back.

Bigla akong kinabahan. He knows? He's not supposed to know!

"I'm not dumb, Ate!" he shouted again.

I just shook my head and proceeded outside.

"Hi," bati ko kay Gene na nakasandal sa harapan ng sasakyan niya.

"Okay, let's go." Umayos siya ng tayo at nagstretch saglit. He was wearing a black, loose sando and ripped jeans, so my eyes betrayed my senses and studied the movement of his muscles. His muscles... are so toned.