I Met a Guy Whose Name is Lucas

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Off

Friday, August 10, 2018, 8:00 PHT

    I arrived at the school gymnasium before eight in the morning. Kaunti pa lang ang tao, mas marami pa ang teachers at nag-aayos sila ng upuan ngayon. At first I didn't want to help kasi ang aga aga baka pawisan lang ako but since naka centralize air condition naman ang buong gym, I helped them.

    My phone vibrated and I saw Adie's message.

From Ate Adie: Busy ka ba next next week?

To Ate Adie: Hindi ko pa alam. School year has just started eh. Whyyy?

From Ate Adie: Wedding anniv nila tita Sasha sa 24. May celeb tayo.

To Ate Adie: Okay, tanungin ko si Joyjoy.

From Ate Adie: Tinext ko last night, ok naman siya. Ano, u up?

To Ate Adie: We'll see.

From Ate Adie: Duh. Basta we're expecting u there n Friday naman yon.

To Ate Adie: Okay sigeeee hahaha

From Ate Adie: Good. Ingat sa school.

To Ate Adie: Thanks. You too!

    I took a seat in the bleachers and heaved a sigh. May celebration na naman kami, it means makikita ko na naman sila tita, meaning pwede na naman nila akong tanungin about Javi.

    Honestly, noong mag-July first, I told myself na I'd do my best to not think of Javi. That 1st of July sinabi ko rin sa sarili ko kakalimutan ko na siya, but it is really hard especially people around me are attached to him and they keep on reminding me of him.

    Bakit hindi? Because Javi was always there every time my family had a celebration and they knew him. My family treats Javi like a real family member by blood.

    I'm still holding on to my sanity kahit na nakikita ko siya kung saan saan lalo na sa bahay. Now, I'm regretting that I let him feel at home to my parents' house and to my parents. He used to call my parents Mom and Dad. Mommy loves him so much, sabi pa niya Javi looks like my Dad when he was at Javi's age.

     Tss.. I wasn't aware that I just chuckled so I shook my head.

    Hay, akala ko makakamove on din ako agad. I need to divert my attention into something else. Anyway, may crush naman na ako ngayon. I guess makakatulong din ang college life sa pagmomove on ko kay Javi.

    Speaking of my crush, I suddenly remembered the hanky he gave me yesterday. I took it from my bag, hoping to see him again so I could return his hanky to him.

    To be honest, what he did yesterday was wholesome. Hindi man lang siya natawa kahit nadapa ako, although I didn't see to him that he was really concerned. Wala kasing emosyon eh, pero nakita ko naman na ngumiti siya noong enrollment day. Weird.

    Kung si Javi 'yon pagtatawanan muna ako bago ako tulungang tumayo—wait, what?! No, do not think of him, Francesca. Two parts of my head are fighting. One part was telling me to reminisce an old memory of Javi laughing on me as I tripped off the ground when I heard his arrival on my parents' house. The other one is telling me to not think of him.

    I shook my head and tried focusing my attention to the gate of the gym. I noticed na parami na ng parami ang dumadating. May mga nauupo na rin sa bleachers tapos nag-start na rin akong makarinig ng ingay from students' murmur and teachers' laughters.

    Even though I did my best to divert my attention by observing my surrounding, I started spacing out again, unfortunately my mind is flying to where on earth Javi is.