Strings of Regret

Chapter 2

I was physically there inside our classroom sitting on my chair but my mind was mentally absent, wandering elsewhere. Ang nangyari sa pananghaliang iyon ang laman ng isip ko buong maghapon. I was thankful na walang major na pinagawa sa amin dahil lutang na lutang parin ako kahit na nagbell na para sa uwian. My friends didn't mention anything from what happened earlier, maybe my current state made them stop from saying or asking anything. I was thankful for that kasi ako mismo hindi ko alam ano ang masasabi ko sa nangyari kanina more so wala akong sagot sa sarili kong mga tanong like 'What just happened?' 'Am I going to make this a big deal or not?' 'Was that just a spur of the moment thing dahil alam nya na allergic ako sa shrimps?' and so on.

In the end I stopped over thinking dahil maybe ako lang naman talaga ang nag-iisip nang ganito. Baka nga wala lang yung paki at nagpatuloy sa araw niya na parang walang nangyari. Just like what happened before. Kung hindi ko lang nalaman kay Mark, kaklase ko noon, na he purposely ignored me to forget about his feelings for me maybe I'll hold a grudge towards him because of the sudden change of treatment. Kung hindi ko lang talaga nalaman, hindi ko siya maiintidihan, sa iba ko nga lang nalaman.

Ng makauwi ako sa bahay, I did my usual routine. I changed my school uniform at nagpambahay. I didn't waste no time at nagsimulang magwalis and I watered the plants afterwards. When I finished doing the house chores, I went upstairs to my room and took a short nap. Nagising lang ako sa katok nang pinto.

  "Abrianna, kakain na," malakas na sigaw ni papa.

  "Bababa na po!" sagot ko bago bumaba sa kama at naghilamos. When I went downstairs, I already saw them sitting on the dining table and waiting for me.

  "Bilisan mo ate, gutom na gutom na 'ko," nakangusong sabi nang kapatid kong si Renan. Maya-maya nag-umpisa na kaming kumain nang hapunan.

  "How's your first day of school Bri?" tanong ni mama sa akin.

  "Okay lang naman ma. Wala naman kaming major na ginawa aside sa introduction at about sa expectations namin ngayong school year," I answered while trying to summarize how my day went.

  "Ganyan naman talaga sa first day. Wait for the next months to come, mapupuyat ka na hindi dahil dyan sa kakawattpad mo kundi sa mga projects, reporting at iba pa kaya.." now she's starting to rant and all I could do is to keep my mouth shut kung gusto kung matapos kaagad at makapagpahinga kung hindi I'll wait for hours kung kailan siya matapos bago ka papakawalan. I love my mom and all but sometimes.. okay 'wag na.

She started questioning Renan now, na mukhang walang pakialam sa paligid, but still answered kasi nga takot kami kay mama. And as expected she started scolding Renan because of how he is in school, games nalang palagi ang inaatupag, but Renan just stayed silent and let the storm pass. After what seemed like eternity, we finally ate silently until the ringing of a phone broke the silence. Napaangat ang tingin namin kay papa nang malamang naming ang kanyang cellphone ang tumutunog. Sumulyap siya sa kanyang cellphone at nag-angat nang tingin.

  "Who's that?" takang tanong ni mama at tumingin kay papa.

  "It's from work. I'll just answer this hon," sagot niya bago tumalikod. I don't know why but all of a sudden, my heart started beating so fast out of nervousness. And for some unknown reason I wanted to check up on him but I just shrugged it off. I'm being weird but maybe its because of the look in his eyes, a look that a person give whenever he or she is trying to hide something.

Natapos ang hapunan at nakabalik naman agad si papa sa hapag. Kasalukuyan akong naghuhugas nang plato dahil umakyat na sila papa at mama, probably going to rest from a tiring day. My father is a manager of some company while my mom is a teacher. Ng matapos akong maghugas umakyat na ako sa taas para maghandang matulog. I brushed my teeth and nag half bath na rin ako bago sumalampak nang higa sa kama. After a moment of staring blankly on my ceiling, I feel into a deep slumber.