Love is a Riot

12

« Your lips taste like heaven
so why should I stop? »

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"Gano'n lang kadali 'yon?" gulat kong tanong kay Imari noong ipinaliwanag niya sa akin ang isang sagot sa take-home quiz ni Cain. "How did you do it nga ulit?"

I can't believe na ngayon ko lang naiintindihan ang mga bagay na ito. Kasalanan talaga na hindi ako nakikinig sa klase noon! And Imari made it easier to understand too!  Imari does not look like it, but he's actually studious. And Cain always takes it for granted! Lahat na lang ay siya ang pinagagawa, ultimo take-home quiz! BS Mathematics ang kinukuha ni Imari kaya naman madalas raw magpaturo si Cain sa kanya. Naging blockmate niya raw kasi si Cain noon kaya sila naging magkaibigan, given na sobrang daldal ni Cain. Si Asl naman, naging ka-close rin nila dahil medyo na-weirduhan sa kanya si Cain at palagi niyang pinupunterya.

"Um, so... kapag na-factor out nyo na po, you have to divide both sides to 2y-9x so ang matitira na lang po ay 'yung y¹," he said with gentleness in his voice while pointing his pencil on the paper. "Did you get it, Ate?"

I nodded. Ang sarap naman palang maging kaibigan nito. Kahit siguro ako, sasamantalahin ko rin ang kabaitan nito kung katulad ako ni Cain. He's even patient to teach me these about these things that I lack knowledge about without any hint of belittlement.

"I'm sorry. Is this boring?" I saw how he drooped all of a sudden.

"Not at all," sabi ko sa kanya at kinuha ang phone ko, and tried searching for random questions to test him. Nakakatuwa lang talaga! "Okay. What is the 25% of 88?"

"Huh?" nagtatakang tanong niya. "Twenty-two."

I scrolled down to check the answer at tama nga siya. Masyado akong natuwa kaya naman nagtanong ako ulit. "Ito! 90% of runners completed a marathon. 30% of them were men. If 270 men completed the marathon, how many total runners started the marathon?"

"Hmm..." nag-isip siyang sandali. "One thousand?"

I hit him on his shoulder sa saya dahil tama ang sagot niya. Ni hindi ko nga malalaman iyon kung hindi ko titingnan ang answer key. Maybe it's a relatively easy question pero talagang bobo lang akong umintindi but I appreciate that he's bearing with me.

Napapitlag ako nang maramdaman kong nagvibrate ang phone ko. Napalingon sa akin si Imari, and I just smiled at him. "I'll just take this call."

Tumango lang siya sa akin habang tumatayo ako at naglakad palayo sa kanya papunta sa harap ng bintana. Napalunok ako bago ko sagutin ang tawag na hinihintay ko. "Hello?"

"Babe, where are you now?" iyon pa lang ang naririnig ko, pero kinilabutan na kaagad ako. "Come home... I'm sorry."

Napapikit ako dahil sa saya nang marinig ang sinabi ni Deuce. I knew it. Matitiis niya ako, pero alam kong hindi iyon magtatagal. After all, I'm all he has. He won't let go of me just because of something like that.

"Sorry for calling you so late," sabi niya. "I was busy for my exams."

So that was the reason why he didn't call me all this time. Tatanungin ko pa nga sana kung bakit absent siya kanina. He missed so many activities at hindi nakakatulong kung aabsent pa siya katulad ngayon. I was about to speak to ask him, pero bigla siyang nagsalita na parang naluluha na, at parang pinipiga ang puso ko.

"Don't leave me," he pleaded. "I need you... I just got furious that night because I thought you'd find someone better than me. I'm sorry."

Napabuntong-hininga ako. See? He'll get better soon. And he needs me too. How can I leave someone na kailangan na kailangan ako? And he did that because he was jealous. He reached out to me first and I guess I was right when I said na he needs time to realize his actions. He also has a reason why he didn't call me. He's not being indifferent. Okay na ako doon.

"I won't leave you," sabi ko. "Matulog ka na... I'm coming home tomorrow. Bukas na lang tayo mag-usap."

"'Kay. Love you," he whispered on the other line. "Goodnight."

"I love you, too."

After that, he hung up. Nanatili lang akong nakatayo sa harap ng bintana at nagpakawala ng malalim na buntong-hininga habang nakatapat pa rin sa tenga ko ang teleponong hawak ko.

Am I too kind, giving him loads of chances, and being the bigger person always, or is he becoming really comfortable at doing me wrong?

"Are you okay?" I heard Imari ask from the back. Napalingon ako sa kanya, and he looked really worried.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're not..." sabi niya sa akin. "Do you have a problem? Sorry. Am I being too nosy?"

Umiling kaagad ako. I don't want him to feel bad just because I don't feel like talking about my problems.

"Ate," he said.

Napalingon ako sa kanya. "Bakit?"

"I wonder..." sabi niya. "If you wanna keep treating someone well... and..."

"And?"

Napayuko siyang bigla bago lumapit sa akin. "And... if you want to be with them always, and want so eagerly to be close to them, and want to make them happy, does that mean... you like that person?"

Napaisip akong bigla. Woah, does Imari like someone? She's a lucky girl then! He's a gentle guy and is really caring too. Though scam 'yung sinabi niya na bata pa siya masyado para sa pag-ibig.

"Yes?" sagot ko, na patanong rin. I don't know, but the first time that I felt like that was with Deuce. I knew he puts his guard up because he's afraid of people, kaya masaya ako noong pinapasok niya ako sa buhay niya at hinayaan niya akong alagaan siya. And I also wanted to be with him
always, kahit ilang minuto lang kaming nagkahiwalay noon. I also make excuses before so we could be together...

"Then..." he said, and then he lifted my chin up. Sa sobrang lapit niya ngayon, I can smell a smooth fragrance of his perfume. Fresh, clean, bold, het so soft. He looked at my eyes, then down to my lips, and then back to my eyes.

"What are you–"

I was taken aback when his lips crashed onto mine. 

Dalawang beses akong kumurap noong humiwalay siya sa akin, at naiwan akong nanlalaki ang mata habang nanatili siya nakahawak sa baba ko.

"I think, I like you too..."

'Too?'

Wait, what?