Kapit Bitaw

Chapter 08

"Hi, tapos na?"

Bungad sa akin paglabas ko sa classroom si Ray.

Kasabay ko si Maria palabas at nung tumingin ako sa kaniya, ngiting ngiti siya. Nakataas pa nga eyebrows niya. As if, first time 'to mangyari. "Una na ako beh." sabi niya at nagwave. "Bye." I said and waved back.

It has been 3 months since the fest where we confessed. Munimuni played after the conversation and somehow, 'di ako makafocus sa mga kanta nila.

This has been our set up for those months. Hihintayin niya ako pagkatapos ng klase namin sa labas ng classroom ko araw araw which has never even been a problem because his dismissal was earlier than mine. Nilalakad niya ako papunta sa gate, hindi masyadong malapit sa kotse ko dahil baka mahuli kami ng driver ko. After that, he walks back to the gym for his training.

Minsan, sinasamahan niya ako tuwing lunch at recess pero not everyday to the point na wala na akong time para sa mga kaibigan ko. And I was okay with it.

This was just like any other day.

"Hi, yes. Sorry kung naghintay ka matagal," I said when I looked at the time in my phone. "Late nagdismiss si Ms."

"Okay lang." he said, still energetic. He put his hand on the small of my back, a signal that we should start walking already. Sumabay kami sa crowd of students na pababa sa hagdanan. The weight of my backpack was paining my back kaya nilagay ni Ray ang kamay niya doon sa baba, in effort to make it lighter for me.

Hawak niya rin ang envelope ko, something na nakasanayan niyang gawin. I just let him.

Magaalas-singko na, mainit parin ang sikat ng araw dahil pasummer na. I squinted my eyes when we got down the stairs, we stopped for a while pero nagpatuloy na rin kami sa paglalakad. A gym bag was hanging on his left shoulder habang nasa kanang kamay naman niya ang envelope ko.

The walk was silent.

Over the past 3 months, alot has happened. Mas nakilala na namin ang isa't isa. Hindi na ako naaawkwardan kapag kinakausap siya pero mostly talaga, tahimik lang kami kapag magkasama kami. It was silent, but at least it was comfortable.

I guess you could say that we were in the Mutual Understanding phase. We never really talked about it for long pero I think we both agreed with that. No label, but with [little] commitments. First time ko din magkaroon ng gano'n. Hinding hindi puwedeng malaman nila mama dahil unang una, nakatakda na ako sa ibang lalaki, pangalawa, sigurado ako na, if I am not exaggerating, papatayin ni papa si Ray for not following his rules. Pero kung magagalit man sila, sa akin dapat. Wala na si Ray doon.

We reached the gate after a few more minutes.

Kukunin ko na sana envelope ko at magpapaalam. "By-"

"Wait lang!" he suddenly said, holding one of my shoulders to stop me. Medyo nagulat ako dahil napataas ang boses niya na parang natataranta. I immediately looked back at him na mukhang napapawisan na ng sobra sobra. Kumunot kilay ko at lumiit mata ko. "Why?"

"Uh..."

I gave him a look na parang nagsasabi na sabihin mo na. Tumingin ako sa likod, baka biglang sunduin ako ng driver ko dito sa main gate kapag natagalan ako. Students from different sides and areas of our school came flowing out in different groups. Yung iba, may katext o katawag. Siguro yung magsusundo sa kanila. May mga bus na nakapark sa gilid, sunod sunod.