Chapter 17

Jade's Point of View

He still won't stop.

Pagkabukas ko ng locker ko, things that weren't supposed to be there are there. Kinuha ko lahat ng mga regalo ni August para itapon. For the past months, he didn't bugged me that much anymore. Pero he still kept on gifting me stuff that I clearly won't accept.

I already change my locker, but he still manages to find and open it. Nang maitapon ko na ang lahat, I saw Bella from the end of the hallway waiting for me. Kumaway sya sa akin at pumunta naman ako sa kanya.

"You all good now?" Tanong nya.

"Yeah! Tara na." Sagot ko. We we're gonna hang out at the mall today to buy some stuff we need for a project.

I'm kinda glad I have her right now. I think I wouldn't be able to distract myself from the things that scares me without her.

"Hey, let's list the things we need to buy first." She suggested.

"Saan naman?"

"Let's go to the food court, para makakain din tayo." Aniya.

Pagkarating namin sa food court, ako na yung pinaglista nya habang sya naman ang oorder ng kakainin namin. While writing stuff down, I got a weird feeling. Like i'm being watched.

Napalingon ako't chineck ang mga tao sa likod ko. I just shrugged it off because maybe it's just me.

Pagkabalik ni Bella sa table namin, we started eating then after that binili na namin ang mga kailangan naming bilin. I really enjoyed hanging out with Bella since she's fun and nice to be with.

"Ah teka lang, mag-c-cr lang ako. Wanna come with me?" She asked.

Since I don't feel like going there, sinabi ko na lang na maghihintay na lang ako sa kaniya. Pagka-alis naman nya ay chineck ko na lang ang phone ko for notifs.

But suddenly, I feel like I was being watched again.

Muli kong pinagmasdan ang paligid ko. And I was right, someone is really watching me. I saw the guy who was looking at me from a corner. And since I couldn't take it anymore, nilakasan ko ang loob ko at lumapit sa kanya.

Alam ko naman din kung sino 'tong stalker na 'to eh.

As I got near him, he didn't even bother to hide anymore. "Are you following me!?" I confronted him.

He smiled and acted dumb. "W-What? This might be a coincidence."

"Don't freaking pull that shit on me. I'm not stupid not to realize that you're following me everywhere I go."

His desperate grin faded. "Jade, please... just listen for me once. I just wanna talk to you right now."

"You're a freaking creep, I don't wanna talk to someone like you!"

Nagulat ako ng bigla syang napahawak sa braso ko. "Please! Just one chance. Please!" He begged with tears on his eyes.

I freaked out from what he did, kaya na-itulak ko sya papalayo sa akin. He looked quite shocked from what I did, but still forced me to listen to him. "Jade, please! Just give me a few minutes--"

"GUARDS! H-HELP! PLEASE!" Napasigaw na ko ng bigla nanaman nya akong hinahawakan ng mahigpit sa braso. Meron kagad na dumating para awatin sya, and the guards pulled him away.

Saktong lumabas na si Bella at napatakbo ako sa kanya. Napayakap ako sa kanya because I got scared. "Woah, Jade!? What happened!?"

"A s-stalker!..." I said.

Then nalapit naman sa akin yung ilang guards para tanungin ako about sa stalker na 'yon. Na caught up naman si Bella sa nangyari habang wala sya. "Gusto nyo po ba magpa-escort pauwi miss?" Tanong ng guard.

Bella declined for me, sya na lang ang naghatid sa akin pauwi. After that, pinilit ko na lang kalimutan 'yon dahil wala namang magandang idudulot iyon. And as Bella being such a good friend, she comforted and helped me pagkatapos kong ikwento sa kanya ang sitwasyon ko.

Muli akong nagpapalit ng locker para matigilan na ko ni Austin. And it made me feel relief one day when I saw my locker having nothing unusual in it for the first time in a while.

"Omg! Jade look at this." Biglang sabi ni Bella ng may makita sya sa school bulletin board. Nakalagay ron ang isang malaking poster na nagsasabi na nalalapit na ang prom namin.

"Oh... excited ka dyan?"

"Duh, we get to do our make-up and wear gowns! We might even find guys who might like us." I kinda flinched at her statement.

I can't deny that i'm still affected by the humiliation that Leroi done to me. Getting rejected and made fun of infront of other guys makes me think that all guys are jerks. Pero I know that it isn't good to generalize every guy just because of that, since not all people are the same.

"...so sasama ka ba sa prom, Jade?" Tanong ni Bella.

I hesitated, but I ended up saying "Yeah, i'll go if you go."

"Nice! Tingin tayo ng mga gowns next week! Tsaka let's search for highly rated salons para sa buhok at make-up natin..." Bella is really hyped with this upcoming prom. Napangiti na lang ako sa kaniya dahil para syang batang excited. It's kinda cute.

Pero parang gusto ko bawiin ang sagot ko dahil pakiramdam ko hindi ako magfi-fit in sa ganong klaseng event. But I guess it's way more better to experience things that isn't in my comfort zone, plus i'm already a graduating student next school year. I better enjoy this highschool life dahil mas mahirap at exhausting pag graduating na.

This might even change a part of me that feels so locked up. So why not give it a chance right? I smiled and made a note on my phone's calendar about that prom.

Ruben's Point Of View

The prom night.

As I stepped out of my car, nadatnan kong nasa labas na si Eliza sa kaniyang bahay. Napangiti ako ng makita ko sya. She smiled back and quickly went towards me. "You look beautiful in blue." I told her.

I really liked how she's dressed tonight, at di rin matanggal ang tingin ko sa mukha nya. There's really something about make-up that makes girls look like some goddess that descended to earth. Parang nahiya naman sya sa pagkakatingin ko sa kanya kaya natawa sya't sabay palo sa braso ko.

"I know, you don't have to remind me that i'm beautiful though." Iba din ang confidence ng babae na 'to minsan.

"Pfft, yeah right. Just always remind me that I don't have to do that."

"Okay, if you say so." She giggled.

Binuksan ko naman ang pinto ng kotse ko para sa kanya. "Now please step in, the car awaits you." Sabi ko sa kaniya.

And as she got into her seat, sumakay na rin ako sa driver's seat at pinaandar na ang kotse ko. "Wow, never knew you know how to ride this." She said.

Napangisi lang ako. "Yeah, I was gonna ask if you wanna go on road trips sometimes."

"Really!? You know I like that idea." Sagot nya.

"Then we'll have to plan about the places we're gonna go to."

"I love that!" She squealed, mukhang excited talaga.

Napangiti na lang ako ulit ng makitang masaya sya. "Damn, parang gusto ko na lang magroad trip ngayon kaysa pumunta sa prom na yan."

"Pfft, no. Not happening. Baka bigla kang hanapin ng iba mong kaibigan, then they might sort to outragous conclusions why you're not there."

"Tch, fine. Gusto mo lang ako isayaw eh." Napapout pa sya, pero halatang kinikilig.

"Well yeah, it'll be the first time i'm gonna dance with you so I won't let the chance pass by." Sagot ko.

"Ugh! Sige na nga, pagbibigyan kita don."

I chuckled. "Makakapagroad trip din naman tayo kahit kelan mo gusto, but let's make this night an exception. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Natawa na lang kami. After nun, pinabukas ko sa kaniya ang radyo. Then we sang along with the songs playing on the radio while I was driving to school.

At pagkarating namin sa school, pumunta na kami sa school gym dahil doon gaganapin ang prom. Nang makapasok kami doon, andaming tao at mukhang enjoy na enjoy ang lahat sa prom na 'to. "Ruben, kuha tayo ng drinks. I kinda feel thirsty." Yaya niya.

"Okay, sure." At napunta naman kami sa table ng mga pagkain. Medyo nahirapan kami kumuha ng maiinom dahil dinadagsa ng mga tao yung mga pagkain.

And as I managed to get her a drink, naupo muna kami sa isang gilid at pinagmasdan ang mga magugulong tao na sumasayaw sa tugtugan nila. "You're not a dancer, aren't you?" Tanong nya.

"I don't dance often, but i can dance." Sagot ko.

"Wanna dance now?"

Napangiwi ako sa kaniya at itinuro ang mga tao sa dance floor. "I don't think we can dance with people going wild like that."

Natawa lang sya. "Okay then, let's just wait for the slow music to play so we can dance."

"Sure."

Habang naghihintay kami, I had the sudden urge to ask. "Hey, you still haven't told me the reason."

"Huh?"

"I mean, pano mo ko nagustuhan? You've got a good reason why you like me right?" I asked.

She smiled shyly and had her eyes focused on the ground. "Yeah, I actually do."

"Then tell me. I'm already your boyfriend, you know."

"Pff, fine! I'll tell you." Sagot nya, then she continued. "I actually liked you two years ago. You probably won't remember, but I used to be your classmate at one subject."

I stayed silent to listen further.

"We actually became partners for a project. We both did our share on the project equally and it was kinda nice to have a good partner for a project."

"So yon lang dahilan mo? Because we became partners for a project nagkagusto ka na sa'kin!?"

She laughed. "No! Patapusin mo muna ako, hahaha!"

"Okay, continue."

"I was kinda disappointed at the same time when we were partners. You never even interacted with me too much. And I was really expecting to become friends with you. I guess you just don't really care that time, because you seem like the quiet type. But then I saw you with your girlfriend back then. Na-amuse ako kung pano mabilis na nabago ang personality mo pagdating sa kanya. You were all smiles and you guys were so sweet to look at, while you act so cold and silent towards me and other people." She sighed and took a sip on her drink.

"I kinda felt envious that time. Seeing a guy like you being like that to that girl. I was like, sana ako din merong ganong boyfriend. Then my envy became an obsession... I began to like you instead of wanting a guy like you. So ayon, napagtanto ko na nagkagusto ako sayo kaso may girlfriend ka noon eh."

After hearing those, I lifted her chin so I can get a good look at her. "Well, you got me now. You don't have to be envious anymore." Napangiti naman sya.

"Yeah." Then I surprised her with a quick kiss on the cheeks. "What the, Ruben!?"

"What? You're already my girlfriend, don't get so flustered like that." Natatawa kong sabi sa kanya. Napahampas na lang sya sa'kin pero natawa na lang din sya.

It kinda feels good to laugh and do more stuff like this with her. But even though i'm so happy right now, there's still a part of me that bugs this happiness. The voices keep telling me that all of this is a lie.

That i'm not really happy at all.

"I love you, Eliza." Bigla kong sabi sa kanya. Her face flushed, and she also replied immediately. "Yeah, I love you too." Then mustered a sweet smile.

I feel so happy that it's breaking me.

I see her, but with a different face.

And up until now, it hurts so much that she's not her.

Jade, why can't you be the fucking woman i'm with right now?

I'm really sorry, Eliza.

to be continued