4 Chapter 2

After a week, Oliver finally convinced me to write the script we talked about. If it wasn't for the free foods and theater movies, and the salon coupon he bribed me with, hindi talaga ako papayag. I sighed to myself, realizing how I'm easily convinced. On the other hand, there's also a part of me that says I wanted it. I wanted to do this. I'm currently editing the first part of the story on my desk inside the Student Body Organization's office when someone knocks on the door.

"Come in!" I exclaimed without paying attention to whoever is on the other side of the door.

The University provided this office where different Student Government officials stay, work, and schedule meetings for our school's different activities every academic year. I hate to admit but I'm also part of the Student Government as the Arts Department Respresentative. Hindi ko alam kung paano ako naparito, ang alam ko lang ini-convince ako ni Oliver na sumali dito back in Freshmen. Ngayon ko lang din narealize na lagi na lang akong nacoconvince ng lalakeng 'yon sa kahit ano. He must've had a potion or something for that.

"It's locked!" Says the person outside. Mukhang lalake ang papasok. Hindi ko naman kilala lahat ng officials pero kaya kong i-familiarize ang mga mukha nila kapag nagkakasalubong kami. And the voice sounds familiar but I chose to not mind what he said and continued with what I was doing. What I hated the most is when someone tries to bother me while I'm busy working with something. I'll let others inside the office open the door instead.

Maya-maya ay may kumatok na naman. Sa inis ay bigla akong napatayo at ready na sa speech kong 'pagbuksan niyo naman yung kumakatok sa pinto", but unfortunately, I was the only person inside the office. Hindi ko man lang namalayan na naiwan na pala ako ditong mag-isa. I huff in annoyance and went straight to the door to open it, ni hindi ko na tiningnan kung sino yung pumasok at dire-diretsong bumalik sa cubicle ko.

"Thanks." He says in a familiar tone.

I quickly averted my gaze in his direction and to my surprise I almost shut my laptop off.

"R-Reese!" Sigaw ko sa gulat. Of all people, I never expected it was him I am with in this room right now. Reese is a fair-looking guy. He has this chocolate brown hair that matches his eyes and skin, and he also has a lean posture with a nice smile. He's taller than me, maybe he's about 5'9 and I'm just 5'2 but whatever, I'm still the cute one compared to him. My eyes rolled upwards with that thought. We're on the same batch but he's taking Criminology while I chose to take Theater Arts. Dati kaming magkaklase back in Senior High School, and I never want to go down the memory lane about what happened during those two years of Senior High. Umiwas ako ng tingin nang mapagtantong napatulala ako kakatitig sa kanya.

"Hi!" He cheerfully says as he walks to his cubicle beside mine. Oo, kung minamalas ka nga naman, two years nang magkatabi ang cubicles namin at ni isang beses hindi kami naglo-long talks. We would just settle with hi's and hello's, and nods and smiles every time we bump into each other.

"Oh, h-hello," I answered back and tried to focus on what I was doing. I am not here to entertain anyone who's gonna disturb my peace of mind.

"Vacant?" He asks and sits on his chair. Inilapag niya rin ang bag niya sa desk niya kasabay ang mga librong hawak niya.

Is he having a small talk with me? That's odd.

"Yeah, five hours. You?" I ask him back while I try to pay attention on what I was writing - though all I type with my keyboard is "putangina ka Reese!!!!..." and the exclamation point follows.

"Woah!" He says and stands up to take a peek at my cubicle. Hindi masyadong mataas ang dingding na nakaharang sa bawat cubicle kaya kapag nakatayo ang isang tao ay makikita agad kung anong kababalaghan ang nagaganap sa kabila. "I'm done with class for this day. What are you doing, by the way?"

Sa sobrang nerbyos ay muntik nang malaglag ang laptop sa desk ko. I hurriedly closed the laptop, only to realize that I forgot to save the following paragraphs I just wrote in that script. I can't stop cussing myself inside my head. At kailan pa 'to naging interesado sa mga ginagawa ko?

"Nothing! Just another script for a class performance." I chuckled nervously, avoiding his gaze.

"Wow, that's great Fels!" Fels... how he could simply say my name, as if he'd known me for a long time? "I'm so happy for you. You really are compassionate with your writing skills." I know, you always used to say that. I shrug the thought away and instead gave him a small smile and a nod.

"Thanks," was all I could say before taking my phone in my pocket and pretend to call someone. Inilagay ko ang phone sa tenga at nagdial ng number ni Oliver. Please, Oliver! Save me from this awkwardness! I silently prayed that he'd pick it up.

"Anyway," Reese continues. I close my eyes and tried to concentrate on my phone but I can't. I don't think I'd like to make this conversation last a little longer. "Uh, nevermind." As long as I opened my eyes, he was back again sitting on his monoblock chair and opens a textbook, clearly ignoring me after he ended the conversation.

I sighed in content and as I was about to end the call, Oliver answers it and tells me "anong kailangan mo?". The nerve to not even say 'hello'? Parang gusto kong balibagin 'tong taong 'to nang wala sa oras.

"Rot in hell, bye!" I say before ending the call.

It has only been an hour past noon and I already want to go home and just crawl on my bed and shut the world out. Today's not my lucky day. After a few hours of writing, some of our colleagues started to come inside the office. Malalaman kong dumadami na sila kapag lumalakas na ang ingay sa loob. I never had the chance to take a look on whatever Reese is doing on the other side since I don't want to do anything with him.

"Excuse me, coming through!" Sigaw ni Georginie sa mga humaharang sa daan niya. She's one of the Student Body Senators that won during the election last two months. Naging close lang kami dahil friendly siya at may mutual friends din kami, kaya simula no'n lagi niya na akong kinakausap. And eventually, we became friends. "Another package for Felina Quero!"

My brows raised in confusion when she called my name. May naririnig akong hiyawan at nang i-angat ko ang aking tingin ay bigla akong sinalubong ng isang bouquet ng mga bulaklak.

"What the hell?" I push the bouquet out of my face to look at who's holding it. "Ano na naman 'to, Georgie?" My nose crinkled with the smell. Hindi naman ako allergic, sadyang hindi ako sanay 'pag may nagbibigay sa 'kin ng mga ganito. I mean, I can't even remember when was the last time I got all these rainbows and butterflies in my stomach when someone tries to exert their effort with someone like me.

"Another bouquet from one of your secret admirers!" Masigla niyang sabi at bigla-biglang umupo sa lap ko sabay yakap ng bouquet. "Isa na namang napakalaking sana all ang masasabi ko!" She screams as she looks up the ceiling dreamily.

I saw Reese staring at us in my peripheral view but I can't figure out what his reaction was. Do I need to care about that? I don't think so. My lap swells from her weight so I push her off me, making her fall flat on the floor. She muttered a quiet 'ouch' and glared at me.

"Ito naman! Parang 'di ma-appreciate yung effort nung tao." She says as she stands up and took the flowers away from my sight. "Sige ka, aangkinin ko 'to!" Banta niya.

Shaking my head, I laugh at her face. "I don't even know who's my secret admirer, or who are my secret admirers. Iisipin kong jino-joke time lang ako ng mga 'yan." I defended myself.

Biglang lumapit sa 'min ang ibang kasamahan namin, mukhang interesado rin kung saan nanggagaling ang mga flowers and chocolates na natatanggap ko paminsan-minsan.

"Kaya nga secret admirer, 'di ba!" Jojo, one of our colleagues from Engineering Department butts in and takes the bouquet out of Georginie's hands.

"Alam mo, Fel, mukhang memorize ko na yung schedule ng secret admirer mo sa pagpapadala ng mga 'yan." Says Wyshech, Jojo's classmate and our co-student government Secretary. "On mondays, magpapadala ng morning coffee! Sa tuesday naman may pa-burger, minsan with fries pa, ah!"

"True!" Dugtong ni Jalanji, ang Representative ng Education Department. "Wednesdays are for chocolates and sundaes!"

"Thursdays are for milkteas and snack bars!" Georginie exclaims as she clasps her hands together while looking intently at me. My face grimaced from their expressions that is so cringy to look at. Napalingon ako sa kaliwa at nahuling nakatitig din sa 'kin si Reese. He just shrugs and went back to what he's doing. Parang tanga 'to! Muntik na akong malaglag sa monoblock nang bigla silang nagsalita na parang nasa isang sabayang pagbigkas.

"And fridays are for flowers and letters!" Napatakip ako sa tenga nang bigla nila akong yugyugin habang tumitili sa kilig. Jusko po, I am not enjoying in this situation at all.

"Huy, ang ingay niyo," reklamo ni Reese sabay balik sa ginagawa. "May ginagawang trabaho rin yung iba." Dagdag pa nito.

"Weh? Bitter ka lang e—" hindi na natuloy ang sasabihin ni Georginie pagkatapos hampasin ni Wyshech ang braso niya. "Oops, my bad!"

They giggled and gave the bouquet of flowers to me. Mabuti dahil tinantanan na rin nila ako nang isa-isa na silang nagsi-alisan.

"Napaka-kill joy ni Vice Gov, eh, 'no? Don't you think?" Georginie whispers, being the only one who's left in my cubicle. "Napaka-seloso! Feeling ko talaga gusto ka no'n."

"What are you talking about? Pa-issue ka talaga." Natatawa kong sagot sa kanya. My stares fell at the bouquet I was holding, it consists of roses, sunflowers, baby's breath and some leaves I can't name. There's also a letter that comes with it. Kukunin ko na sana nang biglang magsalita si Georginie.

"Ano bang meron sa inyo? May something ba kayo dati tapos nagbreak kaya nabi-bitter na 'yan ngayon sa 'yo?" She asks while putting an arm around my shoulder.

"A-ano bang pinagsasabi mo? Do'n ka na nga! Pa-issue ka, eh. Walang something sa 'min ni Reese." I whispered back at her.

"Okay, sabi mo eh." She winks at me before walking away and finally leaving me alone in my area.

I shook my head and read the letter:

"My dear Felina,

I know it's hard to try remembering the past,

but I want you to know that it wasn't meant to last.

The wrong people aren't meant to be with you,

for your heart and soul is too good to be true.

I don't have the courage to tell you who I am now,

yet I hope this bouquet of flowers will make your day, somehow."

There was no name or any acronym that comes with it. There have been a lot of times where I asked my colleagues where they get everything that I receive from this 'secret admirer', but all I get is a response that all of these are being left on the shelf outside the office door with my name on it. Nobody sees who leaves it there. All of this started last school year when I was just a second year college student, and up until now that anonymous admirer of mine never gets tired of sending me gifts. Mukhang wala rin namang balak na magpakilala sa akin ng personal. How will he or she know if I'm also into them if they won't confess? Pero kahit magpakilala ata 'yon hindi ko pa rin naman jojowain. I'm too scared to even risk my heart with anyone again.

It was too late to realize that I was already smiling from ear to ear the moment my phone begins to ring. I stared blankly at the caller ID for a few seconds after I saw a Korean face on the screen and read Oliver's name on all caps before answering it.

"Anong kailangan mo?" Bungad ko sa kanya.

(Woah, is that your way of revenge to what I have said earlier?) I can almost hear him laughing at me on the other line. Oh, how I wish I could choke him to death right now.

"Whatever, I'm busy. 'Wag mo 'kong disturbuhin." Sagot ko.

(Are you sure? I was planning to get you so we could go to our classes together sana, kaso it looks like mags-skip ka na naman ng class.) I hear him sigh. My eyes widened in surprise as I look at my wrist watch. Shoot! It's five minutes before my next class at six!

"Shit! Why didn't you tell me?" Dali-dali akong nagligpit ng gamit. I had to pick up some of my notebooks that fell on the floor. "Wait for me, Oli! Magkatabi lang tayo ng room 'wag kang mauna!"

"Fel, chill. I'm outside your office." I cursed at him before ending the call. I carried my bag with me and was about to head to the door when I heard Reese's voice.

"Late for class?" He says with a smirk. I roll my eyes at him, almost wanting to throw my laptop bag at his annoying face.

"Yeah." I respond and left him without saying good bye.

"I've been waiting forever!" Oliver complains while he extends his arms exaggeratedly the moment he sees me outside the office.

"OA mo, let me guess, you've only been here a minute ago." He took my laptop bag from me when he saw I was struggling while carrying my things. I thank him and we walk together to class. We're not on the same class but we surely have the same MWF schedule.

"Nah, kanina pa ako nando'n," sabi niya habang naglalakad sa tabi ko. "Received flowers again?"

"Yeah." I simply answer and smiled.

"Well, what can I say? Sana all may admirer." We both laugh with what he said.

"Duh!" I respond as he continues to tease me with my so-called secret admirer. "Who could this be? Mukhang walang balak mag-give up sa 'kin. As if naman may chance siya sa 'kin." I jokingly said.

"Yeah, right. I almost forgot that you're an advocate for people who would choose to be a spinster like you." Sabi niya habang natatawa sabay lakad-takbo palayo sa akin.

"You stupid asshole!" Sigaw ko habang hinahabol si Oliver. I couldn't enjoy my college life more without having Oliver as a companion to be with. He has been there for me through good and tough times since our college life has started; and perhaps I just can't imagine losing a friend like him.