MUTCS 17: Michelle

"And on this day we will officially start the school years intramurals. Students, are you ready?!" Sigaw samin nung principal and there you can here the shouts, screams and roars of the students in the whole campus.

Nasa may campus grounds kami ngayon kung saan nag-i-i-speech lang naman po ang aming principal for the intramurals.

Yep, start na ng intrams, bilis diba? Last week lang tanda ko pa yung nagkaroon ako ng sprain. Paika-ika ako nun tas si mama, sobrang nag-alala naman sakin.

I sighed and decided to just go to the water fountain para uminom, obviously, at para tumambay na din dun sa punong katabi nito but before I got the chance to drink, naghintay muna ako kasi may nauna sa aking dalawang estudyante.

Di naman nagtagal at umalis na rin sila, wiping off the water in their mouths and there I took the chance to drink and while I was in the middle of drinking, narinig kong may tumawag sakin.

I looked up to see who it was and it was no other than Daniel. Yes, that Daniel. Yung tumulong lang naman po sakin habang nahulog ako dun sa may storage room.

He walked towards my direction and asked, "Ba't ka nandito?"

"Eh, ba't ka rin ba nandito?" batong tanong ko sa kaniya na ikinunot naman ng noo niya.

"Para uminom?" patanong sagot niya sakin.

"Alam mo naman pala ginagawa dito, tinatanong mo pa." Tumawa naman siya as soon as he heard my response.

"Okay, tama ka, tama ka, you got me there." I smiled upon his reaction at dun ka din siya tinanong, "Di ka ba iinom?"

"Can I?" I was shocked at first kasi nagtanong siya, "Oo naman, tapos na ako, no need for my permission."

He smiled and went to the fountain, habang ako naman ay umupo dun sa may puno, madaming natambay dito, I mean, it's the perfect place for a tambayan spot.

I closed my eyes for a nap pero nakarinig ako ng kaluskos sa gilid kaya tinignan ko kung ano or more of like, kung sino yun.

At dun nakita ko si Daniel na nasa gilid ko, "Pwede bang maki-upo?"

"You already are," at tinawanan ko naman siya at dinagdagan ko pa ng, "Why do you keep on asking the obvious?"

"Sorry mine."

"Ano yan endearment?" I laughed once again taking it as a joke pero he only smiled at me.

"Pwede naman, gusto mo ba?" I was kind of shocked pero I snorted at him when my senses came back.

"Do whatever you want." Sabi kong muli at tuluyan ng ipinikit ang mga mata ko habang ninanamnam ang simoy ng hangin mula sa ilalim ng puno ng aking kinaka-upuan ko ngayon.

Ilang minuto kaming ganun, narinig ko ding kumakanta na si Daniel sa gilid ko pero hindi ko siya pinansin, nakapikit lang ako dun.

I opened my eyes when I suddenly heard a loud roar from the center of the campus. "Nagstart na siguro ang intrams." I heard Daniel talking beside me kaya napalingon ako dito.

"Speaking of intrams, kasali ka ng basketball?" I asked and he looked at me and smirked.

"Isn't it obvious? Michelle naman, you're asking the obvious here." he backfired at me kaya nagtawanan kami.

Okay, gotta admit, he got me there.

"Sorry," I then looked at him, also with a smirk and added mockingly, "mine."

And tumawa pa siya lalo ng napakalakas, "Marunong kang sumakay sa trip, ha?" I gave him a shrug and laughed once again, "I like it." he added once again.

I shook my head and we then got surrounded by the sound of the wind gushing within the trees and the students from the grounds.

"Uh, Daniel, not to rain on anyone's parade pero can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Diba, there's this caste system going on, isn't that kinda like gonna ruin the Intrams kasi we got rumbled up in the teams?"

He looked at the sky with his hands on the ground helping him sit straight, he once again looked at me and smiled, "Matanong muna kita," he then leaned closer to me but not that much, "is it affecting you? from your own opinion, how affecting is the caste system? is it that hard?"

And at that time ako naman yung tumingin sa langit para mag-isip, now he said it, di naman, actually wala ngang nangyayari sakin ngayon, samin. Normal, highschool life pero may positions.

"Mukhang nag-iisip ka talaga ha?"

"Alangan, nagtanong ka eh." sabat ko sa kaniya at medyo nagulat siya dun pero he laughed it off.

"I'm seriously liking you, I like your humor, grabe," tas tinignan niya ako, "humor? nah, more of pananalaw." he said sarcasticly friendly.

"Since, mukha ka namang nagsasaya, why not answer my question?"

"Well, to be honest, it only takes place during the first two weeks of school, really. Wala din naman kasing may gusto nito pero something's not right," at napatigil siya sa pananalita niya making me much more curious lalo na dun sa huling mga salitang iniwan niya, "pero kahit ganun, it doesn't really affect the events in this school, students get really friendly with each other pag mga ganitong events, depende na lang kung gusto mo sirain yung kasiyahan mo at nila."

Nang matapos siya sa pagsasalita ay tumingin ulit ako sa itaas, it's very cloudy, kaya medyo hindi nakakasilaw yung langit ngayon, I was about to close my eyes once again pero bigla siyang nagtanong.

"So, anong team mo sa intrams?" I glanced at him showing the wristband on my wrist, I mean, obviously, kaya nga tinawag na wristband.

"Team A, huh? so, kateam pala kita." He then slowly showed his jersey to me.

Avista Royale

"Nice naman po, goodluck na lang." I said at nginitian ito, may sasabihin pa sana ito pero biglang may tumawag sakin mula sa malayo at nung tignan ko ito ay sina Xerna iyon.

I stood up habang pinapagpag yung pwetan ko at ganun din yung katabi ko, he smiled at me at tumingin kay Xerna. "I gotta go, t'was nice talking to you by the way." I said and aalis na sana ako pero bigla naman akong napatingin dun sa isang direksyon kung nasaan si Ezekiel habang nakakunot ang noo.

"Aalis na din ako, hey, talk to me anytime you want, it's my pleasure to entertain a binibini like you."

I gave a sweet smile at dun na tuluyang umalis papunta kay na Xerna.

•••

Fraizer Hanz Zackermore

I squinted my eyes as it fell on the direction of Daniel and Michelle. Ba't sila magkasama? What were they doing here? Anong relasyon nila? Were they always this close with each other?

Fuck, I can't help but overthink too much.

Habang nalapit ako dito I can't help but feel angry, I don't why pero naiinis ako sa kaniya.

"Hey, dude." He said habang tinapik pa ako sa balikat ko.

My eyes are still squinted at him at mas lalo pa yung tumalim nung naalala ko si Michelle. "Why were you with Michelle just a while ago?" Ang kauna-unahan kong tanong agad dito.

He smiled and answered me directly, "As simple as coincidence. Bigla kaming nagkita and decided to talk with each other." Hindi ko na pinalalim pa yung usapan at sinabi na lang sa kaniya ang naging pakay ko rito.

Sinabihan kasi ako ng coach ng team nila na hanapin ko daw si Daniel dahil nawawala ito para sa training nilang umaga ngayon.

After doing so, I hitted off the bat at pumunta na sa mga kaibigan ko, they're currently inside the canteen playing on their phones.

"Huy, Rain, back me up may pumapatay sakin!" Saad ni Liam habang nakakunot ang noo niya at ki pindot nang pindot sa cellphone niya at ganun na din yung dalawang kasama ko pa.

I slouched on the chair at kinuha na din ang cellphone ko at pumunta sa Twitter. I just basically scrolled the whole time hanggang makita ko yung isang tweet ni Daniel.

dani @sup_niel

hey, i wanna talk to u more, sayang kailangan na nating umalis muna :((

2 mins ago.

3 replies | 56 retweets | 270 likes

At sa bigla kong pagkaalala sa nangyari kanina ay naibaba ko yung cellphone ko nang biglaan making them look at me pero bumalik din sa mga laro nila.

"Buiset." I muttered silently at nireport yung tweet na yung kasi talagang naiinis ako.

Bigla namang bumaling sakin yung tatlong tanga. "Huy, ano ba ga naman ang problema at ika'y nabubuiset diyan?" Sabat ni Liam sa gilid ko.

"Tss, it's because of that stupid Daniel." Nagkatinginan silang tatlo at si Lanz naman na ang tumanong sakin. "Ano? Nag-away na naman kayo?"

"What? No!" I responded with honesty. "Then what?" they asked in unison.

I stopped with my mouth agape. Ano namang isasagot ko sa kanila? Dahil naiinis ako kasi nakita ko silang nag-uusap ni Michelle?

Fuck, nakakabakla.

"Sinabi ng wala nga." Rain didn't seemed satisfied with my answer kaya he sneered at me and said, "Weh?" mockingly.

They kept on burdening me hanggang sa nabuiset na lang din ako sa kanila kaya in the end iniwan ko na lang sila dun at lumabas para magpahangin but what I found was someone whom I wouldn't thought I would see for this day.