章 25: Chapter 25
Charlotte Monica Pov
"Please? It's been hours that I tried to keep my distance away from you? And my heart can't take it anymore."
And my heart can't take it anymore.
And my heart can't take it anymore.
And my heart can't take it anymore.
Paulit ulit na ume-echo sa isip ko iyong huling sinabi nya. "C-Can we just talk after this?" Shucks! I swallowed hard. Nahihirapan ako magsalita na parang may bato akong nalunok.
He stared at me for seconds. And it's getting awkward with everyone is watching us. "Alright." Shucks! Iyong mukha nyang nakakaawa, should I change my mind and talk to him, now?
Angelique broke the awkward atmosphere. "O Thirdy, now go back." Tinuturo nya kung saan nakapwesto si Thirdy kanina. Enrique patted him on his shoulder nang makaupo na ulit ito sa pwesto nya.
"Shall we start? I'll spin the bottle first." Pinaikot na nga ni Angelique ang bote, unang tumpat ito kay Erica.
"What, me?!" Hindi maipinta mukha ni Erica.
"Truth or dare?" Tanong ni Angelique.
"I'll go with the truth." Halata ko sa itsura ng mukha ni Erica na kinakabahan sya. Same as me. Parang natatakot ako sa magiging tanong nila sa akin.
"Who is your first crush?"
"Oh my!" Napatakip ng mukha si Erica gamit ang kanyang dalawang kamay.
"Opps, you have to answer it, Erica." Pini-pressure na sya ni Angelique na sumagot. "Dali na, just answer it."
"Chris." Mahinang sabi nya.
"Really, Erica?!" Hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Chris. "Or maybe, there's some other boy who named, Chris?!" Hindi din ako makapaniwala. Walang nakwento si Erica about her having a crush with our guy best friend.
"Totoo? Chris? Our best friend?" Tingin ko pa kay Erica.
"Oh my, sorry Chris. Nakakahiya!" Nagtatago na sya sa gilid ko.
"It's okay, we're still best friends." Tugon pa ni Chris kay Erica.
"Wow! What a revelation, Erica."
Pinasa na ni Angelique ang bote kay Erica. "It's your turn now to spin the bottle." Inikot naman nya ito, huminto ito sa tapat ni Brian.
"Alright! Truth or dare?" Tanong nito kay Brian.
"Truth." Tugon nya.
"Since we're talking about crushes, I'll asked Brian the same. Who is your crush?"
"Charlotte." Walang kagatol-gatol na sagot ni Brian. "And that was before. I respect my brother Thirdy." Naghigh five naman silang dalawa. Namula yata mga pisngi ko sa hiya, bigla kasing uminit. Nang makita kong naghigh five sila, natuwa ako. Ibig sabihin wala nang isyu sa kanilang dalawa.
"Ah ehem." Pang-aagaw atensyon ni Angelique. "O sya! Brian, spin the bottle now. Wala man lang ka-thrill-thrill ang pagsagot mo." Reklamo pa nya. Eh?
Binigay naman ni Erica ang bote kay Brian. Pagkatapos siniko na lang ako bigla ni Erica sa tagiliran, medyo nagulat ako do'n, nilingon ko naman sya.
Naglalaro sa labi ni Erica ang ngiting alam kong may sasabihing kahibangan dahil sa pag-arko ng kanyang labi. Lol
"You're surrounded by pretty boys."
"What? No. I mean," I don't know how to explain to her.
Sus, tinatago-tago mo pa ah." Ayan na naman sya, lakas mangantiyaw nito eh.
"Erica! Shhh." Suway ko sa aking kaibigan dahil natatakot ako marinig sa kung anong itatanong nya o sasabihin nya, sa akin o sa kanila. Shucks! Kinakabahan na naman ako.
"Relax." Nakita ko na lang huminto ang pag-ikot ng bote sa tapat ni Thirdy. Oh my gash! "I have a question, how much do you like, Charlotte?!" Pagkatanong nya no'n, ngiting kakaiba na naman ang nakikita ko sa pag arko ng labi nya. I knew it! Napasapul na lang ako sa aking noo. Everyone's waiting for Thirdy to answer Erica's question. Gusto ko nang lumubog sa aking kinauupuan. "So Thirdy?" Nauubusang pasensya ni Erica.
"Well, it's not like a secret that I like Charlotte.. so much. But we talked about it already. I'm not gonna pursue her.. yet. We're young, we didn't promise something that might not be come true. Ten years from now, there's a lot of things would, could happen that will change us, individually. We talked that we should be friends for now. I knew about Tita Angela's condition, about Charlotte having a boyfriend. And I respected that."
Napayuko ako habang napakagat labing nakikinig sa mga salitang binibitawan ng kanyang labi. Ang totoo natutuwa ako sa mga naririnig ko. I can't even gazed at him, because I know he has been staring at me the whole he spoke of those things. Bigla ko na lamang naitanong sa sarili ko, if I feel the same way as him, but I don't what's the answer. And I have to find it soon in my heart.
"Wow! Nice point of view, Thirdy. You should keep your words, all of us here are the witnesses." Sabi pa ni Erica.
"I will." Brian and Enrique both tapped his shoulder. Mukhang napabilib nya ang dalawa.
Ewan ko nga lang kay Chris.
Pagkatapos namin mag-truth or dare, kumain ulit kami. Nabored na daw si Angelique kaya tinapos na namin ang laro. Ni hindi man lang ako naka-spin ng bote. Lol.
Chris stand right in front of me. So I heed my heads up to look at him. "Can we talk?!" I can see Thirdy's nearby. He just take a glanced on us.
"Sure." Tumayo ako, we start to have a conversation while walking. "What is it?" Ako na ang nagsimula, to break the ice.
"Do you like Thirdy?" Deretsang tanong nya.
Actually, hindi ko ini-expect ang tanong nya. "Honestly, I don't know, Chris. I can't tell yet. Alam mong marami akong crushes sa school but it's far from this one. So I don't know how to react on this one."
"You don't have to pressure or force yourself to like him. Para lang hindi sya mapahiya or you don't have to feel the same way as him to you just to make other people happy. Naiintindihan mo ba ako? 'Wag mong ipilit." Seriously Chris, you're the one who's serious here.
"Of course, I got it. Gaya nga ng sinabi nya kanina di ba? He won't pursue me yet. Stop being ridiculous about this Chris."
He gave me a straight-faced. "Stop it. You're getting too serious."
Kumurap naman agad sya. "Fine. But tell him, that I'll be watching him from now on. And looks like your prince charming is waiting to finally talk to you." Umirap lang ako sa unang sinabi nya. I know, he's just protecting me. Umalis na agad sya sa harap ko.
Nagkasalubong pa silang dalawa, they exchange glances but none of them talk. Agad naman akong nilapitan ni Thirdy.
"I missed you the whole day. Look at me, Charlotte." Nakatayo kaming nakaharap sa isa't isa but I can't make an eye contact with him. This is so weird, these days, whenever he's near me, nagiging nerbyosa ako, sobra ang kaba sa dibdib ko, normal pa ba ito? He held my chin to raise my head up para salubungin ang mga titig nya. "I'm sorry about earlier. Uhm. About teasing you." He was so shy admitting.
"U-Uhm, I'm just annoyed actually. That's not a big deal." Inalok nya akong maupo kami sa mga buhangin. Magkadikit ang aming mga balikat. Nakatingin sa malayo, sa dagat, sa mga bituin sa langit at sa buwan.
"I hope you didn't mind about what I shared earlier in the game."
"No, it was okay. Loud and clear. At least our friends knows what the deal with us."
I lean my head on his shoulder. It's thirty minutes before midnight. Inaantok na ako. "Are you sleepy?" Yumuko sya para tignan ang mukha ko.
"Yes." I can't stop yawning.
"I'll see you off to your cottage, then?"
Pagkatapos kong isara ang pinto, nahiga na agad ako sa higaan, nauna nang pumasok sa cottage si Erica kanina, ngayon tulog na sya. Si Angelique nasa labas pa. And I thought the rest of the night was amazing. It came out quite good.
To be continued..
📝 Jannmr
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