III
Para bang nabunutan ng tinik sa leeg si Meir nang makita si Leighton na nakaupo sa lobby at busy sa paglalaro ng game sa phone nito. Akala niya ay nagdetour na naman ito kung saan-saang floor gaya ng madalas nitong gawin, or worse ay sumakay na ito ng taxi at tuluyan nang umuwi.
“Nandito ka lang pala,” aniya kay Leighton nang malapitan niya ito.
“Nagtext ako sa iyo. Ang sabi ko ay nandito ako sa lobby.” Saglit lang tiningnan ni Leighton si Meir bago ito muling bumaling sa screen ng phone.
“Ah…” Dali-daling kinuha ni Meir an kanyang cellphone. Nagtext nga talaga si Leighton… five minutes passed. Prior to that five minutes, nakailang text at tawag na siya rito na sinukuan na niya dahil mukhang wala na itong balak magreply or sagutin ang tawag.
“Mauna ka nang umuwi. May susundo sa akin,” abiso sa kanya ni Leighton.
Marahang bumuntong-hininga si Meir. “Okay. Mauna na ako. I-update mo na lang ako kapag nakauwi ka na.”
Muling nag-angat ng tingin sa kanya si Leighton. Iniisip siguro nito na magungulit siya.
Tinalikuran ni Meir si Leighton. Hindi naman siya nakakaramdam ng disappointment. It’s just that he doesn’t want to end up face to face with the one who changed Leighton.
If it’s Kay, then everything’s fine.
Fine…
Pero iba ang naiisip niya habang nasa biyahe pauwi. He’s not okay. Sino ang ba’ng niloloko niya?
He always liked Leighton even though they were complete opposites. He admired Leighton’s strong personality. Maldito ito at very intimidating. Kapag kasama niya ito, doon lang natatahimik ang paligid niya. Doon lang siya nilulubayan ng mga taong hindi niya matanggihan.
He thought he was the only one who could stand and appreciate Leighton’s temper.
He thought he could go on living at ease with just Leighton by his side.
Hindi niya kayang magplano tungkol sa kung paano niya mapapapayag si Leighton na magsama sila balang araw. Everything about it sounds so wrong, the mere fact that they are both guys. So he stopped thinking about it. Naging kuntento siya sa mga nangyayari. Maybe after college, he can come up with something, or it will be better if he could just forget his crazy idea of wanting Leighton to stay beside him.
He flunked on a subject. He became an irregular student. Nabawasan lalo ang oras na makakasama niya si Leighton. Naging bearable ang lahat nang iyon sa kanya hanggang sa isang araw ay nakita na lang niya si Leighton na hawak-hawak ang kamay ni Kay.
Inisip niyang wala lang iyon. He knew Leighton doesn’t like their foreign classmate... but his foolish curiosity showed him more until he cannot stop stalking them.
It actually pushed him to some level of desperation. Lumipat rin siya ng university nang malaman niyang lilipat si Leighton…
And for the first time, he tried and succeeded in kissing Leighton.
“Boss, ayos ka lang ba?” Sinulyapan siya ng taxi driver mula sa rearview mirror.
Tumango lang siya. He pounded his chest. It’s really getting hard for him to breathe these days.
It hurts.
