Campus Royalties (Kingdom University, #1) | Published under Psicom Publishing

Chapter 32

Despite the heavy academic load for this semester, I was enjoying it a little too well, mainly because of Darryl. Although I didn't want to admit it out loud. Pero parang binabawian ako ng universe ngayon dahil doon.

Second week na ng December at malapit na ang Christmas break pero mas lalong naging busy ang lahat dahil sa dami ng requirements na gusto ng professors na magawa namin before the break. Okay lang naman sa akin dahil mas gusto kong matapos na 'yon kaysa problemahin ko pa during the vacation, pero medyo nalulungkot ako ngayon dahil busy ang friends ko.

I wanted to have lunch with them today, but they said they couldn't. Sabi ni Jess ay may group meeting sila for a project habang busy naman si Alice sa pagre-review dahil daw may seatwork sila mamaya. Hindi ko naman matawagan si Yna at 'di rin siya nagre-reply sa texts.

The next day, they declined my request yet again, and I was sure there was something going on. Jess and I had the same class today, so I cornered her after the lecture.

"Jess, wait!"

"Sorry, Steff, kailangan kong pumunta sa library for a group meeting sa isang major subject ko," she said, but she couldn't even meet my eyes.

"May kasalanan ba ako?" I asked. "You three seem to be avoiding me since yesterday."

"Of course not!" she retorted. "Busy lang talaga ako ngayon."

"Are you sure? Pakiramdam ko kasi parang meron dahil hindi n'yo ako pinapansin."

"Sorry talaga, Steff, kailangan ko nang umalis," she said, avoiding the conversation. "Later na lang!"

Friday na Friday pero hindi ako masaya. I kept on thinking why they were acting this way. Dahil ba mas madalas kong nakakasama si Darryl these past few days kaysa sa kanila? No, I don't think that was the case. Minsan nga sila pa ang nantataboy sa akin para lang maasar nila ako sa kanya.

Did I unknowingly offend them? I could be straightforward sometimes, and I admit that had caused me some trouble. Bigla tuloy akong kinabahan. Baka may nasabi akong masama during one of those lunch meetups.

I trawled my memory, trying hard to remember if I did say something offensive, but the thoughts just got too overwhelming that I started to tear up. Hindi naman naiiwasan na magkapikunan kami minsan pero nagkakaayos din kami agad. But this time, I wasn't even sure what went wrong.

Sinubukan kong kumalma dahil may susunod pa akong klase pero lalo lang akong nalungkot nang mapansin kong pati si Patrick ay parang iniiwasan ako. Even Darryl did not show up.

That day, I felt truly alone.

***

Nagmukmok lang ako sa kuwarto ko this weekend. I was so sad that I ate several packs of chocolate bars to make myself happy. Ni hindi ako makagawa ng homeworks nang maayos dahil nasa isip ko pa rin ang nangyari.

I wanted to visit them in their homes but coming there unannounced might displease them since they were clearly avoiding me. Sinubukan ko rin ulit silang tawagan pero hindi nila iyon sinasagot. They even left me on read on social media.

Buong weekend ay nag-o-overthink ako sa kung ano ang nagawa ko sa kanila, o kung pinagt-tripan lang ba nila ako. If it were the latter, I'd probably be miffed at them. They knew how much I dislike being pranked. I just hope it wasn't the case.

Wala akong nagawa kung hindi ang maghintay sa mangyayari. When Monday came, I felt so down that I couldn't even eat breakfast. Dad asked me if I didn't like the food or if there was something wrong, and to avoid further questions, I told him that I was just feeling under the weather. Venice shot a curious look at me, too, and I felt she kind of knew what was going on, but I chose to ignore that or else I might not hold my tears back.