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

Chapter 34

I wasn't able to celebrate my birthday properly.

Dahil maaga akong umuwi ay hindi natuloy ang supposedly surprise din nina Ven at Dad sa akin dahil naabutan nila ako sa bahay. Sinabi ko na lang din na masakit ang ulo ko kaya hindi ako makakasabay sa dinner at i-celebrate na lang namin ang birthday ko sa weekend. Last week na rin naman ngayon ng pasok dahil Christmas break na next week.

But as expected, this week was hell.

Tinanong agad ako ng tatlo kung bakit ang aga ko raw umuwi kahapon. I told them I felt sick yesterday, so I went home without telling them. Mukhang tinanggap naman nila 'yon pero alam ko rin na gusto nilang magtanong.

I also hadn't seen Darryl at all. Good, because honestly, I wasn't sure what to do. I blocked all his social media accounts and his number so I could sort out my feelings again. Fortunately, marami ring last-minute activities ang halos lahat ng subjects ko ngayon kaya distracted ang utak ko mula sa kanya. Strangely, hindi rin talaga siya nagpakita, and that made me feel relieved and concerned at the same time.

Noong dumating ang Friday ay para akong nabunutan ng tinik dahil sa wakas ay bakasyon na bukas. Still, most profs gave a lot of reading assignments and homeworks that we needed to do during the break.

Around 5 p.m. pa raw ako masusundo ni kuya Ronald kaya balak kong mag-stay muna sa library. Unfortunately, it was packed, so I went to the open field. Tumambay ako sa likod ng CAL building at nagbasa ng ilang reading assignments para kahit papaano ay mabawasan ang gagawin ko sa break.

"Nandito ka pala."

Hindi ko alam kung ilang minuto na ang nakalipas simula nang umupo ako rito at natanggal lang ang tingin ko mula sa phone ko nang marinig ko ang boses ni Patrick. Ni hindi k orin siya nakita o napansing dumating.

"Oh. Tapos na classes mo?" tanong ko.

"Yup. But I can't go home because I forgot my phone at home."

Tinanong ko naman siya tungkol doon at apparently, hindi niya ma-text ang driver nila. He already had a student license so he sometimes drove the car himself, but since today was hectic, he opted to be fetched. Kaso naiwan niya raw ang phone niya sa kuwarto niya kanina at nasa campus na siya nang ma-realize niya iyon. Kanina niya pa rin daw hinahanap ang pinsan niyang si Kevin kaso hindi niya mahagilap.

"Here," sabay abot ko sa phone ko.

"Thanks."

He called Kevin first since he also had the contact number of their driver. Nang maibigay niya iyon ay ito naman ang sunod niyang tinawagan at mukhang masusundo na rin siya after a while.

He heaved a sigh after. "Finally."

Natawa naman ako sa expression niya. He must have been so worried for hours.

"Kumusta ka pala? You just disappeared yesterday."

"Oh, uhm, I'm fine," sabi ko pero agad kong iniwasan ang tingin niya.

He looked at me curiously. "Did something happen between you and Darryl?"

My shoulders tensed upon hearing his name. "Uhh, w-wala naman."

Sinundan iyon ng ilang segundong katahimikan. I wasn't sure what he was thinking about, and I couldn't even look at him since I was afraid he'd figure it out.

"It's okay if you don't want to say anything," he said. "It's just that it's quite obvious."

Isang malalim na buntonghininga ang pinakawalan ko. I knew I was a terrible liar, but I couldn't believe that even him could see right through my lie.