*For back-up purposes. This story is originally posted on Tumblr.
A shudder went through her body when a heavy wind and raindrops blew off. It was August, a month where typhoons come and go. And it was 8:00 in the evening and she had no jacket, just her school uniform. She was stranded for almost 3 hours now, there were also many people who are stranded but it was like everyone had someone who can fetch them. Her phone was useless because its battery was drained, and because she didn't know any of these people, she was too shy to borrow a phone and call her father. Being a careless girl, she forgot her umbrella - though it would be definitely useless with this kind of heavy rain.
"Badtrip! Traffic pa. Tsk!" she muttered.
"Oo nga eh, may naaksidente daw kasi doon," she was surprise when someone replied. She looked to her left, it was her schoolmate and a long time crush.
"Elmo... nandiyan ka pala," she smiled.
"Grabe ka naman, Julie! Kanina pa kaya ako dito," he smiled and her heart buckled.
"Sorry naman, namomroblema lang kung paano makakauwi," they knew each other but they were not close friends, that's why she felt like she was walking on air.
"Bat wala kang jacket? Eto oh," he took off his jacket and lend it to her. She was caught off guard that she forgot how to speak.
"Ah, t-thank you..." she finally managed to say. "Pero ikaw, baka lamigin ka niyan."
"Di, okay lang ako. By the way, may susundo ba sayo? Pagdating ko kasi dito, nandito ka na," he asked.
"Wala eh, my phone sucks. Deadbatt. Ikaw?"
"Meron, nagpasundo ako. Sabay ka na!" He offered.
"Ha? Wag na, nakakahiya. Ok lang ako, maghintay nalang ako ng taxi," she declined, though deep inside she wanted to sit down.
"I won't take no for an answer," he insisted.
"Okay, sir! Sasabay na po," they laughed.
And there was an awkward silence between them, like they were thinking what to say to each other.
"Teka, taga saan ka ba? Baka out of the way ako," she asked, though she knew where he lived.
"Diba taga Primrose street ka? On the way naman yun samin," he said, she was surprised.
"Paano--" she didn't manage to finish because a sudden strong wind blew off again. She was glad that she had a jacket but it was not enough.
"Ow! Sheeez, ang lamig!" she said whie hugging herself more. And with that he closed their gap and put his right arm around her.
"O-oy! Ano.. okay lang ako," she tried to step away but he held her tight. She wished that he could not see her red face.
"Eh, paano ako? Nilalamig ako, kailangan ng body heat," he smirked.
She let her left arm slid around his waist, he was surprised and eventually became comfortable. They stayed like this for 30 minutes with chit-chats.
"You were asking?" He asked.
"Uhm... paano mo nalaman kung saan ako nakatira?" she answered.
"Minsan kasi nagkakasabay tayo diba? Sa jeep," he answered.
"Ah... oo nga pala," she was glad to know that he remembered that, at least she knew she was not invisible. And once again there was a silence between them, bur this time it was a comfortable silence.
Then the traffic became normal until there were few stranded people.
"Malapit na daw si kuya," he said after checking his phone. They were still on that position because the rain didn't stop.
"Ayan na pala, tara," he opened his umbrella and she walked behind him. He opened the door for her. Once they were in the car, Elmo's kuya smiled at them teasingly.
"'Di mo naman sinabi na dala mo pala girlfriend mo, sana nagdala ako ng pagkain," he said while looking at them through the rearview mirror.
"Ewan sayo kuya! Julie, si Kuya Frank pala, kuya si Julie," he introduced.
"Hello po," she smiled.
"Hello din. Girlfriend ka ni Moe?" He asked.
"Kuya! Magdrive ka na nga lang dyan. Taga primrose street pala si Julie,"
"Binata na talaga. Hahaha" he muttered. They drove in silence, the rain finally stopped.
"Diyan na lang po ako sa kanta," she said.
"Hatid ka na namin sa bahay niyo, Julie," Elmo said.
"Oo nga, saan ba ako liliko?" Frank asked.
She didn't have much choice so she instructed the direction.
"Diyan po sa blue na gate," she said.
"Salamat Kuya Frank,"
"Salamat Elmo," she smiled at them. She was getting out of the car when she remembered something.
"Ay, Elmo.. Eto pala number ko oh," she said while fishing a paper and pen in her bag.
"Text mo ko pag nakauwi ka na," she added shyly. "Kung okay lang sayo..." She gave the piece of paper to Elmo.
"Sure! No problem! Pag dating na pagdating ko ittxt kita," he smiled.
"Sige, bye! Ingat kayo," she got out of the car and waited til the car was out of her sight.
She was now lying on her bed and staring at her phone. 30 minutes had passed but she didn't get a text from Elmo. She was on the verge of sleeping when her phone rang. It was a call.
"Hello?"
"Hi Julie! This is Elmo. Sorry for calling, naisip ko lang na tawagan ka kesa text,"
"Hi Elmo! Okay lang. Nakauwi na ba kayo?"
"Yup! By the way, sorry for the late call, my mom insisted to eat first kasi,"
"Naaah. It's okay,"
"Nakakain ka na?"
"Yup! Oo nga pala, yung jacket mo, babalik ko sayo pag nagkita tayo sa school,"
"Sure! Sige, good night na Julie. I know you're tired,"
"Good night, Elmo," she smiled.
And our two main characters slept with a smile on their face. It was not a bad day after all. :)
