When Day 32 Starts...

Chapter 15 - Past, Present and Future

Since we became a couple, I started to focus on us more. Kung paano kami magtatagal ng hindi nauumay sa isa't isa. Kung paano ko mapapanatili yung atensyon nya sa 'kin... Kung paano ko hahatiin ang oras ko sa kanya, sa pamilya ko at kay Toby. Tapos meron pa akong trabaho.

Nevertheless, it was fun. It was always fun with him, kahit palagi nya akong inaaway at inaalaska. Kent's a fun guy to be around. No wonder his past relationships keep on knocking at his door, begging for him to take them back.

At ako ang naging tagasalo ng bitterness nila. I tried ignoring them. Kung magpapadala kasi ako sa kanila,, alam kong masisira lang kami. But some had been pushy and persistent. May ilan na ang hindi ko maatim na hindi pansinin.

I told Kent to change his number and he did but somehow, may dalawa agad na nakaalam. Now, they're pestering me, because I exchanged numbers with him. Tuwang-tuwa naman sya tuwing nakikitang umuusok ang ilong ko tuwing may magti-text sa kanya na nag-aayang lumabas.

Hilarious. Couldn't he be anymore childish? I told him to cut ties with them already pero matigas ang ulo nya.

"Some of them are my friends. They're pretty decent," he told me.

"If they slept with you, they're not decent anymore."

"Hey... stop overreacting."

"Kung mabaliktad kaya ang sitwasyon at ako naman ang kinukulit ng mga ex ko, matuwa ka kaya?" I asked sourly.

He scoffed. "I highly doubt that's even possible."

Sinuntok ko sya sa braso. Ang sama ng ugali. Porket iisa lang ang ex ko, ang lakas na ng loob nya? Pasalamat sya, mag-best friends na lang ulit kami ni Toby. Nagsisisi tuloy ako kung bakit pumayag akong best friends na lang ulit kami. Ah right, it's not really good to lead him on. Konsensya naman, Jazz.

Ngayon, wala akong pang-blackmail kay Kent. I just hope he remains faithful. That is, if he's being faithful. I don't want to ask, baka sapakin nya 'ko.

"Maiba 'ko, malapit na ang birthday ko. Ano'ng plano mo?"

He looked at me quizzically. "Dapat ba akong magplano? That's your birthday. You do the planning." Pinanlisikan ko sya ng mata. I picked up my bag from the couch and stood up, ready to leave, when he raced me to the door and blocked it. "Biro lang!" dagdag nya.

"Hindi nakakatawa!"

He gave me a bear hug with one arm while his other hand took my bag and slung it back to the couch. "Geez, meron ka ba? Ang sungit mo."

"Ang dami mo kasing babae!" As if on cue, my phone (with his number) started ringing. There's no caller ID on the screen. "O ayan! May isa na naman!"

Kinuha nya yung phone ko saka tinitigan ang screen. "Hmmm..." He accepted the call. "Hello?"

Sinamaan ko sya ng tingin.

Tumawa sya. "Cheska! Yes, I remember you. I'm doing well, how about you?" Nakatingin sya sa 'kin habang nagsasalita sa telepono. Nananadya talaga e. Sarap tadyakan sa pagkalalaki.

Inagaw ko sa kanya ang phone.

"—kuya, ano na naman bang drama 'to? Who's Cheska? Nandyan ba si Jazz?"

"Gale..."

"Jazz! Who's Cheska?"

I can imagine Gale frowning, trying so hard to figure out what was happening.

"Ewan ko sa kuya mong may saltik."

"Nag-aaway na naman kayo?"

"Inaaway nya 'ko," pagtatama ko sa sinabi nya. Kent smirked. He also started wiggling his eyebrows. Nagpapa-cute yata. Ang isip-bata nya talaga masyado. "Bakit ka nga pala napatawag, Gale?"