Tears Of Cinderella

Chapter 8 - The Bid of the Night

It had been three weeks since Steffanie saw Prince Gareth. Though Dr. Flyheight informed her of his fast recovery, she still couldn't help herself but to be worried for him. Katunayan, sa pag-aalala nya rito, she went out of her way and went to the College of Medicine just to check on him. But apparently, hindi pa rin pala ito pumapasok sa mga klase nito.

"Steff!"

Napatigil siya sa paglalakad nang marinig ang boses ng kaibigan niyang si Sofia. Agada naman itong tumakbo patungo sa kanya.

"Oh, bakit parang nagmamadali ka?" tanong niya.

"I need your help, BFF." Wika nito habang hinihingal pa.

"Ok, you know that I am always here and I'll always be there for you. Tungkol ba saan?" she asked.

"Well... You see, alam mo namang nalalapit na ang foundation anniversary ng UP 'di ba?"

"Ok... " She definitely did not have any idea where this conversation in leading.

"Mangako ka muna na hindi ka magagalit?" Sofia was very fidgety.

"Bakit nga? What did you do?" She saw guilt passed through her eyes.

"Kasi ganito. Arthur said that I am not desirable, na wala daw akong sex appeal. I wanna prove him wrong."

"You know that that is not true. You are vey beautiful. Sa dami ng manliligaw mo. You ought to know that by now."

Tahimik lamang ito.

"At nnong kinalaman ko naman dyan?" she asked, not being able to puzzle things together.

"Dyan papasok ang hihingin kong pabor sa yo. Magkakaroon kasi ang House of the Rose ng booth sa Foundation week."

Ang tinutukoy nito ay isang Accredited Student Organization sa UP na nag-oorganize ng mga events for charity.

"Then?" She really wanted to know the catch. She knows Sofia really well. She was a trouble magnet. At lumalapit lang ito ng ganito sa kanya if she was in a deep trouble.

"I signed both of our names in there," mabilisan nitong sagot.

"So anong pabor mo dun? You know how I love charity," she answered. Minsan na rin kasi siyang nakapagvolunteer doon. Several months ago, both she and Sofia signed up to do community service with the organization.

Huminga ito ng malalim, waring humuhugot ng tapang. "It is not your usual community service. It is a fund raising event for the homeless. It is more like of an auction."

"Sige, what do we do? Assist the event?"

"Well, actually. It is a dating game. Kinda like an auction. And we are the ones to be auctioned."

Ano? Just what did Sofia say?

"You mean to say, we'll sell ourselves to the highest bidder?" nakakunot na ang noo niya.

"Grabe ka naman Steff, you made us look like a dirty prostitute."

"Then what? Please explain."

"Ganito. We'll just be on-stage, then the male guests will bid for our companionship. One night date lang naman. Nothing more, nothing less."

Yup. Confirmed. Her friend is definitely crazy. Wala naman ito sa tamang hulog.

"Sofia naman. I can't do such thing. You know how I hate attracting attention," she sneered at her.

Niyakap naman siya nito. "C'mon Steff. Minsan lang naman. Let us do this, I can't do this alone. Isang date lang naman. I just need you to be there for me."