I Just Loved Too

IJLT 29 - Yes

Halos ilang araw na rin ang nakalipas simula noong malaman ni Iya na binugbog ni Hanson si Jeremy pero hindi pa rin nababawasan ang inis niya rito. Nakapag-simba na siya't lahat over the weekend pero hindi pa rin siya kumakalma.

Ilang beses niyang kinumusta si Jeremy pero hindi ito nagrereply. Kapag naman tinatawagan niya ito, palaging out of coverage. Hindi naman niya ito masisi sa paglayo nito. Hindi pa man ito opisyal na nanliligaw sa kanya pero ganoon na ang napala nito. Paano pa kaya kung manligaw na nga ito o maging boyfriend niya?

She knew Hanson's a dangerous guy but she never thought that he would stoop this low just to have her. And she's not even his type. Ang hula nga niya, siguro ay interesado lang ito sa kanya dahil hindi niya ito pinapakitaan ng interes. Kumbaga, challenge.

Pero once na makuha na siya nito, mawawala na yung thrill. And he will move on to the next girl who caught his interest.

Thinking about it made her realize something. Siguro ay iyon mismo ang kailangan nya para tigilan siya nito. Just a chance. Maybe after a few days or a few dates, mawawalan na rin ito ng interes sa kanya.

So she deviced a plan to get rid of him.

She had to wait until Tuesday dahil absent ito ng Monday. And to make sure na hindi ito aabsent ulit kinabukasan, tinext niya ito, asking him to come to school because she wants to talk to him. Hindi ito nagreply so hindi siya siguradong papasok ito.

But he did come to school the next day. At pagkatapos ng klase, kinausap niya ito.

"Do you want to talk over dinner?" tanong niya.

"May pupuntahan pa 'ko," he answered curtly.

"Oh, okay." She noticed that he was cold towards her. Nagsawa na kaya ito kahahabol sa kanya? Kung ganoon naman pala, e di wala na syang problema. "Huwag na lang pala."

"Wait." Paalis na sana siya nang marinig niyang tumawag ito. "Ano ba kasi yun?"

"Look, kung may pupuntahan ka pa—"

"It can wait." Sa wakas ay ngumiti na rin ito. "Where do you want to eat?"

"Do you eat Korean food?"

Sa expression pa lang nito, alam na niyang hindi. Pero tumango na lang ito.

--

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, while trying to pick a piece of pork with his chopsticks. Mukhang iritado na ito dahil kanina pa nito gustong kumain pero hindi ito makakuha ng karne.

"I want to talk about us."

The pork that he was finally able to pick fell down on the plate. Tumikhim si Hanson saka kinuha ang tinidor na ipinangtusok sa karne. Saka ito pasimpleng tumingin sa kanya.

"Go on."

"I'm giving you a chance, Hans."

Napatigil ito sa pagnguya. He gave her a quizzical look.

"A what?" He seemed so lost.

"A chance. I'm giving you a chance."

Tumikhim ulit ito. "Okay." Okay? Nadismaya naman siya. She thought he'd be ecstatic. "So, girlfriend na kita?"

Nagkibit-balikat siya. "Yeah, I guess so."

"What's the catch?"

She frowned. "Catch? There's no catch."

"Nakakapagtaka lang kasi. After everything that happened, biga-bigla mo na lang maiisipan na sagutin ako."

"I guess it just took me a while to..." She bit her lip. Parang gusto niyang masuka sa sasabihin. "...t-to realize that I-I like you too."