A Reviving Vocal

XV - Tight Ties

And then, he...

let my phone fall down on top of my face and it hurts so much. I held my nose and closed my eyes, hopefully when I do it, it will decrease the pain but it won't. My nose feels like it's crooked and it's thumping so hard that when I think of it, it's probably reddish already. I want to scream, yell at him for what he did and why would he do that and why is he still on top of me but I don't want to because I can't. After a few seconds, he finally moved away from me. I opened my eyes... and he's still there, staring at me, again and again.

"Sabi sa'yo eh. Masasaktan ka lang, kaya umalis ka na dito bago pa kita mabugbog. Hindi na ako makakapagtimpi pa." He left the door open and walked away.

Hinanap ko muna yung phone ko habang nakahiga at nung nahanap ko na ito, binuksan ko yun at tiningnan yung oras. Three thirty one in the afternoon. I want to go home already. I am so tired of everything.

Hindi ko namalayang may mga tumulo na palang luha galing sa mga mata ko habang nangyayari yung kanina. Akala ko talaga may gagawin na siya sa'kin. Nakakatakot talaga siya at hindi talaga siya pwedeng pagkatiwalaan. Nangnanakaw siya, nangbubugbog, walang respeto at higit sa lahat, nananakit ng babae.

Sinaktan niya si Aisha para lang sa painting na nanakawin niya.

Kahit na alam ko sa sarili kong dapat ako magalit kay Aisha, hindi ko magawa dahil kaibigan ko pa rin siya at sa lahat ng oras na kailangan ko siya, palagi lang siyang nasa tabi ko. Parang si Reece.

Si Reece... gusto ko siyang makita.

I felt warmer when I thought of his face. For some reason, I just want to hear his lame jokes and pick-up lines. I just want to see his smile. I want to be by his side.

Is this what they call love?

"Hindi ka pa rin ba talaga aalis?" Nagulat ako nang makita ko si Rain na naka-pantalon lang. Mas lalo siguro akong namula dahil sa nakita ko. Gusto kong sumigaw pero hindi ko kaya kaya tumakbo na lang ako papalabas ng apartment nila.

I closed their front door and leaned on it. Closed my eyes, inhaled, and exhaled.

That was the first time I ever saw a boy's upper body. That was so weird. He's skinny but he has, what they call, abs. It's unbelievable.

I shaked the thoughts out of my head and reached for my cellphone inside my pocket while walking towards the stairs. I typed. 'Reece, where are you?' I hesitated. Maybe he's too busy about something. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to me. Maybe he's asleep. Maybe he's playing basketball with his friends. I don't want to bother him, but I really want to talk to him.

So I sent it anyway.

And I regret it right away.

I kept on walking until I reached the ground floor and the exit door. Just then, my phone vibrates and I immediately looked at it. 'I'm at the Cannelle Blanc Cafè. Where are you?' I sighed in relief, because he isn't doing anything right now that may keep him busy. I will go there. I decided to go there.

* * *

I arrived at the cafè at exactly four o'clock.

I looked for a sign of Reece and I found his hair and the shape of his body. He's in one of the corners of the cafè. Unfortunately, he's with Blaize and Nathan. It's not that I hate them, I am just kind of... disappointed. I thought I'd see him alone in here. But I still went to their table.

"---nga eh, ano ba kasi dapat kong gawin? Ka---" Blaize cut him off when I walked up to them. "Oh! Eumeleia! Bakit ka nandito? May kasama ka ba?" I shook my head quickly and glanced at Reece. He moved on the left chair and gave me the one he was sitting on earlier, and I sat quietly.