No way!
There's no way in hell na si Micah 'yon! There are thousands of guys named Lucas Micah Reed in Cebu! Him being here is too far-fetched.
Sinabunutan ko ang sarili.
But what if he really is Micah?
Oh my Gosh!
Why would he be here?
I ran my fingers through my hair and bit a fingertip.
Why in the world would he come back? I mean, after what happened? Kung ako sa kanya, bakit pa ako babalik?
The bell rang which pulled me back into reality. The students scurried off into the hallways. Scrambling to get to their next classes.
Dali-dali kong inayos ang sarili at ang mga gamit nang mamalayang may kasunod pa akong klase in about 30 minutes. I went out of the hall at nakipagsiksikan sa packed na hall.
I scowled habang pinipilit na makadaan sa masikip na pathway. This is why I hate going to school on the first day, napakaraming tao sa hallway. Although sanay naman akong makipagsiksikan sa crowd, it didn't change the fact na ang sarap manakal ng tao sa tuwing naabutan ako ng rush hour.
In about 10 minutes, nakababa na ako ng tuluyan. I exhaled upon arriving at the exit of the building.
"Jaaaassssy!"
Narinig ko ang pamilyar na tili sa harap ng building. Halos kasabay kong lumingon ang ibang estudyante sa direksyon nung sumigaw. Hindi ko pa man ito nililingon, alam ko na kung sino ang may-ari ng boses na 'yon. Standing there is none other than my closest friend, Gabrielle.
I grinned and ran towards her.
She's waving and grinning from ear to ear. Who's excited? Not Gabrielle.
"Gaaaabby!"
We hugged each other like we haven't seen the other for over a millennium. A bunch of students rolled their eyes when they saw us. Na-annoy siguro sa ka-oa-han naming. Che! Mga inggiterang froglets!
"Bakla, I missed you!" I exasperated. "Summer was so boring without you!"
"Don't say that! Africa was so boring too!" She exclaimed, rolling her eyes at the thought of what had happened. "I wanted to stay in Cebu, but Mom said it's a 'family' vacation." She did a quotation mark gesture with her fingers to emphasize the word "family".
"Bakla, galit kang nakaalis ka ng bansa? Gusto mo sakalin kita? Buti nga nakatungtong ka ng Africa, ako hindi pa nakakalabas ng Cebu." Nayayamot kong sabi, nagsimula kaming maglakad.
She scowled. "What—hello? It was so hot in Africa! Yung init dun, pumapasok sa ulo mo. Have you felt the air there? It was so arid! No moisture at all! I can feel my skin cells floating away like dust in the wind!"
I giggled. "Over ka! Grabe parang hindi kayo naka-hotel. Walang aircon sa Africa, 'te?."
"I have dry skin Jas, dry skin! Konti na lang at magka-crack na ang kutis ko do'n! And do you know how many times I had to smack some mosquitoes out of my face? 347 times! I went there for a vacation Jasmine, not get Dengue!"
"Oh my Gosh, you are so ungrateful!" I laughed. "At least nakapag-out-of-the-country kayo ng family mo!"
"What—no! Don't spend your summer in freaking Africa. Like, hello? Unless you want to spend your days drinking water every damn minute para lang magkatubig ang kutis mo then, by all means, go! Jesus!" Napailing siya, pikon nap ikon pa rin sa kinalabasan ng kanyang bakasyon. "Anyways, how did your vacay go?"
