I Could Fall

Chapter Nine

Atticus James Santiesteban sent you a friend request.

Una kong napansin ang nag-iisang mutual friend namin. His brother. Alister Santiesteban.

Butterflies were crawling in my stomach as I accepted the request. As soon as I went to his profile, the tagged photos were the first thing that I saw. It was recent. Nitong Sunday lang.

I think it was a family event. Mukhang garden kasi ito ng isang mansion. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces and one face stood out. Ali.

His profile was so private kahit na friends kami dahil hindi ko nakikita ang tagged photos niya, pero ngayon ay nakikita ko ang mga photos na kasama siya dahil naka-tag ito kay Atticus.

He was sitting on an outdoor chair with the pool behind his back. His clothes were laidback. Just white shirt and fit black joggers. He's wearing a black wayfarer but that doesn't stop me from knowing the gorgeous eyes behind it. Nakangiti siya at nakatingin sa isang bagay na hindi na kita ng camera.

I browsed more of Atticus' tagged photos just to get a glimpse of Ali's life for the past years. Puro sa family gathering lang ang mga 'yon at kaonti lang ang mga picture na kasama si Ali. It's enough to make me happy though.

"Good morning." I don't need to look up to know who it was.

I brightly smiled and brought my eyes to Atticus. "Good morning."

I think it's safe to call him a friend now. Simula nung sumabay siya sa amin ni Dashiel ng lunch ay nagtuloy-tuloy na 'yon. He spends his recess with his other guy friends but he makes sure to eat lunch with us.

"What time did you sleep last night?" tanong nito.

My forehead creased at the unexpected question. "Around 12... Why?"

He pursed his lips a little. "You were still online."

"Oh." My eyebrows raised. "I was chatting with my cousins."

"Mahilig ka magchat?" inosenteng tanong nito.

"It's okay. It's better than phone calls." I shrugged.

"You don't like phone calls?" muling tanong niya.

"No. I find it awkward..."

"But if someone chats you, you'll reply?"

"Yes." I nodded.

Tumango siya at parang may malalim na naman na inisip. I'm starting to get used to him being like this. He'll ask me the most random questions and shut up.

Kagaya kahapon. Tinanong niya ako kung mahilig ako sa Avocado dahil nakita niya akong umiinom ng Avocado shake. The next day, he gave me an Avocado ice cream.

"Ayaw kong makisabay sa ibang subjects niyo kaya mauuna na akong magbigay ng project niyo para sa first grading," our Filipino teacher announced.

The whole class whined, as usual.

"Don't worry. It's a group project and it will be very easy," Ms. Rivera added.

Our teacher began explaining the project while writing it on the board. Being the diligent student that I am, I copied every single detail.

It's a simple project. We are asked to get a scene from El Filibusterismo and present it with an animation machine that is made out of a box. Tingin ko ay kayang gawin ng tatlong araw o apat. It depends if the group members are innately artistix.

"You are free to choose kung sino ang gusto niyong maka-grupo. Five members each group. Submission is two weeks from now. I can give you two meetings to do it," sabi nito. "You can use the remaining time to group yourselves and submit a 1/4 sheet of paper with the members and the scene that you want to present. Go."