I know I promised to stay away from her but I can't... especially now that she's in pain. I couldn't stop myself from going near her when I saw her crying while taking the exam.
Afraid I might break her, I gently wiped the tears off her cheeks. The way she looked at me was unfamiliar. The girl I used to know, the girl who used to have a glint of joy in her eyes... she's gone now. Her eyes doesn't scream any emotion. She's empty.
"Claude, pumasok na tayo."
I ignored Daniesha and remained seated on the floor. Hindi pa din matanggal sa isip ko ang ekspresyong nakita sakanya. She doesn't look like herself and I get that the loss of her brother was too much to handle, but I just wish I could do something...
"Claude,"
"I'll wait for her, Yesha."
"Gusto mo na naman ba mapagalitan? Let her take the exam peacefully, Claude!"
Umangat ako ng tingin, "Does she look like she's at peace right now?"
"Claude, mapapagalitan ka na naman kapag hindi ka sumulpot sa klase." si Edwin
"I'll wait for her," I said with finality.
I can't stand doing nothing. I want to do something. I want her to share the pain with me, I want her to feel better. This isn't what Tyler wants for her, and this isn't want I want for her too. I want her to be happy. Damn it pain me to see her like this.
I got distracted when a professor saw me just right after his class. Pinagalitan ako kung bakit wala daw ako sa klase when I'm obviously just around the school.
Pagbaling ko sa table ni Hazel kanina ay wala na siya doon.
"Mr. Villanueva, you're still here? Wala ka bang klase?"
"Ma'am, si Hazel po?" I asked
"Kakaalis lang, tapos na siya sa test."
Disappointed, I went back to my class. Siguro bumalik na din na siya sa klase niya, I'll just check on her later. Unfortunately, we dismissed late kaya wala ng tao sa klase nila nang tingnan ko ito. I went to check on her in the afternoon only to find out she skipped her classes.
I got Edwin to cover up for me when I decided to check on her. She was crying this morning. Wala siyang kasama sa bahay nila kapag ganitong oras, and it's been a week since she's been keeping everything to herself, I can't let her alone deal with it. I know she needs time for herself, but I want to be there for her. I want to be with her through her dark days.
"Are you friends with Ate?" mataray na tanong ng kapatid niya.
The housekeeper let me in. Lumabas lang daw saglit si Hazel para bumili ng pagkain para sa mga kapatid. It wasn't necessary for her to do that since they have helpers, but she didn't grow up like that. Kaya hinayaan lang din nila.
"Yes,"
"Parang hindi naman. You're not here during her birthday when all of ate's friends were here."
Natawa ako sa sinabi niya. She surely is Hazel's sister.
"I have something to that time." I reasoned out
