the peregrine

39

• 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 •

As the first half of the day came to an end, I smiled to myself that I somehow found a little peace. No one seemed to dare talk to me about anything annoying, except for Jane, of course.

𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

Ang hula ko, alam na ng ilang estudyante na Tobias and I are a thing now. Its not that its bad, but I found it excruciating that a lot of eyes would now be aimed to Toby and he might not like it. And not that I'm bragging, a lot of guys in this school seems to be into me.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺...?!

The thought made me suddenly jumped off from my seat and hurriedly cleaned my desk. I just slumped everything inside my bag and left the classroom immediately. Dinalian ko din ang aking lakad patungong Class 3, making other people turn their heads towards me.

But I was surprised when I met him outside their class' door. Mukhang lalabas pa lang nito, at nang ako'y kanyang nakita, agad namang kumunot ang kanyang noo.

"Hi...Toby," I greeted in an awkward matter. Mas lalo namang nagtaka ito, nanatiling nakatayo doon sa pintuan.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

Hindi nagdalawang isip kong inabot ang kanyang kamay at hinila siya palayo doon. The simple move earned a lot of stares from everyone who was at that specific time and place.

"Akala ko ako ang pupunta sa classroom niyo...?" tanong naman niya nang hindi man lang pinapansin ang mga taong nakatitig sa aming dalawa.

"Well...Let's just say that I got excited and rushed out to see you again."

Mukha namang gumana sa kanya ang pa-cute kong excuse. Pumula ang kanyang dalawang pisnge at agad siyang tumahimik. Mas lalo ko namang linakihan ang aking matamis na ngiti ngunit bigla naman niya ginambala ang aking buhok at ngumisi.

"Don't lie, d*mbass."

Umiba naman agad aking reaksyon nang tawagin niya ulit akong 'd*mbass'.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺.

Nagsimula na siyang maglakad patungo sa hagdan pababa. Sumunod naman ako nang bigla akong nakaisip na nagpangisi sa akin ng malaki.

"Don't call me d*mbass, baby."

We were lucky that no one was passing by or near enough to hear what I said. But I was luckier when I saw how red Toby's face became. Even though he was turning his back against me, I could tell with the way his ears glowed in scarlet.

Lumapit naman ako sa kanya at ngumiti. I held him by his left pinky and started to go down the stairs. My back was facing him as he followed my footsteps silently.

𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳.

When I look at Tobias again, there were no signs of anything bad. So I guess its safe to assume that no one has laid a single finger on him yet. I don't want him to know that I'm worrying like this since he might find me overprotective and annoying.

𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵.