P.R.N

15

"I bought coffee!" Lahat kami ay napalingon kay Cole.

Agad na napakunot ang noo ko. At ano naman ang ginagawa niya dito?

Siguro ay nabasa niya din ang pagtatanong sa mukha ko kaya sumagot na siya agad. "I came to help!"

Hindi ko siya pinansin at binalingan nalang si Tory na nakayakap sa bewang ko.

"Tory, I need to help Mama and Tita Karen..." Mahina kong sabi sa kanya. She pouted in an instant.

I pouted back at her. "We already talked about this."

Tahimik siyang kumalas sa akin at unti-unti tumayo at lumapit kay Cole. Nakasunod lang ang tingin ko sa kanya.

She tugged Cole's shirt that caught his attention. He looked down on Tory and immediately dropped on his knee when he saw Tory's "about-to-cry" face.

He caressed her face before carrying her. They talked in whispers.

I sighed before proceeding to help Mama and Tita Karen.

--

For some reason, I ended up in Cole's fucking Raptor again. He volunteered to drive me to my condo.

So much for not getting anymore closer to him.

"Did you really come to help or did you just want to know my unit so you can barge in and ask me to study with you again?" Taas-kilay kong tanong sa kanya.

He laughed at my question before answering. "I hate how easy for you to catch up."

Inirapan ko siya. He's been in the Philippines for more than a year already and he pretty much spent half of it with me.

"But seriously, we'll switch to coffee, okay?" He negotiated. "No alcohol unless semester break."

Hindi nalang ako sumagot at itinuon nalang ang atensyon sa bintana. The sun is beginning to set. It was a mixture of pink and red. It was beautiful.

"Are you excited?" Cole asked.

"Saan?"

"Moving out... Medical School..."

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe." I answered while still looking at the sunset.

I heard him scoffed. "You and your cold ass." He commented.

We were near my unit when I remembered that I need to go the groceries for some stock that I will be needing.

"I need to go buy some food and essentials for my condo." I said.

"Sama."

My eyebrows furrowed. He sounded like a kid who was asking his Mom to take him to the mall.

--

Fortunately, the condo unit that my parents got me comes with a built-in refrigerator. Hindi lang processed at instant foods ang mabibili ko.

I got myself meat, chicken, and beef for stock. I am only doing this for twice a month kaya marami na ang bibilhin ko. Besides, mukhang laging may bibisita pa sa akin. I bought a couple of chips and sweets that I usually eat whenever I'm studying.

My cart was almost full when I decided to stop. Cole was just pushing the cart behind me the whole time.

"Do you want something?" I asked him.

"Bread." He said. Tumango nalang ako at naglakad papunta sa bread section.

I was busy picking bread for him and me when some stranger approached him.

"Mukhang bad mood ang girlfriend mo, tol, ha?" It was almost a whisper but I heard it.

Bad mood?

"Hindi yan bad mood, hindi lang talaga palangiti." Malokong sagot ni Cole. "Tsaka 'di ko girlfriend."

I felt my heart froze.

There was nothing wrong with what he said.

It was true.

Hindi naman talaga ako girlfriend.

Truth hurts, huh. I smirked before putting the bread in the cart.

Dere-deretso ang lakad ko sa liquor section.

I need a fucking drink.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Cole protested when he saw me grabbing a Cuervo. "We just agreed---"

"I don't remember agreeing."

I turned my back on him.

This is getting bad.