AOT : Caught In The Fire

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

“Come on, let's paint,” he whispered.

Hinubad niya ang suot niyang suit at iniwan ang puting button down polo. Sinampay niya ito sa ibabaw ng backrest ng isa sa mga upuang gawa sa kahoy rito bago lumapit sa akin.

I'm still in daze, a'right. Nalilito ako sa inaakto niya. May sakit ba siya? Bipolar? Ano? Bigla siyang bumait. Anong nangyari? Baka hindi siya 'to. Baka kamukha niya lang na nagpapanggap na siya. His attitude is very far from what he is acting today! What the hell is happening exactly?

“Stop staring at me like I'm an alien,” aniya sabay pahid ng paintbrush na may pintura sa aking pisngi. I jolted on my spot. “Come on, let's paint.”

I tilted my head. Magsasalita pa sana ako ngunit hinapit ako nito sa beywang at pinaharap sa malinis na canvass. Naramdaman ko ang pagpatong ng kanyang baba sa aking balikat at niyakap ako sa beywang. Para na akong malagutan ng hininga sa kanyang ginawa.

Wala sa sarili akong napalunok. My heart's starting to beat erratically. Napahawak ako sa braso niyang nakapulupot sa aking beywang. I looked at the clean canvass in front of me and whispered.

“Throwing paints?”

“Let's do it, then.”

At iyon nga ang ginawa namin. We throw different colors of paint on the white canvass. The whole room is full of laughter from us. Lalo na kapag natatapunan ng ang aming mga mukha ng pintura. Hindi namin alintana kahit mukha na kaming mga batang kalye sa sobrang kalat namin. Then we started painting. Hindi ko alam na marunong pala siyang gumuhit.

For a moment, I forgot I was blaming him for my mother's death. For a moment, I forgot I hate him. I forgot he's the man I despised the most.

Hanggang sa makabuo kami ng larawan. And it was a man dancing with a woman portrait. I felt satisfied. Well, I always am everytime I finish painting, but one feels so new to me. Naninibago ako. I feel both happy and satisfied.

Could it be...

Pinilig ko ang aking ulo. Hell, no. I can't fall in love with him. Hindi ko siya pwedeng mahalin. I hate him to the core.

Pero bakit ganon? Wala na akong makapa sa aking dibdib na galit sa kanya? What the hell is happening to me?

“You're a good painter,” he said.

Tipid ko siyang nginitian. “Of course, I am.”

Ugh, the boastful part of me is kicking in.

He chuckled at that. “Shall we do what they were doing?”

Binalingan ko siya ng nakakunot noo. I even raised my brow. “What?”

Hindi ito sumagot. Instead, he pulled out his phone from his pants full of paint, played a music, and placed it as on the chair. Bumaling siya sa akin at lumapit. Nanatili naman akong nakatayo at hinihintay ang susunod niyang gagawin.

“Let's dance.”

Everything went like a blur. I found myself holding his hand and shoulder while he's holding my waist and hand too as we slowly danced to the rhythm of the soft music he played.

“Are you freaking serious right now?” I asked.

Ngumisi lang ito at damn, he's so handsome as hell. “Yes, I am.”

“But there are so many paints in this area. Baka madulas tayo!”

It was true. Dahil sa ginawa naming pagtatapon ng mga pintura ay napuno rin ng pintura ang sahig. I sighed and shook my head. Sinabayan ko na lang ito.