I Love You, Sir

Chapter 23: Lies

Tipid siyang ngumiti. "You're right. I like you. Hindi naman kase mahirap at hindi maiiwasang hindi magkagusto ang isang lalaki sayo, Khrss. Dahil nga sa gusto kita, sinubukan kong alamin kung anong koneksyon niyong dalawa. I looked into your Facebook account, but I found nothing dahil wala namang post o kahit ano. One of my friends used to be your classmate before kaya sinabi niya sa akin na nag-aral ka sa Academy niyo dati at naging teacher mo si Sir Ezequel." 

"Sinong kaibigan?" I interrupted.

"Acosta," sagot niya. Flonner.

"Ang dami kong ginawa para lang kilalanin ka sa paraang hindi ka tinatanong. I even saw your pictures with him when you won the school competition at your Academy," he said as he laughed softly.

"Akala ko ikaw na, e. It's my first time doing that for a girl. I've never been interested in women until I met you. Pero sa mga nakaraang araw, lahat ng hinala ko ay mukhang tama. I once overheard you cursed at him. Hindi ba?" 

What the fuck! On my mind, I cursed even more. Mas lalong nanlaki ang mga mata at nagising ang diwa ko.

"Hindi lang si Lola mo yung nagulat pati...ako. Ang tapang mo naman para murahin ang lalaking iyon, knowing that she's your...you know," aniya pa at mahina tumawa. "He is one of the most respected professors at this university, and hearing you yelled at him like that made me even more curious about your relationship with him. Ni hindi niya man lang magalit sayo," he said as if he didn't want to believe the details he found out about me and Kerleigh.

"Alam kong gusto mo pa rin siya. Hindi mo man aminin, but I know he likes you too. I'm not sure what happened in the past to cause you two to be this way. Nung gabing 'yon, natanaw ko siya. Napaka-imposible naman na pumunta siya roon para lang sa wala. That night, my hunch proven right," ani Toffie. I lent my ears and didn't interrupt him anymore. I keep listening and hearing his thoughts in my head.

"I'll bet if I didn't do that, you'd never know his feelings. A man who truly likes a girl will go insane and jealous if he sees that girl being kissed by someone. I bet he confessed on you that night? Imposibleng hindi niya nagawa 'yon," he thought. He returned his gaze to me with an innocent smile.

I was taken aback by everything he said right now. Because everything turns out to be...true. Hindi ko alam kung ano ba ang dapat kong maging reaksyon. I went completely silent after hearing his confession.

"Wala  daw si Sir Ezequel. Hindi pumasok ngayong araw," one of my blockmates announced. Napalingon kaming lahat sa kanya. Malapad siyang ngumisi sa amin.

"Sinong nagsabi?" agap nung isa, mukhang ayaw pang maniwala.

"Yung kapatid ni Sir Ezequel," sagot niya sabay lahad ng kamay kay Zhairra na nakatayo sa pinto. 

Zhairra in her BSEd uniform standing outside our room caught my attention. Dito rin pala siya nag-aaral? I haven't seen her in months. Halo-halong emosyon ang nararamdaman ko. I'm happy because I already saw her studying, and I'm curious why she's in our room. I can see her face tense and worried. Hindi ako alam kung anong meron sa akin pero tumayo ako at lumapit sa kanya. Pinanood niya akong lumapit sa kanya.