I MADE a lot of embarassing things in my life before. We all had. Naalala ko pa rin ang pagkawakay ko sa taong hindi pa ako kinakawayan. At yung paghablot ng kaibigan na hindi mo pala kaibigan. And it was fine. It was okay. It was gwenchana, gwenachanyo—charot. Pero okay lang mapahiya. Kasi lilipas din yan eh.
Pero sa lahat ng kahihiyan, ito ang pinaka-rank 1...
“Who's Sam?” a voice replied after a moment of silence. It was familiar to me. But not definitely to Sam...
Kaagad akong umalis sa pagkakayakap rito. Bakit ba nakalimutan ko na magkamukha nga pala sila?!
“OMG, I am so sorry I thought you're my...” I bowed my head and pressed my palms together. “I'm really sorry!” Hindi ko siya matignan sa mata. Hiyang-hiya ako!
“Hey, hey, chill... you made it sound like someone will get mad at me for your accidental hug,” he chuckled.
“Wait, aren't you and Apple—”
“Oh, we... we broke up a year ago.” Napatigil ako sa kinatatayuan. I remember that...he and Apple really got separated in my dreams but it really did happen in real life, too?
Well...coincidence?
“Right... but still... sorry.”
“For knowing the fact that me and Apple broke up or because you've mistaken me as your boyfriend?”
“Umm, both?” I chuckled.
He chuckled too. He, then, extended his hand. “Qen Sanchez, by the way.” I reached for his hand and shake it. “You must be Laura Quinto, yes?”
“It's a good thing you still remember your grade 8 classmate,” I joked.
“Oh, come on, how could I forget you? We've had a lot of interactions before... multiple, if I may say.”
Napakunot ang aking noo. We had interactions? Alam ko, kung i-ko-compute ay we only had a few interactions nung grade 8. And that's it. That's all. Ano ang sinasabi niya na "multiple"? Sa panaginip ko, oo, ayun. Marami kaming interaction dahil kay Sam. Paanong...
He looked at his watch. “It's getting late, we should hurry for our first class. And, oh, HUMSS B ka, 'di ba? Magkaklase tayo. Tara na, mahirap galitin ang first subject teacher.”And he left my unanswered questions in the out of nowhere.
Qen is still Qen after all.
“I HEARD we had our new student in class. May you please introduce yourself in front, Miss?” Do I really have to? It's not like as if they will welcome me wholeheartedly once thay knew who I am. Saka, ilang subjects na ang lumipas, ah? Akala ko pa naman nakatakas na ako sa introduce yourself na 'yan. Dapat sa first day of class lang yan, eh.
Eh, kaso utos ng teacher. May magagawa ba ako?
Tumayo na ako at pumunta sa harap. All eyes on me, but I tried not to get distracted. Though, I saw Qen's eyes looking at my direction. Maybe to see go am I going to introduce myself. “Good day, everyone. My name is Laura Quinto, 17 years old, birthday is on April 13, 20**, lives in Humeko Village and graduated at Lumischenth National High School.”
“Well, can you tell us your reason why you chose this strand?” the teacher said.
“Well, it's because I... wanted to be an Attorney. And I think this strand will make me fully understand if what I'm going to take as a course in college would be worth it.”
“Thank you, Ms. Quinto. You may now take your seat.” Lumuwag ang hangin ng aking dibdib na parang nabunutan ng tinik. Salamat at natapos na.
Nang pabalik ako sa upuan ay nag-thumbs up sa akin si Qen. Encouraging smile. I smiled a little and copied what he did before sitting on my chair. Malayo sa distansya ng upuan ko si Qen, pero okay lang dahil hindi naman nakapangako na dapat ay "friends" na kami bigla dahil lang sa pag-yakap ko sa kanya nang akala ko ay si Sam siya.
Pero... mukhang nagkakamali ako.
We stayed close when lunch came until the dismissal of class. Iniisip ko tuloy kung anong klase ba ang pinagsamahan namin na para kaming besties ni Qen? Parang naalala ko tuloy yung nasa panaginip ko, yung part na nakilala niya si Sam. Alam ko doon yun sa part na yon. But it's way too impossible to think na yun yung nangyari, 'di ba?
“See you tomorrow, Laura! Bye!”
I waved back and turned my back on him. What a weird day indeed.
“How was school today, 'Nak?”
“Good, 'Pa.” Nakipagbeso ako kay Papa.
“Hindi ka naman nahirapan?”
“Sus, ako pa ba, 'Pa?” Natawa nalamang si Papa sa akin. Dumiretso ako sa kwarto at biglang hinatak ng sarili na mahiga. Now that I have not distractions, all thoughts came running after me. The devastation I felt when I realized... that The Man of my Imagination is not actually true.
Wait... imaginagion. Right!
What if all that dreams... he took advantage of that to be really with me for a long time? A year is certainly a long period to be with someone, paano pa kaya sa panaginip? Alam ko ay sinusubukan niyang lumabas sa panaginip ko dati. Baka sinamantala lang niya ang pagkakataon na makasama ako. Baka yun yung form niya para matupad yung wish ko... nung birthday ko?
“Sam?” No response. “Sam if you're playing a prank on me, I'll surely punch you once you appear in my dream tonight.” To no avail, there's no voice popped out. Nor the same thing that he does when I try to talk to him. “Isa pa, Sam. Kapag hindi ka pa sumagot—”
“Sinong kinakausap mo diyan?” boses ng Kuya ko na nakapagpagulat sa akin.
“Anak ng tinokwa ka, Kuya, bakit hindi ka kumakatok manlang?!”
“Manghihiram lang ng charger, tas makikita kita nakikipag-usap sa sarili mo diyan. Your coma must have made you crazy, huh?” Kuya left laughing his lungs out. I was pissed but I replayed him calling me crazy. Tons of scenarios ran in my head. Crazy... was I crazy all this time? Did... I have some kind of illness that all made me be able to talk to...Sam?
There's something I've read from a book before. That when you extremely crave for love but in the end not getting ut, there are some possibility that you will create one of your own. Either from a thing or a person. Doesn't matter, as long as you will make yourself think that... this will make you feel that you are loved... then that's how it works. And... I think that situation fits me right now. I... am crazy because it's the reason why I created Sam...
Tears started to flow down like a river, and yet at the same time, I laughed. Yeah, I surely am crazy. Look at me, laughing while crying. Baliw... baliw ako? Baliw ako sa pag-gawa kay Sam. Really, how funny that is?
Until the laughs turned into sobs. Painful sobs. The excruciating pain rising through me and I couldn't name the emotions I'm feeling.
I am pathetic.
At that moment, I feel like my life is going to be a mentally ill teenager who just get through her day but that's when I found something in my drawer.
I was just trying to look for the make up that will cover up my puffy eyes dahil kakain na mayamaya nang may makita akong pamilyar na bagay na alam kong nakapa ko kagabi.
Wait hindi ba ito yung...
Nanlaki ang mata ko nang makilala ito.
“100 languages I love you bracelet na bigay ni... Sam?”
A/N:
Just a heads up, sorry kung maiksi lang ito. I tried my best to produce so you know what happened next. And I'm sorry na rin in advance if... baka ilang days akong di makapag update. I really am sorry agad if nangyari yun, ang bigat lang talaga ng problema ko dito sa amin. As soon as I recovered naman, mag-update agad ako. Pero kung kakayanin ko sa depressed days ko, baka sige mag go ako. Anyway, yun lang, thank you for understanding :))
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The Man Of My Imagination
Romance"Kung sa ibang babae ay merong, 'the man of my dreams', sa akin naman ay merong, 'the man of my imagination'." Laura was having some typical crush problems when Sam- the one she created on her imagination (that looks like her crush too) when she got...
