The Goodbye Girl

chapter o8: marika ronelio

"OMG! Ang treasurer ng classroom n'yo ang nanliligaw sa 'yo?!" Carri blurted out, looking all excited and giddy.

Kunot-noong napatingin si Blueberry kay Carri, hanggang sa lumipat ang kanyang tingin sa akin. Blueberry looked at me like he was asking what the heck was wrong with Carri.

"Anong treasurer ang nanliligaw? Saan galing 'yon? Wala ka bang reading comprehension?!" bulalas naman ni Janus dahilan para mapunta ang tingin naming lahat sa kanya. 

"Bro, nag-uusap tayo, hindi nagbabasa," kaswal na paalala ni Jasper sa kakambal niya.

"Tomato, potato! Pareho lang 'yon!" Janus hissed, slamming his palm on the table.

Braylee gasped like she just had a eureka moment. "Prutas din pala ang patatas?"

I sighed and turned to Blueberry, shooting him back with the same look he gave about Carri.

"Hindi na talaga ako magtataka kung babagsak tayong lahat." Bumuntonghininga bigla si Jasper.

"Huwag naman!" sabay-sabay naman naming sigaw.

***

Gusto kong mag-focus sa exam pero paulit-ulit kong naalala ang ginawa ni Marika kay Braylee. The hearbroken look on Braylee's face that day . . .

Braylee was already going through a lot with her brother's condition, and there was Marika, giving her hell. And the worst part was that I didn't even do anything to defend her that day. Nagbulag-bulagan ako.

After the exam, my heart felt so heavy—but not because of the questions. The more I thought about Braylee, the more my heart hurt for her. 

Paglabas ko ng classroom, didiretso na sana ako sa cafeteria nang bigla kong makita si Braylee na nakatayo lamang sa isang tabi at para bang may hinihintay. She looked awfully uncomfortable squeezing into some wall as if she was trying to look invisible. However, with her cute baby blue shirt and denim overalls, she still stood out.

"Are you waiting for your brother?" I smiled as I walked up to her, trying to sound friendly. I hoped I sounded friendly.

Braylee looked up, completely taken aback by my presence, but then she smiled and shook her head. "Actually, ate . . . i-ikaw talaga ang gusto kong makausap."

***

I brought Braylee to the same botanical garden that Blueberry and I frequent, hoping to make her more comfortable. Noong una ay kinabahan pa ako sa pag-uusapan namin, pero nang makitang mas kinakabahan siya, naging kampante ako bigla.

"Ano palang gusto mong pag-usapan natin?" I asked, trying to use my customer-service voice dahil sabi ni Carri, tunog sobrang bait ko raw kapag ganito.

"A-Alam mo na ba ang tungkol kay Kuya?" Braylee looked up at me, trying to make eye contact but failing miserably. 

Ngumiti na lamang ako at bahagyang bumuntonghininga. "Mahirap ipaliwanag kung ano ang namamagitan sa amin ng kuya mo, but I assure you that we're good friends and we're respecting each other's secrets."

"So you don't really know about his condition?" Tuluyan niyang nagawang tumingin sa mga mata ko. Napansin ko kaagad ang pag-aalala sa kanyang mga mata. "You don't know that he might—"