The Pianist

Kabanata 3

"Of course you can iho. You're a great painter. One of the best students I have. If you are having trouble, don't hesitate to ask me anything."- Mr. Carlos offered.

"And regarding your project, I'll give you a chance. But of course to be fair with the others, there will be a deduction. Deadline will be monday next week."- he added nicely.

"Thank you sir."- tanging tugon lang ng studyante at nagpaalam na sa kaniya.

Nang lumabas ito sa tabi ko kung saan nandun ang pinto ay napaayos ako ng tayo.

Nagulat ako ng mapagtanto kung sino ang lalakeng yun. Siya yung matangkad na nakabangga ko sa gitna ng pedestrian lane nuong nakaraang araw.

So he's a painter huh?

Natigilan ako ng maalalang nahulog niya ang mga sketches niya ng bumangga ako sa kaniya at nabasa yun.

Don't tell me, that drawing were his reference for his project?!

"T-teka!"- before I knew it, I called him when he was about 8 feet away from me.

I almost pinch myself after realizing what I did.

This stupid conscience of mine will be the death of me someday.

Natigil siya sa paglalakad at nagtatakang napalingon sakin.

"A-ah..."- I cleared my throat and decided to walk towards him, feeling a bit tense.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop but um..."- I awkwardly scratch my cheeks using my forefinger as I walk towards him.

He has this confuse expression while staring at my face as if trying to remember something.

Speaking of which, I notice how his face gets emotionless sometimes yet the way he show what he feels is expressive.

What caught my eyes was his impressive height. He's really tall. Maybe less than 6 feet? Now that the hallway is bright, I realize that his hair color is light brown compared to what I thought when we met in the middle of the rain.

He's wearing a black trouser, white flannel with a black shirt inside and a white classy sneakers that adds more compliment to his light skin toned.

"I heard that you missed the deadline of your project."- I started, stopping infront of him.

His face turns back to stoic after being confused for a moment.

"I'm really sorry about what happened on monday."- I apologize avoiding his gaze, feeling uncomfortable about the situation.

"It's fine."- tipid niyang tugon dahilan para mas lalo akong makaramdam ng konsensiya.

I shut my eyes, wishing that I'll disappear from this moment.

I wish I just shut my mouth earlier.

Huminga ako ng malalim at inangat ang tingin sa kaniya.

The ray of the sunlight was reflecting on his side, giving me the chance to fully see his eyes behind those eyeglasses.

It was brown. Much darker than the color of his hair. It's deep yet comforting.

It's... Stunning.

"I'll help you."- determinado kong wika habang nakatitig sa kaniyang mga mata.

"You don't have to though."- he answered, slightly shaking his head. Awkward by my sudden offering.

"No. I insist. In the first place, if I hadn't bump into you, you wouldn't drop your references and get them wet."- I explained.

He scratch his head as he averted his gaze away. Giving a thought about my suggestion.

"If you're not that busy then how about we meet tomorrow?"- after some time of thinking, he agreed.

I hid the smile forming in my lips and cleared my throat.

"Don't worry, I have time. By the way, I'm Reagan Aida Gibson. What's your name?"- tanong ko at inayos ang buhok ko ng biglang umihip ng malakas ang hangin.

The ray of lights beaming brighter towards us together with the cold breeze blowing outside taking the leaves in the trees into the air.

I frowned slightly when the melody of the song the princess made started to ring on my ears.

Where did that come from? Is it just my imagination?

"I'm Sage Winston Morgan."- he answered with a bit of smile appearing on his lips.

Natigilan ako sa kinatatayuan habang nakatulala sa kaniya.

A feeling of sadness crept into my heart as a soft voice spoke beside my ear.

'Are you listening to my story?
My deep truth about you?'

| TO BE CONTINUED|