Game Over

Chapter 11

"Girl thing?"

"Yup," sabi ko tapos ay umayos ng upo at saka tumingin sa kanya. "You guys just punch each other tapos ayos na kayo. Iba sa mga babae, okay?"

"What?" he asked na kumunot ang noo. "You seriously think na nagsusuntukan lang kami?"

I shrugged. "I mean not literally, but mas mabilis kayo magkaayos in general," I told him. "Bakit? May kaaway ka ba sa frat niyo?" I asked him... not just to continue the conversation, but I just wanted to know more about him.

Lui and I—we'd done a lot of things together... but at the same time, I still felt like I really didn't know him at all. Na tipong kapag mawala siya at may nagtanong sa akin kung paano ko siya idedescribe, I'd be stuck with superficial description of who he is as a person... I only scratched the surface and I knew that there's more to him than what he's letting me see.

But he just slightly shook his head.

"No," sabi niya. "I haven't talked to them in a while."

"Why?"

"I want to focus on the BAR."

"Right..." sabi ko na binigyan siya ng maliit na ngiti. "Same," I replied but he was just looking at me like there was something he wanted to say, but whatever it was, he decided not to tell me anymore because he just proceeded to order food for us.

Lumabas si Lui para kuhanin iyong pagkain. Nung medyo matagal na at hindi pa siya nakaka-balik, I decided to follow him outside just to check kung okay pa ba siya.

"Yeah... I know..." sabi niya sa kung sinuman iyong kausap niya sa cellphone. "Just tell me whatever he needs and I'll ask someone to deliver it sa condo niyo," he continued. "Yeah, no, it's fine." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll try to swing by, Deanne. I just really have a lot on my plate right now." He nodded sa kung anuman iyong sinasabi ng kausap niya. "Thanks. Daan ako d'yan kapag nagka-free time ako," he said. "Appreciate it."

Nung matapos na iyong tawag, hindi pa rin gumalaw sa kinatatayuan niya si Lui. He just stood there for seconds. He looked like he was taking in deep breaths. Mukhang may problema siya... but I asked him a couple of times already... Ano'ng magagawa ko kung ayaw niya naman sabihin sa akin kung anuman iyong problema niya?

But then turned around and saw me standing there.

He looked at me and smiled like everything's fine in the world.

"Let's eat quickly," he said. "Class starts in 15."

* * *

Lui looked surprised nung nakita niya ako sa study hub.

"What?" I asked.

"Hindi ka umattend sa lecture niyo?" he asked.

Kumunot iyong noo ko. "How'd you know?" I asked, confused kasi lecture iyon nung alumnus namin na RTC judge. Naging BAR examiner na rin siya before, but hindi na talaga siya naglelecture dahil sa dami ng workload niya. Naglecture lang talaga siya sa Q since sorority and all that.

"Same method daw si Judge P saka iyong balitang examiner this year," Lui said. "Hihingi sana ako ng notes sa 'yo."

"Ah..." sabi ko. "Send ko na lang sa 'yo. Nagpa-send din naman ako." Lui sat on the opposite side. Ramdam ko iyong tingin niya sa akin. "What?" I asked when I started feeling conscious sa tingin niya sa akin.

"Nothing," sabi niya sa akin.

But that didn't look like nothing.

"Forward ko agad sa 'yo 'yung notes," I said.