Spectrum (GL / Completed)

Chapter 5: Date, Part II

I glanced outside her window, and the glare of the sun practically blinded me. Nope. No way. I am not stepping out in that heat. "Maglaro na lang tayo," I said, choosing the lesser evil.

"Okay!" she chirped happily, bounding toward her shelf of unopened and untouched board games.

There was a wide selection—Monopoly, chess, Scrabble, and more—but what caught my attention was a random LEGO box. Curiosity got the better of me, and I picked it up, examining the cover. It is a LEGO flower bouquet set, complete with a matching LEGO vase.

Ezria must have seen the confusion plastered on my face because she chuckled and said, "Si Fabien ang bumili niyan. Hindi ko alam kung bakit. He just stuffed it in there and left it."

I stared at the box, then at her. "You’re telling me this thing has just been sitting here all this time, unopened?"

"Pretty much," she shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Wanna build it?"

"Why not," I said, sitting down with the box. At least it was something new.

We sat on her cold marble floors, spreading out all the LEGO bags and the instruction booklet.

"Ang dami naman niyan," reklamo niya agad nang makita ang mga piraso ng LEGO.

I smirked. "Sadot."

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What's that?"

"Google mo," I replied with a slight laugh as I flipped through the instructions, deciding to start with the vase. "I’ll do the vase."

"Okay, I’ll do these flowers," she said, holding up a bag of pieces that looked like they’d form a bunch of tiny roses. She stared at it for a moment and added, "Good luck to me."

I chuckled under my breath and began assembling the base of the vase. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ezria frown at the tiny pieces in her hands, clearly trying to figure out what was what.

"Kumusta?" I teased.

She pouted, already looking defeated. "Who knew LEGO flowers could be so complicated? I’m questioning my life choices right now."

"Welcome to the world of LEGO," I said with a grin, carefully snapping pieces together.

A couple of minutes passed—maybe even an hour—and I had finished the vase and a few flowers. Ezria, on the other hand, was still struggling with her first bag, sighing and groaning every now and then. Hindi ko maiwasang matawa. LEGO lang pala ang makakapagpatahimik sa kaniya.

Isang oras pa ang nagdaan at nangangalahati na ako sa bouquet. Si Ezria naman ay parang paiyak na.

I stopped myself from laughing—baka tuluyan na ngang umiyak. "Let’s stop for now and eat merienda," I suggested.

Ngumuso siya. "I’m not this lame all the time. I’m just not... crafty."

I couldn’t hold back a chuckle. "Wala akong sinabi. You’re so defensive."

"Well, excuse me for having these gorgeous hands that are clearly made for more refined things," she said, wiggling her fingers dramatically. Her fingers are long and thin, gumanda pa lalo tingnan dahil sa nails niya. Ang expensive tingnan. I want to deny it but I have a thing sa mga ganoong kamay.

Sinubukan kong alisin ang kung ano mang nasa isip ko at nag-focus na lang sa sinasabi niya. I raised an eyebrow. "Refined? Like what? Breaking stuff?"

Her mouth dropped open in mock offense. "Wow, Athneia. Just wow. I’ll have you know these hands are capable of great things!" Lumitaw ang nakalolokong ngiti sa labi niya, "like putting them in—" then she paused. Napatakip siya sa bibig na para bang may bigla siyang naalala.