In Between Calms and Storms

Chapter 16

"What's that, dude?" Eve asked because I was holding a bag.

I raised it a little. "Pasalubong," tinuro ko rin si Kio. "Nasa kanya rin ang dala ko para sa inyo. Mula iyon sa local shops sa amin kaya paniguradong hindi niyo pa natitikman."

Kio and Eve immediately grinned at each other. Theo smiled and thanked me. Pinagalitan pa nga ni Everett si Kio dahil hindi niya na nadala, lalo na't hindi rin naman planado 'tong gala namin.

"Hindi ka maniniwala sa sasabihin ko, dude. I just had a blast this sem break!" Eve continued babbling while we were just listening to him and Kio.

"Bakit? Ano bang ginawa mo these past few days?" Kunot-noong tanong ni Kio.

"Someone just purchased a painting of mine!" He shouted proudly.

Napatingin tuloy ako sa paligid ngunit kanya-kanyang hagikgikan at pagtutulakan lang ang mga tao habang nakatingin sa amin.

Right, I totally forgot that this friend group was very well-known and famous. Kahit siguro maghubad d'yan si Everett ay sasambahin pa 'yan.

"Really? Parang last month mo pa 'yan binibenta, ah?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. At least na-sold na ngayon."

I found out that Eve, despite being an Engineering student, loved art. Especially painting and sketching.

"I'll just go to the bathroom," paalam ni Theo as he slid his phone inside his pocket and stood up.

Everyone just nodded at him and continued conversing.

Maya-maya ay bigla ring tumunog ang phone ko kaya napatigil ako sa pakikinig ng mga kwenti nila.

Reis:
hey dude where r u
nasa labas na ako ng cafe rn

Xiel:
lalabas na. hintayin mo 'ko

I picked up the food that I brought from the province for Reis, hindi kasi ako tinantanan hangga't hindi siya siguradong may binili ako para sa kanya.

Nang madatnan ko siya sa labas ay nakabusangot siya habang hawak ang payong at ang mini-fan sa kabilang kamay niya. I chuckled because it was already afternoon. Hindi naman ganoon ka-init.

His face lit up when he saw me and ran towards me.

"Damn, why would you choose to meet up in a place so far from the school?" Reklamo niya pa.

"At bakit kasi atat na atat ka para rito?" Tanong ko kasi pwede namang sa condo niya kunin. Nakasanayan na rin namin na sa lugar na 'to palaging nagc-catch up lalo na't fair nga sa isa't-isa ang distansya.

He just shrugged.

"Oh," sabi ko at inilahad sa kanya ang lalagyan.

He grinned at me and checked the food inside.

"Wow, is this heaven?" He whispered to himself while looking up at the sky dreamily.

Nakatayo lang ako roon at tinitingnan kung paano kumikinang ang mga mata niya. Talagang na-miss niya ang probinsya, ah?

"Hindi ka ba papasok?" I asked. "Nasa loob din ang mga kaibigan ko."

He squinted his eyes and looked at me. "I'm kind of sad but happy that mayroon ka nang tinatawag na kaibigan aside from me here in the city. But I'll have to pass. I'm playing volleyball with Ryx today."

"Oh," I nodded. Gusto ko pa sanang magtanong pero pinigilan ko ang sarili ko.

He grinned at me and happily left the place even though he had just complained about it earlier.

True to his words, nang makauwi ako mula sa gala namin ay nag-notify pa sa Instagram ko na live si Reis roon.

I didn't want to join... but because of what he said earlier, my curiosity got me.

At nasanay rin kaya ako na kasama siya sa halos limang araw, kaya hindi naman siguro weird kung bigla ko nalang hanapin ang presensya niya, 'di ba?

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to try that one because a lot of you recommended it."

Iyon ang bungad ni Reis na mukhang kausap ang halos ten thousand viewers niya.

"Of course, not—oh, is Xiel watching? Hi, bff!"

Nagulat pa ako at mahinang natawa dahil maypa-shout out pa siya sa 'kin. Ni hindi ko alam na makikita rin pala nila kung sino ang mutuals nila na nanonood din sa live.

Just as I was about to comment, someone joined him which made me stop.

Reis grinned at the camera and tried to move it away from Ryx who was brushing his hair using his fingers and was looking at the screen.

"Mag-live ka ng sa 'yo, dude. May sariling Instagram ka naman."

"No," masungit niyang sagot at hinila 'yung jersey ni Reis para ilapit sa kanya 'yung camera.

They continued bickering with each other until they decided to just put the phone below and fit both of them on the screen.

Just minutes after, the ten thousand viewers became five thousand and the comments flooded even more. Ni hindi ko na nga halos mabasa ang iba dahil sobrang bilis mawala!

Both of them were wearing a jersey, basa pa 'yung buhok at mukhang galing nga sa paglalaro.

"Anyway, hello there to my best friend, Xiel!" Reis said. "The food from the province is so chef's kiss!"

"Yeah," Ryx nodded at what he said. "Chef's kiss, indeed."

Umismis sa kanya si Reis pero hindi niya pinansin at nakatutok pa rin sa screen.

"When are you coming back to Cadenza? I haven't seen you there since the academic break..." Reis read a comment.

Ngayon ko lang din napagtanto ulit na sobrang magkaiba pa rin talaga ng buhay namin. He was used to partying, drinking, and staying up all night with his friends. Mukhang matagal ko na rin kasing hindi nakikita na ang palagi niyang story sa Instagram ay gala at pag-iinom.

"We'll be back partying there again when school starts," inakbayan niya si Ryx. "It's because this guy, didn't really spend his break here in the city. He spent it somewhere else."

Siniko ni Ryx ang kaibigan ko na patawa-tawa lang.

Then he stopped laughing when he saw a lot of comments with the same context.

Napatigil din ako.

"Did Ryx go with... Naiala?" Unti-unti pa 'yong sambit ni Reis, nakakunot na rin ang noo at bumaling kay Ryx na agad na sumeryoso.

I bit my lower lip.

"Oh—" Reis awkwardly laughed, clearly didn't know what to say.

I continued reading the comments.

'Ryx must've spent time with Naia, it's been a long time since I saw them kasi!'

'HALA NAIA MENTIONED? ship since senior high school!'

'I thought they were just good friends? But oh well, they actually look good together. It's no question they'd go past the friend stage.'