BOTHERED

CHAPTER EIGHT: Whole

Nayeli

If they say that waking up in the middle of the night due to a bad dream is dreadful well they are wrong! There is nothing more dreadful than seeing a stalker ghost floating above me pagbukas ng mga mata ko.

I screamed so loud and shut my eyes closed once again then I heard the door of my room opening.

"Ate! Bakit?" Tony asks. When I opened my eyes the ghost is nowhere in sight already.

Was that all just a dream?

"Ate?!" Tony exclaimed ng hindi agad ako sumagot. "Ano ba? Why are you screaming?" She asks.

"T-T-There's a ghost inside my room kanina. He is floating above my bed." Nauutal kong sagot.

I heard a click then the lights open. Tony looks at me with a smug expression then she scans my room

"I can't feel anything here." She said.

"But I am telling you the truth! Meron talagang ghost dito kanina. I think he followed me here inside our house." I whispered. Tumaas yung isang kilay ni Tony.

"Mom told you to take care of me while she is gone pero mukhang ako pa yata ang kailangang magbantay sayo." Tony said then she hops in my bed.

When I went home from school awhile ago my mom told me that she will be gone for a couple of weeks. Sinama nya si Lolo at Lola and then she left my baby brother to Tita Olga. She clearly told me to not cause any trouble and to take care of Tony while she is gone. Darating naman daw dito si Tita Olga pero next week pa daw kasama yung bunso kong kapatid.

"You were just dreaming ate atsaka Lola had put a lot of charms to ward off other spirits kaya walang makakapasok na iba dito." Tony said then humikab sya at natulog na.

Hindi agad ako dinalaw ng antok. Aside from thinking about the pesky ghost naiisip ko din yung masama kong panaginip. It's that man pointing a gun at me. Did I dream about it because of what happened to me inside Ate Barbara's house a few days ago? I shook off the thought and forced myself to sleep.

The following day at school I can't hardly focus on the lecture. Napapapikit yung mga mata ko. I didn't get enough sleep last night. I felt a nudge and saw Wendy gesturing me to wake up. I straightened myself up and tap my cheeks.

I look at my Literature professor again. Hindi ko na nasubaybayan yung lecture nya kanina. I don't even know what our topic is all about anymore. I started drifting into battle with sleep the moment he said 'Goodmorning class' pagpasok nya ng room.

"In a dialogue of Plato known as The Symposium, Aristhopanes discussed that a very long time ago we, humans, have four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. There were also three genders that time, the males who were children of the sun, females who were children of the earth and the androgynous, who possessed both the male and female genitalia, who were children of the moon." My professor said. Naimagine ko tuloy how humans look like before.

"The humans were so strong they decided to attack the gods. The gods were very displeased by their action and wete even threatened by the human's growing power so they made a decision to destroy humans by lightning, just like what they did to the Titans. But there was conflict. As much as they fear humans' growing power they cannot afford to lose the Tribute humans offer them but at the same time they can't let the humans' action left unpunished so Zeus end up with a brilliant plan. He cut humans into two to punish them. This lessen their power and increased their number resulting to more Tributes for the gods."

I heard my classmates gasps. "That's awful!" Wendy whispered to me.

"Zeus then asked Apollo to fix our separated form. He told Apollo to turn our heads on the opposite direction and stretch our skins to cover the hole made by the separation. He then placed a navel in the middle which serves as the only remembrance of our original form and that we were once connected to another person. So now we spend all our lives looking for that other half of us, that one that could make us feel complete and whole once again. This pursuit of finding our other half is called Love and our other half, the missing piece of us is called our soulmate." My prof ended the discussion.

I heard my classmates sighs dahil sa sobrang kilig after listening to our professor.

"Nayeli naniniwala ka ba dun sa soulmate thingy na yun?" Wendy asks while we were eating lunch.

"Siguro." I replied. I know that ghosts are real so maybe soulmates do to.

"Alam mo ba I read in the internet that you could actually call out to your soulmate?" Wendy excitedly said.

"Huh? Paano naman daw?" I curiously ask. I've never asked my Lolo and Lola regarding their beliefs in soulmates. Hindi naman kasi ako interesado. Maybe I should ask them when they get back home.

"Find a very quiet place na ikaw lang mag-isa. Isara mo daw yung mga mata mo then silently call for you soulmate. If he is far away he could actually feel you calling but if malapit lang sya when you open your eyes sya yung unang lalaking makikita mo." Wendy said.

"Ginawa mo na ba yun?" I ask her.

"Hindi pa but I plan to do it later." Wendy said.

Napalingon ako sa di kalayuan then I saw Keith sitting a few tables away from me. He is laughing with his friends. Napaka gwapo nya talaga. Is he my soulmate? I hope he is. The first time I saw his face may kakaiba na talaga syang dating sa akin. Parang meant to be kami.

Di ko maiwasan ang mapabuntong hininga. Kelan nya kaya ako mapapansin? Malapit na magtapos ang school year pero I am still a ghost for him. I know I am weird at hindi pansinin tulad ng ibang girls sa Madrigal but I still dream na one day he would approach me and talk to me.

"Tulala ka na naman dyan kay Keith. Hay naku Nayeli hindi mapapasayo yan kapag hanggang sulyap ka lang sa kanya." Wendy commented.

I look dreamily at Keith and I sighed one more time.

"Sa tingin ko sya ang soulmate ko." I said in a dreamy tone.

"Pffft...Ilusyonada ka talaga bru! Tigilan mo na nga ang paghithit ng katol." Wendy mocked me. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Whatever." I said.

After ng classes namin I decided to try out yung sinabi sa akin ni Wendy kanina. Ayokong maniwala that it could actually work pero wala naman sigurong mawawala if susubukan ko diba?

So here I am alone in the middle of the school garden at nakaupo sa may gilid ng fountain. After making sure na walang tao sa paligid I close my eyes and silently called for my soulmate.

'I am not sure where you are right now but if you're far then please feel me calling out to you and if you are near please let be the first person I will see when I open my eyes.'

I slowly open my eyes with anticipation. My heart is racing when I felt someone standing in front of me.

Oh my gosh! Could it be him? Could it be Keith?

When my eyes completely opened my whole world suddenly stops.

There's no one in front of me. (-____-)

Suddenly a face appeared right in front of my face.

"Boo!"

I freaked out dahil sa gulat then I fell inside the fountain behind me.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed as I stare at my drench self inside the fountain. I look angrily at the ghost in front of me. It's him! The good looking stalker ghost I saw on the street yesterday.

I stand up and water drips down from my clothes. He gave me a peace sign. I stomped my foot and grunted.

"Sorry." He said.

"Ughhh! Tignan mong ginawa mo?! Hindi mo ba talaga ako tatantanan na multo ka?!" I shouted at him. Sobrang naiinis ako sa kanya! How will I go home now?

I heard someone clearing his throat and paglingon ko sa kaliwa ko I saw Keith and his friends staring at me.

(•_•; ) Awkward!!! (> - <')

"Weird." One of his barkadas said to me pagdaan nila sa harapan ko.

(T︵T) Lord why me?!!!!

"I don't like them." Comment ni ghost. I look grimly at him. This is all his fault!

"Ano bang ginagawa mo dito?" Inis kong tanong sa kanya.

"I don't know. I just heard someone calling me then after that I ended up being here."