The Gang's Prized Possession

Chapter J

"Kasama ako sa race mamaya!" Ang unang umalma ay si Rix.

"Pumusta ako sa kanya!" Turo naman ni Jace sa pinsan ko.

"Okay fine," tinuro ko na si Vini, who looked like a clueless puppy. "Uuwi tayong dalawa"

"What did I do?" He asked as other boys whistled under their breathes, grumbling 'trouble'.

"Bakit hindi itanong yung sarili mo?" Balik tanong ko sa kanya. "Ano nga ba ang ginawa mong mali Tristan?"

"Seryoso ano bang ginawa ko?" Vini asked again nang nasa daan na kami pabalik ng Manila. Pinuno siya ng asar ng ibang members dahil sa ginawa niyang hindi niya alam. Some even guessed worst case scenarios. Hindi ko alam kung bakit hindi parin niya napi-figure out kung anong mali, hindi pa ba siya ang o-open ng phone?

Or baka naman alam na niya at para sa kanya hindi mali yung ginawa niya?

Ugh. Tristan Vinielle pinapasakit mo na naman ang ulo ko!

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Nag open ka na ng phone?"

He nods and paused for a second, finally realizing what he did wrong. "Oh"

"Yeah Oh. Why the hell did you skip the meeting?!" I punched his shoulder. Hindi naman siya umilag or dumaing man lang.

His expression clouded as he turned his eyes to the road. "Priorities"

"What?! So you mean hindi mo priority ang business niyo?"

"It's not like that okay?" He exclaimed in frustration. "You'll always be on top of my priorities. You know I can't just cancel dahil hindi ako pwedeng mag desisyon non so I dropped it and skipped. Ilang araw lang akong tatagal dito and I want to spend every breathing second with you. Is that so hard to ask? Some people can't understand that kaya ako nalang yung gagawa ng paraan!"

I massaged my temples. "I get your point. Ang akin lang is---"

"I don't want to hear it"

"Arte mo" Inirapan ko siya. He cut me off!

"I'll drop everything just to be with you. You know that"

He really sounded frustrated na para bang dapat alam na alam ko na iyong sinabi niya.

Naiintindihan ko naman siya. Ang akin lang eh hindi naman niya ako dapat unahin palagi kung may mga bagay pang mas importante. I want him for myself but I'm not that selfish to the point na ilalayo ko na siya sa mga responsibilidad niya. Sana ganon rin siya sa'kin. But I really can't dictate him on how to love me. He can love me in any way he wants. I'm just afraid na masyado itong maging extreme.

"Fix the problem then we'll talk," that was the last thing I told him before I went out of the car.

I did not recieve any call or text from him until later that night. He sent me a text that he's coming over at may dala siyang pagkain. Bago pa siya mag text plano ko na talagang mag take out nalang since tinatamad akong kumain. While waiting, I decided to work on our take home activities. Buti nalang ay online ang mga ito at ipi-print ko nalang dahil ang original copy ko ay nasa bahay pa.

I was in the middle of answering my college algeb. activity when the door opened. Hindi na ko na sopresa na alam niya yung pass code ng pinto namin. May dala siyang paper bag ng Bonchon.

Inalis ko muna ang mga papel na naka patong sa hita ko at inilagay ito sa center table. His eyes showed nothing but exhaustion.

Inilapag muna niya ang bag sa table before slumping on the sofa, taking the place of the papers on my lap.