Just This Once (COMPLETED)

Kabanata 15

#JustThisOnce

Kabanata 15 

There was radiosilence. Everyone's jaw fell. Si Maven, naka-hawak sa gilid ng labi niya. And I wished I punched him hard enough to cause damage pero ang napala ko lang ay ang sakit sa kamay ko. Damn! Ang tigas ng mukha niya!

Bago pa man ako makapagsalita, Maven raised his hand, as if he was dismissing someone. Napa-talikod ako at may nakita akong dalawang lalaki—literal na men in black na papalapit sana sa akin. But I was really pissed at Maven na wala na akong pakielam kung apo man siya ni Mahatma Gandhi! All I did was help him tapos ni hindi man lang niya sinabi sa akin na puno ako ng dugo niya kagabi?! First time kong madampot ng pulis!

"What the fuck, Abby?" he asked, his hand still on the side of his lips.

"I'm not Abby!" I fumed. Why was he even studying to be a lawyer kung simpleng pangalan ko ay hindi niya matandaan?!

"Well, you're Abby to me," he replied.

"Well, you're an asshole to me!" I hissed. I was aware that people were listening to our conversation kaya naman hindi ko na pinatagal pa. I glared at Maven and gave him the middle finger. "Asshole!" I added before I stomped away from him.

Gusto ko sanang pukpukin iyong balikat niya para masaktan ko talaga siya, but I decided against it. Hindi naman ako kasing sama niya para gawin sa kanya iyon. But he's really, really annoying! Alam ko na tuwing makikita ko siya sa building, maaalala ko na siya ang dahilan kung bakit nagpalipas ako ng gabi sa kulungan.

"Are you okay?" tanong ni Yani sa akin. I was tempted to go home and take a quick shower pero may klase pa ulit ako. And I couldn't risk another failed grade. Tuluyan na talagang masisira ang linggo na 'to kapag may isang kamalasan pa na nangyari sa akin.

"I'm fine," I replied drily.

"Talaga?" she asked again. Hindi ako sumagot dahil hindi ko rin naman alam kung paano sasabihin sa kanya. Kapag nagtanong siya kung bakit ko sinuntok si Maven, alam ko naman na hindi ko pwedeng sabihin iyong nangyari kagabi. Ayoko namang magsinungaling kay Yani dahil siya lang ang kaibigan ko rito.

"Yeah. Medyo masakit lang ang ulo ko," I said—which was not totally a lie dahil masakit talaga ang ulo ko. Syempre hindi ako naka-tulog nang maayos. Malay ko ba kung bigla akong saksakin sa kulungan. Call me paranoid pero hindi talaga masaya matulog doon.

Pagdating namin sa classroom, kasunod lang namin iyong prof kaya naman hindi na ako natanong pa ulit ni Yani. We were given exercises to do kaya hanggang sa matapos ang klase ay doon lang focused ang attention namin. Paglabas ko sa room, naglalakad ako papunta sa cafeteria para bumili ulit ng energy drink. I still had to go to the law firm pero iyong mga mata ko, malapit nang bumigay.

Napahinto ako sa paglalakad nang makita ko si Maven na naka-tayo sa harap ko.

"What?" I hissed.

He was only looking at me—na para bang pinag-aaralan ang mukha ko. "Because of your little stunt earlier, you need to sign this," sabi niya at saka may iniabot na papel sa akin.

"NDA? Seriously?"

He timidly nodded, like he was bored to be here, talking to me. "My guards investigated our connection, hence, I had to be a little creative."

I slowly crumpled the paper he gave me. "I... seriously don't care, Maven. I helped you once, that's it. Ayoko ng kahit ano'ng connection sa 'yo," sabi ko at saka nilagpasan siya. Kahapon lang kami nagkakilala pero sobrang daming kamalasan na ang naranasan ko. Ayoko na ng isa pa.

"Well, too bad, Abby," sabi niya.

"Hindi nga Abby ang pangalan ko!"

"Get used to being called Abby, then," he said shrugging.