Losing Grounds [Davin & Ninaandrea]

Kabanata 4

Lost in thoughts, I stared at Davin’s brown and expressive eyes, those eyes that were so similar to my son. Ilang beses akong kumurap para tiyakin kung nananaginip ba ako at kinurot ko na nga rin ang sarili pero totoo talaga ang lahat ng ito.

Davin Hendrix Herrera was standing in front of the class!

In flesh!

Bakit ba ayaw niya akong tantanan? Hanggang dito ba naman? And why was he here and holding—a class record?!

Yumuko siya at may tiningnan sa kaniyang laptop na nakapatong sa desk. While I began panicking inside. Bakit siya may class record? Pang-teacher lang ‘yon! What was he really doing here in the university? What was going on? Where was the former professor?

Panaginip lang ‘to!

Nananaginip lang ako!

“I supposed you are Ninaandrea Montessa?” tanong niya, pormal at ni walang bakas na pagkakakilanlan sa akin.

Nanatili akong hindi kumukurap na nakatingin sa kaniya, waiting for someone to slap me hard in my cheeks and wake me up from this nightmare. Noong hiniling kong sana ay mapalitan ‘yong dating professor sa subject na ito ay hindi siya ang tinutukoy kong kapalit!

Tumikhim siya at saka humalukipkip sa harapan ko, taas ang isang kilay na tila ba hinuhusgahan ako.

“Excuse me, Ms. Montessa, but are you just going to stand there?” sabi pa niya na tila ba hindi niya talaga ako kilala.

Ginagago ba niya ako?

I still could not recuperate. When I finally got a hold of myself, I looked down at the schedule in my hands, double-checking and making sure I entered the right class. Pero tama naman ang silid na pinasukan ko. Malinaw naman na ito nga ang klase ko. But again, what the hell was he doing here? He could not be here!

“Ms. Montessa, are you with us? You can take your seat or do you want to spend the rest of my class standing beside the door? I don’t mind, though,” patuloy niya na nagpatawa naman sa buong klase.

Napakurap-kurap ako sa sinabi niya.

Did he just say his class?

This was his class?

Seryoso ba ito?

Seryoso ba siya?

“Take your seat. You are consuming my time, Ms. Montessa. Next time, I won’t entertain you being late,” aniya pa sabay tingin sa buong klase na tila ba natuklaw na ng ahas. “This is your first offense .”