Heartfilia's Premises

Chapter 8

I took a quick bath after arriving in my dorm. I got only one hour left before the orange code becomes effective once again at hindi pa ako nag-aagahan.

Hanggang dito sa cafeteria ay nanatili pa ring lumilipad ang isipan ko sa atrium extension. Paano ko ba naman magagawa ang sinabi ni Axel kanina kung dahil dito ay mas lumalim lang ang hukay ng mga katanungang gumugulo sa isip ko? And what did he mean by it won't do me good? I need answers to these. Really.

Ilang buwan pa akong mananatili rito sa Heartfilia and I could not just act and pretend everyday that what happened a while ago did not really happen. Like it was just some part of hallucinations. Mababaliw naman yata ako kung ganoon. I have already opened my mind with these questions and I could not just set these aside.

"You seemed to be so tired already Leigh, what's up?" napaangat ako ng tingin sa taong nasa harapan ko and it was Mariane. Tipid ko lamang siyang nginitian. I did not know what to say. I was not even sure if she was aware of the weird thing that was happening here in HA.

I heard her heaved out a deep sigh after taking a sit.

"Para namang palubog na 'yong araw dahil diyan sa mukha mo Leigh. Kakasimula pa lang ng araw oh. Come on, girl! Cheer up. Kailangan mong masanay sa Heartfilia. Matira matibay dito," she told me as she let out a sigh again.

"Masyado lang siguro akong naninibago rito sa Heartfilia, Mariane," tanging sagot ko sa kaniya at tipid ko lang ulit siyang nginitian.

"Ginugulo ka na ba ni Chastity?" pag-uusisa niya at iling lamang ang tanging naisagot ko. Agad naman siyang nangalumbaba at tumingin sa kawalan na para bang ang lalim ng iniisip.

"By the way may nasagap akong tsismis kanina Leigh," aniya at umayos ng upo. I just stared at her and waited for her to continue what she was saying.

"Drop?" she asked and I nodded.

"There were students who saw Nazaire and Axel punching each other outside the H Atrium. Iyong sa likod ng mga dorm," patuloy ni Mariane at agad nitong nakuha ng buo ang atensyon ko. "You know what was funny? Those students who witnessed them fighting did not know whether to call the detention or not," aniya habang pinipigil ang pagtawa.

Does this girl have an idea about the chaos inside the atrium extension?

"Pero alam mo Leigh. Nakakagulat 'yon. Those three, I mean Justine, Axel and President Nazaire, never fought each other. Ito ha," she said as she snapped his fingers, "Base lang sa obserbasyon ko, parang magkapatid na ang turing nila sa isa't isa. Kaya nagulat nga ako kanina nang marinig iyon. At first siyempre, hindi ako naniwala but I saw it with my bare eyes. I saw Axel came out from the clinic with bruises," pagtatapos niya at nagkibit-balikat na lamang ito bago sumandal sa inuupan.

I did not want to conclude but was it because of me? I mean dahil nakapasok ako sa atrium and Nazaire thought that it was Axel's fault? Oh come on! Natutop ko bigla ang aking noo na siyang nakaagaw sa atensyon ni Mariane.

"Bakit Leigh? May problema ka ba? Masama ba pakiramdam mo?" nag-aalalang tanong niya at hinawakan pa ang noo at leeg ko para tingnan kung may sakit ba ako.

"Wala Mariane. It's just that, I don't know. I'm crowded."

"Crowded? With thoughts? Dahil ba sa UNATEX? Nako Leigh, stop overthinking. Saka ka na mag-overthink kapag naglabas na ng schedule para sa midterms. Chill your ass out first," she said as she tried to lift my mood up.

"Anyway Mariane, maiba tayo. Nagreview ka na ba?" tanong ko sa kanya nang maalala na may quiz nga pala kami sa first subject namin.

"Engineering Mechanics?" pagkokompirma niya at agad ko itong tinanguan, "Hmm. Konti lang. Nahihirapan ako. It sucks. I did not even know why I followed my parents and took engineering."