Jack whistled but it didn't stop me from walking towards the trash can and tossing the note in there. I was hoping someone ㅡeven Jackㅡ would stop me from doing it. But well, no one did.
Like me, Jack didn't pester me about the note. Alam niya siguro na off-limits pang pag-usapan si George sa akin gaya ng pagiging off-limits ng usapan tungkol sa tatay niya.
Agad kaming pinatawag ni Nine sa backstage dahil kami na rin ang susunod. Nakita kami ni Dante at binigyan kami ng clip para maayos ang wire ng microphone sa likod.
"Handa na ba kayo?" tanong niya sa amin habang inaayos niya ang microphone wire sa likod ni Jack.
"As ready as an announcer can be," I murmured, slightly glancing at the stage.
Ngunit aakyat na sana kami nang biglang bumaba si George galing sa hagdan na gagamitin natin. Tumayo ito sa harap ko hawak hawak ang isang papel na may listahan.
"Hey," he said, smiling at me.
"Hi."
He handed me the note containing the winner list. "Natanggap mo ba iyong sulat ko?"
Gusto kong magsinungaling at tapusin na ang usapang ito lalo na at nasa likod ko pa si Jack pero hindi ko rin naman magagawa kay George yun. Lalo pa at baka pagalitan niya iyong inutusan niyang bata kanina. "You said third meeting."
He smiled and nodded. "Right. And today is the third meeㅡ"
"Why are you doing this, George?" I asked, cutting his sentence. Dante cleared his throat and scrambled out of the way but Jack continued to eavesdrop. "You are dating my bestfriend. Why are you smiling at me, asking for my number, and acting as if Rose didn't just introduced you to us last week as her boyfriend?" I asked, irritated.
This is probably the first time he is seeing an irritated me. I am always smiling whenever we talk but right now, I don't see anything worth smiling for about him.
His angelic smile dropped, shocked at my breakdown. "Prim, I justㅡ"
"You wanted friendship?" I asked, mocking. "Well I'm sorry. I don't make friends with my bestfriend's boyfriend."
I brushed past him and glanced behind Jack to let him know it's already our turn. Pumwesto kami ni Jack sa harap habang ina-anunsyo ang mga nanalong partisipante sa nakaraang araw. Maraming importanteng bisita ang nasa harapan gaya nalang ng tatay ni George, ang mayor ng bayan na tatay ni Jack, yung alumni na isa na ngayong sikat na Engineer at ang presidente ng Aspire.
"It won't kill to smile a little," Jack whispered beside me, making small talks while being MCs.
"I am," although I really don't feel like smiling.
"Right. Smiling like a lost puppy," he taunted.
I glared at him and turned towards the audience, just so I won't be seen as rude before turning back towards him to reply. "I'm not in the mood for your silly jokes, Jack Saremi."
"Tsk. Why would you even say those harsh words to him when you don't even mean them?" pangungulit niya.
I turned towards him and frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The guy obviously likes you and you obviously has a crush on him. But you just let him down like that."
I was about to deny the latter part but I decided against it because it would be useless. He heard me say all those things to George, helped me hide from him, and even saw me react when I first find out about George dating Rose. He saw me in all those and I don't think he's that slow not to notice. But then again, with Jack, you can't really be sure of anything.
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RomancePrim Montefalco is the uptight, Goody Two-Shoes daughter of Atty. Cyrus Montefalco, the only city prosecutor who managed to receive a Mayor's Award. Her life is all about perfection, doing what is right and what was expected of her. Being the only d...
