Gunita [EDITING]

tres

I stayed silent the whole ride, kahit sa totoo lang, gustong-gusto ko ng itulak palabas ng kotse si Uno. Of all people, bakit si Uno pa kasi ang sinabihan ni Zachary? Alam ko namang Law student si Uno sa SBA, pero bakit siya? He could've just told me earlier para sinet na lang namin sa ibang date... now I have to deal with this guy na may literal na sapak sa ulo.

Gosh, this is seriously screwing up with my brain. Sobrang dami ko na ngang iniisip, dumagdag pa 'to. Hindi naman sa galit na galit ako kay Uno kasi may sense naman talaga siya kapag nagsasalita... maybe it was my defense mechanism. Ewan. Hindi ko na rin alam.

Siguro takot lang talaga ako sa katotohanan.

But... still. I couldn't really resent him too much. Everyone told me he loved his girlfriend so much that he almost gave up all of his dreams for her. Buti nga raw, Uno was still sane to listen to his band's advice—because apparently, the girl just wanted Uno to focus on his career as his band's frontman and just give up College.

What person, who's in the right state of mind will make someone do that for her?

Sabi nga ni Zachary, baka raw talaga ang totoong dahilang ng grudge sa'kin ni Uno is because... he realized she never loved him the way he did.

It's weird, but apparently, we're kind of on the same page. We choose to keep a blind eye on what's really happening... maybe for our own sanity. Because sometimes, it's just hard to live on the reality that's been slapping you for years. Some want reality... others don't.

That includes me... and maybe him.

Pagkarating namin, akmang lalabas na sana si Uno ng kotse pero pinigilan siya ng isa sa mga bodyguards ko, "We still need to check the perimeters before we let you go out," Gio explained and showed a timid smile. Napatango naman si Uno.

Napatingin naman ako sa kaniya, he was just staring outside. His face was blank, ganiyan naman talaga most of the time. He's just really unreadable.

"Wala ka bang magawa? You're making me feel uncomfortable," sambit niya. Napairap naman ako. Aba, pasalamat nga siya kasama niya ang apo ng bise presidente! Sobrang dami kayang nagkakandarapa just for them to accompany me!

Still... no one ever made me feel that they were sincere. Lagi namang gano'n. They just want to befriend me just because they think having the luxury will make them feel glorious. Kaya, as much as possible... I stayed away from people like those. I didn't want them to feel that they're being glorified just because they have me, I didn't want them to have the entitlement. And, I also didn't want myself to feel disappointed—I've had enough disappointments in my entire life, ayoko ng dagdagan pa.

It's the least I can do to preserve the remaining sanity within me.

"Okay na Ma'am," sambit ni Gio at pinagbuksan na kami ng pinto ni Uno. Nginitian ko naman si Gio at iba ko pang bodyguards. Naglakad na kami papunta sa admission office since lahat naman ng kulang ko na forms ay sa kanila na rin kukunin—still, my bodyguards tailing us. Seriously... isang araw ko lang yatang sinubukang takasan ang mga bodyguards ko, and I just turned 20 that time.

It was freedom... but the illegal one.

I sighed.

"Will you stay here na lang? Uno will accompany me naman," I said to Gio. He was probably weighing his answer, but in the end, pumayag naman siya, maybe because they realized na mas mahigpit din ang seguridad ng bawat offices ng St. Benedict's Academy. They seriously advanced its security details after Chen's mother bought the whole academy just because they wanted to secure Chen's welfare. The former owner was beyond happy, I guess. Nobody knew that SBA was already falling down with him as the administrator, he was probably thankful to every existing deity out there after the Jerardos bought it for 800 Million pesos.